Early Morning Fire Destroys Home In Prices Fork

Montgomery County, Va. - An early morning fire totally destroyed a Montgomery County home this morning.  Neighbors on Doubletree Lane in the Prices Fork area were awakened by the light of flames towering above the trees surrounding the 10 year old two-story log structure and called 911. Two of the home’s occupants were transported to the hospital to be checked out, and have since been released.

Marlin Harris, the owner of the home, watched from a neighbor’s home as members of the Blacksburg Volunteer Fire Department worked to cool down the smoldering ruins of his home, but despite his loss he managed to keep his sense of humor. “It burnt up,” he quipped when asked if anyone knew what happened. 

The Times, They Are A Changing!

Well, from all indications Spring has sprung! The weather is turning warmer, birds are once again in abundance, and best of all outdoor activities are once again in our plans. Of course, along with the good comes the bad not-so-good, such as mowing grass, pollen, and stinging insects. From my perspective, it’s a good trade-off.

I’ve spent the past week or so helping my John Deere riding mower celebrate its 25^th birthday with new belts, bearings, and well-deserved oil change, and now it’s almost ready to tackle another summer’s worth of grass. While doing so I happened to glance over and see the first red wasp of the season, and it reminded me that now is the time to keep an eye out for nest building activities around the house. Although I do understand the beneficial nature of the evil looking little critters, no one wants an unexpected confrontation with a dozen or so of them when they’re angry. By the way, if you are one of those unfortunate souls with a severe allergy to bee stings now is an excellent time to check the expiration date on your Epi-pen; be sure to ask your doctor for a new prescription if yours is out of date.

One of the great things about living in Montgomery County is the Huckleberry Trail and with the new extension almost completed, with the exception of one set of hand rails, this is the perfect time to break out the walking shoes or bike and make the most of the wonderful weather. Along with the Huckleberry Trail, there are a number of other great places to hike, bike, and ride horseback in the area; there is no excuse to spend your days inside, let’s get out and move a little!

Among the outdoor events that will be on the calendar for the summer are Up On The Roof, which starts the 2015 season on April 30^th, The Blacksburg Chocolate Festival on April 18^th, Fork & Cork on April 19^th, the International Street Fair, also on April 19^th (definitely a day to spend in Blacksburg). Don’t forget the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market, the Community Market of Blacksburg, and the new Christiansburg Farmer’s Market.

Need to get the kids up to speed on their swimming skills for the summer? Swimming lessons and lots of opportunities to practice are available at both the Christiansburg Aquatic Center and the Blacksburg Aquatic Center. Please don’t let a family outing turn into a very preventable disaster, teach your kids to swim.

This is the time to get out and about, whether your interests lie in nature, downtown, music festivals, target shooting, horseback riding, gardening, fishing, kayaking, or any number of other great outdoor activities. Be safe, be active, and get out there and make the most of life!

Happy Spring!

Will You Get To Vote In A GOP Primary?

How many of you remember the 2012 Presidential Primary fiasco that resulted in only two of the declared GOP candidates being on the ballot in Virginia – Mitt Romney and Ron Paul? Many people, myself included, chose to vote for Ron Paul over Romney as a protest rather than being able to cast a vote for our favorite candidate. Some blame the candidates for not being organized enough to get their names on the ballot, but the fact that those candidates were able to get on the ballots of the other 49 states makes it clear that the problem was with the qualification process in Virginia rather than the candidates’ organizing abilities.

The fix for that is simple, choose any state where the candidates were all on the ballot and adopt a similar qualifying process for Presidential candidates. Unfortunately some in the Virginia GOP have advocated a different approach – choosing the Presidential nominee at a state nominating convention rather than holding a primary. Proponents of this plan say doing so will prevent Republican voters in Virginia from being disenfranchised.

Let that sink in for a minute.

In order to prevent Republican voters from being disenfranchised of their vote for their Presidential Primary favorite, they want to prevent 99% of Republican voters from being able to vote for their candidate of choice. Huh? Voters who were angry about not having enough choices in 2012 are going to be less angry about not having a choice at all in 2016? Can someone please tell me how that works?

When I expressed my disagreement with this plan via the comments section of the Bull Elephant blog, the answer was that if people wanted to vote all they had to do was become a delegate to the Convention, otherwise they could join the local party and vote for a delegate that would vote for them. Frankly, the only people who would suggest something like that are people who do not understand the average Republican voter.

While some of us are into politics like others are into football or NASCAR, most people are not. The majority of voters are people who pay just enough attention to politics to get mad about what goes on in the country, but only get involved when the polls open. They don’t join political parties, campaign for candidates, and they most certainly do not travel to Richmond for two or three days to attend a political convention. An increasing number of voters express dissatisfaction with both parties and identify themselves as Independents.

I have spoken to a number of people, both politically active and just average voters, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has reacted negatively, VERY negatively, to the idea. In fact, the response from one average voter pretty much summed up the sentiment: “If they do that,” he said, “I will never vote for a Republican in this state again”.

As a Republican candidate for office, that reaction bothers me a great deal. We need solutions to the nominating process that will result in higher Republican voter turnout, not dramatically less which is what a nominating convention will likely do.

At a GOP Leadership Conference held in Wytheville, I had an opportunity to discuss this issue with Virginia GOP Chairman John Whitbeck who said there were a number of problems associated with a nominating convention that would have to be overcome before that process could be adopted. He seemed very concerned with the potential for lower Republican voter turnouts due to this issue and was very open to other ideas. He asked me to tell people who were opposed to a nominating convention to contact him and/or members of the Central Committee to express their disapproval.

This issue has not been widely reported and most people are unaware of what is being considered. A decision has not yet been made, so now is the time to let your views be known.  I encourage anyone who wants to have a voice in the nomination process to go to https://rpv.org/about/state-central-committee/ and email John Whitbeck and members of the Central Committee with their comments. Also please share this article with as many of your friends as possible to help get the word out.