A recent letter compared the Advocates for Sustainable Albemarle Population study of the optimal sustainable population level for Charlottesville and Albemarle County to spending money to determine how many angels can dance on the head of a pin (“Popula-tion objectives are suspect,” The Daily Progress, April 16).

Hooray for the hero!
  Slap him on the back and buy him a round of … um … dog biscuits.
A black Labrador retriever named Guinness saved his family from fire last week with his persistent barking.

Next to the feed store at the corner of Church and Main, right near the Sheriff’s Office and catty-corner from the DMV, a faux brick walkway meanders through a small park with wrought iron arches sporting iron vines entwined to spell “Beasley Park.”

Robert Fulghum returned to kindergarten for inspiration — why not UVa?
A University of Virginia group staged what used to be called “a happening” this week, based on a theme as unpretentious as show and tell.

Re: “Soccer balls bring solace to children,” The Daily Pro-gress, April 26, about donating soccer balls to children in Mosul, Iraq:

Leaving Charlottesville by air, one becomes acutely aware of the disfigurement that would be created by a water pipeline from the Rivanna River to Ragged Mountain Natural Area - a 10-mile scar across the face of Albemarle. Is this what we want to leave for the next generation?

For 25 years I have lived in Charlottesville and have enjoyed every day, season and year here. This is a very special community and great place to live, but we all know that. Visitors see what we have, tell us about it and many return to live here

Government by gridlock?         
Surely, we can do better.
Progress on the Meadowcreek Parkway has stalled again, this time over design of the interchange at McIntire Road and the U.S. 250 Bypass. Charlottesville City Council rejected a proposed design — but lacks consensus over what should replace it.

We are currently diving headlong toward the most devastating depression ever experienced. Commodity prices, including oil, are skyrocketing at an accelerated rate, without any improvements anticipated in the foreseeable future. Yet, Washington, both the executive and legislative powers, continues to fiddle a la Nero.

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again:
Sen. John Warner is, as Chuck Robb described him, a “true Virginia gentleman.”
We reject the pessimistic idea that his is a disappearing breed, but truth be told there are few leaders left of his stature and strength.
And few, too, with his longevity.

The Business article of April 17, “Quarterly results upbeat; stocks surge higher,” is a perfect example of “pumping.”
Nearly every finance company, JP Morgan-Chase included, is reporting terrible quarterly results, yet a vice president of a trading company is cited calling them “strong earnings” and recommending buying.

At a recent Albemarle County School Board meeting, plans for artificial plastic turf continued.
The April 20 Washington Post story “U.S. Investigates Artificial Turf’s Lead Levels” stated that the federal government is investigating whether turf contains lead that rubs off and poses health hazards.

It was sad to lose a pre-Revolutionary War home in Schuyler to a fire recently.
But it was appalling to learn that a pre-Revolutionary War building in Zion Crossroads had been given up for destruction.
Enter rescuers Diane and Paul Manning.
Historic Hall’s Tavern dates to the 1750s; it was a stop for travelers between Richmond and Charlottesville.

In the spirit of earth week, I have a suggestion.

It was interesting to read the Yesteryears column in the April 20 Daily Progress (“Hair raising events in 1965 courts”).
I was a young police officer for Charlottesville Police Department in November 1967 and had to face Judge Allan Spitzer many times during the course of my law enforcement career.
I found out very quickly that he demanded respect in his courtroom, and would not hesitate to give someone a tongue lashing if they showed an attitude or tried to outwit him.

In the spirit of earth week, I have a suggestion.
If all property owners would pick up the litter thrown on their road frontage, it would keep our roadways beautiful.
It honestly does not take much time, and most of us could use the exercise.
Please consider making this a habit to help keep our state roadways clean.

Thirty days to win better rail service?
Well, let’s get moving.
Improved passenger service to Washington has long been a goal of rail advocates and ordinary passengers alike.
The one daily D.C. train that now serves Charlottesville and points north and south is typically booked so far in advance on weekdays that many travelers can’t get a seat.
Amtrak did try adding extra seating a few years back. But the cars that it used to provide that capacity were described by commuters as atrocious.

In front of the Charlottesville Police Department, set in a bed of flowers, a monument dedicated last week testifies to the dedication and sacrifice of the city’s law enforcement officers who died on duty.
But less than a half-block away, in the alley between the department and the Market Street Parking Garage, an act of heroism committed nearly 25 years ago goes unmarked.

How many years has the fiasco about the Meadowcreek Parkway been in the news and in the planning stage? Why can’t the planners realize that all aspects of the project need to be considered?

Now we have a delay because of Charlottesville High School and the loss of some of its land.

Who are the non-thinking, non-planning individuals who forgot or ignored this part of the puzzle?

I think it is shortsighted to think of reservoir expansion at Ragged Mountain and dredging of the Rivanna Reservoir as mutually exclusive issues; they are complementary, but expansion of the reservoir at the source of our supply addresses the long-term needs of our region more responsibly than dredging.

The relief that dredging provides is constantly diminishing because siltation is a constant and our demand for additional water is compounding.

Hindsight is perfect, so it should be clear by now that the U.S. 29 Main Street concept is not working as well as it should and that a bypass ought to have been constructed around Charlottesville.
True, a bypass route once was chosen, and the Virginia Department of Transportation even went so far as to start buying up rights-of-way.
But it was the wrong route.
The so-called close-in bypass was ultimately doomed by politics. But had it been built, it would not have solved the community’s traffic problems.

During our time of media pessimism, we see a sudden inspiration that feeds our faith and hope.

This happened on April 19 when many counties came together to save homes and lives.

The wildfire in Buckingham County on that day offered us all a good look at our inner selves and what motivates us to become instantly compassionate.

In a recent letter my nephew, who is serving patrol in Mosul, Iraq, spoke of the children and the odd scene of seeing them play soccer in a dirt field with the horrible circumstances of war around them.
After reading the letter I appealed to the Soccer Organization of Charlottesville-Albemarle for soccer balls or equipment for this special effort, which Lt. Ken Marckesano had started to help with building relationships and trust through soccer.

A special thanks to Woodbrook Elementary School’s custodial staff member Gordon Carter.

My son left his new baseball glove on the playground during spring break. One week later, and after the lost and found had been emptied, I met Gordon.

This happy, jovial man remembered the glove in detail and believed he set it aside. Ten minutes later, he came out to the playground with an ear-to-ear smile, glove in hand.

Virginia has some pretty cool place names, but Alaska may have us beat.
Can we match Dakeekathlrimjingia Point or Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes?
A Virginia resident may be the authority on Alaska place names. Donald Orth compiled the “Dictionary of Alaska Place Names” in 1967 for the U.S. Geological Survey, for which he worked as a geographer and cartographer.

Tonight, as the tribes gather at their respective high schools for the annual pageantry of prom and the hordes thunder after Foxfield’s day at the races, think straight and right for you don’t want to be too wrong.

Foxfield is becoming increasingly pro-active in its efforts to curb illegal drinking at the spring event so popular with the college crowd.
And that’s excellent.
At last spring’s races, 85 people were arrested — 84 in the student section. Last year, emergency medical technicians treated 107 people — 106 for alcohol-related symptoms.
Those statistics tell the story about what’s one of the major problems at the Foxfield Races and who are the major problem-makers.

The ancients had four causes of everything — earth, air, fire and water.
They did not make what is widely known as “the one great cause fallacy,” assuming that one thing is responsible for everything.
Yet, one letter-writer (“Economy suffers under Democrats,” The Daily Progress, April 20) has regressed to one great cause and that is, surprise of surprises, the Democratic Party.

Charlottesville City Council is to be commended for its willingness to try something new to address the affordable housing problem.
Council will make $1 million available to private developers from its economic development fund in the form of loans.
The fund usually is targeted toward traditional development projects such as businesses — even though the businesses themselves might not be conventional (the Pavilion is an example).

In response to the letter “Population objectives are suspect,” The Daily Progress, April 16:
The author’s proposal to study how many angels can dance on the head of a pin is of no consequence. I, for one, have never worried about it and I dare say most people have not.
However, Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population’s plan to study the optimal sustainable size for Albemarle County is of great significance.