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Opinions

Engage with diverse voices in Lexington, VA – The News-Gazette's Opinion page offers insightful perspectives on local and regional issues.

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Trump, Republicans ‘Have No Solutions’
Trump, Republicans ‘Have No Solutions’
Feb. 19, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: While complaining that the economy is in the Dumpster, why do over 100,000 people pay an average ticket price of over $200 to attend the Daytona 500, $377 to attend an NFL game, and over $1,000 for a Taylor Swift concert ticket (transportation, food and lodging excluded). Store shelves are full, and interstates are loaded with trucks carrying commodities from greedy manufacturers! Stop buying nonessential stuff and prices will come down. Consumers drive the economy, not the president. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
‘Imperative’ That U.S. Assistance To Ukraine Continues
‘Imperative’ That U.S. Assistance To Ukraine Continues
Feb. 19, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Words cannot begin to describe my exasperation with the House Republican leadership’s current refusal to take up legislation to provide military and humanitarian support to Ukraine in its effort to combat occupation by Russia. Perhaps the death of Alexei Navalny will change this. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Ben Cline ‘Betraying’ Ukraine To ‘Please Trump’
Ben Cline ‘Betraying’ Ukraine To ‘Please Trump’
Feb. 19, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: In your excellent Feb. 14 editorial, “Ukraine Aid Is Good For America,” you wrote: “Supporting Ukraine now is in our direct national interest, and shouldn’t be a political football. Not voting aid to Ukraine would be a shameful and craven act.” 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Senate Border Deal ‘Filled’ With ‘Loopholes’
Senate Border Deal ‘Filled’ With ‘Loopholes’
Feb. 19, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Your editorial of Feb. 14 inaccurately states that one political party reversed its position on the “border compromise” recently considered by the Senate. The characterization by the media that Senate Republicans rejected legislation which would control illegal immigration is completely inaccurate. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Columnist ‘Critical’ Of ‘Protest Speech’
Columnist ‘Critical’ Of ‘Protest Speech’
Feb. 12, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I found Mike Lowry’s recent piece on free speech to be highly problematic. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Rockbridge Farm Bureau Opposes Airport Study
Rockbridge Farm Bureau Opposes Airport Study
02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Newspaper Issue Boils Down To Community, CharacterFeb.
Newspaper Issue Boils Down To Community, CharacterFeb.
17, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I trust readers have been following the publisher’s informative reports on the decline of community newspapers. Matt Paxton mentioned that an average of 2.5 community papers per week shut down during 2023. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Dogs On Trail Must Be On Leash
Dogs On Trail Must Be On Leash
Feb. 16, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Dogs on the Chessie Nature Trail must always be on a 6-foot leash for the safety of trail users, other pets, and wildlife. Most dog owners respect this rule, but recently, there have been multiple incidents of unleashed dogs on the trail. Even a dog who is not aggressive can be scary to someone who is afraid of dogs, and an aggressive one can scare all of us. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Out Of The Past
Out Of The Past
02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Wednesday
Wednesday
As a part-time employee at The News- Gazet te, I have the privilege of taking Wednesdays off. This was an arrangement that was made back in April 2020 during COVID’s reign of terror. And now Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Promoting Diversity, Inclusion And Equality
Promoting Diversity, Inclusion And Equality
The Rockbridge NAACP is attempting to convey a welcoming message of inclusivity for people of all backgrounds in the Rockbridge, Lexington and Buena Vista community. Local chapter President the Rev. Reginal A. Early points out that this hopeful message may be seen via a new billboard on Interstate 81 south at mile-marker 202 with the words, “Hand in hand, moving forward together,” accompanied by a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an American flag. 02/20/2024 11:00 PM
Fascism Has No Place In Our Country
Fascism Has No Place In Our Country
Feb. 10, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: The cartoon of Trump “goose stepping” across the cover of The New Yorker magazine was a scary wake up call to the direction Trump and his MAGAts (short for MAGA cult) have been heading. Perhaps many of the MAGAts are too young to understand the horrors of World War II and why we fought. My Dad nearly lost his life from wounds he acquired on the front in France. By the time he recovered, the Allies were halfway across Germany. 02/13/2024 11:00 PM
How Stable Is This Genius?
How Stable Is This Genius?
Feb. 5, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: A frog agrees to carry a scorpion across a river, the scorpion assuring him he won’t sting because they would both drown. Being a scorpion, he stings the frog, drowning them both. 02/13/2024 11:00 PM
Opposes Airport ‘Boondoggle’
Opposes Airport ‘Boondoggle’
Feb. 9, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: I have to agree with the letter from Kathleen and Gordon Ball, questioning the need for a taxpayer-funded airport in Rockbridge. I realize that many current citizens of Rockbridge weren’t here 30 years ago when this proposal was last brought up. The issue was hotly debated and most citizens came to the conclusion that although the airport would be almost entirely paid for and maintained with their tax dollars, there would be little to no benefits for those citizens not owning an airplane. The proposal was voted down by Rockbridge citizens 75 percent to 25 percent. 02/13/2024 11:00 PM
Green Shoots
Green Shoots
Last week, a friend contacted me a nd told me that his h ome t ow n community newspaper in Iowa had announced that they were closing. His message said, “I felt like my old friend just died. Very hard to take. I thought to myself ‘now there is nobody who will record the goings-on in this town anymore.’” This is being repeated in towns and cities all across America. 02/13/2024 11:00 PM
Out Of The Past
Out Of The Past
02/13/2024 11:00 PM
Ukraine Aid Is Good For America
Ukraine Aid Is Good For America
Last week, we watched the spectacle of one political party abruptly reversing their position on the combined Border-Israel-Ukraine bill, after saying for months that that was what they wanted. 02/13/2024 11:00 PM
Revisit Original Dog Park Proposal
Revisit Original Dog Park Proposal
Feb. 5, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: It’s good news to hear that the city is interested in creating adog park! And (as most of us have heard before) “if you’re going to do something, do it right.” The first and most influential step in creating a dog park is choosing its location. 02/06/2024 11:00 PM
‘What About Long-term Costs’ Of Airport?’
‘What About Long-term Costs’ Of Airport?’
Jan. 29, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I write opposing development of an airport in Rockbridge County. I grant that the cost would be perhaps 2% to the county. However, where does the other 98% originate? Taxpayers ‒ you and me also! These dollars could be better used for educational, drug rehab and prevention, and other humanitarian activities. 02/06/2024 11:00 PM
Bill Would Change Primary System
Bill Would Change Primary System
Feb. 2, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Heads up unaffiliated voters! Legislation (VA HB56) has been proposed in the Virginia House of Delegates that will disenfranchise unaffiliated voters. 02/06/2024 11:00 PM
County ‘On The Cusp Of Ruin’
County ‘On The Cusp Of Ruin’
Feb. 4, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I read most of the article in the N-G about the supervisors meeting in which the proposed airport was discussed. But I had lost the first part of the story, so I don’t know who is proposing the idea or why. Based on what I read, the only supervisor who asked the right question was Bob Day: “Why build an airport for private planes?” 02/06/2024 11:00 PM

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