The Gretna Industrial Park is unfolding before our eyes. Given its location and infrastructure, this facility is poised to attract all sorts of enterprises that can get our area on its way to a better future. And we will all benefit when the mega park becomes reality in the southern part of the county, eventually offering hundreds of job opportunities for the entire region.

More immediate is the economic promise offered by the Coles Hill uranium project, so long as the science-based study, now underway, shows it can be done safely. Not only does this project have the potential for hundreds of good jobs at a variety of levels and in a variety of disciplines, the spin-off companies could virtually fill the Gretna Industrial Park. And those will be jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.

The National Academy of Sciences technical study will not end the intense political debate about the safety of uranium mining in Virginia. Nor will it answer the more important question: Would the uranium industry be good for our community and our state over the long term?

Dare to dream about a Danville Regional Promise: the chance to team economic development, education, a public health and the violence issue, a healthy community initiative and creating future leadership for our area. Let’s put our heads and voices together to figure our how we can best turn the tide toward prosperity, growth, and safety to benefit the entire community

The images from years ago still haunt. Israeli settlers, wailing and resisting, being ripped from their homes by their nation’s soldiers. But, it was designated land to be exchanged for peace.

So, Gaza was stripped of Israelis and turned over to the Palestinians. Yet, the violence not only failed to end, it escalated. Perpetual rocket fire prompted the recent Gaza conflict that left both Hamas and Israel charged by the United Nations with alleged war crimes. Perhaps land for peace hasn’t worked in this ongoing battle in part for one less cited reason

The Dan River Region has been in transition for over a decade. We were one of the first places in America that felt the effect of globalization of the economy. It is not much comfort that now most of America is feeling something similar.

Given the depth and length of the transition, it is easy to feel negative about ourselves and our region; it is easy to romanticize the past. But time only runs in one direction. As individuals, institutions and a region, we have three options related to the transition — we can ignore change, resist it or use it as an opportunity for improvement.

To improve, we must understand where we are and how we are doing compared to others. Data can help us to see our opportunities and our challenges. Data can help us to see current circumstances clearly, without undue pessimism or optimism

The other day, I heard some clown on the radio joke that Tiger Woods’ problems would all be solved as soon as President Barack Obama had the golfer and his wife over for a beer and a talk.

This joke, although hardly amusing, operates on a number of levels. More than anything, else it illustrates how we have evolved into a cult of celebrity. We enjoy building up people and making them larger than life itself — and then we enjoy tearing them down when we find them to be human.

For conservatives, it was love at first sight, our dream candidate. A woman. Gorgeous. Capable. Strong. A great communicator. She waltzed onto the stage of the Republican National Convention, energized the party’s base and stole our hearts.

The only problem is, love can be blind — even in politics.

President Roosevelt seized the Great Depression as an opportunity to change life for generations to come. If he is to be successful, President Obama must do something similar.

I have had the privilege of working with Bill Fuller since the mid-1960s, when he began work as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney. From his first day in office, he had enthusiasm and zeal for finding the truth, an attribute which after more than 40 years of trials and many adverse situations still burns within him. Of all the people I have encountered in my 44 years in law enforcement, I have not seen another elected or appointed official that had the dedication and devotion to the people they served as he has demonstrated.

Many people do not realize that the Employee Free Choice Act (the so-called Card Check Bill) that was introduced in Congress earlier this year is still being debated on Capitol Hill. It’s true that a key provision of the original bill — elimination of employee right to vote by secret ballot — appears to be off the table, but negotiations are ongoing to formulate new legislation that will be just as detrimental to Virginia businesses as the original version.

It would be nice to get some facts as we all try to wade through the war of words that has become the current national debate over changing health care. It would be nice, but I do not really expect anything to change until this matter actually goes to a vote in Congress.

Until that bright and shining day comes, we will continue to allow the harsh, loud voices to embarrass this nation and its citizens by a calculated disregard for the honor and civility that has, until now, set America apart from much of the rest of the world.

The Virginia General Assembly’s failure to secure state and other non-industry funding is jeopardizing the credibility — and perhaps the execution — of its proposed uranium mining studies. A study paid for by Virginia Uranium Inc. does nothing to avoid the appearance of influence.

As another school year rolls around, so do more tales of the woeful state of the country’s education system.

Stories pour in from every state imaginable, filled with accounts of blatant incompetence, injustice and outright bureaucratic nonsense. In this age of the it’s-not-my-job mentality and zero-tolerance policies infiltrating every fiber of every school’s being, those who managed to escape in one piece must ask, “What has happened to education?”

What has happened to education?

America is a nation adrift. We have to look no further than the nightly news to see that there is overwhelming anger and distrust concerning our government.

In 2008, Americans turned out the party in power and focused their hope on a candidate who offered change. It is clear to this writer that while change was on the minds of Americans, support for any other agenda was not. The Republican Party had clearly lost its bearing and many Americans felt they had no alternative but to vote for a Democratic candidate. I am gravely concerned in the direction our country has taken, not only under the present administration, but in the past ones as well.

As members of Congress return to Capitol Hill after Labor Day, they face a major economic and environmental decision that will affect the daily lives of all Americans for years to come: What should be done about climate change?

Most Americans agree that climate change is an issue that must be addressed — but how to do that is a multi-billion dollar question.

It really came as no surprise to me that U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Fifth District, faced a mostly hostile crowd during his most recent town hall meeting in Campbell County last week. So far, Perriello has held nearly 20 such public forums in an attempt to explain proposed congressional legislation aimed at national health care reform.

Have you ever asked someone what time it was and had them tell you how to build a watch?

This is the surreal environment we find ourselves in today. Shell shocked by a new administration and massive spending on a scale never before seen, citizens of all classes are asking for concise and precise answers that are not coming.

For most small businesses, 2008 brought tough times and a stark economic landscape filled with layoffs, wage reductions, slumping home sales, absentee customers and rising prices for food, fuel and energy.

If that wasn’t enough, Murphy’s law kicked in to change access to the capital markets and business credit for years to come. It started with the purchase of Countrywide Mortgages by Bank of America in January, followed by the Sept. 15 filing of bankruptcy by Lehman Bros. and culminated with the automotive bailouts in December.

Rely on science and proven facts, not the Internet or rumors

When my wife and I moved to the Danville area from Massachusetts six years ago, our health insurance premiums went up 40 percent, with an actual decrease in coverage and quality.

By the third year, the premium was double. As a Richmond native who’s spent more than 40 years as an actuary in the insurance industry, I have seen how insurers restrict access and cherry pick whom to cover and what claims to contest. I have come to realize that reforming our health care system is not just an economic or business issue, it’s also a moral one. My business sense and my faith tell me that we need health care access for all.

I follow the Danville Register & Bee on Twitter from my home in The Netherlands and I regularly read what’s going on in and around Danville from across the ocean.

Earlier this month, I introduced the Adult Education and Economic Growth Act of 2009.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu could not have picked a better spot than Pittsylvania County to sound his ringing call for “restarting” our nation’s nuclear energy program, as well as endorsing Virginia’s state-sanctioned study to assess the safety and feasibility of mining and milling uranium in the commonwealth. 

I have always been proud to be a native of Pittsylvania County and the Danville area. Throughout my professional career — from my days of interning at the General Assembly with State Sen. Onico Barker to working on Capitol Hill with Rep. L.F. Payne, through my years with Universal Leaf Tobacco Co. and onto my current position as the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services — I have always bragged about the region’s strong agricultural base and “can do” attitude when faced with challenges. I’ve never been more proud of that base and this area than last Saturday.

As a history teacher, I am a bit bewildered by this whole TEA party movement. The abbreviation may make a great acronym, but, historically speaking, it seems there is little similarity between the real tea party in Boston harbor in December 1773, and this new so-called movement now.

In 1773, colonists disguised as Indians crept aboard private ships and dumped the property of a private company into the murky waters of Boston harbor.

We must have health care reform now, for failure to do so will only result in a continuation of a failed system that will only increase in cost and the unnecessary loss of life. The high cost of care is hurting us all — whether you have insurance or not.

Virginians need electricity. We need a lot of it. In recent years, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s demand, for example, has in-creased more than twice the national average.

In response to Glenn Giles’ recent letter, “Take chance to learn about uranium,” (June 20, page A8), I, along with others, did as Giles did and contacted Virginia Uranium Inc. for their “briefing,” as they like to call it.

It has been a busy news week for local animal stories.

“It’s All Here!” has been the campaign slogan used to promote consumer participation in the purchase of products and services — as well as active involvement in entertainment and recreation — offered in the local community.