A walk down memory lane brings one back to a time in Rocky Mount when the streets would come alive on the first Mondays of every month for "Court Day." This was the day when court cases were tried, and all the drummers, dealers and farmers would come to town to sell, trade or buy at the market.

What a time for us to just stop and reminisce when blacks had businesses from the top of Main and West Court streets and down Warren Street in Rocky Mount. And when blacks came to town, they had places to go and things to do.

I would like to thank everyone for coming out to National Night Out cookout on Aug. 5 at the farmers' market in Rocky Mount.

One of the best crime deterrent methods is Neighborhood Watch. Our goal as law enforcement is to work with residents to create a Neighborhood Watch system that will benefit our community and, especially, our children.

I am writing on behalf of Tom Perriello, an amazingly energetic, committed and articulate candidate for U.S. Congress. He has proven his commitment to working for the "common person," helping to quell violence in Africa, building housing for the poor, starting faith-based organizations, which provide services for the poor.ﾠ

He is for diplomacy and negotiation first, warfare as a distant second.

Smith Mountain Lake homeowners do not consume the water that flows into the Staunton River.

American Electric Power does not consume the water that flows into the Staunton River.

For tens of thousands of years the water flowing into the Staunton River has been and is the result of rain falling on the Blackwater and Roanoke River watershed.

Keeping SML at either full pond or empty would result in that same flow of input=output that has been and is controlled by Mother Nature.

I am sure many in Franklin County would agree that the U.S. Congress has done a terrible job of meeting the needs of the average citizen. The social conservatives elected in the 1994 election that changed the Congress to a Republican majority resulted with control of the country handed over to banks, oil companies, health insurance companies and big business.

Well-meaning faith-based social conservatives along with the rest of the population have been betrayed by lawmakers who have run the nation into the ground and ruined everything from home ownership, to health care, to simply driving our cars.