Editorial: Three Up & Three Down

Three up

Waynesboro First Aid Crew: Junior members of this vital community organization held a blood drive Thursday in memory of the late Kyle Southern, a former volunteer who died Jan. 6 while driving an ambulance for Priority Ambulance in Buckingham County.

The 21-year-old’s sister, Trisha, was one of those giving blood at First Aid Crew headquarters. She said her brother spent much of his life helping others.

“This is a good way to give back to the community,” she said.

She’s right. The crew can, and will, remember their fallen colleague in a variety of ways. But Thursday’s blood drive helped others while serving as a tribute.

Giants rolling: Nationally, people may be talking about the New York Giants, who will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. But hereabouts we’ve moved on to basketball season and the winning ways of Waynesboro High School’s Little Giants.

The boys team continued its recent victorious streak, taking a 13^th straight game Wednesday by defeating Stuarts Draft, 88-69. The squad travels to Staunton tonight to face archrival R.E. Lee.

Newt: Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives took the South Carolina primary a week ago, joining former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in having won GOP nomination contests. The gaggle of candidates now is firmly focused on Florida, which will hold its primary Tuesday.

Three down

Dangerous crash: A suspect in a Wednesday night shoplifting at Walmart found himself in critical condition after he fled from police and was hit by a car on Rosser Avenue.

Waynesboro police said the 26-year-old Staunton man had a serious injury. He was still in a medically induced coma Friday at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

The man, whose name authorities didn’t release, apparently was holding a stolen humidifier but dropped it when confronted. He took off on foot in the commercial area, and was later pursued by a police officer. He tried to get away by running across Rosser but was struck in the far northbound lane after safely navigating the southbound lanes.

Reserve officers: The Waynesboro and Staunton police departments have suspended their reserve officer programs after the state Department of Criminal Justice Services told police chiefs in the commonwealth that these volunteers must meet the same training requirements as full-time officers.

Not being able to use this resource is a particularly severe loss in Waynesboro, Capt. Kelly Walker told reporter Bob Stuart. The department is operating with five full-time positions frozen for budget reasons and without two officers who are on military deployments. Look for more on the issue in this space Sunday.

Newt: Despite Gingrich’s South Carolina win, he’s been attacked recently, not by Democrats but by those on his side of the political spectrum.

The Associated Press noted Friday that columnists Ann Coulter and Charles Krauthammer and conservative media aggregator Matt Drudge all have slammed the former congressional leader.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay took verbal swipes at Gingrich on Wednesday, as well. In an interview with a Houston radio station, the Texas Republican compared the former House speaker to President Bill Clinton and said Gingrich is “not really a conservative.”