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Letters to the Editor

Return to education’s ‘forgotten mission’

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

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

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

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

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 ...

Drugs a growing neighborhood crisis

In June of 2005 me and my wife purchased our first home, in Valley Bend on what is known as the Back Road. Small house, three bedroom, two bath. Had approximately one acre of property to go with it. It is now 2023. Trees have been planted, doors and windows replaced, painting continues to be done, one storage shed, carport, wood shop, 10x10 deck in the yard, and a 10x25 deck on the back of the house. Basketball court was built for the kids who have already grown up and left home. Our home is a place that I thought would be a retirement home someday. But now I’m not so sure. And ...