an ugly incident

Strasburg Police investigating a hate crime after a house was vandalized   

thank you, WHSV, for your factual report. we don't get many of those here in strasburg. 

despite politicians and others who may wish to put a lid on ugly incidents, and if unsuccessful, attempt to put lipstick on the pig, the fact remains that it's still a pig. 

I'm puzzled by the statement from town police that "they will continue to investigate leads". does this mean that the police are relying on leads from the public to investigate trespassing and vandalism in this case? or are the police investigating these crimes independent of whether or not they get leads from the public? 

other questions:

• will law enforcement vigorously investigate this crime? or will it be "handled" with "a wink and a nod"?
• will the perpetrator(s) be identified and charged? 
• will they be tried? 
• will they be sentenced? 
• if so, will the sentence be "a slap on the wrist"?

answer: time will tell.

are racists, bigots, homophobes and white supremacists good people? trump would have you believe that they are by the remarks that he made concerning the unite the right rally in charlottesville on august 12, 2017 during which Heather Heyer was killed. trump said that there were "fine people on both sides". the facts are that there were racists, white supremacists, a murderer and other violent people on one side. these aren't "fine people". 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlottesville_%22Unite_the_Right%22_Rally_(35780274914).jpg

Anthony Crider, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The same is true of january 6 when violent criminals stormed the US capitol destroying property, threatening lawmakers and assaulting, injuring and murdering police. these violent criminals are not good people.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tear_Gas_outside_United_States_Capitol_20210106.jpg
Tyler Merbler from USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

the facts are that as long as racism, bigotry, homophobia, white supremacy, violence and murder are not roundly condemned publicly, then people in the USA and around the world will think that the USA tolerates racism, bigotry, homophobia, white supremacy, violence and murder. 

citizens have the responsibility to speak the truth publicly.

e. king st.--under reconstruction for 2 years, done for a month and sections of curb and gutter removed and replaced

today I noticed that several sections of new curb and gutter had been removed from the recently completed e. king street reconstruction project. I got a close look at a section on the north side of e. king street at the right turn lane to massanutten st. the exposed edge of the sidewalk appeared to be about two inches thick. there was nothing below the bottom of the sidewalk to support it. 

the next day the removed sections of curb and gutter had been replaced. 

can you believe it?!? 

what happened? 

answer: we'll probably never know.

why not?

answer: because the town has a history of not communicating with its citizens.

what was done to fill the void below the bottom of the thin sidewalk?

answer: unless someone witnessed the replacement, then we'll never know that either.

shoddy construction.

red herring

Strasburg Town Council faces deadlines on Borden Mowery Drive project | Nvdaily | nvdaily.com  

the town created the business park with only a single access point to a public road (john marshall highway/rte. 55). two access points are required. failure to obtain the necessary agreements from adjacent property owners to provide the second access point to and from the business park has delayed the project for years.

now the town is looking for a loan. 

questions: pray tell, where will the funds to provide the second access point and to pay the loan back come from? from the town's citizens? 

answer: GOOD GUESS!!!

the 6 Ps:

Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance 

Strasburg to borrow $3.55 million for Borden Mowery extension | Nvdaily | nvdaily.com 

on a different note: "Also on Tuesday, the council passed a resolution recognizing a recent state law that moved municipal elections from May to November. This means that three council terms previously set to expire in June 2022 will run through December 2022. Vice Mayor Ken Cherrix asked if the council could stop this change, and Town Attorney Nathan Miller replied that not complying with the date change would be illegal. 

Council members have said moving the elections to November will make the races more political." 

more political??? WHAT A HOOT!!! what can be more political than electing a bunch of politicians?!? 

Thank you, NVD, for your excellent reporting. 

 

bravo!

it's good to know that town and county officials have pledged to collaboratively attempt to attract businesses to the north shenandoah business park. the net negative trend of businesses leaving strasburg must be reversed. 

strasburg citizens can benefit from quality commercial and residential development. the tax base will increase allowing improvements to be made to the town's infrastructure. these improvements are necessary if strasburg is to become a dynamic, competitive and thriving 21st century community. 

talk is cheap. lets hold our town and county officials accountable for their pledge to attract businesses. let's demand positive results.

huh?

did anyone else read the attachment to this month's water bill? about the revised trash pickup schedule for labor day week? does it make any sense to you? 

what about trash pickup for those whose regularly scheduled trash pickup is on Wednesday? did anyone at the town check this announcement before it was sent out? how can one screw up a one day shift?