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THE TOP STORY: Howdy, partner INSIDE ... No car tax By Chris Graham/AFP Former governor Jim Gilmore is solidly behind the Virginia General Assembly's efforts to finish what he started eight years ago with his gubernatorial-campaign promise to phase out the car tax. "It is time to do what we promised the taxpayers that we would do with regard to the car tax a long time ago," Gilmore told The Augusta Free Press. IN FOCUS: The people's gubernatorial candidate By Chris Graham/AFP Shirley Harvey is not the Green Party candidate that you would expect. An accountant by trade, Harvey, a former member of Richmond City Council, is a stickler on the issues of holding a tight line on government spending and returning money accumulating in the form of a state-budget surplus to Old Dominion taxpayers. ROCKINGHAM BEAT: From the WSVA newsroom ... By Karl Magenhofer and Miriam Dickler Penny war gains momentum Timberville mom gets a year in jail EYE ON THE VALLEY: Gas-price roller coaster By Chris Graham/AFP The good news ... gas prices are down from a Dec. 1 high. The bad news ... they're trending back upward again. "And it's really hard to say where they're going to go from here," AAA Mid-Atlantic analyst Windy VanCuren said on Wednesday. THE NOTEBOOK: Two injured in jail-complex fire By Chris Graham/AFP Two people sustained injuries after a fire broke out at the Middle River Regional Jail construction site in Verona on Wednesday morning. Crews from the Augusta County Fire Department, Verona Volunteer Fire Department and the Staunton Augusta Rescue Squad responded to the scene of the blaze, assistant county administrator John McGehee told The Augusta Free Press. NOTES FROM THE PRESS: Talkin' politics By Chris Graham/AFP Counter-intuitive Not surprised that Kaine not stepping down Give it back BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: Recruit this By Chris Graham/AFP It occurred to me the other day that I spend way, way too much of my time worrying about things that I know absolutely nothing about. Take, for instance, college-football recruiting. Please. I beg of you. I couldn't give you more than one name of a player that my alma mater has in the bag for the coming recruiting year. STOP THE PRESSES: Stupid dadgum dog By Chris Graham/AFP I take the same backroad to Staunton two or three days a week. And every time I drive by the house at the corner of the oversized corn field right there outside of New Hope ... "Yap! Yap! Yap! Yap-yap-yap-yap-yap!" A smallish black dog nearly runs under my drivers-side front tire. Without fail. The first 20 or 30 times, naturally, this totally freaked me out. CRYSTAL CLEAR: 'Idol'-atry By Crystal Graham/AFP I watch a lot of things on TV that my husband does not approve of. I think it must be something in the female genes that we makes us seek out programs very different than our male counterparts like to watch.Take for example, "American Idol." I'm not a teen, and yet, I find myself drawn to this program.
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Guest Views
Praise for the Babe I read your article on the Babe (I miss The Babe, Aug. 12 AFP). It was great. I was team manager of the football team at Crespi High School for the two years that Babe Laufenberg played on the varsity team. He was a great guy, and I was always frustrated to not see him play more in the NFL. He was always humble despite his achievements, and you couldn't help but cheer for the guy. - Rich Kjeldgaard
Suntan oil for food UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting in Jakarta, in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunamis declared, "What happened on 26 Dec. 2004 was an unprecedented, global catastrophe. It requires an unprecedented, global response." I suppose we will all dig deep again and support some form of Annan and Son "Suntan Oil for Food" program. Don't laugh. - Armond "Si" Simmons, Pell City, Ala.
Inside the mind of Chris Bennett I read with great interest your article on the wrestling abilities of Chris Bennett (Making a name for himself, Jan. 14 AFP). I was at the "Night of the Superstars" event with the eight-man tag-team match. Although you were correct that the energy and enthusiasm left the square ring after the eight-man dance, along with it went one very intelligent young man. This young man can discuss a large variety of subjects with the same insight and knowledge that he readily displays on the subject of wrestling. Wrestling appears to be the one passion that he is going to persue, and I guess it's going to be a life-long love affair. The next time you have an opportunity to speak with Mr. Bennett, try covering some other subjects. You just might find a brain inside the head that gets bounced around in the ring. - Jim Monington
The views expressed by letter writers do not necessarily reflect those of management of The Augusta Free Press.
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(Published 01-20-05/Opinion) Click here to email a copy of this story to a friend |
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