In an interview for the book Strategery, President Bush praised this new media.  Speaking about the forged National Guard records and Rathergate scandal that led to Dan Rather’s premature retirement, he said,

“It’s the beginning of the twenty-first century; it also happens to be the beginning of—or near the beginning—of a revolution in newsgathering and dissemination”

“I find it interesting that the old way of gathering the news is slowly but surely losing market share.  It’s interesting to watch these media conglomerates try to deal with the realities of a new kind of world.”

I don’t think the existing media channels are dying, but Bush is right that the media is changing. Welcome to the 21st century, it’ll be a great ride! 

The first snow this winter caused some real hardship on unimproved roads.  The local funding for maintenance was cut last year, so the back-roads clearing was delayed.  Then a refreeze; then more snow postponed attention even more. 

The result was thick ice-packs on most of the gravel roads. It was nasty driving.  I think our local VDOT folks (link, scroll down) did a good job with what they had. Before it was all over, construction scrapers with toothed blades were breaking up the hard-packed ice.

Thankfully, we’ve had a mild winter without much more snow.

Now the bad news: The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that statewide, VDOT’s already overspent their maintenance budget by $40 million.  Fuel prices played a part, but the deficit’s more than just that.

State upkeep is being delayed, cut back, or some items eliminated.  Trash pickup and shoulder mowing are already reduced.  Jim Bacon’s Road to Ruin covers the state impact.

Please keep this in mind when you run across road hazards.  By all means, let our local VDOT folks know about important problems; but don’t insist on attention to trifling details.  With limited dollars, we want the roads safe.

Fiddlesticks on the Senate Education and Health Committee for defeating a bill to stop unethical conduct of some doctors –mostly pediatricians— snooping into gun ownership under the pretense of ‘health’. The bipartisan measure cleared the House 88-11, then died in this Senate committee.

Calling them “one of the most dangerous risks of all” the American Academy of Pediatrics wants a ban on firearms; an outright prohibition. They push their member doctors to quiz patients –including children without guardian present—about their parents’ habits and gun ownership. Delegate Armstrong’s bill would have put a stop to that.

Never mind that firearms are one of the least threats to children; the doctors themselves kill ten times more children – by accident mind you—than guns do; and the good doctors are unsuccessful (cough, cough) at documenting these medical ‘misadventures’. The point isn’t to bash medicine, despite its faults we have a great medical system; it’s to condemn the abuse of a state-licensed position of trust for political purposes.

An in depth discussion is at law Professor Eugene Volokh’s blog. Having got his B.S. degree in computer science at age 15 and later clerked for Justice O’Connor, Volok’s got a distinctive viewpoint about the balance between micromanaging doctors and licensing them to push social agendas.

The proposed legislation would have still allowed biased physicians to talk about safety concerns, even lecture, on guns or whatever items they though relevant; the bill simply forbid uncalled-for snooping. It’s a shame the state has to consider this legislation; but it’s a shame that doctors are abusing their license and a shame it’s allowed to continue.

Apologies for whatever happened last evening. Tech support says "Mysql server was down due to too many connections“. Whatever that means, it’s fixed now.

Everyday displays more splendor to Shenandoah County than many see in a lifetime. This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Sunset. Looking south-east from Great North Mountain above the house. Supinlick Ridge is in the front, Short Mountain in the background, Massanutten Mountain barely peeking over it. Desktop-size image here.

War is politics by other means –von Clausewitz

Why websites when there’s newspapers? One answer is Wade Zirkle of Shenandoah County. No matter what your views, we owe this man –and his fellows—a hearing to understand their account of Iraq.

Lieutenant Zirkle was part of a unit that sprinted north into Iraq ahead of the Army, deep into hostile territory. At times surrounded by hundreds of attacking enemy, the unit fought its way far north of Baghdad. Mission accomplished, they rode home.
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Part of the growth pressure on Shenandoah County is from DC and NOVA. Metroplex prices are so outrageous that a Shenandoah County bedroom and a 90+ minute commute is tolerable.

Recent news suggests the DC/NOVA market is slacking off; and that’s good news —very good news— for Shenandoah.

In NOVA, home and condo sales are about half what they were a year ago, prices are declining, and active listings are way up.

Loudoun homes averaged 63 days to sell (31 days a year ago), 15% took over 6 months to sell, and January mean prices fell 8.2% from December. Not as dramatic as NOVA, but promising.

Cheaper housing in NOVA will keep those residents from seeing Shenandoah County as a cut-rate bedroom. It’ll take a while for the results to show here, but I’m hopeful.

Shenandoah County is the 5th leading agricultural producer in Virginia, and poultry production makes up more than half of that. The prospect of avian influenza (AI) is very serious; previous low-mortality outbreaks have been devastating to the farm community and economy.

Due to recent concerns –and a lot of press—about the possibility of the H5N1 strain infecting people, the County government is sponsoring an informational meeting about AI. Leading the discussion will be Dr. Dianne Helentjaris, Health Director of the Lord Fairfax Health District.

AVIAN INFLUENZA INFORMATION
Tuesday, March 7th, 7:00 PM
Shenandoah County Office Building
600 North Main Street
Woodstock

Dr. Helentjaris has just attended a summit on this form of AI and will have the latest facts about any threat from the virus; prevention and personal protection strategies. She will be joined by a representative from Virginia Tech, who can address the poultry aspects of the disease.

UPDATE - 2006-02-25 12 noon : The forum is open to the public.
Directions: I-81 Woodstock Exit 283, turn EAST onto Route 42 (West Reservoir Road), turn left (North) onto Route 11 (Main Street/Old Valley Pike). Go through four traffic lights, pass the Woodstock Shopping Center on your right. The Shenandoah County Government Center is the next complex on your right, parking in the rear.

UPDATE - 2006-02-28 12 mn :
Dr. Bill Pierson from the Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine will be there for the poultry side of AI/flu.  Dr. Pierson has extensive experience in the field, and was a lead investigator of the 2002 low-path outbreak in the Valley.

For those interested in agricultural preservation, right to farm, and the declining farm scene today, there’s an interesting (and heated) discussion at Commonwealth Watch about the limits of “agriculture”.

There’s a bill in the General Assembly that limits the control a county or other locality can have over vineyards and wineries. It allows by-right wine tastings, wine tasting meals, musical presentations with wine marketing,

“and similar agritourism activities whether conducted in the vineyards or on the grounds of the farm winery, which activities are designed to increase agricultural sales at the farm winery.”

At issue is the Commonwealth’s Right to Farm versus the limits of agriculture :

“No county, city or town shall enact zoning ordinances which would unreasonably restrict or regulate farm structures or farming and forestry practices in an agricultural district or classification unless such restrictions bear a relationship to the health, safety and general welfare of its citizens.”

The Board of Supervisors went to Richmond for the VACo/VML Legislative Day this year. The County’s a member of the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) and we get discounted insurance through the Virginia Municipal League (VML).

The Legislative Day is an event where speakers present the VACo/VML agenda, county or city delegations visit their Delegates or Senators. The presumption is the county delegations will carry these fresh talking points directly to their state representatives.

An interesting discovery from this year’s Legislative Day is that Virginia counties are now “15% urban, 65% suburban, and 20% rural.” Wow! The VACo legislative agenda highlighted that, with no rural concerns at all this year.

That’s a serious figure to Shenandoah County, the state’s 5th largest agricultural producer. Other items on the agenda highlighted that fact, being aimed at urban/suburban concerns, residential services and transportation issues.

When Tim Kaine was campaigning, he talked about connecting land-use to transportation needs. Now that he’s elected, some of Governor Kaine’s ideas fall short of being helpful. Don’t get me wrong, Gov. Kaine’s a fine fellow. That doesn’t mean I agree with all his views; or that he has the Valley’s best interests in mind.

One bill proposed this session under his agenda mandates that some counties –Shenandoah County is among them—have to allow developments by-right in agricultural areas. What are they thinking?

That afternoon Del. Gilbert was delayed in a committee, so we agreed to meet him jointly along with Page County and Mount Jackson officials. In regard to the urban-v-rural concerns, Gilbert agreed that was often the case, and the Page Supervisors said they’d noted the same problem.

When I asked them if they’d be interested in a coalition with Shenandoah and any other Valley counties, Page Chairman Tommy LaFrance suggested it was overdue and Supervisor Carol Fischer-Strickler (Page Co., D-5) agreed.

On February 14th the Board asked our administrator to contact Page, Rockingham, and Augusta Counties. We’ll find out if they’re interested in forming a Shenandoah Valley rural partnership or coalition; to protect rural Virginia from urban and suburban-oriented mandates from Richmond. I’ll keep you posted.