Staunton Forum at Blackfriars: 'To be, or not to be ... on city council'

Staunton's Blackfriars Playhouse was the backdrop for Tuesday night's city council candidates forum on the arts and tourism. A crowd of almost 150 turned out to get to know the eight candidates as moderator Chris Graham facilitated the event.

Pre-forum ... preparing as the public arrives.

"To be, or not to be ... on City Council. That is the question." Staunton city council candidate Shelley Bryant set the tone with her paraphrasing of that famous line at the opening of last night's candidates forum at downtown Staunton's Blackfriars Theater, bringing laughter and applause from the audience. On the eve of what most celebrate as Shakespeare's birthday, one almost expected to see the Bard himself sitting in the seats nodding his head in agreement.

The arts, an important element woven into this central Shenandoah Valley city, were front and center for the third and final forum Tuesday night between the eight candidates vying for three seats. With only two weeks left before election day, the crowd of 150 included many involved in the various playhouses, museums, and entertainment venues of the area.

Chris Graham, owner of the Augusta Free Press, moderated in his usual relaxed manner, putting the audience at ease as well as the candidates. His wife Crystal acted as timekeeper although sometimes it seemed as if she needed more than a sign to stop an ongoing response.

Incumbent Carolyn Dull is the only one running for reelection while Mayor Lacey King and councilman Bruce Elder are stepping down. With the large number of candidates in the running, yard signs are sprouting up as fast as spring flowers along city streets in the quest for name recognition leading up to the election. The addition of at least two new faces is of interest to many including current city council members Andrea Oakes and Ophie Kier who were in the audience as well as former Augusta County supervisor Nancy Sorrells.

The forum gave candidates an opportunity to show a different, sometimes more playful side of themselves as they shared their love of music and playing in bands and orchestras, their remembrances of being read Charles Dickens as a child, and most who admitted holding season tickets to local arts outlets. While the event was not too full of substance, obvious by the many quick "yes" answers given to a question about funding without the obvious background financial information necessary for such a response, it provided a peek into the varied personalities of those who wish to service the citizens of Staunton.

Political reporter Calvin Trice with the Staunton News Leader was there jotting notes and taking photos for his article. You may also want to check out the News Leader's Voter Guide.

Staunton council elections are Tuesday, May 6.  

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 22, 2014

Medicaid expansion ... looking for solutions instead of just saying no

It's an interesting stand-off in Augusta County with the discussion (or lack of for some) about Medicaid expansion and what to do about those who fall through the cracks of coverage. If I listen to those to the political right of me, the solution is that we should do nothing, shut down, just say no.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of being painted as the party of no. While I don't agree with Obamacare and I don't subscribe to the political decisions of the current president, it is what it is. After listening to the rants and vitriol for eight years against Republican President George W. Bush, I'm now hearing the same from the right side of the aisle against President Barack Obama and all Democrats.

Enough already.

Augusta County probably personifies the divide in the Medicaid expansion issue more than many because our delegates -- Steve Landes, Ben Cline, Dickie Bell, all Republican -- are staunchly against expansion while our state Senator Emmett Hanger, also Republican, wants to find a compromise.

Today's editorial in the Staunton News Leader said it well:

Last week, when most of  the country’s surviving presidents gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, George W. Bush said something that almost sounds quaint:

“A segregated society can never be a successful society, because the only success worth having is achieved together.”

Achieved together. Does that happen anymore in this country?

Good question.

I talked briefly with Senator Hanger last week about this very complicated issue. We haven't always agreed about his votes in Richmond but his pragmatic approach to Medicaid expansion is appreciated in today's politically toxic atmosphere. Indeed, it's put a target on his back from local far-right constituents who will probably -- most likely -- primary him next go round.

That reality is not lost on the editorial crew at the News Leader:

We are so divided on the role of government that for some the aim is not to achieve together but to stop their political opposition, at whatever cost.

When we do not like a law, some of us waste years trying to repeal it. Our elected leaders tread water in constant campaign mode, which is all about satisfying the loudest and the richest, not working for the good of all.

Nowhere is this more visible than the Virginia General Assembly, which cannot — because so far it will not — come up with a compromised solution to Medicaid expansion controversy.

Our General Assembly is made up of hard-working men and women who strive to represent their constituents and work long hours to do what's best. Having an election every two years may be a stumbling block to good governing. But in the spirit of good governing, the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission was formed and headed up by Landes and Hanger. The News Leader, referring to the commission, wrote:

MIRC, which some note, rhymes with “jerk,” was to study Medicaid expansion. Among its 10 members are State Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, and Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave.

MIRC has met, but many of the 10 had no intent to agree to any Virginia benefit from the Affordable Care Act under any circumstances. Hanger has with others proposed a compromise called “Marketplace Virginia,” in which government money would fund private insurance for the poor. Landes, though, goes for satisfying the far right and says Marketplace Virginia simply is Medicaid expansion. He is wrong.

And we are stuck.

The middle understands that Obamacare is here to stay, like it or not, and want to make it work in Virginia.

The right points to the states where Medicaid expansion has not worked well while ignoring the states where it has. The right is also sick of compromising on legislation and losing winnable statewide elections.

And the left? Far-right talking points aside, the General Assembly has never been and certainly is not today a liberal bastion. The few who are there learned compromise long ago.

Virginia has a Democratic governor and a Democratically-controlled state senate. The News Leader opined, "Calling for a 'clean' budget, one that does not address Medicaid expansion, is simply disingenuous." I'm not sure if I agree with that; after all, we need the state budget passed so localities can go about the business of putting their own budgets in order. However, in politics the name of the game is using the leverage at hand. Both sides are doing exactly that.

In today's turbulent political waters, it takes a courage beyond what most understand to buck the base. Think back to Governor Bob McDonnell's battle with those in his own party last year over the transportation issue. He was the victim of some of the most vile, vitriolic bellowing I have seen -- from the right side of the aisle. So the News Leader noted:

At the Civil Rights Summit last week, where George W. Bush spoke of achieving together, Bill Clinton noted that political courage outlasts political capital. [emphasis added]

Very true.

The NL editorial concluded:

Democrats lost the south for a generation after the Civil Rights Act, but when they came back, they did something and agreed to a plan that had Republican roots, the Affordable Care Act.

Meanwhile, Virginia Republicans lose statewide races and refuse to compromise.

Working together, with give and take, usually works well in our country. Richmond needs to remember how to do just that.

Where will the Medicaid expansion hold-off go from here? I joined up with A Healthy Virginia Works, a group of chambers of commerce and hospitals as well as community leaders across the Commonwealth, in a quest to find answers and solutions. Senator Hanger and fellow senators have offered their Marketplace Virginia plan. Hopefully, that middle ground will be found, preferably sooner rather than later.

Verona Elementary survives school board meeting

 A standing-room only crowd filled the meeting room at the Augusta County Government Center on Thursday night as the school board met to discuss the budget and Verona Elementary School that had been put on the chopping block two weeks earlier. The Staunton News Leader has the latest.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
March 20, 2014

News Leader: 'Bill Bolling's good ideas'

Jean Ann Bolling, Dr. Kurt Michael, Lt. Governor Bill Bolling
Overlooking downtown Staunton, Virginia / August 17, 2013

Yesterday the Virginian-Pilot applauded Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling's ideas presented by his Virginia Mainstream Project PAC. Today, the Staunton News Leader agreed:

Monday, as the federal government stumbled toward shutdown and Virginia’s lamentable gubernatorial campaign dragged toward November, we received a much-needed reminder that some elected officials are still serious about governing.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the man who would be our next governor had Republicans had the sense to nominate him, released some excellent government reform proposals.

The Pilot noted the LG is not up for reelection, commenting:

In each case, Bolling's propositions settle right in the mainstream of Virginia politics. They are proposals that serve voters rather than political parties. They are neither obviously Democratic ideas nor clearly Republican.

They are, quite simply, legislative initiatives that should be - and no doubt would be - welcomed by the vast middle of the commonwealth's voters.

Unfortunately for all those voters, the man who proposed them will soon be out of state government, a victim of the same forces that kept those legislative ideas in a desk until Monday.

The Roanoke Times opined, Imagine: ideas, not ick. The first paragraph probably echoes what many are thinking in these final weeks of the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race:

Another week. Another palm slap to the forehead. Another “Gee, we could have had Bill Bolling” moment for Virginia voters.

For those who will point fingers and again accuse of sour grapes (I'd like to see how they would handle how many in the Republican Party have been treated by the current crop), the editorial continued:

Cynics will say that Bolling found his moral high ground only after losing the GOP gubernatorial nomination to Cuccinelli. While we wish the lieutenant governor had shown more verve in his response to partisan machinations that thrust him aside in favor of his flashier opponent, it would be unfair to suggest Bolling’s motives are so shallow. He has a genuine heart for good government, as demonstrated by his long-time support for bipartisan redistricting reform despite its unpopularity within his own party.

Read all the proposals presented by the LG's Virginia Mainstream Project.

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

Best headline of the day

Best headline of the day goes to reporter Megan Williams' article in today's News Leader:

Annual Apple Day excites Mary Baldwin campus to the core

Jurassic Park in Augusta County?

"Dr. Grant, my dear Dr. Sattler... Welcome to Jurassic Park."

John Hammond played by actor Richard Attenborough

Jurassic Park

Visitors who see dinosaurs peering through the trees around Grand Caverns in northeastern Augusta County may feel that they've entered Jurassic Park.

Reporter Laura Peters with the Staunton News-Leader talked with Mark Cline, whose imagination is never at a loss for something new and different in the central Shenandoah Valley. Now, along the hiking trail in the Grand Caverns park, don't be surprised if you run into one of the prehistoric creatures, compliments of Cline's talented hand. Read the article complete with photos here.

Song parodies serenade Virginia Republicans

"I write the songs that make the whole world sing," Barry Manilow warbled. Now we've got the songs that make the whole political world sing, or something like that.

This weekend the Staunton News Leader's editorial implored the Republican Party of Virginia to rethink their inevitable gubernatorial nomination in less than two weeks and put Bill Bolling on the ballot, and included a parody titled, "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bolling?" sung to the tune of "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey?" Of course, anyone with an ounce of political knowledge knows that won't happen.

Meanwhile, Julian Walker rolls out another artist's parody about Virginia's presumptive gubernatorial nominee in today's Virginian Pilot.

And it's just May ... and we're not even to Labor Day when the campaigns really kick off ... so think how many more parodies we may have before November 5th. We could call it Virginia's Hit Parade....

Staunton's 'Bird Lady'

March 2013: The bird feeder with lots of traffic -- cardinals, blue jays, titmouse, and juncos gather in the heavy snow. Juncos sit on fence pickets like yard ornaments. The birds like to gather under the picnic table out of the driving snow so we scatter bird seed there for those who don't want to be in the feeder.

YuLee Larner. She was an icon in this little southern city of Staunton, Virginia, because of her love of birds and her News Leader birding columns that talked everything "birds."

When my family moved to Augusta County in 1996 and subscribed to the News Leader, her column was one of the first things I got hooked on in my new location. Her way of communicating, just as if she was talking with you, came across in her writing, and she helped continue my love of our feathered friends that my parents had instilled in me.

When I discovered she lived in the big yellow Victorian house across from Thornrose Cemetery, it was almost as if a celebrity lived there. I would drive by and think, "That's YuLee's house. Wonder what she's doing today."

She was 89 when she passed away this week. That would have made her around 72 when we moved here, still very busy with her life of writing, birds, music. What a full life she led.

The News Leader remembered her in their Wednesday editorial, noting she wrote 1,800 columns over 36 years. That's a lot of words.

With gratitude and sorrow, we remember her final published words here at the News Leader. On March 18, she left us with this: The snow was beautiful and once it started to melt, the birds had a picnic. I had a picnic, too.

She was another person who loved feeding and watching the birds in the snow ... a kindred spirit. Here is a heart-felt thank you to YuLee for sharing her knowledge of the birds of Augusta County.

Staunton City Council prayer issue causes Holy Week controversy

Staunton City Council will close out the holy day MaundyThursday by taking a vote about whether or not to keep the invocation as part of their agenda. The non-sectarian prayer has traditionally opened their meetings; that is, until February 28, when Mayor Lacy King noted they would observe a moment of silence instead of the usual prayer which caught city council members off guard.

The possibility of this becoming a permanent change has caused concern among residents in the Staunton community. Councilwoman Oakes, who has been opening the meetings with the invocation for several years, noted that numerous citizens have called or emailed her in support of prayer, and she expressed disappointment that council would even consider removing it. Many churches and church groups have begun spreading the word about the change, and letters to the editor are beginning to appear in local newspapers.

Talking with Councilwoman Oakes, reporter Calvin Trice with the Staunton News Leader wrote:

"The council needs spiritual guidance in order to guide our conscience," Oakes said. “And you certainly need to have a conscience when you’re dealing with issues like city budget.”

Reporter Bob Stuart wrote in the Waynesboro News-Virginian:

Oakes, said "the invocation is a longstanding tradition for the city of Staunton." And she said further, that the invocation "recognizes the spirituality" that guides the conscience of council members.

According to the Charlottesville-based Rutherford Institute, non-sectarian prayer is legal for city councils and boards of supervisors, and has been constitutionally upheld by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. At the same time, city councils do have the right to remove prayer if they so choose.

Councilwoman Oakes, after conferring with Staunton city attorney Doug Guynn and Mayor King, has asked the mayor to bring the issue to a vote at the March 28 meeting, which happens to fall on Maundy Thursday, and has asked the citizens of Staunton to attend that meeting to show their support for the prayer.

Organizations such as the Valley Family Forum, led by Dean Welty who is working with local conservative leader Dr. Kurt Michael, are conferring with the Rutherford Institute in an effort to educate citizens on their constitutional right to have prayer before a public meeting. Staunton residents Carl Tate and Fonda Gardner have also joined in to assist.

When asked about the issue, Councilman Bruce Elder commented to the News Leader:

Councilman Bruce Elder said he always keeps matters of faith and its expressions very private.

“Personally, I think you have to be respectful of separation of church and state,” Elder said. “And you have to be respectful of diversity of faith.”

Dr. Michael, a Liberty University professor, noted, “This is not an issue of church and state. This is just another example of a few people trying to remove God from the public square. It is my understanding that a moment of silence is usually done in remembrance of people who have died. I hope the council members will remember that God is alive and well.”

If you are going....
What: Staunton City Council meeting
Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Staunton City Hall
116 W. Beverley St.
Staunton, VA 24401

Dickie Bell proposes drug tests for needy ... is it really needed?

When the Staunton News Leader starts sounding more conservative than our Republican elected officials, it gets my attention. I'm talking about Del. Dickie Bell's proposal to require drug testing of recipients of the Virginia Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in order to receive benefits.

The News Leader's editorial "Bill panders to prejudice" asked, "Because poor people use illegal drugs? And 'needy families' is a euphemism for addicts?"

On the surface, this sounds like a good idea but in the end it could cost Virginia taxpayers more money, specifically to the tune of $1.3 million.

Florida has a similar program that uses more than $1 million on drug testing but only 2% of the recipients fail the drug test.

In these hard economic times when the state is holding back money from localities that could be used to fund law enforcement, wouldn't it be wiser to spend that money to put more deputies on the streets to catch drug dealers rather than fishing for offenders among those who have fallen on hard times?

The News Leader wondered about the money, too:

In just about every political campaign, the candidate says he or she must cut the waste out of the budget. As funds get tighter, services are slashed and more people are left hurting, you hear about cutting waste. Then something like this comes along and those same leaders find $1.3 million to drug test poor people?

As history has shown us regarding bills like the one Dickie Bell is promoting, it passes with funding from the state but then after a few years the program is thrown onto the localities as an unfunded mandate, and the state takes credit for saving $1.3 million in the budget at the expense of those localities.

Perhaps the spending for new programs needs to stop.

UPDATE 2/12/12: The Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial agreed that drug testing would use money that could be used elsewhere:

Drug-testing welfare recipients, a proposal that was running full steam ahead, slammed into a wall when its high cost became apparent. Good. Florida adopted this reform, only to find out the vast majority of those on public assistance are clean. If the Assembly is going to test those on welfare for drugs, then it should include corporate welfare recipients as well as the poor.

Cross-posted at Bearing Drift

Staunton News Leader censorship?

Ah, the Staunton News Leader. They have been accused of censoring letters to the editor for years. Their left-slanted opinion is legend in these areas and is the reason many have abandoned the newspaper while others, including myself, have turned to the Waynesboro News Virginian. After three years, I am still very happy with the NV's fair-and-balanced reporting.

Yankee Phil had given the News Leader a fair chance over the years because he knew the publisher who is a neighbor. But he submitted a letter to the editor this week that had two whole paragraphs chopped off the end, and he's not happy.

And I'll tell you this: It takes a lot to get Phil upset because, as long as I've known him, this retired cop laughs quickly and angers slowly.

The NL changed the hard-hitting effectiveness of Phil's LTE, and he responded:

The worst part of the editorial was the last paragraph, concerning the comparison of the Tea Party movement to racism. The Democrat party is and has been the party that divides people by race. It is the home of Ku Klux Klanner Robert Byrd. It is the party of Jim Crow and Black Codes. It was Democrat Sen.Harry Reid who called President Obama " a light skinned" man without "a negro dialect". President Clinton said that President Obama would be fetching coffee for him and Ted Kennedy.

The very first Black, Mexican, and female members of Congress were all Republicans. It was the first Republican President who sent Americans to die to end the evil of slavery. It was a Republican who wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. It was Democrats who filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Acts. It was Republican Senator Everett Dirksen wrote the language for the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Civil Rights Bill. A. Phillip Randolph, a Republican organized Republican Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's March on DC for his famous "I have a dream" speech. It is the Republican Party that wants people to be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

There is a word limit for the NL so not sure if that came into play but it sounds as if they may not have given Phil the opportunity to rewrite his LTE, a courtesy I have been offered by the NL in the past. Phil asked:

Please let them know that you don't appreciate CENSORSHIP. Send in your own Letter to the Editor here or write the Executive Editor Davis Fritz at http://www.blogger.com/dfritz@newsleader.com

See Phil's original Letter to the Editor here.

Conservative exercising 1st Amendment? Expect to be attacked by liberals

As I read today's column in the Staunton News Leader from conservative Waynesboro resident Erica Lassen, I knew even before I read the comments that she was going to be verbally attacked for everything from her opinion to her conservative viewpoints to the always popular liberal tactic of personal attacks.

Sure enough, there were about 10 comments at the time and most were against her including the "seminar" commenters ... those who are there for every article about a conservative, spewing their vitriol ad nauseum.

Why should everyday Americans speak up in today's nasty political atmosphere?

There were Barack Obama White House appointees who owed back taxes but the mainsteam media gave them a pass. However, Joe the Plumber, who became a public figure simply because he asked a direct question of candidate Barack Obama, had his reputation dragged through the mud by the very same press that turned its head away from the Obama appointees. Liberal blogs excoriated the man.

Sarah Palin was named the Republican vice presidential nominee and she immediately came under attack from liberals and the mainstream media even though the Democrat vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden, had made demeaning statements about convenience store owners and other stupid remarks. He skated by while Gov. Palin and her family including her children continue to be attacked.

Katy Abrams spoke up at Sen. Arlen Specter's townhall meeting two weeks ago ... and leftists immediately bombarded her cell phone and her father's office phone. Liberal bloggers wrote nasty comments about her lack of intelligence and how stupid she sounded. She bravely went on "Hardball" and, as she later relayed to Glenn Beck, "The lamb was led to slaughter ... but the lamb survived." Katy, a stay-at-home mom of a seven-year-old and a four-year-old who dared to exercise her First Amendment right to address her elected representative, has seen her reputation dragged through the mud.

Now Marine veteran David Hedrick has spoken up at a Washington state townhall meeting, addressing his elected official to say "stay away from my children" and "keep your hands off my health care" and more. As he is applauded by conservatives, the leftists will go after him as they do any conservative who dares to stand up and speak out.

Back to Erica Lassen who, as a citizen of the SWAC area of the Shenandoah Valley, dared to write an opinion column voicing her conservative views. Just as others who have written letters to the editor, or even local conservatives who have been mentioned in articles written by NL reporters, she has come under attack by the seminar liberal commenters.

The NL has a reputation for those liberal sharks who lie in wake for the next conservative ambush. So, at 8:30 this evening, I checked the NL site to see how the comments were going.

There were a total of 15 comments ... 9 liberal, 5 conservative, and 1 neutral. An example of the liberal comments:

Wonder if Ms. Lassen's spot in this newspaper is a liberal conspiracy to make conservatives look ridiculous. Because it's working . . .

Now that's using fair and balanced debate. Read the comments for yourself and see what you think. I, for one, hope conservatives will continue to stand up, speak out, and fight for the liberties we are losing as a country. Those of us who are conservative must stand behind and support them because, if the day ever comes when conservatives cease to speak, liberals win.
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Update: Had a note from News Leader publisher Roger Watson (see comments) alerting me that Ms. Lassen is a regular column contributor to the newspaper so I have changed the post to reflect that. Since terminating my subscription to the News Leader two years ago and moving over to the Waynesboro News Virginian, I am no longer a regular reader so was unaware Ms. Lassen was a regular contributor. My thanks to Mr. Watson for the information.

LTE: Obama change not for the better

Waynesboro resident Erica Lassen has a Letter to the Editor in today's Staunton News Leader that questions the change brought about by Barack Obama and the Democrat Congress. Read and add to the online discussion.

Staunton News Leader cuts 5 more positions

Newspapers continue to hemorrhage jobs and the local Staunton News Leader is no exception. From a full staff of 90 full- and part-time workers, the NL is now down to 55. The latest were four full-time and one part-time jobs.

The NL's parent company, media giant Gannett that publishes USA Today, slashed 1,400 jobs throughout the company including those in Staunton.

Brad Zinn at the News Leader has all the details.

Spanky: "Is the Staunton News Leader desperate for readers?"

It is a legitimate question ... "Is the Staunton News Leader desperate for readers?" In this reddest part of Virginia where most are conservative and 75% voted for George W. Bush in 2004, the NL continues to aggitate and push away readers, lose subscribers, and alienate advertisers. It does not make political sense.

Now they have done it again by attacking Delegate Ben Cline, a very popular representative of voters in the 24th House District. This is not the first time the NL has attacked Del. Cline. They once said that instead of running for reelection he should stick to washing Congressman Bob Goodlatte's car.

Del. Cline has done nothing to deserve such public attacks from this liberal newspaper other than the fact he is a Republican and well-liked by his constituents.

Spank That Donkey has the complete story.

The trolls at the Staunton News Leader....

Submit a letter to the editor at the Staunton News Leader ... and you are expected to sign your name and provide contact information -- address and phone number -- so the editorial staff can check the legitimacy of the letter.

The NL publishes your letter ... and then you are subjected to their online trolls. Anyone can post a comment criticizing or praising the letter ... but, unfortunately, more often than not the commenters are criticizing the letter writer. Inaccurate information, foul language, and just plain garbage is allowed to pass through unchecked for anyone to read. Possible slander? Innuendo? Character assassination? It all happens at the News Leader's online opinion section. Their credibility in the community has slipped to abysmal depths.

As a result most conservative commenters have stopped posting to the NL because they were verbally ripped to shreds by anonymous trolls who, in typical cowardly fashion, hid behind their anonymous facades to write something they probably would not say if identified.

Here is a suggestion to the NL: start holding your online commenters accountable just as you do the letter writers. Require a name, address, and phone number ... and then contact them to verify their message before allowing the post to appear.

Time consuming? Yes. But the return would be a more balanced comment page and, perhaps, the possibility of more folks being willing to pen a letter to the editor. As of now it's open season on anyone who dares to write and take a chance on running the troll gauntlet of anonymous commenters waiting for the next victim.

Staunton newspaper reporter fired

According to the Associated Press, sports writer Blair J. Parker has been fired at the Staunton News Leader for fabricating stories and plagiarizing online material. She was fired Tuesday. This follows the departure in recent months of two well-known reporters and a photographer who moved on to other jobs as well as other personnel changes. This month a one-half-off subscription special was offered, and local businesses have been offered one-half-off advertising rates.

Newspapers play games with headlines....

How many times have you read a newspaper headline only to get into the article and discover the headline didn't accurately reflect the news story? I've seen it many times including the headings over letters to the editor.

In today's Staunton News Leader it happened again. The title says, "Sayre: Anti-tax, anti-immigrant." If you read no further you would leave thinking Scott Sayre was anti-immigrant. But knowing that was not true, I read the letter and found it said he was anti-illegal immigrant.

There's a big difference in what was written in the letter and what was implied by the title.

The News Leader should print a retraction and owe up that Scott Sayre is totally for legal immigration but opposes using tax dollars to reward those who disregard our laws.

It's time for newspaper to stop playing games with headlines.