George,

The news about Danville gets worser and worser. I am a few weeks from pulling together what steps I think the Federal Government should take to start Southside on the road to a new economy. I would very much like to see what your readers come up with, especially on the human capital side of the equation.

Much of the decline in Southside is a direct result of national policies--free trade leading to massive manufacturing job outsourcing, and a public commitment to reduce the harm from tobacco. Yet, our Congressman has done virtually nothing in almost ten years to marshall federal resources to help change the basic economic structure that can no longer serve the region.

Al Weed (electronic mail, December 30, 2005)