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.

Is highway construction, albeit on a reduced schedule, continuing in Virginia at the expense of maintaining roads in the state’s localities?

While the Frankfurt, Germany, auto show was buzzing last week with electric models designed to go farther on a single battery charge, a Charlottesville real estate developer with ties to Lynchburg, was discussing his own entry in the growing parade of fuel-efficient vehicles.

Merchants on Fifth Street offered a big sigh of relief last week with the opening of the roundabout, the traffic device that will keep vehicles moving at the intersection of Fifth and Federal streets without the aid of a stop light.

The commonwealth of Virginia faces tough challenges in the coming years, challenges that the next governor must deal with.

The forced resignation of County Administrator Rodney Taylor continues to ripple through the halls of Amherst County government.

For reasons that vary from family to family, the decision to surrender Fluffy or Tabby has to be an excruciating one. Pets have a way of becoming an important part of the family and turning that pet over to the local animal shelter is never easy.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine slashed an additional $1.35 billion from the state budget last week with a minimum of squealing from agencies and state employees.

Preston Bryant’s political star his risen a bit higher. The Lynchburg native has parlayed his experience with the administration of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine into an appointment by President Barack Obama as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission in Washington.

The story from Danville last week about Virginia Uranium Inc. agreeing to pay for a state study on the safety of mining uranium near Chatham has raised some questions. And rightly so.

For any fairminded American who believes strongly in this nation’s ideal of selfless public service, watching President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night was an ordeal.

The good news for roosters in Page County is that a former flourishing cockfighting venue has been closed. The bad news, according to authorities, is that occasional backyard fights continue for the amusement of those who regard the activity as a sport.

A state grant to rehabilitate housing in two central city neighborhoods has the potential to fulfill two significant needs. First, the money will create more affordable and better housing for families who need it. And, second, the improved housing will breathe new life into those aging neighborhoods.

Once again, the folks up the road in Charlottesville and Albemarle County are doing all they possibly can to forestall any solution to the U.S. 29 corridor nightmare.

Maintaining a healthy skepticism of government and politics is a good thing; when voters look to their political leaders and say “prove it,” it helps keeps the boys and girls honest. But when a “healthy skepticism” morphs into outright paranoia, things can get downright ugly.

All summer long, Republican Bob McDonnell has been urging Creigh Deeds, his Democratic opponent in the governor’s race, to join him in a series of 10 debates across Virginia. Let’s debate the serious issues Virginia faces in the 21st century, McDonnell, the state’s former attorney general, said. Deeds’ answer? Here’s a 20-year-old, law-school thesis. Debate that.

We’ve said it several times before, but it bears repeating: Widespread broadband Internet access is crucial to the economic future of Central Virginia, the commonwealth of Virginia and the United States. A recent Speed Matters report from the Communications Workers of America only underscores that importance.

After several years of negotiating with Amtrak and the state rail agency, the date for a second passenger train from Lynchburg to Washington, D.C., has been set.

The headline on Saturday’s story about Rep. Tom Perriello’s town hall meeting at Rustburg High School in Campbell County made a reference to the health care debate. It didn’t turn out that way, thanks to the boorish behavior with which the crowd greeted its representative in Congress.

A Lynchburg firm best known for its nuclear power plants just might be interested in developing wind power off the Virginia coast. That was the news last week from a meeting of Virginia’s Manufacturing Development Commission, which met at Areva’s offices on Old Forest Road.

They couldn’t have been any further apart on the political and social issues of the day, but for decades, they had a word for each other: friend.

Compared to states like, say, New Jersey or Louisiana, politics in the Old Dominion are relatively clean and free of corruption. The operative word here is “relatively,” because every now and then a politician like Del. Phillip Hamilton pops up on the scene.