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TMCNet: EDITORIAL: Steady Growth, Stiff Sentence, Texting Ban

[July 04, 2009]

EDITORIAL: Steady Growth, Stiff Sentence, Texting Ban

Jul 04, 2009 (Bristol Herald Courier - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- THUMBS UP TO: Al Franken becomes new Minnesota Senator After eight months of recounts and court battles, Republican Norm Coleman conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race on Tuesday.

Coleman announced his decision in St. Paul, hours after the Minnesota Supreme Court rendering a unanimous 5-0 decision. The court ruled that Franken, a former liberal commentator and "Saturday Night Live" comedian, should be certified the winner.

Thankfully Coleman did not keeping pushing -- he could have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead, Franken will take his seat in the Senate later this month, giving the state of Minnesota two senators, finally. Democrats are thrilled by the news because it gives the party 60 seats in the Senate, enough to overcome a Republican filibuster.

But resolution to this case is good for Minnesotans and the country, period. Eight months after an election is too long to seat anyone. Thankfully this long-contested race is now resolved.

Glade Spring, Damascus bucking trends Two small Southwest Virginia towns are holding steady, and even growing slightly, thanks to continuing focus on outdoor recreation and revitalization downtown.

Glade Spring and Damascus added 88 and 145 residents, respectively, between 2000 and 2008, according to U.S, Census Bureau population estimates. Nearly every other community in the region has stayed flat or lost population.

Five other communities that grew are Abingdon, Saltville and Wytheville, Va., and Bluff City and Bristol, Tenn. None grew by more than 6 percent.

Growth in Glade Spring and Damascus are largely due to surrounding natural beauty and a continuing focus on building and supporting downtown businesses. Glade Spring businessman and Councilman Lee Coburn should be commended for pushing forward with his plans to buy vacant, empty buildings and renovate them, when others tried to warn him away from the effort. His work has brought five new businesses into the town square.

Coburn and Dirk Moore, president of the development group called Project Glade, said the new businesses will keep attracting people to the town and give current residents a reason to stay. We salute these efforts and realize they are making a big difference in the region.

Madoff gets 150-year sentence for scheme Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday for a fraud the judge called so "extraordinarily" evil that he needed to send a message to anyone considering copying it and to the victims who demanded harsh punishment for this convicted Wall Street swindler.

The audience cheered and there was scattered applause in the Manhattan courtroom when U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin gave the maximum sentence to Madoff, 71. Chin rejected a request from Madoff's attorney for leniency.

"Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one that instead takes a staggering toll," Chin said in court.

Unless he later wins a reduced sentence, Madoff will spend the rest of his life behind bars because federal inmates are not eligible for parole.

Where else does a person who stole billions and ruined countless lives belong? THUMBS DOWN TO: Police ambivalence over texting ban No one said it was perfect, but Tennessee law enforcement officials interviewed by News Channel 11 seem ambivalent about enforcing a new law banning sending or receiving text messages while driving. The law does allow drivers to send and receive cellular phone calls.

Officers said unless they were certain what a driver was doing, they would not pull them over. And two other driving laws -- failure to operate due care and reckless driving -- can punish drivers with stiffer penalties than the $50 penalty for texting. But studies have shown that texting while driving is more dangerous than being intoxicated and that is why more than a dozen states, including Tennessee and Virginia, now ban the practice.

Certainly it is not simple to tell conclusively if a driver is making a phone call or texting someone. But if a driver is driving erratically, this new law is one more tool for law enforcement to use, along with existing penalties. Refusing to use it, or complaining about it, is not the answer.

To see more of the Bristol Herald Courier or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tricities.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Bristol Herald Courier, Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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