I attended the city council meeting where the New Main Street Plan was discussed. Many merchants as well as townspeople spoke one after the other against this plan. But after hearing from the people and the merchants, the New Main Street Plan was passed.

It was apparent to me that the town council had already made up their minds to pass this plan regardless of what the merchants and townspeople wanted. Jon Cawley tried to slow up the process of passing this plan but to no avail. I along with many others were saddened and left the meeting as soon as the plan was approved.

This town is unique and represents a part of what small towns in America were like. We are not Ashville nor Raleigh and I for one don’t want to be.

River endangered by farm runoff

I attended the city council meeting where the New Main Street Plan was discussed. Many merchants as well as townspeople spoke one after the other against this plan. But after hearing from the people and the merchants, the New Main Street Plan was passed.

It was apparent to me that the town council had already made up their minds to pass this plan regardless of what the merchants and townspeople wanted. Jon Cawley tried to slow up the process of passing this plan but to no avail. I along with many others were saddened and left the meeting as soon as the plan was approved.

This town is unique and represents a part of what small towns in America were like. We are not Ashville nor Raleigh and I for one don’t want to be.

North central North Carolina has a water quality issue — the latest most recent example is right here in our neighborhood, the Mitchell River.

This summer the Mitchell River has seen excess sediment flowing into the river after rain storms. This is happening due to a change in planting from no till crops like corn to tilled crops like cabbage and tobacco. This loosens the soil and brings it up to the surface. Then if you have a very narrow buffer zone, it’s a recipe for lots of sediment to flow into the river when it rains. So far two agricultural operations are the major contributors, a big cabbage field just above the delayed harvest section and a tobacco field around the devotion area.

If enough sediment flows to cover the bottom of the river, that will be the death sentence for the Mitchell River. The Mitchell River is the host of wild trout in its upper region, around Devotion and is also the host for the endangered Brook-Floater mussel. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has been planting the mussel in the river in an attempt to increase its numbers and habitat range.

Surry County recognized the importance of the Mitchell River with its pure and cold water many years ago. It put in special regulation to protect the river and mandated a 75-foot buffer zone from Kapps Mill Road all the way up to the county line. Over the years this got watered down by ordinances exempting agriculture. Unfortunately, these fields run almost the whole length of the same protected section currently. The river barely has a 25-foot zone or less in many areas.

In the past two years North Carolnia has lost five trout streams due to sediment from agricultural run-off. The Mitchell may be number six.

Many in Surry County are worried about the river’s health and have been voicing their concern to the county commissioners, the Department of Water Quality and other state regulators. Blue Ridge NC Trout Unlimted has filed complaints to the Department of Water Quality and NC wildlife resources asking them to investigate the source of the sediment and take action to protect the river.

However, the Department of Environmental Quality’s budget has been cut consistently over the past decade and is now roughly a third smaller than it was before the 2008/09 financial crisis. This is very worrisome given the emergence of new threats to water quality and public health since that time.

There are more than 1,000 impaired rivers and streams in North Carolina, and the department does not have the capacity to meet and help address the numerous threats that these streams are facing. Regional offices are under-resourced and desperately need more staff capacity to provide prompt customer service to citizens who are impacted directly by toxic algal blooms, PFAS/PFOA (Gen-X) contamination of drinking water supplies, excessive stormwater runoff, increased sedimentation, and deterioration of aquatic habitats. So the Mitchell River waits in line for DWR staff to go inspect the river.

This is in reference to August 6 Their View articles, “Why does North Carolina rank No. 1?” by Mr. (John) Hood and “An unaddressed crisis in public education” by Ms. (Mary Ann) Wolf.

Both articles address public education in that Mr. Hood points out that North Carolina “has a comparatively high return on … public schools and remains one of the most generous state funders of higher education in the country;” whereas, Ms. Wolf laments, “…our state lawmakers made decision after decision failing to invest sufficiently…in our kids and their schools” as well as “teacher salaries are below the national average.”

Whose perspective is more closely aligned with the actual situation of North Carolina public education: K-12, two-year community colleges, and four-year State colleges/universities?

To Ms. Wolf, our fourtenth placement in education is better than average nationally only because our state legislature exercises responsible expenditure of tax revenue for public education.

To assist Ms. Wolf in understanding why there is a dearth of teacher vacancies and candidates to fill critical positions, I offer a possible hypothesis. No one wants to teach or work in an environment where the objective is not teaching reading, writing, arithmetic and civics, but to indoctrinate critical race theory (CRT), alphabet soup immorality, Marxist/socialist activism, and to hate one’s country that is providing the public education.

The front-page photo of two-year-old Brexton Hiatt’s reaction to a Tyrannosaurus rex was priceless! (See “Dinosaurs galore ‘attack’ Pilot Mountain” in the July 26 edition of The Mount Airy News.] The photo captured a great moment in time – especially with young Brexton nestled safely in the arms of his proud father.

The inside photos and captions, along with the superb narrative, helped to further depict the family-fun essence of the well-attended event on Main Street in Pilot Mountain.

Congratulations to Pilot Mountain Mayor Evan Cockerham for his town’s hosting such a fantastic (and free!) interactive educational event.

This is in reference to “Their View: State budget should be much better” by Bob Schofield in the July 14, 2022 edition of The Mount Airy News.

Mr. Schofield laments that funding for “state’s schoolchildren” doesn’t provide “access to a sound basic education.” Until such time as the federal government and the State of North Carolina cease indoctrinating our school children and community/state college students with anti-American (CRT) and alphabet soup deviant behaviors (amorality), the less of our tax dollars to support those ideologies espoused by the Marxist/Socialists, a.k.a progressive democrat party, the better.

As the historically significant Main Oak Building began to crumble and its top floor be professionally disassembled and removed, there was no sign whatsoever of the mayor of Mount Airy or any city council official acting in his absence – such as the mayor pro tem or the managing director.

You don’t have to be a communications expert to know that a true leader is always first-on-hand to comment about an emerging or emergency situation that affects the population for which he or she is the identified leader. Some kind of comment or press statement should have been forthcoming from the mayor’s office at the outset of this situation (and at regular follow-up intervals) – if only to let citizens know the city’s leadership was awake and aware of the situation.

Despite the noticeable absence of leadership from the mayor’s office, the City of Mount Airy is blessed with many talented, natural-born leaders in the police department, fire department, and other key divisions – all of whom were able to work quickly and efficiently with other agencies and companies to help organize and orchestrate the necessary follow-up measures that needed to be taken to ensure public safety.

This November, let’s elect individuals with demonstrated leadership traits to help guide the city into a bright, bold future.

Calm down America. You can still kill your babies. The whole issue is just going to state authority instead of federal.

But God is still God. And God will avenge the millions of babies that America has murdered and thrown in the trash, and sold their body parts to science.

You’re acting like heathens America. Women scream about “their bodies,” but when a new human being is conceived in the womb, it is “not” the mothers’ body anymore. It’s a brand-new human being. And if “mama” kills it, God will judge her as a murderer. And all those who helped her kill it.

According to one statistic 86% of abortions are done by unmarried women. So, if Americans would just stop being adulterers and fornicators, we wouldn’t even have an abortion issue.

You’re going the wrong way America. And God is against you. He is against your so-called liberal agenda. He is against gay marriage and all the LGBTQ whatever. Like it or not. God has always been against it and has warned that it will bring judgment.

America has become a stench in the nostrils of God. Ukraine can happen to you America. With enemies like Russia and China, our country could very well look like Ukraine in just months.

Our “great” military may not be as great as you think it is, and may be put to shame just like Russia was. If you’re trusting in the so-called great military of America, you are playing a fool’s game.

America’s only hope is repentance. Or will you just take your chances?

The Mount Airy News’ Tom Joyce nailed it in July 5 edition of the paper. He states “Despite what’s occurring elsewhere in the country, no signs of a divided country were visible Monday when crowds descended on downtown Mount Airy for July 4th festivities, including a parade and the reading of the Declaration Of Independence, ” (Fourth festivities draw crowds to city).

I moved to Mount Airy six years ago, as I was a huge fan of The Andy Griffith Show, the Mayberry theme that the Surry Arts Council has done so well in portraying, as well as the citizens of this community being so neighborly and friendly. It is no wonder that the celebrations here in Mount Airy are loaded with patriotism and love for our fellow townsfolk. I love them all—-the Christmas Season, Easter, Memorial Day, Budbreak, July 4, Mayberry Days, Autumn Leaves Festival, Halloween downtown for the children (and some adults) and all the in-betweens.

May God continue to bless our beloved town and its leaders, which includes our men and women in blue, along with all emergency first responders.

I feel compelled to respond to the column titled “American Freedom on the line in November” published June 30 by Rob Schofield.

I must point out the content, discussion of the content, and conclusion of the content as an example of what has gone so badly wrong with the media platforms found in today’s landscape. Mr. Schofield doesn’t waste a lot of time sewing the seed of misinformation and discontent found so common in media commentary in today’s society. His first sentence states “The U.S. Supreme court ruling that Americans no longer have a constitutional right to control their own reproduction is a disaster of monumental proportions.”

In truth Americans have access to at least six different forms of reproduction control aside from abortion. One of those methods, commonly known as “the pill” has over 275 distinct varieties designed specifically to ensure their usage also works in concert with numerous other medical conditions to provide the best result. The American public has unfettered access to hundreds, if not thousands, of methods to “control their own reproduction.”

Mr. Schofield then proceeds to further the notion abortion is about control by “old well-off white men, who are unaffected by the ruling.” To support that notion he offers up the notion that “a huge majority don’t support the ruling that presumably overturned Roe v. Wade.” They can’t explain to us why the liberal bastion of the Supreme Court called Roe v. Wade bad law. She recognized that it was an issue best left to community to decide rather than forced on a national society.

What Mr. Schofield doesn’t bother to tell us that while the pools indicate a majority support of the right to choose, the scale of that support dwindles with the conditional results of choice. The same polls that indicate support for the right to choose, indicate support reduces to a mere 13% who support the choice extending beyond the time frame of the first three months of gestation. Accordingly what triggers the absolute outrage of abortion is the liberal tendency to continue a liberal stance to leftist extreme. 13% say they’re okay with abortion past the first three months even up to and including the actual beginning of the birthing process. The inverse suggest that 87% of Americans are not okay with the procedure beyond the scope of the first three months of gestation. That doesn’t sound like a lot of old well-off, old white men to me.

You see it’s always the extreme outlier that becomes the focus of attention. It’s sort of like airplanes; you only hear about the ones that crash, never mind the thousands which take off and land safely every day. Liberal thinking seems to be currently bent on the notion that the SCOTUS ruling marks the notion that we’ve lost the democracy guideline of majority rule and this issue is now the desire of the minority. They evidently haven’t heard about all the legislation crafted of late that is specifically designed to cater to minority cases.

Indeed that same public polling indicates the majority of Americans don’t have an issue with school prayer, the majority of Americans don’t believe that boys should be allowed to participate in girls athletic events, and a majority of Americans believe their rights come with responsibilities and finally, the majority of Americans understand choices made have consequences.

The same people who champion the choice of aborting after the three-month period of gestation are the same people who vilify people who made a choice not to vaccinate or not to wear mask. They reason people who made those choices were endangering the lives of others while rebuking the reality of the choice of abortion takes the life of the unborn. It is the rhetoric of those like Mr. Schofield which divides the country. Add in the hypocrisy of those in power going to their hair appointments when the rest of us weren’t allowed and had family gatherings at restaurants when the rest of us weren’t allowed and you have divisive conduct simply not matching the rhetoric. They just don’t or won’t own it. Too many old, well-off, white men they can blame, I suppose.

Thank heaven for natural-born leaders like Frank Fleming, who was able to gather a roomful of supporters to help push forward his common-sense solution to refurbish and re-use an existing sign structure to promote his company’s move to a new location off of Route 52 (see “Crowd supports sign request” in the June 18 edition of The Mount Airy News).

It’s sad, but true, that members of the community must resort to such public-pressure tactics because most city council officials appear to serve only as puppets for Mount Airy Downtown (MAD) – thereby making them incapable of thinking for themselves or paying attention to any reasonable requests brought before them from business interests outside the purview of MAD.

Fortunately, Commissioner Jon Cawley, a pro-business visionary for the whole of the city of Mount Airy, insisted on putting Mr. Fleming’s issue on the agenda of an upcoming (July 21) city council meeting. And Deborah Cochran, another well-known business-growth leader, issued a statement in support of an amendment to the existing sign ordinance that the city is standing behind to prevent Mr. Fleming from moving forward with his plans.

The hypocrisy of the city council’s behavior was subsequently highlighted by Commissioner Cawley, who noted that the extensive infrastructure street work required to support the creation of an Andy Griffith mural – another “downtown” project from the MAD playbook — was in violation of an existing city ordinance related to sidewalks and streets (see “Mural drawn into sign debate” in the June 23 edition of The Mount Airy News.)

Putting aside the fact that no one opposed the mural as another ‘Mayberry’ tourist attraction, its blanket approval demonstrates that the city is comfortable ignoring its own ordinances if/when a project is part of Mount Airy Downtown’s agenda. It also demonstrates, once again, the city’s lack of transparency vis-à-vis the cost to taxpayers for the sidewalk/street reconstruction needed to provide preferred positioning for the mural.

Hopefully, the City of Mount Airy will be much better served after the Nov. 8 general election – when narrowly focused “downtown only” council members have been replaced with elected officials able to think “outside the [MAD] box” in order to serve the interests of all citizens and businesses.

Over the past few years, I have been pondering once again JFK’s admonition to all of us to ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. It seems to me that many Americans are takers, especially those who want more stuff no matter how much it takes away from others and destroys our environment.

Where have the givers gone, the ordinary people who volunteered for the Peace Corps or Americorps or invested time in Boys and Girls clubs and helping out local charities and other relief organizations? Maybe I am being too harsh because I care deeply about those I know who do give so unselfishly of themselves.

However, too many of us talk about rights all of the time, particularly the right to bear arms which allows the hateful and insane among us to use weapons of war to shoot up our malls, schools, and places of worship and to create a reign of terror in our society. What about our responsibilities to each other and our country? Why didn’t our forefathers craft a Bill of Responsibilities that we all should abide by to protect our safety and to work to ensure the common good of all Americans?

This is in reference to the June 11 column of Their View, “No compromise on gun laws” by F. Paul Valone.

Spot on. Mr. Valone’s analysis of the two main knee-jerk “solutions” advocated by gun control zealots cuts to the chase. His path forward:

a. citing true gang violence statistics,

b. rescinding Marxist/Socialist policies of defunding the police and unrelenting narrative of “systemic racism,” and

c. desisting with Black Lives Matter (BLM) anti-family philosophy and anti-religious morality denigration

Until the long-term issues above are addressed, his deterrence suggestions to adopt a security model used in airports merits serious consideration. An additional security at schools having a Junior Reserve Officer Training Program (JROTC) is to arm both program instructors, since they, too, like volunteer teachers, have had training in open carry and gun safety.

Finally, yes, we do “need to act” as Biden pontificated with respect to mass shootings; not by politicizing the event, rather by:

b. removing Soros-placed District Attorneys,

c. automatically pronouncing death sentence without appeal on a surviving mass shooter, and

d. enforcing current gun laws.

Leave our 2nd Amendment Right alone.

On June 3 my Subaru stopped. The motor blew up, at the stop light in front of Scenic Subaru.

Two police officers and a sheriff’s deputy were there immediately. One of them said “don’t sweat the small stuff. God’s in charge.”

I want to thank these three men who helped us. My husband has cancer. I had him with me on way to oncology office. He’s very sick and the Scenic Subaru people were extra kind and helpful. Angels all around.

There’s been another school shooting, which Mr. Biden and the left will blame on guns. But America has always had lots of guns, mostly without school shootings, at least until about 2016. Since then they are increasingly frequent, but why? What’s changed?

One thing that’s changed is TV and video game violence. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), TV violence has doubled in recent years, and correlates well with increasing firearm violence in the US. Most shooters have been adolescents, whose favorite dramas (CSI, NCIS, ‘How to Get Away With Murder’) became increasingly violent between 2000 and 2018. APPC concluded that ‘…just as entertainment media contributed to the uptake of cigarettes among vulnerable youth, our findings suggest that it may be doing the same for guns.’

So Hollywood’s dramas encourage violence, and the film industry may need to be censored, as Judge (Robert) Bork suggested. But Democrat politicians won’t tell you that, because (a) Hollywood gives them lots of money, and (b) like overcontrolling politicians elsewhere (Castro, Stalin, Hitler)leftist-Democrats prefer to blame violence on guns. They plan to repeal the Second Amendment and confiscate them.

A well-deserved and resounding “thank you” to the City of Mount Airy, including officials Mayor Ron Niland and City Manager Stan Farmer, and all participating organizations and individuals for this year’s finely orchestrated Memorial Day event held on Monday, May 30.

A town like Mount Airy has produced many American patriots who are serving, or have served, in the U.S. Armed Forces. Like most families, mine is rich with active-duty members or veterans, both living and deceased — including my father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister, aunts, uncles, and cousins too numerous to count – who have served honorably to help maintain the many freedoms we take for granted, and which remain the envy of other countries not our own.

A special shout-out, as well, to the Mount Airy News for its comprehensive coverage of the Memorial Day event to honor all military heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.

America needs to start enforcing the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution as it is written, not as it has been obscenely misconstrued by the NRA and the firearm manufacturing lobby.

The first words are “a well regulated militia.” North Carolina has several well-regulated militias within its borders. You will find them at Camp LeJeune, Cherry Point MCAS, Seymour Johnson, AFB, and Ft. Bragg to name a few.

Just the ones that I mentioned probably have more assault weapons than the rest of North Carolina’s citizens, but in today’s environment that could well be argumentative. If you go to those well regulated militias you will find that those weapons are all under lock and key when they are not in use. Ammunition for those weapons are stored in a separate secure location. Large quantities are usually stored in explosive bunkers for safety.

All ammunition for assault weapons in the United States can be purchased by the assault weapon owners but should be delivered to the closest law enforcement location for secure storage, just like the militias. The ammunition should be kept by law enforcement in the owner’s name and they could come in and check it out in the amounts that they need for a purpose and the location where it is to be expended noted. The expension of large quantities should be observed, just like in the militias. The expended shells should be accounted for, just like it is in the militias.

Well regulated militias examine their members mentally, physically and morally before they are allowed to join. Those accepted are required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States in order to become members. They are then trained in the safety, maintenance and use of weapons of war.

Well regulated militias are much more than having an ID card and owning a bunch of weapons. I believe that governors, county commissioners, sheriffs, city mayors, city manager, police chiefs and others can and should regulate the ammunition for assault weapons and that it would not infringe on the right of the people to bear arms.

The example is the actions of the well regulated militias that has been necessary for the security of a free state and has kept it free time after time. Control the ammunition, just like the well regulated militias. This is written by a man that has qualified many times as an expert with several assault weapons and expended thousands of rounds through them as a member of a well regulated militia.

Our children and grandchildren need to be students at school not targets on an open range.

We are all in shock with the news of yet another mass shooting. This time in Uvalde, Texas. Then the news this morning (Wednesday, May 25) of a fight at a Circle K on Rockford Street that ended with someone dying from a gunshot wound.

What can we agree on? How do we react, or better act?

I think we can agree that more legislation is not the answer.

We have laws on the books that are not easy to enforce. It’s complicated.

We may have some agreement that background checks, sales of high-capacity magazines and the need for the average citizen to own a military style tactical weapon might be a small step in the right direction. However, the problem seems to be more personal.

It starts with us. Can we, as a member of society, slow down the anger? Anger fuels divisiveness. We seem to spend more time, as with our politics, throwing stones at the other political party in order to gain leverage. What would happen if we woke up every day looking for something positive to share and do — like Giving to Second Harvest Food Bank at Chick fil A. Wednesday, May 25? Making sure our children are taken to places such as Reeves Community Center, Surry Arts Council happenings, open air concerts on Market Street, the park, the library, activities in one of our 188 local churches and more?

Parents, you don’t have to repeat the failures and short comings of your past. You have the unique power to make positive change. In small ways at first, but the more you do, the more you learn and the better your life and those around you can be.

So I challenge you to act.

Fire prevention is a worthwhile endeavor; and maintaining a top-notch fire department like we have in Mount Airy is a necessary and appropriate expense that should be borne by all city taxpayers. With that understanding, I read with interest the article “Fire-suppression grants to aid downtown housing” that appeared in the April 28 issue of The Mount Airy News.

The city’s newly developed initiative – creatively tagged the “Downtown Fire Suppression Life & Safety Grant Program” — is little more than an open spigot to steadily pour taxpayer-funded handouts (er, “grant awards”) into the wallets of select downtown business owners who choose to renovate the upper-floors of their buildings to create residential rental units. In a nutshell, the city will pay up to $35,000 of a portion of the each qualifying owner’s costs to install, as part of their new-construction or remodeling expenses, the sophisticated sprinkler system that is required, by code, for residential units.

The program was promoted as one designed to save and protect lives and historic property (make that lives and property within the Downtown Fire District only) while incentivizing downtown residential development. Using a combination of fear tactics and concessionary projections, the proposed program was quickly passed during the April 21 meeting of the city council — despite the fact that, at that meeting, nobody could say exactly how much money would ultimately be paid to business owners, which part of the budget would be used to fund the handouts, or whether or not there is an end date to this creatively marketed give-away program. Talk about fiscal mismanagement.

Fast forward two weeks: the proposed city budget for the next fiscal year was shared with city council members at the May 19 meeting; and, as reported in the May 21 issue of The Mount Airy News, $105,000 has been earmarked for the “grant” program. How was that arbitrary amount determined? Seems like three eligible owners have already applied for their full handout (3 x $35,000 = $105,000).

More importantly, given the propensity of the city to simply ignore its own budgeted numbers when those numbers prove inconvenient, taxpayers can expect the initial $105,000 to grow exponentially as more and more prospective landlords demand their piece of the promised pie. The Downtown Fire District includes more than 100 properties. Assuming, very conservatively, an average “grant award” of only half the allowed maximum to eligible applicants, the city is primed to give away $875,000 to 50 business owners, $1.3 million to 75 owners, $1.75 million to 100 owners, and so on.

Why should hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of city tax dollars be given to scores of downtown business owners to help them cover their code-compliance costs when they decide to voluntarily improve their property in order to make more money from rental income?

City officials justified this latest corporate welfare caper by touting the increased tax benefits that will come to the city. That may be so – but only if you define a good investment as waiting multiple decades to fully recover the total amount of money forked over.

Business owners – both within and without the Downtown Fire District — should shoulder their own costs for ensuring that their facilities meet or exceed all code requirements appropriate for their stated use and necessary to protect themselves and others from fire and other hazards. Rather than tossing cash at these owners, city officials should have encouraged them to do what they’d tell the rest of us to do – go to a bank and take out a loan!

This is in reference to the Saturday, May 14, 2020 article “Voter fraud adherents to speak” and letter to the editor “Reader decries political ‘histrionics’.”

Both items have the same theme – election integrity. Regardless of political affiliation, it has become apparent that state legislatures need to take action. Part of citizenship is the responsibility to select those who will govern their respective local, sate, U.S. congressional, and once every four years refer to the Electoral College who their preferred candidate is to govern the country. We the people cannot abrogate our duty on this; otherwise, there effectively is no vote – as clearly evidenced in undemocratically governed countries.

The question of integrity in all forms of elections; to wit: Stacey Abrams (gubernatorial), Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump (presidential), has been – regardless of political party affiliation – percolating to the boiling point. This alone should enjoin the state legislatures to remove the kettle from the heat and seriously investigate the unquelled perception of election fraud and/or hanky panky tactics.

Yes, it will cost money to do this; however, not to do so invites continued voter apathy, unrest, and ultimately federal government meddling in states’ constitutional responsibility under Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 pertaining to “governance of the people, by the people, for the people” (Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863, Gettysburg).

It is time to resolve the issues of voter databases, voter identification at the polls/absentee ballots, and methodology plus procedures for gathering and counting the votes.

Here we go again — the same old conspiracy theories of voter fraud and voting machines that Trump and his mafia have repeated over and over to brainwash his cult.

I am so discouraged that so many of our Surry County citizens do not believe truth and facts. I have been voting for more than 60 years and have voted for both Democrats and Republicans. I have always trusted our citizens who work so hard at the polls protecting and defending our right to vote.

Thank you Michella Huff for being an honest, hard-working and reliable citizen dedicating so much time to making sure we have rights and privileges to cast our vote, and also for standing up to such political histrionics.

We must all speak out against hate and deception.

This is in reference to the article by Ryan Kelly, “Federal injunction sole path to voting machine audit” in the Saturday, May 7, edition.

I, one among many, saw a presentation concerning 2020 voting in Surry County. Had Ms. Michella Huff (county board of elections chair) attended the meeting, I believe she would fully understand the purported “explosion” by Keith Senter (Republican party chair) during their meeting about voting concerns – primarily with voting machines.

There were actual photographs which showed a fingertip chip hidden on the motherboard of a machine. As stated in the referenced article, current communications technology makes the machine susceptible to surreptitious hacking which could then taint the results. Although the chip in the photographs was not purported to be from one of the machines within Surry County, the inference is that like-machines could be so “infected.” Hence, the request to have an audit of the machines. Unfortunately, it appears that no machine audit directed by Federal Court Order will ensue until a statistically, major loss occurs in the next presidential voting cycle.

Actually, voting machines are only one aspect of 2020 voting issues within Surry County. A statistical forensic investigation into voting data, showed that although reliably “red,” there were statistically too many “blue” votes for the number of registered democrats.

Additionally, during the presentation, actual voter registration data sets from Surry County were shown. Data input into registration rolls showed multiple voting ID numbers given to a single person. For example, I could have two ID’s, one for Harmon and another for Harman, depending on who inputted/updated the information into the database. Also, funeral homes are not required by law to notify the Election Board of deaths; ergo, the database doesn’t get scrubbed.

It appears the only solution to reinstate integrity for our democratic institution of voting is for each state to take on the gargantuan task to conduct in-dept audits of entire voting processes: tabulation, citizen voter databases, and collection of paper ballots.

I recently viewed an online recording of the Mount Airy city council meeting of April 21.

It felt a bit like watching the Academy Awards – with the slap!

As the meeting edged close to a scheduled discussion of the now well-known Uncorked drama, Commissioner Marie Wood spoke out of turn to inappropriately chastise Commissioner Jon Cawley for, among other council sins, having dared to mention Uncorked – which, until then, had apparently remained a secret known only to a few select individuals – including members of the planning committee, a few cherry-picked commissioners, and probably some others with council-approved top secret clearance that would entitle them to know how and why the local Uncorked business had become intrinsically linked to a requested change in a city ordinance. (Apparently, Wood forgot that the Business-Which-Cannot-Be-Named had initially been referenced, out loud, by a city employee – whose own name shall be withheld for fear that he, too, could be publicly censured.)

A bit later in the meeting, Wood’s verbal slap was bolstered by Commissioner Steve Yokeley, who said he resented the insinuation that board members don’t do their homework.

Once the Oscar-worthy feigned indignation performances by Wood and Yokeley were out of the way, Commissioner Cawley addressed the elephant in the room – which is the lack of transparency that seems to be consistently applied to council proceedings in order to guarantee a pre-determined vote on key issues. Clearly, in the case of “Uncorked-gate,” not every commissioner had been given all the same background information (including implications and relevant potential consequences) that is supposed to help inform their vote. Indeed, the limited information provided to Cawley made no mention of Uncorked — or the fact that that establishment stood to potentially benefit from the ordinance change that was being promulgated.

I believe the only reason such secret, underhanded shenanigans are permitted to plague our local governing body is so the council can continue its ‘hide and slide’ decision-making process – whereby bits and pieces of relevant information are conveniently hidden, omitted, or purposefully withheld from one or more commissioners so the others can easily slide their preferred outcome through the voting process. No vote should be taken unless and until all commissioners are working from the exact same script.

Kudos to Commissioner Cawley for once again standing up for truth and transparency. And shame on the mayor for not showing the leadership required to demand, effective immediately, that all background information and/or recommendations shared with all council members be exactly the same – with no seemingly calculated omissions of relevant factors.

Government does not get any bigger than when it controls what its citizens must do with their own body. That is not small government. That is not conservative government. That is totalitarian government.

Rebuke the Republican-sought totalitarian government!

Mount Airy is always in the paper with something about the Spencer’s property, Andy Griffin, or taking people’s property by some means. They worry about tourism and these people come to town on some of the roughest roads in the state .

I’ve driven on gravel roads that weren’t as rough as the ones in town. It’s pathetic that they spend all this money on ways to upfit the Spencer’s property when the roads around town aren’t much better than a pig path.

The sidewalks are just as bad as the roads. They need to spend some money on the roads and sidewalks instead of blowing it on senseless hopes and dreams.

I read with interest the article “Cawley concerned about beer, wine in rest area” in the April 20 edition of The Mount Airy News.

In principle, I have no problem with selling wine to folks who decide to rest their weary bones in the Loftis Plaza. Personally, though, I would not be interested in inadvertently smelling stale human waste from the public restrooms while sipping a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps, if structurally feasible, the owners of Uncorked would be better off thinking about building a small deck off the back of their delightful store or creating a snazzy Rooftop Lounge like the owners of the space-squeezed Horton Hotel, in Boone, have done.

That being said, the bigger issue highlighted in the article is the apparent lack of inclusion and transparency that continues to plague the current city council – which seems to be comprised of a majority of group-thinking puppets who feel their main job is to do the bidding of the downtown power elite rather than serve the interests of the entire city.

It’s distressing, but not surprising, that so many issues put forward for a vote are neither fully understood nor evaluated by all five commissioners and the mayor. Is there no executive summary or SWOT analysis developed and shared in advance with each member of the city council before an issue is brought to the floor for discussion and vote? If not, why not?

Hopefully, the upcoming election will be instrumental in helping to reframe the city council into a body of elected officials who will study issues carefully, think independently, and then base their decisions on the actual merits of proposals put forward.

As they say, all politics is local.

If, like me, you’re currently displeased with the shape our country’s in, then do not vote for candidates in the upcoming Mount Airy City Council election who are affiliated with the Democrat party – because local office-holders typically support and mirror the policies/activities of their same-party counterparts at the state and national levels.

If we’ve learned anything from Joe Biden’s radical-left administration about the Democrats’ view of finances, it’s that budgets don’t matter – because if there’s not enough money to pay for their pet projects, they simply print more Franklins or raise taxes on the middle class. For a left-leaning office-holder in Mount Airy, the only option would be to raise taxes.

Joe Zalescik, current candidate for South Ward Commissioner in our local election, is a registered Democrat (per the voter files of Surry County’s Board of Elections, as of April 18); and he was appointed commissioner-at-large seven months ago.

Last Sunday, I read in the Mount Airy News that Joe Zalescik said the city budget was $15 million more than it actually is … and then, when that error was brought to his attention, he casually brushed it off as a “minor mistake.” News flash: being $15 million off the mark is not a ‘minor mistake’ — it’s gross incompetence for a sitting commissioner to be so inexcusably clueless about the city’s budget; and it raises a red flag about his ability to be financially responsible with city taxpayer funds.

Zalescik then tried to deflect the significance of his blunder by noting that everyone makes mistakes and that certain detractors in town were “…looking for anything to criticize me.” Hmmm, sounds like another Joe (Biden, that is) when he blames Vladimir Putin for inflation.

It’s also noteworthy that, immediately prior to the kick-off of the current local election, Zalescik and Commissioner Steve Yokeley (who nominated Zalescik for the commissioner seat he now holds) engaged in a behind-the-scenes ‘switcheroo’ deal relating to territorial representation so that both could better pursue their personal political agenda.

Finally, a few weeks ago, Zalescik flooded the local voter market with a jam-packed direct-mail solicitation that included an ‘absentee ballot’ application. Talk about taking electioneering cues direct from the Democratic playbook.

By now you’ve probably guessed I’m a fiscally conservative Republican. What you may not know is that I’ve lived in Mount Airy, proudly and happily, for the past 10 years – having been born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, where radical Democratic shenanigans is a highly-evolved art form and as culturally pervasive as soft pretzels, cheesesteaks, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

With the upcoming city council election in Mount Airy, we voters have an opportunity to clean house. Let’s rid the City Council of all those whose first allegiance is to themselves or possibly the radical left-leaning fringe of the Democrat party, which is rapidly ruining the nation. Let’s rid the city council of all those who lie, distort reality, and/or provide pathetic excuses to obscure their inability or unwillingness to manage our tax dollars wisely. And let’s rid the city council of all those who engage in secret backroom deals.

Please join me in the primary and general elections (May 17 and Nov. 8, respectively) to vote for candidates whose words and deeds demonstrate their honesty, transparency, fiscal responsibility, and commitment to building a better future for Mount Airy.

During a “Meet the Candidates” forum held April 11, Commissioner Joe Zalescik sought support for his current bid for the South Ward Commissioner seat. During his presentation to the audience, he said the City of Mount Airy’s budget is $30 million – with $15 million of that coming from property taxes.

Say what? Those numbers are off by about 100% — and that ain’t peanuts, Joe.

In fact, the current city budget is more like $15 million ($17.2M, to be exact, with amendments) — with $7.2 million coming from real, personal and vehicle taxes.

Fiscal responsibility by commissioners requires a basic knowledge of the city budget. I strongly urge the city council to require all new commissioners – whether appointed (as Zalescik was) or elected – to familiarize themselves with the budget and budget process.

I see the city continues to interfere with private enterprise to speculate on property development for the citizens of Mount Airy. What strategic purpose does the Mittman lot on Pine Street have for the City of Mount Airy?

This property is on 0.25 of an acre and is landlocked on all three sides. The council has decided to invest in what appears to be useless property, unless there are other plans (vision) the citizens are not aware of. Additionally, one of the property owners next to the property has purchased part of the property and I feel sure was prepared to purchase the balance until the city interfered (Big Government).

Last, common sense would say once the city was aware of the issues involved and would own 50% of 0.25 acre they would do the prudent thing and bow out. Thank goodness the auction was postponed. It will give them more time to come to their senses.

This is exactly why we need serious change in the city council. Based on this it appears there is no rational, pragmatic, thought process on the council. This type of reckless investment will continue to put the taxpayers of this city at risk. I hope the community is paying attention and also will vote in May and November to change this reckless behavior.

I agree with Mr. Hick’s letter (“Reader questions page 1 ad,” March 23, Mount Airy News) about the placement of the political advertisement above the fold in your March 20 edition.

Since it was not identified as an advertisement I assume it was a not-so-subtle endorsement. Even then I believe an endorsement should be identified as such. I believe you should provide an explanation or an apology or equal time to others.

Editor’s Note: The ad referenced in this letter did state clearly it was a paid ad, with the statement “Advertisement paid for by the Committee to Elect Teresa Lewis Mayor of Mount Airy.”

I was shocked that the Mount Airy News would place a political ad on the front page as part of the headline in your March 20 edition. While I understand that politicians can purchase political ads, it is very unethical to place the ad as part of the front page headline. It makes your publication look very biased and very unprofessional.

At the alumni meeting of the J J Jones Alumni, held on Feb. 14, the normal order of business was dispensed with in order to provide adequate time for a round table discussion of the proposed sale of the former J J Jones High School; currently housing the YVEDDI, a nonprofit providing a variety of services for all county residents.

During the round table discussion, a statement was made relative to the L.H. Jones Auditorium, currently owned and operated by the J J Jones Alumni. The purpose of this letter is to set the record straight. The statement made alluded to there being serious problems in the auditorium. That statement was inaccurate. I want to assure the alumni and all supporters, that the L. H. Jones Auditorium is very well maintained; there are no issues that are not being addressed and there is no danger of the auditorium being taken from the alumni, due to some unmet requirement.

The alumni is proud of the fact that, though lean, our resources are sufficient to keep the bills paid. There has never been an inspection that we have not passed; our insurance is current, and we are in good standing with IRS.

Yes, we do have some maintenance issues as expected with a building more than 50 years old. As these arise, they are corrected in the order of priority, and affordability. Of course, there is not enough money in the bank to do everything we want and need to do, immediately. But, we have a strong determination and are confident that everything on the to do list will be accomplished. Fund raising is ongoing and critical. A large portion of our income is from donations to our alumni, over and above our membership dues. We are eternally grateful for our supporters.

In closing, I’d like to reach out to the people that may not realize we consider them one of our own, graduate or not, if you walked through the doors as a student, for any length of time; were the beneficiary of the love, concern for your wellbeing and your future, from the teachers and administrators; we need you, your talent, energy and creative minds. We want you, your children and grandchildren, to take interest and pride in the building and keep it operational for the benefit of the community, for years to come.

You’re invited to attend our alumni meetings, held monthly on the second Monday of each month from 2-3 p.m. at the L.H. Jones Auditorium. Come see for yourself, what the alumni has accomplished.

Several years ago, University of Pennsylvania officials caved to the cancel culture crowd by swiftly sanctioning the unauthorized removal of an iconic portrait of William Shakespeare by students who replaced it with a photograph of a black lesbian poet. At the time, Penn administrators poo-pooed the student miscreants’ behavior by noting that Shakespeare was going to be ousted anyway “in order to represent a more diverse range of writers.” So much for the classics.

Several days ago, University of Pennsylvania officials quickly acquiesced to an NCAA policy revision that permitted a trans female swimmer to compete against biological female swimmers in the ivy League Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship games. As a result, Penn trans swimmer Lia Thomas (who had competed in prior years as a male) won three events and set five records – easily besting biological women teammates and competitors. So much for women’s sports.

Penn’s consistent cowardly submission to the nation’s cancel-culture bullies mirrors that of most universities and major corporations – whose fear of being labeled racist, homophobic or transphobic transcends their ability to do the right thing. In their decision to help advance the ruination of women’s sports, Penn officials ignored the truth and sound reasoning included in a letter sent to them on behalf of 16 of Lia Thomas’s teammates who chose to remain anonymous. In that letter, the young women athletes said, “We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. Lia has every right to live her life authentically. However, we also recognize that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity. Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings from #462 as a male to #1 as a female.”

The letter was delivered to Penn officials by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a 1984 Olympic swimming gold medalist and well-respected advocate for women’s sports. Ms. Hogshead-Makar emphasized that anonymity was necessary for the teammates because they had been warned they would be “removed from the team” or “never get a job offer” if they spoke out against Thomas’s inclusion in the women’s competition.

How very sad it is when even the most elite academic institutions in the country are afraid of facing the truth. It’s really quite simple: males (including hormonally altered ones) are not females; so they should not be competing in women’s sports. Even Caitlyn Jenner, Olympic Gold Medal winner prior to her own transition, noted the unfairness of trans females competing in women’s sports. “We cannot have biological boys competing against women,” said Jenner.

Hopefully, universities, corporations, and the nation as a whole will once again begin to display more common sense than cowardice. Until then, and as long as Biden and his administration continue to prioritize weakness and wokeness as our national goals, America and the world can expect to experience much more global turmoil than the recent Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

This is in reference to the Their View article by Rob Schofield (Yes to books, science, diversity — and discomfort) in the Feb. 18 edition concerning public school book banning.

I beg to differ with Mr. Schofield’s assertion, “The truth is that CRT is not taught in K-12 Schools…”; rather, it most certainly is being taught as attested to by the recent resignation of NC education board member (as reported Feb. 9, Mount Airy News article) over that very issue. Please check the facts, Mr. Schofield.

Furthermore, the issue of sexual-preference identity has gone too far by having books in Pre-K through eighth grade public schools which graphically depict oral/anal sex methods used by alphabet soup (LGBTQ) adherents. This is not warranted for pre-pubescent children or minors. Those who choose (not coerced into) this lifestyle and are able to handle such crass, graphic depictions can certainly go to their public library or order books of this nature online. They have no place in our public schools.

“Fear of change…’the other’…’discomfort’… can serve as powerful roadblocks to societal progress” as envisioned by Mr. Schofield, and the Marxist/Socialists (progressive democrats) as well. The complete removal of these roadblocks can only lead to societal Sodom and Gomorrah where there is moral degeneration and ultimate destruction – not by Putin, China, North Korea, or Iran, but by God himself.

There are dilapidated buildings all over town and most of us would like them gone, but that’s not practical. It’s beyond suspicious that Koozies, Mittmans, and the Red Building have been targeted while so many others are ignored. (See Mount Airy News, Feb. 18 ). Sure looks like the old disgraced and supposedly disbanded Redevelopment Committee (RDC) still at work behind the scenes. This letter is not to defend dilapidated buildings, but to show the misleading way it’s being done.

The danger of starting a condemnation process was clearly laid out by Commissioner Jon Cawley at the Feb. 17 meeting. Right now, should anyone be injured around those buildings, the liability is on the owners. Once the city starts the process which was approved at that meeting, the city becomes liable for any injury claimed.

Citizens were told at the meeting that the city could delay as long as they wanted before the huge expense of demolition. Don’t fall for that. The RDC’s favorite trick is the old “sky is falling ” scare card, recently used just a year or two ago for $300,000 to $400,000 to demo part of Spencers they wanted gone. They’ve used it often before and are using it now to condemn these properties. They’ll then claim they can’t delay the demo as they promised because of city liability danger. The same scare was tried years ago to try to take the buildings. It didn’t work , the buildings remain, and no injuries

My prediction: The 90-day warning to owners runs out and the city uses scare tactics to justify the demos. The expense becomes a lien on the property and the city forecloses. That means an auction and the city buys the properties. It’s like the hated eminent domain but just more sneaky. Then it’ll be for sale to “private developers.” Just like Spencers, any developers will demand all kinds of spending by the city, starting with property being given to developers for little or nothing, huge city spending on infrastructure, luxury paving/lighting/landscaping, parking lots, etc. It’s not hard to predict because that’s exactly how Spencers has worked and this will be no different.

The truth of the downtown gang wanting to take those three buildings is an old story dating back to 2014. It started when we bought Spencers and our board appointed a committee known as RDC to oversee development. The public was assured it would be done only by private investors, but that was never going to happen. RDC quickly showed they had plans for far more than Spencers and also showed they would not go by the rules set by the board.

Even back then they planned to take over the properties now mentioned. RDC’s use of eminent domain was even hinted. That attracted attention from a legal non-profit in Washington, D.C. that opposes improper uses of eminent domain. They visited here and there was a real possibility of them bringing lawsuits if the RDC kept going. The board then wisely disbanded the RDC.

That should have ended it but RDC simply went behind the scenes. RDC supporters have been pushing the original RDC plan ever since and that’s been eight years and millions of taxpayer dollars ago. A lot of what RDC wanted has already been done (at great expense) but lots more remains like the “mini-park” soon to be built, the acquisition of the three buildings listed above, and much more to come; all of which will demand large amounts of taxpayer money.

This is in reference to the article, “NC education board member leaves, citing social studies row” in the Feb. 9 edition of The Mount Airy News.

On several occasions, letters have been written concerning the officially, state-sponsored indoctrination of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the NC public schools; particularly within the social studies curriculum. Links to publications to that effect were even provided; for example, https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/03/north-carolinas-new-k-12-standards-push-critical-race-theory-deep-into-curriculum/ .

Parents were further enjoined in those previous letters to the editor to “see for themselves” and to thereafter express their displeasure at their tax dollars being spent indoctrination our youth that:

Their country is systemically racist,

The “correct” color is paramount, contrary to Dr. Martin Luther King’s concept that all people should be judged not “by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (https://shre.america.gov/life-legacy-martin-luther-king-jr/),

“Equity” (banal outcome) is more critical than equality of access to succeed in one’s endeavors to achieve life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

Obviously since activism is more important than education within North Carolina public schools, even a State Board of Education member – Todd Chasteen – has seen the light. The question is, will you, the parent, grandparent, or other relative of a child also see the light and Speak Up at school board meetings?

Voter suppression is devised to control the vote of minorities in the South. You can rest assured of that whether it is Republicans or Democrats when they yell “state’s rights.”

A minority group’s rights will cause a loss to exercise a right promised to every American. State’s rights means oppression. State’s right means keep those minorities under control.

This is in reference to “Their View” article titled “Roe v. Wade protections still important” in the Jan. 23, 2022 edition of The Mount Airy News.

While the landmark Supreme Court decision concerning abortion was necessary 49 years ago, it was based on the science of fetal gestation known at that time and social reproductive issues of that time. Since then, it has become quite apparent that counseling and medical, procedural, abortion protocols have not kept pace with scientific discoveries during the span of fetal gestation.

Counseling has primarily been the mainstay of Planned Parenthood which was established by Margaret Sanger, a known associate of supremacist groups and eugenics (www.lifenews.com). Incidentally, most of their facilities were/are placed within walking distance of minority communities.

With the removal of all moral aspects of abortion within our current societal “norm,” abortions have become the de facto “birth control pill” du jour as a result of instant gratification and deleterious sexual interactions.

Scientifically, one can argue that life begins at conception (www.justthefacts.org and www.intellectualtakeout.org ) or one can socially argue that life is based on “personhood” – body part, acorn or egg simile, and captive arguments (www.hil.org) .

The fine line between scientific and social arguments, now being addressed by states and the Supreme Court, is at what point does it become “murder” to abort a fetus?

I grew up in Mount Airy my whole life. One of the most famous things around, and stories I’ve heard my whole life, were about “The Strip.”

If you’re not familiar with it, its the road down Lebanon Street. Back around the 70s, every teen and young adult would drive their car up and down the road hence the name, “The Strip.” Before it could get to new generations, the city put a stop to it.

I believe it should make a comeback. I believe it would be an amazing opportunity for the new generation to make new friends, and to hear the stories from the people who used to drive it up and down. Not only would it make an attraction spot for new age people, it would help restaurants like Porky’s and others get more business.

It’s a great idea for teens in the 1980s-1990s who didn’t get to experience it, and for the new crowd of this generation to have something fun to do, and experience something their parents got to in their youth.

I am writing you to say this about Jones School sale: Why not just give it to the group of community action leaders that want it? I was raised in Mount Airy from 58-86 then moved to Newberry, South Carolina. I still read the Mount Airy News and my family is still present in Mount Airy.

Recently, the same situation happened here in Newberry. Gallman School, the old Black school, has been replaced and now we have another new state of the art school.

The city, county, and school board graciously donated it to the local community African-American group that wants it to restore and use it for various program needs. It will have a great value for the community by adding this building and playgrounds to continue to use for their needs for years to come.

I think the community needs to do this. The programs will help kids and adults alike in many ways. It will also help to right many wrongs that our previous generations have done to our African-American friends and neighbors.

This is in reference to “Reader questions voting bill” in the Jan. 23 opinion page.

Currently there are multiple resolutions and bills working their way through the 117th Congressional (2021-2022) process. Bear in mind, only a Joint Resolution (J.R.) affects the Constitution; whereas, Resolutions and Bills become Law.

a. H. R. 105 introduced by Rep. Gibbs (R-OH) is in House Judiciary Committee which referred the resolution to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. This resolution reaffirms that voting is a fundamental right of all eligible United States citizens and recognizing that allowing illegal immigrants the right to vote devalues the franchise and diminishes the voting power of United States citizens;

b. H. R. 866 introduced by Rep. Davis (R-IL) is in House Judiciary. This resolution recognizes that allowing illegal immigrants the right to vote devalues the franchise and diminishes the voting power of United States citizens;

c. H.R. 4959 aka “Right to Vote Act” introduced by Rep. Jones (D-NY) is in House Judiciary. This bill concerns federal elections. The bill prohibits federal, state, and local governments from substantially impairing the ability to vote in federal elections unless the government action furthers an important and particularized governmental interest. This bill, in my opinion, essentially revokes state’s rights to establish voting processes for federal elections.

d. S. 2615 aka “Right to Vote Act” introduced by Sen. Ossoff (D-GA) has been read twice and referred to the rules and Administration Committee. This bill mirrors the specifications and has the same deleterious effect on state’s rights as of H.R. 4959.

e. H.R. 640 “Expanding Access to Early Voting Act of 2021” introduced by Rep. Brown (D-MD) has been referred to House Committee on House Administration. This resolution: expands early in-person voting, requires each state during federal elections 15 days early voting, requires polling places accessible by public transportation, establishes a Federal Election Assistance Commission to issue standards for early voting, and states must process and scan ballots during early voting period at least 14 days prior to election day (cannot tabulate ballots before polls close on election day). Again, state’s rights to establish election processes are superseded by the federal government.

f. H.R. 4 “John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021” introduced by Rep. Sewell (D-AL) has passed the House (9/14/21) and was received in the Senate where it has had two roll call votes. In essence, this bill is an outright removal of state right’s to determine voting processes and establishes the Department of Justice as the enforcement arm for voting processes within the United States.

The Resolutions/Bills enumerated above, except for H.R. 105 and 866, are multiple avenues by which the Marxist/socialist (aka democratic) party is attempting to establish one party rule within the United States, in my opinion.

People who will not get the COVID-19 shot should keep to themselves and not expect their friends, relatives and coworkers to socialize with them. It puts everyone in danger for the awful virus raging the world.

I had the virus in 2020, it is very rough and scary. Since then I’ve had two original shots and the third booster. I still wear a mask when out of my home, trying to protect the general public as well as myself.

This vaccine is no more dangerous than any shot we’ve all had at some time in our lifetime.

Please protect the frontline workers, your loved ones and yourself. God gave us the knowledge to do better than his people are doing. The Bible says that our bodies are a temple and to treat it well. Science helps us do that.

I read with great interest the article on Betty Lynn’s estate auction (Betty Lynn’s estate being auctioned, Dec. 22 Mount Airy news). Having shared a meal or two with Betty Lynn at Ridgecrest, while my parents were also residing there, I cannot agree more with Mark Rodgers’ assessment that “…if you spent time with her (Betty Lynn) she made you feel like you were her best friend for life.”

Betty Lynn indeed was a star, but she made you feel like you were also a star and treasured friend. My family members miss Betty so much, but we all are left with the great memories of the time we were able to spend with this wonderful, gracious and kind lady during her lifetime.

Filing for the 2022 General Election begins Dec. 6. Since Board of Education seats are no longer nonpartisan, those interested in running for a board of education must file between Dec. 6 – Dec. 17 for the March Primary. While citizens will cast their votes for numerous candidates please be aware of what members of school boards are allowed to oversee and what they have no control over.

The local boards of education do not set or select the curriculum for their school systems. The curriculum is selected by the State Board of Education, whose members are appointed by the General Assembly. The North Carolina State Board of Education consists of the lieutenant governor, state treasurer, and 11 members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly for eight-year terms (three at-large, eight from designated educational districts across the state) and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI).

What is the role of the Board of Education?

The role of the school board can be summarized in the following areas:

– To provide vision and direction for the school system

– To create policies in accordance with state law to establish standards, accountability, and evaluation of essential operations of the school district.

– To prepare the budget for presentation to the county commissioners

– To hire, support, and evaluate the Superintendent.

– To perform judicial functions by conducting hearings as appropriate.

– To advocate for the school district, staff, and especially the students in all interactions with other governmental entities and the public.

There is a Board Member Code of Ethics and each board member must fulfill the legal requirement to receive a minimum of 12 hours of training annually. The training includes but is not limited to, public school law, public school finance, and duties and responsibilities of local boards of education as well as the state-required ethics training.

If you are truly interested in serving on the Mount Airy City Schools Board of Education and have a passion for our schools and community, I urge you to let your interests be known. Serving as an advocate for the students of our school system can be very rewarding. Contact a current board member, attend the monthly board meetings and be knowledgeable in the current issues and concerns facing education in North Carolina.

You do have to live in the city school district, and in the district in which are filing to run:

– District B (Mount Airy #2, #3 Voting Precincts), one seat

– District C (Mount Airy #4, #5 Voting Precincts), one seat

– District D (Mount Airy #6, #7 Voting Precincts), one seat

– At Large (All Mount Airy Voting Precincts), one seat

If you are sincerely interested in serving the students of Mount Airy City Schools, reach out to an existing board member and research the responsibilities and importance of the position.

As I read the article for city funds for a variety of projects downtown, (“City designates $295,000 for downtown projects,” Nov. 21, Mount Airy News),I wonder if other businesses have any value to the city.

Businesses on Main Street will benefit from this large amount of money, also funded by the group, Mount Airy Downtown Inc.. I understand Main Street businesses have paid an additional tax for which they should benefit from. However, it seems our city commissioners seem to spend more time and money on Main Street, while others just have to look after themselves. The money will come from the municipality’s fund balance, with “hope” that they can recoup their money from the federal Rescue Plan Act.

So the city operates on hope. Must be an easy job to just spend money on hope that they can get it back. The city has been hoping for years on taxpayers money.

Donna’s Barber Shop has been hoping for help just to survive for years. And, yes, the city has helped when backed in a corner. However, when true support is needed to get the state DOT to address a problem of city and state water from flooding her business, we get nothing. The only thing they say is to spend her money to fix city and state water runoff problems, which could cost thousands of dollars.

Since the first day she opened she has paid out thousands of dollars, lost income and still has the same problem. I do need to mention that the city did do what the state requested, which helped but more work is needed by the state to eliminate the problem. Several years ago the state added drains to help, but put the drains in front of her business.

Collecting runoff water in front of the business instead of before it gets there is pure stupidity. Commonsense, which clearly they don’t have, will tell you to stop the problem before it gets there, not afterwards. The city needs to get some backbone and stand behind its businesses. Donna’s Barber Shop is not trying to benefit from the city or state, only to survive. The state and city water runoff should be controlled by the “state and city.” Not by private citizens.

We — when I say we, I mean Donna and her family, because we stand together as family — have been told that we are not the only ones with water runoff problems. Then why haven’t they fixed the other problems instead of spending enormous amounts of money on the Spencer’s property? Maybe it is about big money, not long standing businesses that support our city and draw countless people from many other states just to come to get a hair cut at her shop.

We need a complete board of commissioners that are concerned about every citizen and business.

Our family has had an ongoing business in Mount Airy since 1965. We don’t want special treatment, just equal treatment.

Americans love their cars, and buy lots of them (816 per 1,000 people). Europeans also love cars, but buy lots fewer (France 482, UK 475), probably because they pay so much tax they can’t afford cars. Those in Europe earning $40,000 a year pay $6,000 more tax than Americans earning the same; those who earn $100,000 pay $16,000 more in tax. That heavy taxation pays for a generous European Welfare State.

Mr. Biden is offering a similar welfare state in return for your vote, and is lying when he says taxing ‘the rich’ and wealthy corporations will pay for it. Eventually, everybody will pay more tax, probably payroll and VAT (value added tax). So if you support Mr. Biden’s plan, and then decide you want a newer and more expensive car, you might not be able to afford it; you will have already traded it for a more generous U.S. welfare program. Oh, and you probably won’t be able to afford that bigger house you’ve always wanted.

It seems that some of our county commissioners have little to do but to pass resolutions.

First there was the “Coca Cola machine” debacle. Now it seems they think there is another battle to fight with yet another resolution. According to the Nov. 3 Mount Airy News article “FBI told to stay out of Surry County Schools,” the commissioner’s latest resolution protests against the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s plan “to hold meetings to assist in developing strategies for addressing threats against public school administrators, board members, teachers and staff.”

Back in the early 2000s, public schools nationwide dealt with the issue of bomb threats. As a principal, I attended training sessions sponsored by the SBI and the FBI. Many of the strategies learned in these sessions led to the development of protocols that are likely still in place today in our school and school district level emergency action plans. My advice is to at least listen to what the FBI professionals may advise. It’s possible that local officials could learn something that better protects a child or a school employee.

Some time ago, the county commissioners declared war on roadside litter in our county. I’m not sure if there was a resolution enacted by the commissioners to support the anti-littering efforts. If there wasn’t, there should have been. I applaud their efforts and agree with them 100% on this issue. But these days, we are exposed to a different kind of litter.

I have a suggestion for the next Surry County commissioner’s resolution. It should deal with individuals who are driving around Surry County polluting the environment with a different kind of trash. It is not the physical trash like is mentioned above. It is the verbal and visual trash displayed on vehicles spewing hate and profanity for all eyes to see, including our small children or grandchildren. This graphic sexual language and profanity is very hard to look at and even harder to explain to a child. While this trash may be “legal” under the first amendment, it is wrong and it needs to stop.

Evidently, the people who display this offensive language on their vehicles crave attention. Perhaps we could find a constructive way to meet their need for attention. I think the next county commissioner’s resolution should direct our sheriff’s department staff to assist these folks by giving them their utmost attention. We could also seek the help of the local city and town police officials as well. Who knows? Maybe these folks are just lost and need directions. Quite possibly, they could need counseling on ways to operate their vehicle in a safer manner. By all means, let’s give them the attention they deserve on a consistent basis every single day.

I volunteer to help the Surry County commissioners draft this resolution.

In reference to the article “FBI Told To Stay Out of Surry Schools,” published Nov. 3, I feel the county commissioners missed the point. To me, the reason Attorney General Garland issued this statement was to protect those associated with public schools, not to prevent parents from speaking out at school board meetings.

Also, in response to G.J. Harmon’s letter in yesterday’s paper, I am curious about his question that he posed to parents: “Are Surry County and Mount Airy City Schools indoctrinating our children with this toxic and vitriolic anti-Martin Luther, anti-Civil Rights, anti-equality, anti-American venom?” Does he seriously think schools teach this? Has he visited a school classroom? The website he listed is invalid, shows “Page Not Found.”

Parents definitely have the right to voice their opinions at school board meetings so long as it’s done in a civil manner. What Attorney General Garland is concerned about is groups who want to do harm, disrupt meetings, and spread their own agenda.

This is in reference to the article, “FBI told to stay out of Surry schools”by Ryan Kelly in the in the Nov. 3 issue of The Mount Airy News.

I applaud Commissioners (Eddie) Harris and Van Tucker for their stance regarding the intrusion of FBI agents in the business of parents voicing their opinions/objections regarding critical race theory (CRT) in our local schools.

You all do know that CRT is buried deep in the 2021-2022 NC K-12 Standards approved by the NC Board of Education, right? (https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/03/north-carolinas-new-k-12-standards-push-critical-race-theory-deep-into-curriculum/) – in particular, the Social Studies curriculum.

As stated in the reference, “Members of the State Board of Education—most of whom were selected by Democratic governor Roy Cooper—voted to adopt the updated curriculum despite opposition from Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who said the new standards reflect the board’s political agenda and “indoctrinate our students against our great country.”

The question: Are Surry County and Mount Airy City schools indoctrinating our children with this toxic and vitriolic anti-Martin Luther, anti-Civil Rights, anti-equality, anti-American venom? Have any parents investigated? If it is, have any parents shared their concerns with either of the school boards?

Just repeating the current euphemism, “Let’s Go Brandon,” isn’t enough to remove this hatred. As Mark Levin suggests in his book, “American Marxism” in Chapter 7, take action. How? Run for school board. Write letters to North Carolina, Surry and Mount Airy school boards. Respectfully speak at school board meetings. Get involved. Join our county commissioners (and hopefully the city commissioners as well) to push back.

The Wednesday, Oct. 13 edition of the Mount Airy News contained three outstanding issues:

1. A political cartoon relative to social networks;

2. Their View, “Yes, government can be shrunk”, and

3. Article, “House returns to stave off default with debt limit vote.”

Social networks (1) prey on the insecurities of our youth and only exist to promote the narratives of Marxist-Socialism, aka Democrat-Progressive-Socialists. The cartoon is spot-on.

Yes, government can be shrunk (2) and the final comment encouraging voters to support candidates who advocate a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is absolutely germane. Government is funded by the people, who incidentally, must maintain balanced household budgets. Why should the federal government have unfettered, irresponsible, money spending without representative consent?

The assertion in the last article (3) that “Routine payments to Social Security beneficiaries, disabled veterans and active-duty military personnel would also be called into question” is incorrect. Those are all covered by “debt services,” which are paid regardless of the debt ceiling. As provided in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, public debt service (~$44 billion per month) is paid from the approximate $230 billion monthly income collected from taxpayers. There is no default on debt services.

The debt ceiling, however, concerns interest on debts incurred for future spending on social engineering projects or other pork barrel items such as those contained in the $1.5 trillion and $3.5 trillion bills currently being brokered by the Marxist-Socialist party.

This is in reference to “Their View” commentary, “We all win when we argue” in the Oct. 6 edition of the Mount Airy News.

How timely in light of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s letter of Oct. 4 to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which was instigated at the behest of the National School Board Association (NSBA). In that letter, he authorizes the FBI to use their legal power to criminalize parental 1st Amendment Rights to speak at school board meetings in order to advocate for their children’s education; not indoctrination (i.e., CRT).

I submit that, in the mien, parents are able to conduct themselves with civil discourse. As the author of the cited article writes, by exercising their 1st Amendment Rights, parents “seek to model and promote…constructive engagement across political differences.”

The heavy hand of federal bureaucrats, under the guise of unsubstantiated threats and auspices of domestic terrorism, into a community’s business of holding elected school board members accountable is not warranted.

© 2018 The Mount Airy News