I don't blog much about local stuff. There are a couple of bloggers in my blogroll who do a great job of it, though. Roanoke R&R covers local happenings from a perspective that I always enjoy, and The Roanoke Slant keeps an eye on the fishwrapper that passes for a newspaper 'round these parts.

But there have been a few things that have popped up in the local news recently that I thought I ought to mention.

Historic downtown Roanoke is a great place to visit if you want to tour some interesting museums, meet some interesting people, and eat some interesting mouse feces:

On Friday, the health department discovered a rodent problem in the food court located in the city market building. As a result, the department suspended the food operation license.

While the inside was being cleaned, the city left little explanation as to what prompted what they called a "fall cleanup."

As it turns out, however, there was a lot more to Saturday's closing than a routine cleanup. Roanoke Mayor David Bowers calls the situation "serious."

...When News7 asked Mayor Bowers if the city was misleading downtown visitors by calling the cleaning a "fall cleanup," he responded "I don't know."

"I don't know" is Roanoke politics-speak for "Please, please don't ask me no more of them hard questions, mister."

Then there's this bit from Floyd county, Virginia:

Floyd County school officials are investigating a display of pornographic images during a student club meeting.

The incident occurred Friday during a Students Against Destructive Decisions club meeting at Floyd County High School. A laptop computer used during the meeting displayed several seconds of pornographic images before school officials intervened.

Principal Barry Hollandsworth sent a letter to parents notifying them of the incident, which Hollandsworth said he regretted.

Given the gravity of the situation and the serious questions raised, the Students Against Destructive Decisions club issued a statement that read "WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!"

Labels: News, Trivial Matters