Columns

Harold Golding is chairman of the Southwest Region, Virginia School Boards Association Board of Directors

“The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action,” the British philosopher Herbert Spencer once wrote.
Today, I urge you to take action to help the education system in Virginia be as strong as it can possibly be. You can make a difference in the future of our children and in the welfare of our communities.
Are you aware that per pupil spending in Virginia has decreased by almost 20 percent since 2007?

GUEST EDITORIAL

Twin County United Way needs the community's help.
Since 1957, through the community's generosity, TCUW has provided millions of dollars to dozens of Twin County non‑profit organizations.
Now we, like many we serve, have fallen on hard times. Without a substantial increase in donations, our long‑term existence is doubtful.
Last year, TCUW fell more than 50 percent short of its $215,000 campaign goal. We had to cut by 25 percent contributions to the 26 agencies we serve, dipping into reserves to do so.

GUEST EDITORIAL

Hard times call for tough and difficult decisions. Unfortunately, Grayson County officials seem unwilling or unable to act in a prudent and sensible manner.
Despite citizens turning out at every public hearing and meeting to express concern over governmental choices, tax increases and property assessments, the public outcries have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears.
A citizens’ meeting in November was attended by more than 300 people, as the grassroots opposition continues to swell against decisions and practices.

For too long, the residents of Givens Street and the surrounding neighborhoods in Galax have been forced to live in a water-logged past that ended for most of the city in the 1940s, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rerouted and reinforced Chestnut Creek to prevent frequent floods that often washed away the low-lying areas.
In recent years — most notably in 2007 and most recently last summer — residents of these neighborhoods were surrounded by backed-up flood waters caused by inadequate and dilapidated stormwater drainage systems.