Thursday, May 01, 2008
HeraldTrib Today: April 30, 2008
Two big stories top the news this week: School Board candidates answered a survey by the HeraldTrib just in time for the elections later this week (Terron Sims got his response in earlier today. I'll post it tomorrow morning. --ST). The county jail, on a daily basis, has 75 to 90 inmates who are being held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most are from elsewhere, but Arlington holds its own, too. [Mr. Sims' response has been posted, May 1. --ST] (Scroll down for the links.)
Arlington made a big splash late last year with a resolution stating that the county would follow all state and federal laws regarding immigration, but was still immigrant friendly while other Virginia counties were cracking down on illegals.
At the time, the county said that our police department would not be tracking down illegal aliens and asking about citizenship for every minor offense. What is less known is that under certain circumstances, the police will ask.
In fact the sheriff’s department must, by state law, ask about citizenry every time they book someone in their system. See the link to the story, below.
I have no plans to endorse a candidate in the school board race. I really have no plans to vote later this week when the Democratic party “endorses” its candidate. (I might change my mind, but we'll see.)
But I thought it was important to get the views of school board candidates, so that’s what I did (see their responses to the HeraldTrib survey, below).
Since political parties cannot nominate individuals to run for school board, they can only “endorse.” They do this by holding elections, open to everyone, and whoever gets the most votes (this year it is the top two vote-getters) wins the “endorsement.”
What stinks is that anyone who wants a shot at the “endorsement” must sign a statement saying that they will not continue to run if they lose the “endorsement.” It is a silly system both that the state will not allow a party to nominate and that the Democratic leadership plays along.
The winner of this election goes on to win in November, generally, since most of the field has been cleared out by the idiotic statement they signed. (The last question in the survey asked if any of the people planned to continue running if they lost—I was hopeful that one of them would write, “Hell Yeah!” but of course that did not happen).
I do not like the Tammany Hall feeling of the process. It’s an endorsement, or it is supposed to be. I believe it was yesterday that the governor of North Carolina endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. With his endorsement he did not say, “Now Obama MUST exit the race.” An endorsement should not carry that kind of weight.
Face it, the person who gets endorsed most likely will win, even if everyone could stay in the race (though I am sure some would bow out). Let the process run.
I have been meaning to report on this just a bit. You’ll notice Delancie has left the Arlington Oaks truck and is depositing mail in the box outside the El Paso Cafè.
A few astute readers have told me (and I believe it even came up at the Buckingham Center forum a couple weeks back) that the mailbox is too far from the curb!
It would have been just far enough to be a good practical joke if it weren’t permanent. Readers have told me they cannot reach the slot from their drivers' seats.
Normally I say, “Get out and walk for Pete’s sake, it won’t kill ya.” Yet the entire point of this box is that it keeps people from having to walk up to it. With luck, crews will move the box.
The Week’s Headlines…
As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com --Steve Thurston).
Today's Headlines:
Headlines from Earlier in the Week:
Labels: aps, Buckingham, election, ice, immigration, school board, schools
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