This week’s opinion marketplace

Racers craft cars, compete for soap box glory

The Blue Ridge Soap Box Classic returns to downtown today, though some business owners are not sure it will benefit them financially.

In advance of this weekend’s annual whir of wheels, the discordant hum of selected merchants’ wrath wafts from the economic dust bowl popularly known as downtown. The Blue Ridge Soapbox Derby Classic will take place Saturday in Waynesboro.