Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 1, 1994 TAG: 9404020006
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHANIE PORTER-NICHOLS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the 30-plus years since that hearing, Interstate 77 was built. Fortunately, Wythe and Bland counties have retained their natural mountain beauty that earned them the ``wilderness '' designation. Many I-77 travelers remark that that stretch of road is among the most beautiful sites on any interstate in the country.
However, Bland and Wythe counties possess far more than scenic views. The two counties are called home by more than 33,000 people. In their midst are industries that claim the world as their market. General Injectables & Vaccines in Bastian is one of the fastest-growing companies in the Southeastern United States. ABB in Bland handles national-defense contracts on a regular basis. Kingston-Warren in Wytheville produces parts for General Motors. The German-based Klockner-Pentaplast plant in Rural Retreat, which began operations last year, was an industrial catch that was the envy of every locality in Virginia. The list goes on.
People travel in and out of the two counties daily on national and international business matters. So it seems peculiar that in a March 20 editorial (``New River Valley also needs I-73'') concerning I-73's location the Roanoke Times & World-News chose to refer to the section of country in the following manner: ``It would be, as 77 is now, simply a conduit for trade and traffic to cross an empty quarter of the state, stopping for little but gas, burgers and maybe a motel room.''
Moreover, the statement comes across as self-serving by the Roanoke-based newspaper, which has previously prided itself on covering all of Southwest Virginia - not stopping with the New River Valley.
For decades, far Southwest Virginia has fought vigorously to overcome the limitations imposed on it by nothing more than its distance from Richmond and the opinion of state leaders that the state stopped at Roanoke. It would seem now that the Roanoke Times & World-News draws the line at Montgomery County. For a newspaper that's typically in touch with the needs of all types of Virginians, we find such a position extraordinarily narrow-minded.
In the long run, Wythe and Bland counties will make do without I-73. More than likely, progress will not be stifled by this loss. The more difficult obstacle may lie in the resurgence of a 30-year-old attitude that this region is ``an empty quarter of the state.''
Stephanie Porter-Nichols is editor of the twice-weekly Southwest Virginia Enterprise in Wytheville and the weekly Bland Messenger.
by CNB