Columns

Last week, Grayson County supervisors put a temporary stop to the controversial zoning repeal that has split the county into two sides over the past month.
The supervisors, the newspaper and social media have heard arguments from all sides during this divisive debate.
Some believe that zoning restricts their personal freedom to do what they want with their property. Others like zoning for that exact reason, because they don’t want to wind up with a brewery or a Hooters erected next to their church or family farm.

Alexis Jones of Galax has a background in local government administration in Virginia and North Carolina

The Grayson supervisors’ debate about a proposed repeal of the county’s zoning ordinance has revealed an internal conflict on that board that mirrors the divided nature of citizens’ opinions on the issue.
Though the anti-zoning faction on the board has claimed — with only anecdotal evidence — that their mission follows the will of a majority of citizens, the more vocal group has been the one defending zoning. More of them have been speaking at meetings, writing letters to the newspaper and voting in a Gazette online poll.

There’s a lot of national “news” we’d like to forget about 2013 — Obamacare debates, the “fiscal cliff,” Honey Boo Boo, twerking, “selfie” pics and state election ads on TV.
However, we could watch footage of Miley Cyrus and Honey Boo Boo snapping a selfie pic and twerking as they drove a car off the fiscal cliff over, and over and over. But, with our luck, Obamacare would cover their recovery and then they’d be back.