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Letters to the Editor

Business owner: Elkins needs a city manager

The city has great individuals who are committed to the success of Elkins. Even with commitment, the organizational structure can limit the ability of Elkins to achieve its full potential. The city has four key positions — Operations Manager, Treasurer, Fire Chief and Police Chief. An analogy can be made to a football team. There is an offensive line coach (fire department), defensive line coach (police department), running back coach (operations) and strength coach (finance). Who is the head coach coordinating the four managers’ efforts? For Elkins it is a part-time head ...

Will America go through the door of opportunity?

The door to a renewed America is open. Will we walk through it? What could be viewed as somewhat of a political experiment — the election and presidency of Donald Trump — is over. We took a chance on what a political outsider who was unafraid to “speak his mind” could deliver for the American people. Four years later, the experiment has ended with a slow erosion of democratic norms and rising political polarization culminating in an attack on the U.S. Capitol. At the time of this writing, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 had topped 400,000. Our country’s racial, political ...

Medical marijuana a smoking hot topic

All these years I thought I knew at least a little about the way government worked and was taught that the lawmakers were sworn to keep our best interests in mind when considering legislation. Wow! I’m coming to realize I wasn’t paying attention in class. Some laws and official procedures that lawmakers pass have different interpretations and are immediately put on hold until a state or federal judge ruled on the legality of it. Even then, if you can’t get satisfaction, it can be solicited before SCOTUS or your state supreme court and ask them to rule on it. The worst they ...

Lent offers fresh chance to change

I miss Mardi Gras. I’m hoping for a speedy recovery from the pandemic so we can all congregate again. After Fat Tuesday, Lent begins. Lent is the 40-day period before Easter when Christians stop eating meat and dairy in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of reflection. As a Christian, Lent has meaning to me. For me, I already don’t eat meat and dairy. My plant-based diet helps reduce chronic diseases, environmental degradation, and animal abuse. Countless reports have linked consumption of animal products with risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer, and other diseases. A U.N. ...

Reader opposes minimum wage hike

I have talked with Sen. Joe Manchin’s office about my concern of his possible support of raising the minimum wage. I asked that he not support raising the minimum wage by any amount because it will still be minimum wage, and the only thing it will do is raise the cost of living. The staff person indicated that he may support raising it to $11 but not to $15/hour. This is still a 51% increase. I asked his representative if Senator Manchin would support or introduce a bill to also raise our Social Security benefits by 51%. I did not get an answer. I started working at a minimum ...

Vaccination event organizers praised

I got my first COVID-19 vaccination shot recently at the Phil Gainer Community Center. You should run a special article on this excellent operation, maybe even a special section so that you can put lots of pictures of the people working there. Whoever organized this did a bang-up job. However, whoever organized (if anyone did) the telephone signup for the vaccination did an abysmal job. Even a small amount of thought could improve it. Kenneth Sheller Elkins