Fatcow Icon
Opinion
Thumbs Up
To organizers of this weekend’s Memorial Day activities in Mount Airy, Rockford, and elsewhere around the county. While often thought of as a fun-filled holiday, Memorial Day is at its core a day set aside to remember those who have died in service to the United States. The day got its start shortly after the Civil War and has changed through the years, but the intent remains the same, to remember those who died in military service. Whether...
full story
Is gay Boy Scout issue germane to the Real World?
Never mind the argument over whether openly gay youths should or should not be allowed to join the Boy Scouts. The fact that they have been permitted to do so, through a vote Thursday by the 1,400 members of Boy Scouts of America, is just another sign of the times. But the bigger issue, in my mind, is how this change in policy by the 103-year-old organization will play out in that place called the Real World. The Real World is a land fa...
full story
Educators should forget holding onto turf, start focusing on teaching
You’ll notice in today’s Mount Airy News a letter to the editor from Ed Dunlap, executive director of the North Carolina School Boards Association. In the letter Dr. Dunlap, as many others have done, is critical of a movement in the General Assembly toward instituting a voucher system for school enrollment. Essentially, this would allow the government to issue a certificate, or voucher, to parents who opt to send their children to private s...
full story
Memories scattered by the wind
Chilling occurrences happened across Oklahoma after the tornado, besides the terrible damage. Photographs floated down from the sky. A woman went outside and found friendly and colorful songbirds perched in her trees. Scared and confused dogs and cats were found many miles away. It’s tornado season, and we were all reminded of the terrible destruction of nature this week with tornadoes across Texas killing six, tornadoes in other states kil...
full story
Stop trying to make sense of tragedy and keep loved ones close
There are those interviews which leave impressions in your mind. Others set up shop in your heart. I was recently saddened by the news Triple J Great Dane Rescue program founder John Sasser had died. In case you don’t remember, he and wife Diana operated the Triple J Great Dane Rescue program which was featured at a Petsense Pet Adoptathon. John was responsible for teaching me that generations of selective breeding of the Danes had left t...
full story
Tougher alcohol and driving regulations should be passed
Recently the National Transportation Safety Board issued recommendations aimed at reducing the number of car accidents which occur as a result of drivers being under the influence of alcohol. Chief among those recommendations is that states reduce the allowable blood-alcohol concentration from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent. According to statistics provided by the NTSB, roughly 10,000 deaths occur on American highways each year as a result ...
full story
Chamber provides great benefits
On occasion area businesses will be kind enough to host Business After Hours for the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce, and such an event was held Thursday at Holiday Inn Express. I noticed a group of ladies and a couple of men I had not met around town, so I thought I would sit with a couple of the ladies while munching on the good eats provided to those of us attending. It would be a good opportunity to meet new people and network, w...
full story
A strong budget proposal that meets board promises
It is refreshing, and worth noting, when elected officials make promises or voice goals and then meet those goals in a tangible, measurable way. That is the case with the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners, whose members once again have shown themselves as people who are committed to governing their city fairly and responsibly. The latest case in point is the 2013-2014 budget, which has been set for a public hearing. This budget reaches tw...
full story
Welcome to the world, Mason
Okay, what is it we do here again? After a month that can only be described as a whirlwind, I’m finally back at my desk, but what a difference a month can make. To get everyone up to speed, on April 25, at 8:38 p.m., the little lady and I welcomed our son into the world, with Mason born somewhat unexpectedly at 33 weeks gestation following a 4:30 a.m. ambulance ride to Winston-Salem a few days earlier. Despite his early delivery, the li...
full story
Private companies own patents for our genes
The human body contains an estimated 30,000 genes. We must pay over $3,000 to access some of the information in two of those genes, information that reveals our chance of dying of a terrible disease. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two genes that can contain a mutation that reveals a hereditary predisposition to certain types of cancer, including breast and ovarian cancer. Angelina Jolie’s New York Times op-ed revealed Wednesday that she underwent ...
full story
Alternative energy good for environment, and good for our community
We see it and hear it all the time — on social media, in meetings, in comments and letters. A large number of people, for some reason, don’t like the idea of solar or wind or other alternative power, preferring instead that we continue burning coal in power plants. Coal that, while it had its place in our history, has proven to be terribly damaging to the environment. And quite frankly, we don’t understand it. Locally both Mount Airy and ...
full story
Smart graduates and being outsmarted by honeybees
It is no secret in the newsroom that I am a bee geek (called a beek). One of a series of unofficial awards festooning my cubelet is a sign bearing the title “bee whisperer.” And if nothing else, all the media coverage of Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has enough people interested to question me on a regular basis. Sadly, no smoking gun or simple answer has appeared lately but really good, knowledgeable bee keepers (not novices like...
full story
Rollercoasters — fun or fear
While life can be a rollercoaster, it tends to be much more exciting and less stressful to physically ride a rollercoaster, or at least it is for those of us who like thrill seeking within a controlled environment. As young children grow and learn, they have new fears and new likes nearly daily. For example, Little Man used to enjoy riding on my shoulders and bouncing as I hopped him along, but recently I put him on my shoulders and he near...
full story
Respect for Rotary Club rising after raffle response
On Monday, the Mount Airy Rotary Club took what we believe to be an extraordinary step related to a bungled car raffle during the recent Budbreak Wine Festival. A private vendor, Dave Chaloupka of Amadour Winery, is alleged to have sold raffle tickets to a number of people for $100 each, with the winner of the raffle taking home a Fiat. As we have reported numerous times since then, Vickie Riekehof, a local business person, was called as th...
full story
Thumbs up
To the local U.S. Postal workers taking part today in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. The carriers will be accepting non-perishable food items on their routes, with the donations eventually being delivered to Yokefellow Cooperative Ministry of Mount Airy for distribution to those in need. The effort is one that does require extra work and time on behalf of the postal employees, but they recognize a great need in the community and are using...
full story
Weather
Sponsored By:

Lottery
Sponsored By:

Stocks
Sponsored By:

Gas Prices
Sponsored By:

Featured Businesses
Recipes
Sponsored By: