Columns

Brian Spencer is chairman of the Carroll County School Board

The moribund Hillsville Rescue Squad will soon go to its final reward, but the former non-profit volunteer organization deserved a more dignified death than one that lingered for eight years.
It brings to mind a shuffling zombie, still somehow ambulatory but just a shell of its former self.
The first attempt to kill the rescue squad came as far back as 2004.
That’s when Carroll County officials padlocked the rescue squad station on Main Street in Hillsville after it came to light that a member used an ambulance to move furniture from Smyth County.

Landmark News Service editorial. Reprinted with permission

For his 18 years as Hillsville town manager, Larry South clearly enjoyed working for his community.
While South took his responsibilities seriously, he also engaged in them with characteristic good cheer — an attitude that will be missed when he departs the office this week.
Willing to laugh at himself and shag in the imported beach sand at a downtown cruise-in when the occasion arose, South nonetheless delivered on many programs and policies during his unusually long term as the town’s chief administrator.