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OPINIONS
Editorial: On police staffing, Air Force tankers and public libraries
Huntington Police Officer Mike Hudson stands with the new police motorcycle that was purchased as a result of Wings and Wheels 2008, a Clear Channel Radio event conducted on June 21 at Harris Riverfront Park. Sponsors, including Big Sandy Superstores, participated in the event. A second police motorcycle will be leased by Eagle Distributing.
Purchase this photoThe Huntington Police Department has two new motorcycles for officers' use, thanks to private donations.
One was purchased with money raised at this year's Wings and Wheels event at Harris Riverfront Park. It generated $16,007. The other will be leased by Eagle Distributing.
The motorcycles will provide officers flexibility by allowing them to weave through busy traffic and drive off road into a park or along the riverbank when necessary in their duties.
The motorcycles will help, but the fact they were acquired through private donations reinforces the idea in many people's minds that the Police Department is not funded adequately. Although the city has more officers than it did a few years ago when numbers were slashed in a budget-cutting move, many people who live and work in the city complain that the lack of manpower slows or even eliminates police response to nonemergency calls such as car break-ins.
Police staffing, which had been at the 100-plus level through much of the 1980s and 1990s, was cut to 75 in Mayor David Felinton's first term. The current city budget has room for about 93 positions. Chief Skip Holbrook has said the force should have 100 officers.
As Election Day draws closer, this is something the four candidates for mayor will have to address. A question, of course, is how many officers are needed and how are they to be deployed. These are questions candidates must answer.
If Huntington is to stop its decline, it must present itself as a place where people will want to live and raise their families. A city with an understaffed police department is not that kind of place.
The fight over which aircraft manufacturer -- Boeing or Northrop Grumman -- will build the next generation of refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force has a local and a statewide connection.
Earlier this year, the Air Force awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman to build the new tankers, but Boeing appealed the decision and won. The Air Force is preparing to accept bids again for the tankers.
According to the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing, Star Technologies, a Huntington company, is listed as a supplier to Northrop Grumman. Star Technologies manufactures precision clamping devices, brackets and metal stampings for the aerospace and transportation industry.
Alcan, which has a large aluminum rolling mill near Ravenswood, W.Va., also is a supplier for the Northrop Grumman bid.
EADS of North America plans to build a factory at Bridgeport, W.Va., to build the boom system for the tanker, and Sargent Fletcher plans to build hose and drogue systems in an adjacent factory. All together, the Northrop Grumman proposal could create 362 direct and indirect jobs in West Virginia and generate an additional $415.3 million in economic activity in the state, according to RCBI.
Boeing maintains that it has a long history of providing tanker aircraft to the Air Force and to militaries in other nations, while Northrop Grumman does not.
While it may seem a struggle between two aircraft giants that has little direct bearing on West Virginia or the Tri-State, this battle could indeed have significant impact here.
According to The Associated Press, more people are using public libraries for books, music, movies and other materials. It's a way to be entertained and informed without spending a lot of money.
"When the economy goes down, public library use goes up," said John Moorman, director of the Williamsburg Regional Library in Virginia.
Public libraries are an intellectual and educational lifeline when the economy is down. But they're the exact same thing when the economy is on an upswing. If you haven't been to the library for a while, try it out.
