Tom McLaughlin

Every once in a while the Richmond Times-Dispatch takes notice of bedraggled Southside, like this weekend when the newspaper published an editorial on recent deals to shovel public dollars into the maw of Microsoft and Martinsville Speedway.

Labor Day has come and gone, the traditional kickoff of the fall campaign season has arrived, and incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello and Republican Robert Hurt are battling it out just as expected. No rest for the weary, it seems, in politics and in war.

After much hoping, praying and waiting, Microsoft Corp. has made the decision to build a massive data center in Boydton, and for the first time in a long time Southside Virginia has a big economic development win under its belt.

It’s a little more than a week before Labor Day, the traditional kickoff of the fall campaign season, and the two major party candidates for Congress, incumbent Democrat Tom Perriello and Republican Robert Hurt, are on the air already with TV commercials. No rest for the weary, it seems, in politics and in war.

People use the term derisively, but the educational establishment — such as it exists in Southside Virginia — has one tough job on its hands. Start with the fact that far too few students in the area make it to college, a major hindrance to Southside’s long-term economic prospects. Then step back and consider that for many people —whether by choice or circumstance— college isn’t even a realistic option, and perhaps shouldn’t be.

The latest batch of data on school Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) has been released and Mecklenburg County schools earned the distinction of being one of only 12 divisions in Virginia to make the grade. Cause for cheer? Or yawns?

It’s not often that an issue crops up that unites opinion across the board from me to Bill Blalock, but Bob McDonnell’s bid to privatize liquor sales in Virginia seems to have done the trick.

It’s good to know that happy days are here again in Halifax County. After the Board of Supervisors’ epic meeting Monday night, what other conclusion can a free-thinking person come to regarding the state of the community? The supes practically handed out the party hats and champagne glasses as they signed off on nearly $9 million in grant applications to the Virginia Tobacco Commission for a passel of items, from new industrial buildings to a tire research center at VIR to a visitors center on U.S. 58. Knowing how the fiscal conservatives on the Tobacco Commission normally respond to requests such as these, Board members should consider taking up break dancing.

A few weeks ago this page featured dueling commentaries on uranium mining by respected voices on both sides of the issue, Dr. Robert Bodnar of Virginia Tech (a mining proponent) and Katie Whitehead of the Dan River Basin Association (an opponent). Together they made their respective arguments for and against the Virginia Uranium/ Coles Hill mine project upstream from us in Pittsylvania County. Mostly, however, the conversation was notable for attempting to strike a properly civil tone. Which raises the question: Is such a decorous debate possible, or even desirable?

It’s a little too early and way too hot to be tumbling around lustily in the political weeds, but that hasn’t seemed to slow down an letter writing campaign on behalf of a certain Republican candidate for Congress that includes several entries that couldn’t possibly be the work of sentient human beings.