Americans pay some of the highest brand-name drug prices in the world. This means that too many of us are having to choose between buying the medications we need and other essentials such as food, rent, utilities and other essentials.

In the executive and legislative branches of our national government there appears to be a dearth of real leaders. It has reached the point where it is fair to say we are desperate for real leaders who can find common ground, build a consensus and move forward with solutions, rather than the…

Over the years celebrating the July 4th holiday has changed.

Recently, the NC Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision to grant a polluting industry permit for an asphalt plant in Glendale Springs. The county permit was initially denied by the Ashe County Planning Director, setting off a legal fight between the Ashe County Planning Board and…

If you have ever felt lonely, know that you are not alone. We live in an era where we are more connected with one another than ever yet the national rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s. Loneliness can be defined as “subjective distress” which does not always mean not having frie…

My heart breaks. My spirit suffers. Yet another sleepless night. I am left wondering — yet again.

Senator Thom Tillis needs to prevent the health insurance tax from coming into effect again in 2020. This tax impacts health plans purchased by small businesses. It results in thousands of dollars in higher annual costs for businesses that offer health insurance. For my hardware store, this …

I attended the ACHS Varsity Basketball game this past Dec. 21 and I must say I was shocked by the lack of respect that parents of the varsity boys basketball team were portraying during the game.

Is child sacrifice still practiced in our world?

One party government is not working in Ashe County.

When we vote on Nov. 6, we need to elect leaders who are persons of honesty and integrity, people whom we can trust, people who will speak the truth and work for the common good. We need to elect those who are civil in their speech and in their actions, those who would be good models of good…

October is breast cancer awareness month and I have decided to share my breast cancer experience with the community.

This message to voters pertains to one of the six proposed amendments to the Constitution of North Carolina which will be on your ballot.

Personal attention matters in sheriff race

Just how naïve can people be? During Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court justice nomination hearing he gave a very convincing performance of righteous outrage. If he truly was an innocent man being wrongly accused, why did he not demand a full-blown investigation to clear his name with the resul…

At approximately 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, I entered Ashe Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department, I had been experiencing chest pains since waking up that morning.

The article “App State solar vehicle team debuts two-passenger car” was incredibly exciting to read (Mountain Times, June 28, tinyurl.com/ycgo54ly), given the dedication of the students working on their car. Solar energy has immense potential in the coming years in the movement to transition…

Once again we have had to suffer the annual lunacy of people letting off illegal fireworks. Emergency Departments throughout the state and nation experienced their usual high incidence of burn victims on the night of the fourth and early hours of the fifth of July. When are we going to learn?

A few weeks ago, I received a notice in the mail with information about Blue Ridge Energy’s Annual Membership Meeting and Board of Directors election on June 28. If you buy your electricity from Blue Ridge, you probably did too. Many people may not realize it, but this is the most important …

Why is the annual meeting held at its current time and location?

It’s summertime and Ashe County’s children are out of school once again. It’s a great time for most children, but for those in abusive or neglectful homes, it can be a dangerous time because the extra eyes on them during the school year are not there.

Section D of the vaunted US-221 project broke ground on March 3, 2015. Now, three years later, Vannoy Construction seems to have gone home. Patient Ashe County residents now can look at a string of orange barrels over the four-mile stretch at a job that’s nearly complete, but seems to be stu…

Asphalt plants are a necessary evil if we are to have paved roads. The issue is how does an asphalt plant manage air and water pollution so the toxic pollutants stay within the confines of the property lines of the polluting industry? A land owner should be able to do what they please on the…

I have just been reading about the pressure President Donald Trump put on NFL owners to penalize teams that allow their players to protest by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. This five deferment draft dodger exhibits no credibility in criticizing anyone with charges of lac…

I have written this letter 1,000 times in my head, since the night of May 17. I usually never have a hard time talking or using words, just ask anyone who knows me. I talk, a lot. But, for this I can’t seem to find words to express myself or my feelings. All the words seem so small for an ev…

In a recent article, Walter E. Williams criticized the welfare state by celebrating the American tradition of philanthropy as a preferable alternative to “welfare handouts,” (May 11, “Before and after welfare handouts”).

It was Friday the 13th and I was substituting at Ashe County High School. Not an unusual day, just following the teacher’s instructions as I have for the last 18 years. The first period was for planning and as a sub I had nothing to plan so I started a slow walk down one of the halls and was…

Can mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders get along on the trails of the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests? Can we also co-exist with birders who need peace and quiet, loggers that depend on our forests for their livelihoods and ecologists who want to protect rare species? The ans…

Our dad was a great man. He was a farmer who worked sunup to sundown to provide for his family. We were blessed and he shared those blessings with others. Whether it was taking oil to a family who had ran out, buying food for a family in need, plowing a driveway or just giving someone a big …

When are we going to drain Ashe County’s swamp?

There is a group of us men from St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country Catholic Church that meets for breakfast on Thursday mornings. At the end of our meeting we always do the trivia questions from the Mountain Times, which also runs in the Watauga Democrat and the Ashe Post & Times. It is g…

I applaud the GOP for working with the Democrats to find a bipartisan plan for immigration. It is now imperative that that plan be passed in both houses of Congress and, as needed, over a presidential veto.

Pat Buchanan’s “Is Flynn’s defection a death blow” (Dec. 6) is a despicable attempt to thwart Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s blatant, multi-pronged, successful attacks on our democracy during the 2016 elections. Flynn plead guilty to a felony from lying to the FBI, but Buchanan…

Republicans in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have both passed different budget reconciliation legislation in the respective Houses of Congress. You and I should expect war next. And, of course, Republicans are about completing the trifecta of eliminating Social Security, …

Listening to President Donald Trump’s latest rant, I began to wonder, why is he so intent on banning immigrants from countries that might be sources of terrorists? On a whim, he had Chad placed on his list, an act which may well have been the cause of Sgt. La David Johnson’s death in Niger. …

Enclosed is my check for another year’s subscriptoin — I do appreciate getting the news through your publication since we have a second home in Jefferson Landing in Jefferson.

How much lower can Trump go? Our commander in chief, President Donald Trump calls the family of a fallen soldier and allegedly minimizes his sacrifice. I doubt very much that Sgt. La David T. Johnson knew what he was actually signing up for. Someone of Johnson’s caliber would have signed up …

In the current special session of the General Assembly, our representatives will decide whether to overturn or uphold a veto of two bills that will damage our water quality, SB16 and HB56. SB16 guts safeguards against pollution, loosening water quality rules and limiting local governments’ p…

I am tired of hearing from right wing radicals about protesters at sports events disrespecting the flag and our service people. A nation’s flag is its badge and its identity — none of these protesters are disrespecting the flag. However, the flag is being brought into disrepute on the intern…

On behalf of the West Jefferson Lions Club, I want to thank West Jefferson officials for all they have done to help with the projects of the Lions Club.

As a local area businessman, on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at approximately 1:30 p.m., I was driving to my father’s dealership office for a business meeting in Ashe County by way of NC Hwy 16 North just before the Glendale Springs Community from my residence in Wilkesboro. All of a sudden my compan…

On behalf of Ashe Memorial Hospital, I would like to thank everyone who donated items to the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Harris County, Houston, Texas. This effort was showered with endless support from the community knowing that 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Ben Taub Hospita…

As we enter yet another school year, we take time to reflect on the role of education in our lives and how it has contributed to making us the people we are today. The research is undeniable: when schools and communities embrace the arts — dance, music, theatre, visual and media arts — stude…

All my life I had been told to avoid Ashe Memorial Hospital. Anytime anyone in my family had a medical need, we have more often than not driven elsewhere. Needless to say, I had a poor opinion of the hospital and the care given there.

On Saturday morning, Aug.19, my husband, just weeks past his knee replacement surgery, was walking on the sidewalk across from the West Jefferson Farmer’s Market when he accidentally fell, even though he was using a cane and wearing a knee brace. Many people rushed over to help, including th…

Time to speak up

I am very concerned about the fact that Congress is using health care for a political football. In an affluent nation such as the USA, health care should not be regarded as a privilege, but a right. Many members of Congress (such as Rep. Virginia Foxx) wear their religion on their sleeves pr…

The innocent but prophetic words that an 8-year-old uttered during a march at Kimberley Park Freedom School could not have been more needed at this moment. “We have food, but other people don’t” and “They should get food … I hope all people who don’t have food get it.”

We, my wife and I, have a home in Riverfront Acres. Our special interest is our proximity to the proposed asphalt plant and its high potential for emitting pollution into the air and into the pristine New River. Science has proven cancer causing chemicals are emitted into the air from asphal…