What business wouldn’t like to have its business license tax reduced? Businesses, like individuals, would be only too happy to see a reduction in the local tax, a reduction that would put more money in their pockets.

If the latest study of the U.S. 29 corridor — including a bypass around Charlottesville — was intended to build consensus, someone dropped the ball.

The long journey on the road to federal recognition of Virginia’s Indian tribes may be nearing its end.

As the 2009 campaigns here in Virginia near the finish line, all of the power now shifts to the commonwealth’s voters.

Price-gouging is an intolerable practice that surfaces from time to time in the marketplace. It usually arises during or in the aftermath of a natural disaster when consumers have no choice but to pay the higher price demanded by some merchants for such critical commodities as food, water, ice or fuel.

Few people in Lynchburg know Larry Cluff. But in a couple of years he could become well known as the guy who saved the old Piedmont Mills building on Jefferson Street from the wrecking ball. In the process, he will have contributed another step toward saving an important part of downtown history.

In the gubernatorial election, there is one candidate who has the temperament, the leadership abilities, the discipline and the vision to serve as Virginia’s next chief executive.That candidate is Republican Bob McDonnell, and The News & Advance editorial board wholeheartedly endorses him for governor.

While officials in virtually every state agency are scrambling for every dollar they can find, the Virginia Board of Education is proposing that localities hire additional staff for their school divisions.

Del. Valentine’s extensive Richmond experience, seniority in the General Assembly and lack of a capital learning curve are invaluable assets to Central Virginia. The News & Advance editorial board believes Del. Valentine’s record over the past four years in office makes her more than worthy of re-election. We lend our endorsement to her for a third term in the General Assembly

Politics and life in the world of American politics have always been for the strong of heart and stomach, not for the weak and faint of spirit.

For the health of Blackwater Creek and its watershed, it’s a start. That’s the emphasis placed by organizers on this week’s project to clean up and improve water quality in the huge watershed that empties into the James River.

As far as the public is concerned, the city’s budget process has begun a couple of months early this year. That’s because city officials have decided to sponsor a series of workshops that will allow residents to participate in the budget-making process.

The race for the 23rd District seat in the House of Delegates definitely has been a spirited one, pitting incumbent Del. Shannon Valentine, a Democrat, against Republican challenger Scott Garrett.

Voters in the district, which includes the city of Lynchburg and the Madison Heights area of Amherst County, have received at least two misleading mailers from Garrett, pounding Valentine for her supposed tax-hike agenda.

Change is a key characteristic of an economy, whether it’s global, national, state or local.

A code of ethics? In Amherst County? You’ve got to be kidding. It would be way too intrusive and might even handcuff the members of the ruling body in the course of their handling the county’s affairs.

The surrender of a single shotgun to police won’t necessarily make the community a safer place. But the signal it sends to those who are working to get guns off the city streets is powerful.

When a need arises in the community, leaders get together to find a way to meet the need. And that’s why construction of the culinary arts at Central Virginia Community College is about to begin.

Friday morning, there were probably more than a few Americans who, upon turning on the news when waking up, wondered if they were still in dreamland.

Might 2009 be the year voters get their fill of negative campaign ads and negative campaigns in general and say “Enough is enough”?

Sometimes, the politics of politics is enough to make you sick to your stomach: the level of personal vitriol; the branding of one’s philosophical opponents as socialists, fascists or racists; the win-at-all-costs approach.

While the two candidates for governor battle it out on the campaign trail across Virginia, the needs of public education continue to spiral. The election’s winner will have his hands full meeting needs that have been neglected during the economic recession.

With nearly 6,000 people losing their lives last year in traffic accidents connected to drivers texting or talking on cell phones, isn’t it about time that the federal government took some action? The states have been toying with restricting use of the devices, but the results have been mixed with only seven states banning hand-held cell phones and 18 making texting while driving illegal.

Does Washington want the states to spend transportation stimulus money as quickly as possible? Or as efficiently as possible? Quick seems to be the answer from Congress. Efficient is the answer from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who happens to be right on this one.

Few people may have realized, but a new era dawned Thursday morning in Lynchburg, when a second Amtrak train to Washington, D.C., pulled out of the Kemper Street Station.

From its beginnings, the drive to raise money to restore the historic Academy of Music Theatre on Main Street has been a monumental effort. At every turn, it seemed, the project’s costs increased. Plans changed over time, pushing up the costs.

In their quest to raise new revenues, the state and its localities often cast their collective eye toward a public service that could be taxed. The meals tax and entertainment tax fall into that category. Neither is particularly popular (are any taxes or fees?), but most residents have accepted them as a necessary method of raising revenues to maintain services provided by the government.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu offered good news last week for those seeking to expand the renewable energy front in Virginia. In short, he said the state has great potential for producing clean power from wind and nuclear sources.

The Chesapeake Bay is one of the most historically and ecologically important bodies of water in America. And if tough steps aren’t taken soon — at the federal level — the Bay, as we know it today, will likely become a giant deadzone.

Despite lacking any real fireworks, much less a discussion of the important issues facing Virginia, the gubernatorial campaign between Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds has been a dirty one.

The best way to manage future economic growth is to plan for it and plan well. That’s the lesson the Campbell County Board of Supervisors can teach quite a few other local government bodies.