Editor's Note:  The following op-ed was submitted to Fredericksburg Patch by Mike Craig and it appears unedited in its entirety. Letters to the Editor may be submitted by email to Susan.Larson@patch.com. ______ The Central Park Epoch (CPE) ended on April 10, 2012, when the City Council and the EDA subsidized Barnes and Noble[i].  Central Park is no longer a fire hose of property and sales tax revenue.  As a result, we must first reduce funding in some areas and second control the cost of future capital improvements. The police and sheriff’s budget line items for “supplies” increase every year…

Changing political attitudes regarding immigration reform remains a contentious issue in Virginia’s conservative ranks….today more than ever.  But for Republican gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, now is the time for augmentation of a previous immigration position that many in the Hispanic community find untenable.  Cuccinelli, the preverbal Tea Party darling, remains under severe criticism for his past actions and comments. Case in point was then State Senator Ken Cuccinelli’s introduction of bill SJ131 in 2008 to the General Assembly urging Congress to amend the …

Jesse Clear's clear letter on gun safety makes reasonable sense, and isn't that where we should all be aiming -- for a sensible consensus on gun safety and senseless violence?  Knowing some facts, as Mr. Clear conveys to us, is a good step forward. My nephew, a 36-year-old father of two young children from suburban Connecticut, posted on Facebook his thoughts on the priority of life over unrestricted gun ownership.  A former high school classmate of mine, who is 61, commented on gun ownership (he owns several), responsibility, and the types of environments where citizens carry guns, as he …

Dear Susan: I'd like to submit this piece in hopes of throwing a bit of light onto the hot controversy surrounding prospective gun control legislation.  It would seem that the terminology itself is confusing...both by intention and through ignorance.  Since I am professionally engaged in the firing range industry, I'd hope that my advocacy might have some purchase...at least with those honestly confused and not ideologically rigid.   LETHALITY (not appearance) is the real gun issue. Semi-automatic and automatic weapons are military and police tools. They were designed to kill the enemy as …

Dear Editor,  Tragically, "hate crimes" have continued in Stafford County, Virginia. As an independent who votes the person not the party, I voiced my free speech by having two large political signs placed on my property Tuesday. Haters decided this disabled Vietnam veteran's voice would not be heard Tuesday night as gutless COWARDS cut up these signs rather than have the courage to let the voters decide who "we" would support during this upcoming election.  I have voted Democrat and I have voted Republican but never have I had a "hate crime" committed on my property when I supported a …

As 2011 draws to a close, I reflect back on this past calendar year, proud of the impact Rappahannock United Way has made in our community through the support of its donors, advocates, and volunteers.  While there was a time when RUW was considered an "umbrella" organization, this no longer holds true.  RUW is a community partner in every sense of the word.  This organization, for which I have been proud to work for over ten years, identifies needs, develops programs, spearheads initiatives, and convenes other organizations in our community to collaboratively find solutions to core problems …

I would like to commend Fredericksburg Patch Editor Michael Theis for laying out the facts associated with the city debt increases with the proposed courts project that I and two other City Council members have consistently voted against. The tax increase, which represents approximately 10 percent for this project alone, doesn't even account for the many needs of the city and the subsequent tax increases which will follow within the next two years. The next increase will be the real estate reassessment followed by the next wave of capital improvement projects and state budget shifts back to …

I thought that everyone in the general Fredericksburg area would be intimately acquainted with the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania during the Civil War.  Apparently that is not the case at Cracker Barrel, located off I-95's Exit 126. My wife and I were driving north from Colonial Williamsburg to Washington, D.C. and wanted to visit Chancellorsville.  We had visited the Fredericksburg battlefield heading south, but didn't have time for Chancellorsville.  We mistakenly exited at 126 instead of 130, and stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch.  The restaurant had six …