On June 23, the General Assembly will convene in special session to deal with transportation legislation, having been called back to Richmond by Gov. Tim Kaine. The original impetus for this special session was the decision of the Virginia Supreme Court to overturn regional transportation funding programs for northern Virginia and Hampton Roads that were included in House Bill 3202 which passed both houses and was signed by the Governor in 2007.

Inspiration can mean many things. What drives you? Motivates you? Keeps you going? What changes the way you view the world around you? I tried to figure out what inspired me in life, and what carried me through my high school years as I tried to become not only someone that my peers would look up to, but someone who Christ can be proud of.

Both the Madison County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors approved 199-foot cell towers despite unequivocal language in the comp plan that should have precluded such approval. 

Thumbs up to county officials’ idea to block access to the county’s shooting range to non-Madison County law enforcement officers. Madison officers do need a close-by range to practice shooting – and so do taxpayers, who would be hit with added expense if they have to keep paying hefty mileage fees for Madison deputies to use ranges in other counties. But letting outside agencies over-run the Shelby range apparently inflicted a good bit of unneeded misery for folks living nearby. The outsiders overwhelmed the facility, forcing expanded hours and even creating traffic problems as users sped to and from the site (we’re assuming the out-of-county lawmen were the ones reportedly speeding, since hometown “Madison Pride” likely keeps Madison lawmen more neighborly than outside ones).

The letter to the editor of May 22 alerting us to the “bear problem” and the dangers that attend their presence—particularly their predilection for feeding at birdfeeders—was quite helpful and reminded me that I’ve been meaning to talk to the board of supervisors to suggest they do something about all the wildlife, the prevalence of which [one infers from the increase in sightings] has greatly increased over the past 20 years or so. Perhaps a comprehensive zoning ordinance to manage it is in order.

When I was on active duty in the Air Force I had an opportunity to be stationed overseas in Germany near the French border. My family and I often visited the Lorraine American Cemetery in France. Staff Sgt. Andrew Miller is buried there. I will share with you his story while fighting near the French German Border during World War II. It comes from a citation he received.

As a “new deputy” to the Madison Sheriff’s Office and a “casualty of the last election in Culpeper,” I would like to address several of the issues brought up by Charles P. McDowell of Reva. First of all, Madison Sheriff Erik Weaver did not let anyone go after his re-election or the proper phrase is “not reappoint” anyone. I would venture to say that anyone who left did so because the opponent did not get elected. 

Sheila and Scott Chadwick’s daughter, Rene, is getting serious with Larry Barnes. He’s 21. The families haven’t known each other, but they’ve known of each other. That’s the way it is in Bucksnort. You either know a person or know of them — sometimes a lot more than you wish you knew! 

If you haven’t checked out our Web site lately --www.madison-news.com—now is a good time to do so. It received a major revamp late last month and now has all sorts of new bells and whistles.