Reader opposes the ‘price of progress’

August 19, 2023

I am in full support of the Tygart Hotel being turned into a useable space again but I wonder if people are overestimating how much effect it will actually have on the local economy. I’m sure it will attract tourists to stay during the very few big events that are held in the county but I have never in my life heard of or felt the urge to go somewhere just so I can stay at a hotel. The hotel is aimed at tourists, not locals. Locals will not be staying there or spending their money there. Locals want clothing, art supply, antique, salons and donut shops to spend their money at. ...

Return to education’s ‘forgotten mission’

August 19, 2023

I believe the worst part of public schooling is what it does to children’s minds. From birth to 6 years of age, children are wide-eyed and curious about life and the universe. They absorb everything they see and experience life with a sense of awe and wonder. When they learn to talk, they inevitably bedevil their parents with endless repetitions of that three-letter word, “Why?” By the time they end their 12-year sentence in public schools, all of that has been smashed out of them. They have learned to memorize and regurgitate; they have also lost the natural love of ...

K-9 officers, service dogs need protection

August 5, 2023

All stolen, neglected or abused dogs should be rescued and their abusers dealt with swiftly and with legal consequences. However, it is essential that canine officers and service dogs receive special treatment to find and/or care for their needs. These dogs, while loved by their handlers, have received specific and expensive training. Canine dogs may detect guns or drugs, pursue a criminal, locate a lost child or disoriented elderly person, or find a cadaver to bring about an arrest and/or closure to a family. Service dogs guide the blind confidently when the person might ...

Bureaucracy, the fourth branch of government

August 5, 2023

Red tape. Paper pushers. Bean counters. Vast, cookie-cutter buildings with fluorescent lighting and thousands of file cabinets. These are the images that come to mind when many Americans think of the government. A bureaucrat is someone who works in administrative capacity for the government. How important are bureaucrats and their government agencies in actually running the government? Democrats call them public servants. Republicans say they’re un-elected policy makers. Watching the ongoing clown show in Washington, American citizens should be asking themselves, “Why did we ...

Reader praises City of Elkins’ workers

July 29, 2023

I would like to take this time to tip my hat to the Street, Sanitation, and Water Department workers of the City of Elkins. They keep Elkins going. Patching and paving, to cleaning the streets. Fixing a waterline (ever patch a waterline?). Clean-ups after the Fireman and Grand Feature parades during the Forest Festival. Leaf pick-pick up during the fall. Getting up before the rooster on a cold winter’s morning to plow the streets and side roads. Overtime when a project is needed to be complete by the next day. The Sanitation Department picks up old couches to TV sets to old ...

Resident disappointed but not surprised

July 22, 2023

Unfortunately, I was not surprised by the recent request by an Elkins resident to relocate “Pride in the Park” to another location. This seems to be a trend by the self-appointed “morality police” to dictate what everyone else should do, similar to book banning and wanting to control women’s reproductive freedom. This is the fourth or fifth year I’ve attended “Pride” and I’ve never seen anything I would consider inappropriate until this year. I’m referring to very offensive language on the back of a shirt worn by one of the anti-Pride attendees. Ironic, isn’t ...