Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Coming Wednesday on the editorial/op-ed pages

We've got a double dose of Hurricane Katrina offerings on Wednesday.

The first is from The Star's editorial on the two-year anniversary of the horrible storm:
Paint the best picture you can, spin the facts however you will, but no one — even the Gulf Coast Business Council — is completely happy with where we are now or with what has been done to get us there.
The second is from op-ed columnist Hardy Jackson, who's weekly column dives deep into a different side of the anniversary:
But it ain’t just Louisiana that's still being affected.
For sheer lunacy, go down to Dauphin Island.
Back in 2000, well before Katrina, the western end of the island already was washing away. To stop it, local leaders took a combination of state and (mostly) federal money and built a $1 million sand berm. Dauphin’s own wall.
Two years later, tropical storm Isidore washed that away.
And what did they learn from this experience?
Apparently nothing.
The Star's editorial board is also weighing in on a new project that may begin next year or two at Anniston's incinerator:
Critics of the incineration project, which there are many, may have a field day with Anniston’s agreement to bring another mission to our facility. But Tim Garrett, the Anniston site manager, and others at the Anniston facility have given us no indication in years past that they would do anything but protect the safety and performance of our incinerator. The decision to test this machine in Anniston seems to be one made with diligence and common sense.
We're also giving a short opinion piece on the career of Alexandria High School football coach Larry Ginn, who is retiring after a long and successful career:
It’s unfortunate that health concerns have forced Ginn to step down as Alexandria’s football coach. He is a legend of Calhoun County sports, long ago joining a distinguished group of this county’s all-time football coaches that includes Alexandria’s Lou Scales, Oxford’s Bill Burgess and Anniston’s Bill Farrell.
We'll also have our normal selection of letters to the editor, syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts' column and follow-up coverage of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation.