Murphy's Law Tuesday

Tuesday, our production day, is always somewhat of an adventure, and yesterday was no different.

Thanks to snow delays and other factors, we relied on some great teamwork to make sure we had Spelling Bee contestants for the paper (thank you, Kay Daniels at the OCS office). The Bee will be held at 4 p.m. March 10 (Tuesday) at New Hope Elementary, and the winner gets to to go D.C. to compete against the nation's best spellers. We'll have coverage of this now-annual event in next week's issue.

For reasons that are still beyond me, our Internet connection failed at the very moment last night that I was attempting to send our front page to the press in Virginia, so I'm glad that it all came through without a major hitch.

Last night's commissioners' meeting included several hundred residents upset about their tax revaluation, and I had the misfortune of showing up 15 minutes late to the meeting (but got there before anybody from the public started speaking). After wrangling my way inside, I took notes while seated on the floor outside of the main Senior Center room used for the meeting , flanked by many members of the Orange County Sheriff's department (watching the room, not me). There was a strong law enforcement presence last night.

About 80 percent of the room emptied out after the speakers went before the board during the public comment session. On my way in, I noticed the following: Cars circling for almost non-existent parking; several dozen people waiting outside in the cold, pressing ears and eyes to the outside glass to find out what was going on inside; and countless more leaving as I arrived, likely determining that space wouldn't open up anytime soon. I hope to have a fire marshal's count of how many came soon, but it looks to be on par with the last meeting of residents on the issue.

Their message seems pretty clear — rescind revaluations and wait until 2013 (or maybe 2011, as Rockingham County has done), as allowed under the General Statutes. Once the March 31 deadline for appeals has passed, we'll likely see what the next move will be.

We'll have more today or tomorrow about what stories we're working on this week.