Columnists for Stafford County Sun

KERR: A look at Jim Webb’s ‘new’ GI bill

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:32:00 EDT

Even as our nation was mobilizing to fight World War II, we were thinking about the future of our veterans when the fighting would end, generating an unusual and forward-looking discussion.

CALLANDER: Compromise can remedy roadblocks

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:30:02 EDT

Bipartisanship can go a long way in coping with transportation nightmares. We need leaders who spend less time grandstanding and more time working together to come up with viable answers. Our state legislators could learn a lesson from a recent bipartisan success here in Stafford.

KERR: Sneezing my way through spring

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:48:00 EDT

Nature gave trees and grasses a problem to solve. Just like any other species, plants and trees need to share genetic information with one another to reproduce, but at the same time, unless we’re talking about a plant from a science fiction movie, they have a problem. They can’t move from place to place.

BLANKENSHIP: Don’t blame Bush for everything

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:46:00 EDT

I’m worried about George Bush. Granted, his administration has prevented any further terrorist attacks since 9/11. That’s good, and may we never really know just how good.

CALLANDER: Supervisors deserve proper compensation

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:33:00 EDT

There’s a movement afoot to discredit members of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors who voted to raise their salaries last year and who aren’t willing to eliminate that pay increase in this tough budget year.

BLANKENSHIP: Ah spring, birthdays and canna lilies

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:31:00 EDT

What’s new? Well, for one thing it’s springtime. And despite a long drought last year, my flowering plants have survived and flourished so far. Some do look battered but unbowed

CALLANDER: Maintaining quality of life in Stafford

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:54:00 EDT

“Green” is the word of the month. While some talk green as in ecologically sustainable living for Earth Day, others talk green as in dollar bills.

KERR: Advice for Virginia’s Republicans

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:52:00 EDT

Normally the Republicans don’t ask me for advice. I can understand, and what’s more, most of the time they seem to get along just fine without my help. However, Virginia’s Republican Party is in trouble and if it doesn’t do something, and soon, it’s going to be, politically at least, on the outside looking in.

BLANKENSHIP: Blame lawyers for mortgage mess

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:53:00 EDT

Be honest now. Did you ever read all the fine print when you signed up for a home mortgage?

Maybe John Wayne had it wrong

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:47:00 EDT

America is often called a litigious society. In other words, we sue one another over just about anything.

BLANKENSHIP: Obama, and thoughts on church life

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:57:00 EDT

He hit a home run. That was my first reaction to that memorable speech by Barack Obama. That was before all the pundits hailed its greatness, its deficiencies and his gall.

CALLANDER: Media fairness needed

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:05:00 EDT

Freedom of the press is an integral part of our democracy, but from
what I’ve been seeing lately, for a better America our mass media
should spend more time reporting fact and far less time distorting and
sensationalizing the news.

Illegible writing is on the wall

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:24:00 EDT

If I were writing this with a pencil, you probably couldn’t read it.

Board meets with tough choices

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:08:00 EDT

Members of Stafford’s board of supervisors considered a difficult question recently: Should the county allow businesses that would generate substantial truck traffic to locate in the courthouse area?

Watch helps memories tick on

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:06:00 EDT

Most families have a little something, a trinket or a token perhaps, that connects them to a generation before them. It can be anything. A tea service that belonged to a special aunt, a pen your grandfather used to carry, or in the case of a friend of mine, a St. Christopher’s medal that his dad wore during the Korean War. The possessions can be surprisingly commonplace, but for various reasons, they become a representation of the person who once owned them.

Former editor says he’s still standing

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:03:00 EDT

When I made the decision to leave as editor of this fine paper and return to my home state of Minnesota in November 2005, it was for three reasons.

HOLLIFIELD: Beware avenger in fringe

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

Terrorists burned pieces of my childhood during the early morning hours of March 16.

KERR: How blue is the state of Virginia-

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:03:00 EDT

Virginia Democrats, after winning the Governorship in 2005, a U.S. Senate seat in 2006 and last year the majority in the Virginia Senate, are understandably optimistic about their future.

BLANKENSHIP: Economy’s woes hit the aging

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:03:00 EDT

See those storm clouds gather. They're not just bringing April showers. Rather, go fetch the handbasket, for that's what the U.S. economy is going to hell in.

HOLLIFIELD: Career fair mortifies

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:03:00 EDT

I knew I was in deep trouble at the fifth-grade career fair when I eased into the parking lot and the Highway Patrol's fancy display helicopter landed 50 feet from my truck.

CALLANDER: Thoughts on preserving Widewater

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

In the late 1980s Elaine Miller, a very bright and community-conscious woman, took me on an automobile tour of Stafford's rural Widewater peninsula, and I was awestruck.

BLANKENSHIP: Elsewhere it’s been downright cold

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

Talk about a one-trick pony: There are no easy solutions to climate change, bemoans a Washington Post editorial, which concludes that we must nevertheless "confront the menace of global warming."

Easter a danger zone

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:03:00 EDT

I never knew Easter could be so dangerous. But Mr. No-No did.

Callander: Grackle invasion hits the area

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

When large flocks of black-colored birds visited our south Stafford neighborhood a couple weeks ago, I thought they must be flying through, perhaps heading north for the summer.

STEGON: Hopefully they will vote for who they want

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:03:00 EDT

For the first time in my life I am actually following the presidential primaries. And by following them I mean watching CNN and reading the newspaper, along with catching the occasional debate on YouTube.

HOLLIFIELD: Flush with excitement over best restroom

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

Nominations for the seventh-annual America's Best Restroom Award are being taken now through April 7, with an overall winner announced in August, if you can hold it that long.

CALLANDER: Logic can fix transportation woes

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:02:00 EDT

While our roads are congested and our commuter parking lots are at or above capacity, it would be smart to de-congest our heads and return to simple logic as it relates to resolving transportation issues.