Ends and odds, 2/21/07

To be updated throughout the day, I hope:

Folks who want the Legislature to loosen the leash it has placed on cities' ability to raise taxes and spend money in accordance with local conditions might see some help soon. I have this theory that all problems are local unless they are problems in Kanawha County. Then they are crises that cry out for legislative action. It seems Charleston officials say they're having money problems. So look for a special session of the Legislature in the next three or four years to deal with this.

Talking to your kids about what they'll study in college. You might want to check out 10 degrees that didn't exist 10 years ago.

Two more items on the cervical cancer vaccine. First, some questionable timing in the Texas governor's order that all girls in that state be vaccinated. Second, there are questions of whether vaccinating sixth-grade girls will protect them their entire lives.

UPDATE 1

The West Virginia Division of Highways appears to be of the opinion that cable median barriers are not needed west of the 17th Street W. exit, also known as Exit 6. Well, there was a crossover accident there this week that could have been deadly. I mean, I don't want to be driving on I-64 and see a bucket truck cross the median and head toward me.

Robert D'Alessandri, who heads the WVU Health Sciences Center, was supposed to visit me today to talk about things going on up there. But he called a couple of days ago to cancel. After reading an article on the MetroNews site, I can understand why. (I'm having trouble finding some articles on the site; maybe they disappear after a while; I just don't know). It seems he spent a lot of time in Charleston this week preserving the Health Science Center's take on the pop tax. The center gets $14 million a year from the tax, or about a quarter of its budget. There will be more talk in the next 12 months about this tax.

Steve Jobs of Apple and Michael Dell of Dell have polar opposite views on the need for teacher unions. Check it out here.