April 12, 2021 Letters to the Editor. From Diane Cornett Deal / Dear Watauga County, I have had the honor and privilege of serving the people of North Carolina and the citizens of Watauga County first as an Assistant Clerk for 30 years and then as Clerk of Superior Court for the past 10 years.  These 40 plus years have flown by and there are no words to say how much I have enjoyed working with each of you through these many years. I now find myself at a place in my life where I need to begin a new chapter; therefore, I am announcing that I will be retiring at the end of May 2021.  As I near this retirement date, I want to express my appreciation to all the people (way too many to name) who have been so supportive of me through the years.     Read more…

April 6, 2021 Letters to the Editor. By CRAIG DUDLEY / Dear Editor, Conspiracy theory is another term for critical thinking though it isn’t intended to be by those who use it. When government questions citizens about suspicious activity it’s called investigation. When you question government it’s called conspiracy theory. We’ve been trained not to question government and ‘our free press’ reinforces this conditioning. “Confirmation bias” is a psychological behavior where individuals disregard any information which conflicts with their beliefs.  If it was unpatriotic to question government, we’d still be an English colony. People have been educated just enough to believe what they’re taught but not enough to question. Operation mockingbird was/is a CIA operation to spread disinformation throughout ‘our free press’. CIA director Colby testified before congress that this was ongoing.  Read more…

March 29, 2021 Letters to the Editor. From Charlie Wallin – Chair-Watauga / Dear Readers, Congressional District 5 Democrats condemn all forms of violence, discrimination, racism, harassment, and xenophobia. We are saddened by the violence against the Asian American community in Atlanta and around the country. Misinformation about COVID-19 has spread and unfortunately has caused a vital segment of the American population to become targets of hate. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that anti-Asian American hate crimes reported to police rose 149% in just the last year. *  Experts tell us that, for various reasons, these crimes often go under-reported. The violence in Atlanta, brings awareness to the escalating violence against Asian Americans. We, the Democrats of Congressional District 5, stand with our Asian American brothers, sisters, friends, family and others in denouncing such violence against any member of our society.   This violence is escalating across this Country.  We call for unity and peace.  The Asian American community, like all others, wants to live in a Country where they can work, worship, send their children to school and form friendships.  With the growing threat of violence, this is becoming difficult if not impossible.   Read more…

March 15, 2021 Letters to the Editor. By DIANE TILSON / Dear Readers, It’s about time. For generations now, Congress has refused, for the most part, to recognize and act on legislation that actually helps millions of hard working Americans trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Instead, tax cuts and other legislation of all stripes have made life even more satisfying for those who already have everything they need or want and then some. The rest of us got stiffed. So we had pretty much given up on the people we elected to represent us, deciding that Congress is woefully broken and out of touch with the daily challenges we face. To hide what they were really doing, Congress pitted us one against the other, hoping we would lose sight that we were all in the same boat and would throw each other overboard instead. Read more…

February 17, 2021 Letters to the Editor. By ALLEN HYDE / Dear Editor, That’s outrageous! A Boone woman goes out for her daily walk and is attacked by a neighbor’s dog. This is the second attack in about ten years. The last time this good natured 70 year old was bitten her skin was only deeply scratched so she didn’t complain. This time the puncture wound didn’t stop bleeding for several days and much of her leg is still black and blue after a week. Although the local animal control folks were notified they said there was nothing they could do except observe  the dog unless he bites someone again. A call to the police got a reply that responsibility falls back to the animal control folks.  Read more…

February 5, 2021 Letters to the Editor. By Tim C. Gupton / Honorable County Commissioners, The Blowing Rock Civic Association engaged Joe Lord to prepare an independent report on the EMS Ambulance System in the County and Blowing Rock. His report is attached and confirms the conclusion of our research and meetings this summer. The taxpayers of Blowing Rock have invested substantially to provide first class paramedic 1st Responder services to manage the health care risks of our citizens and visitors. We again ask the County Commission to re-evaluate your public policy to provide quality ambulance services throughout the County and adopt a Fractal Success Measurement that includes both geography and response time. The taxpayers throughout the County should receive the same level of service, especially when dealing with the lives of our citizens.  Read more…

January 29, 2021 Letters to the Editor. By CRAIG DUDLEY / Dear Editor, To reduce potential confusion I begin this essay with the admonition that no president has represented my interests since JFK. We haven’t had a free press since at least acting President Reagan and slick Willie. What we have are Propaganda Outlets. Political correctness increases: ‘our free press’ establishes ‘official truth’. You’re free as long as you stand where you’re told and say what’s expected. Read more…

January 25, 2021 From Stephen Lawler, President of NCHA / Dear Governor Cooper, These are crucial and defining times and we need coordinated, well thought-out plans to win the day. This is an unprecedented public health emergency that requires an unparalleled all-hands response. North Carolina’s hospitals and health systems stepped in to collaborate with the state and local health departments on vaccination deployment, while still caring for record-high numbers of COVID-19 patients, maintaining robust testing, and coordinating continued high-quality and safe care for our non- COVID patients. Hospitals have also repeatedly pivoted on short notice to accommodate various urgent directives and orders from state and federal leaders, typically with no prior consultation for input or clear measures of success. We can, and do, adapt on the fly, but it is time for the state to now take steps to coordinate a better plan and way forward on vaccine deployment. Read more…

January 16, 2021 Open Letter From 5th District Democrats of North Carolina / Dear Madam Speaker: On behalf of the Democratic Party of North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, we respectfully request action to address the seditious behavior of our Representative, Virginia Foxx. By objecting to certification of the electors from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Foxx sought to disenfranchise millions of Pennsylvanian voters in support of the loser of that Commonwealth’s election, Donald J. Trump. By continuing through with the objection, Ms. Foxx sided with those who incited the attack on January 6, 2021, and those insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol facility, threatening the lives of the Vice-President, Members of Congress (including yourself), as well as the Congressional and Capitol facility staff. Ms. Foxx has claimed to object “out of an abiding respect for the Constitution” in reflection of supposed “violations of Article II, Section I of the Constitution” in which there is no stated direction as to how the states’ manage their election process regarding Presidential electors. Read more…

January 11, 2021 Letters to the Editor. By Craig Dudley / Dear Editor, The ‘emergency’ on 1/6 was the sort of thing the empire applauds when it creates it in countries it opposes. It’s a curious thing to watch the self-righteous talking heads who get their panties in a wad about this ‘insurrection’ after seeing them proudly present the official view of the same thing we created in Hong Kong, Ukraine, Bolivia, Venezuela, and many other countries, as if the Lord has given us special police powers. Look how they respond when the chickens come home to roost. The hypocrisy is rampant and out of control. They pay little real attention to the realities here. The demonstrators did what they did for the same reason BLM rioters did: Their concerns aren’t being responded to. No one hears them when they stand quiet and respectful. ‘Our’ government’s arrogance clouds their vision. We got the chance, on 1/6, to see the political elite that have been selling us down the river and making our lives hell for decades, shrinking in fear. Read more…

December 14, 2020 Open Letter By ERIC PLAAG / Dear Watauga County Commissioners: I am writing to you in both my personal capacity as a resident and taxpayer of both Boone and Watauga County, and in my professional capacity as a historian and the principal consultant at Carolina Historical Consulting, LLC. I am in receipt of a copy of County Manager Geouque’s email of December 9, 2020, at 5:09pm, to Boone Town Manager John Ward, announcing that the County Commissioners have “directed staff to proceed forward with the demolition of the Turner House” (historically known as the Oscar and Suma Hardin House) at 136 North Water Street in Boone, NC, to make room for a new courthouse parking lot. As I have repeatedly informed you over the past two years, the Oscar and Suma Hardin House is historically significant both for its architecture and for its relationship to individuals of historical significance to Watauga County.  Read more…

October 21, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By KAREN CARTER / Dear Editor, I viewed the BOC Candidates Forum video a few days ago, and they all agree on the same things.  And most, if not all, of the subjects and statements are town and ASU centered. These candidates all echo each other.  It is as if this forum and their questions, the subject matter, and answers were pre-arranged. Of course. The reason for this is that the town-centered media with the narrow-minded Chambers of Commerce decide what the issues are and  the questions to be asked, answered, and ‘debated’. Read more…

October 6, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Chloë Marie Dorin / To Chancellor Everts and the Appalachian State University Board of Trustees: Throughout the course of obtaining my bachelor’s degree in biology and now in pursuing my M.S. at Appalachian State University, I have been privileged to obtain many invaluable skills. These skills have included the propensity to think critically, the ability to read and analyze primary scientific literature, and a sound understanding of statistical methods and models. It is slightly ironic to me that the skills I have gained at Appalachian are the very skills that now lead me to question the judgement of my university’s administration. However, ongoing developments regarding the spread of COVID-19 within our community drive me now to speak up and urge you to swift action on behalf of the entire student body, our faculty and staff, and the Boone community at large.Read more…

October 2, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Craig Dudley / Dear Editor, In America these days you’re free to have an opinion and share it as long as no one is offended: get in line and obey. No thinking allowed. A 2020 Cato survey found 62% “of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive.” How many say nothing about Covid-19 policies for such fears? Look at the bigger picture and consider where all of this is going. The world is run by criminals. Small business will be greatly reduced. School will be mostly online. Homelessness, unemployment and hunger will increase dramatically. Read more…

September 23, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY MARJORY HOLDER / Dear Editor, I have seen a lot of ridiculous political mailers over the years, but I think 2020 takes the cake. Take, for example, the blitz of mailers from groups nobody has ever heard of against State Rep. Ray Russell. After the first half-dozen or so, the one in my mailbox today claims Russell “signed a pledge (to): defund police (and) disarm police of life-saving equipment” in the middle of a spike in NC murders. That doesn’t sound like the mild-mannered Ray Russell I’ve met, so I followed the sources the mailer cited. The pledge was suggested by a group called “Future Now” (futurenow.org/pledge – you can check it out yourself) and, lo and behold, it says NOTHING about the police. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Read more…

September 14, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY PAM VINES / Dear Editor, I grew up around real estate. My parents were both realtors and in 1995 my sister and I took over the family business. And in all my years in the industry I’ve never seen a market quite like this one. In July members of the High Country Association of Realtors® sold more than 360 homes in the area – a 72 percent increase from the year before. Now we’re running out of inventory. July was also our busiest month for land transactions in over a decade (110 tracts of land worth $9.9 million). That’s in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis; and there’s a reason why people are buying anyway. Read more…

September 11, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY KEITH MARTIN / Dear Editor, September 13 through 19 is National Arts in Education Week, a nationwide celebration recognizing the transformative power of the arts in education. Designated by Congress in 2010, this annual celebration is intended to bring attention to the cause of arts education for elected officials and educational decision makers across the country, and to support equitable access to the arts for all learners. It is also a time for local residents to pause, reflect, and applaud their cherished cultural assets. There is much to celebrate throughout our region; from the vital programs of the Ashe County Arts Council to the regional artists on display at Ruffin Street Gallery in Linville, from the aspirations of the Junior Appalachian Musicians at the Jones House in Boone to the award-winning Pioneer Playmakers at Watauga High School, from the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum to the historic Banner Elk School, both of which are “hubs” for arts programming, from the cultural offerings by Appalachian State University and Lees-McRae College to our invaluable public libraries and, most importantly, to all the dedicated and resourceful arts education teachers throughout the High Country. Read more…

September 7, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY BENJAMIN LOOMIS / Dear Editor, WNC Renters Help formed in 2020 to help respond to COVID-19’s impact on renters. We are an unincorporated, volunteer-driven group— not a nonprofit or a business, just a small collection of local citizens. In addition to creating a platform for renters seeking help with housing, we’ve been researching past efforts in the area to stabilize community housing and different examples from towns like ours’ who have succeeded in doing so. We’ve laid out the platform in order of most-immediate solutions to long-term economic structures that could permanently maintain affordable housing in Watauga. Read more…

September 1, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY CHARLIE BRADY / Dear Editor, The past six months have vividly demonstrated how important access to public lands is to the physical and mental health of all North Carolinians. Blue Ridge Conservancy has been inundated with stories of individuals and families who are grateful to have greenways, State Parks and State Trails where they can spend time in the outdoors while practicing social distancing. However, reports that our State Parks turned away visitors because parks were at capacity show that additional investments in public lands are desperately needed. This week the North Carolina General Assembly reconvenes to decide how to apportion approximately $900 million in federal COVID relief funding. Read more…

August 26, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY TIM GUPTON / Dear Editor, I am writing to follow-up on an article posted in the Watauga Democrat “Blowing Rock group advocates for ambulance station” published on August 20, 2020. The community of Blowing Rock has been advocating to improve ambulance transport response times for many years and requested the new 24/7 crew be located in the facility provided by the Blowing Rock Fire District.   The County’s response has been to add a 9/5 crew during the weekdays. Representatives of the community and I met with Chairman John Welch on August 21, 2020 to request that the County hold a public hearing to re-evaluate the County Commission’s EMS policies that drive outcomes and safety and seek input from taxpayers throughout the entire County. Read more…

August 14, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Craig Dudley / Your editor asked me; Why do you care, do your essays matter? If we remain silent we’re agreeing with what’s being done in our name. I provide examples. Read more…

July 30, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Duncan Martin and Pam Vines / Dear Editor, Leadership representing the 877 members of the High Country Association of REALTORS® (HCAR) is calling on the Appalachian District Health Department to reverse environmental health service fee increases made effective July 1, 2020. “A global pandemic is not the time to be raising fees on local residents,” said 2020 HCAR President Pam J. Vines and HCAR CEO Duncan Martin in a joint statement. Read more…

July 16, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Michael Hambourger and Matthew Robinson / Dear Editor, With only five weeks before our fall semester, Appalachian State University plans to welcome nearly 20,000 students back to Boone. Extensive precautions are being implemented “to ensure the safest path forward,” according to Chancellor Sheri Everts on June 26, in remarks to the Board of Trustees. While well intentioned, we, as members of the faculty, cannot support the return of students to campus. We find the plans insufficient to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in our community. Read more…

July 15, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Tim Gupton / Dear Chairman Welch, Commissioners Kennedy, Turnbow, Wallin and Yates, and County Manager Geouque, I received and read Mr. Geouque’s reply to my letter of July 9, 2020, requesting that the County Commissioners vote on placing the new 24/7 EMS team in Blowing Rock. A tit for tat reply will not be productive because the current rationale for staffing the EMS system throughout the entire county is the core issue. We believe that the County’s decision to base success on one Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of an average response time of 10 minutes is totally inadequate.  Accepting an outcome of an average response time of 9:01 minutes for emergency calls as success means that  50% of the calls for actual people, not statistics,  are above 9:01. Mr. Sullivan’s 2019 Annual Report documents that only 56% of emergency calls are less than 9:00 minutes. If you live in Boone, all is well, since the average emergency call response time is 6:10 minutes.  Otherwise, the average emergency response times for other districts range for 10:24 to 24:51 minutes. Read more…

July 14, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY Deron Geouque / Dear Mr. Gupton: Thank you for your email and input regarding Watauga County’s ambulance service.  The County appreciates your comments but would respectfully disagree on some of the generalizations you have made.  First, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners has never promised the Town of Blowing Rock a 24 hour crew.  I have reviewed the official meeting minutes of the Board of Commissioners and was unable to verify your claim.  The Board has worked extensively with the Blowing Rock Town Council in reviewing and discussing ambulance service for the Town of Blowing Rock and the County as a whole.  Based on these discussions the Commissioners authorized a study of the system in 2017.  The purpose of the study was to determine how the County could maximize limited resources with the location of future sites and the addition of new crews.  Again, MAXIMIZING the benefit and impact to the overall system and not just one section or area of the county.  The conclusion of the study recommended the following: Read more…

July 9, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY TIM GUPTON / Dear Chairman Welch, County Commissioners & County Manager, I am writing on behalf of the Blowing Rock Civic Association to request that the Commission  vote to approve locating the new 24/7 EMS team at the Blowing Rock station. Our observations and recommendations are based on our research,  data provided by the County Manager, and consultation with EMS experts. As you know, the leaders of Blowing Rock have asked the County for 24/7 coverage for a number of years and were told that Blowing Rock would be the next location after the new facility was built and staff in Vilas in 2017.  We are now in 2021 with an opportunity to fulfill that commitment and expectation. Read more…

June 24, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY CRAIG DUDLEY / Dear Editor, I intersperse quotes in this essay by H. L. Mencken that I believe to be quite applicable to our current situation. H.L. Mencken for most of you who won’t recognize his name was a famous editor for a newspaper in Baltimore from about 1900 to about 1940. Among many notable accomplishments he coined the term ‘bible belt’ while covering the Scopes monkey trial in Tennessee in the twenties. He also wrote the definitive history of the English language, still in print last I heard. “The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the greatest liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” Read more…

June 17, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Brenda Reece / I would like to express my heartfelt love and appreciation to all of the caring, community- minded and generous High Country Caregiver board members that I had the honor and privilege of working with over the past 15 years. I know that for each of you, it was an “add on” to the many other things that you did, including your job, your family, other volunteer opportunities and your social life.  I appreciate that you were willing to serve without compensation and I will always value and appreciate your time, talents, personal donations and your input. Read more…

May 19, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By ALAN MORGAN / The front lines of the war on COVID-19 have expanded and are now reaching into rural America. As infection rates begin to plateau nationally, and states begin to reopen, we, too, must expand our focus and our action to rural communities—areas with limited healthcare infrastructure and populations most at risk for contracting the virus. At this time, more than 90 percent of the nation’s rural counties have documented cases of COVID-19, with more than 70,000 confirmed cases and 3,000 deaths Read more…

May 13, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Pam J. Vines / On behalf of the 755 REALTORS comprising the High County Association of REALTORS®, we would encourage you to vote against the proposed indefinite extension of a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all visitors coming to the area. Your recent action to break away from the High Country’s unified response to the COVID-19 crisis is detrimental to both businesses and its citizens. While we fully understand the desire to address the current pandemic, the action should be based on science and facts. In that regard, the Watauga County Health Department, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services have prepared a reasonable and cautious response, which is based on the available resources and consideration of the needs of our community. The Boone Town Council’s decision to unilaterally impose an indefinite 14-day quarantine and restrict residential occupancy is beyond the recommendations of the Governor, the County Commissioners, and the Health Director. Read more…

May 11, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Genevieve Austin / You are on my mind. Watching accurate updates about the Pandemic, you know, we are each vulnerable. It’s hard to stay cognizant of this fact. But it IS a fact. I find myself startled, saddened, stunned, angry and bewildered. Many of us are not acting like we possess the knowledge that we are each in danger. I see two options: I. Either “I” (or “You”) may be so unfortunate to die from COVID-19, and/or Option II. I(and/or You) will have a broken heart over losing one I/we love to COVID19. ALL of our hearts are vulnerable to breaking over the fact that someone we, I, YOU love, is going to be that unfortunate, vulnerable soul who dies from it. This is a pandemic and science isn’t negotiating. Read more…

May 8, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By David Jackson / The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce strongly disagrees with the proposal to adopt additional emergency actions that impact the business owners and residents of the Town of Boone, as approved by a vote of the Boone Town Council Thursday night. The language outlining a proposed indefinite lengthening of a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all visitors coming to the area, as well residents traveling from and back to the area, represents an unrealistic enforcement issue and poses negative impacts on our tourism economy, small business community, incoming college students, and a large percentage of our workforce, who may work in Boone, but live in counties other than Watauga.  Read more…

May 8, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Deborah McDowell / To Watauga County and Blowing Rock Town Commissioners: We need the restrooms open.  We also need open minds and hearts.   This is an unprecedented time of struggle.  Many are afraid of getting sick and or seeing their businesses die. You have no idea how many people we have turned away and had to explain to them that our commissioners, town and county are not allowing visitors to stay overnight. They do not understand why we are not on the same schedule as a lot of counties  and our  state.   As to second home owners, I believe I would be upset if I could not go to a home that I own and pay taxes on.  If not for their  generosity and love for our community  a number of our outreach programs would be lacking.  These are not dumb people, they do not want to get sick either.  Read more…

May 1, 2020 Letters to the Editor. By Benjamin Loomis, WNC Renters Help / If anything good can be said about COVID-19, it is how our community has awoken to the hunger crisis at its core. On April 21st, 2020 the Boone Town Council adopted a motion to call on the North Carolina and federal government to impose a moratorium on rent and mortgage payments. Here are some comments from community members who pushed for this resolution to pass: Read more…

April 30, 2020 Letters to the Editor. BY CRAIG DUDLEY / Dear Editor, “The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.” Hermann Goering. Americans don’t need dictators to control us. We volunteered to become a nation of TV zombies. Liberty enabled ‘consumers’ to choose submission to illusion. Many ‘consumers’ believe all authority is good and everyone should be required to bend to it. The first casualty of this plandemic is critical thinking. Why wasn’t there a more thorough investigation into the virus before ‘consumers’ accepted it all? Read more…