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Today's Opinions

  • The high cost of fighting crime

    We all want law and order, safe neighborhoods and criminals taken off the streets. It’s one of the main things we expect our local governments to provide.

    But what many don’t know is the high cost of safety, especially in terms of incarceration.

    This was brought into focus last week at a Carroll Board of Supervisors’ budget meeting, when it was revealed that the county’s cost of keeping prisoners at the New River Valley Regional Jail would increase by $400,000 next fiscal year.

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  • Torture, mob violence not the answer

    Editor’s note: This letter was written partially in response to a letter from Tommy Morton, which ran in the March 13 issue of The Gazette.
    Apparently, under President Trump, the new world order is to use mob violence and human torture to silence talk of his probable impeachable offenses.

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  • Illegal immigrants are taking away rights

    It is not being racist, nor is it hatred to care for your country and your children.

    These Mexicans, for many years, have criminally crossed into our country, calling the American people racist out of one side of their mouth and laughing at us out of the other side. Illegals know this works with this weak government.

    Not so long ago, in North Carolina, these illegals were once again out protesting as many times before, calling the American people racist and demanding more to be taken from our children’s lives and future and given to their anchor babies.

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  • Hold town halls on healthcare

    The Affordable Care Act and the newly proposed American Health Care Act are too confusing, much too expensive and they fail to cover millions of Americans.
    Shame on our Democrat and Republican representatives!
    On the campaign trail, President Trump promised great healthcare for all Americans at a much lower cost. Pathetic!
    The good news is that “we the people” are way ahead of our representatives and our president. Polls show that more than 60 percent of us want a single-payer healthcare system run by the people.

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  • Council member clarifies stand on GES expansion

    After reading the article in Monday’s [March 27] paper and speaking with multiple citizens, I do not feel as though what I stated in the Galax City Council meeting was clearly represented.
    I do want the elementary school to be built, I just disagree with council in how to pay for it.

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  • Pay close attention to your medical bills

    I have complained and complained about this fraud. And yet I have not found anyone who can, or will, do anything about it.
    But I will “not” just let it go. This is first degree fraud if there ever was such a thing as fraud.
    JC Penney, Sears, and others were recently ostracized on national news for  “fake” sales. And rightly so.
    But what LabCorp and Anthem insurance did to me (and no doubt to thousands of others), was (without exaggeration) ten times worse.

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  • Energy efficiency can help rural families save money

    Families below the poverty line spend 8 percent of their income on electricity, a much larger proportion than higher income families, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
    And in rural areas, 17.7 percent of families live below the poverty line, as noted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
    Energy efficiency provides an affordable way to decrease power consumption and electric bills. Developing local renewable energy generation also keeps hard-earned dollars in the state and brings new economic development to rural communities.

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  • Astronaut candidate appreciates hometown for encouragement

    Editor’s note: Last year, The Gazette profiled Sara Bedsaul Hiza, a Galax native who had applied to NASA’s astronaut program. Hiza works for Lockheed Martin Space Systems as program management director of fleet ballistic missile propulsion, structures, ordnance and controls. Here, she writes to thank those who offered support and encouragement in her endeavor.

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