Pray for more special events
The churches who recently sponsored the “Cameron on my Mind” event to bless our town would like to thank all the people and businesses who helped and donated items.
Thank you to Mayor James Reid, Town of Andrews administration and town workers to the Andrews Public Library.
Thank you to church volunteers, who blessed us with music, cooking and serving to ice stand workers, game workers and face painting.
Thanks to all media, the Cherokee Scout, WCNG, WCVP and WKRK radio stations.
Thank you to AA Portables, Coca-Cola, Hardees, Ingles, Little Debbies, Robey Vending, Quick Pantry B.P. and Wendys of Murphy.
We have had good feedback from people wanting to see more community and church-sponsored outreach.
Andrews is a great town. Pray for God’s grace and mercy in the days ahead to see our town and county become alive in the glory of God.
John Piercy, Andrews
Disagreement can be healthy
Many folks imagine that total agreement (“Unaminity”) on ongoing issues of the day would be the public ideal.
Management theory would argue against that proposition. Why ?
Total agreement on issues typically seems to lead decision makers toward tunnel vision regarding evolving threats and often collateral opportunities which will arise. And lawsuits.
Consistency of total agreement is cult behavior.
Disagreement is healthy, if based upon reason and trust.
Once these foundations are established, we can agree to disagree. And our disagreements will allow our ideas to move forward, because they were critiqued and improved upon from their original conception. Everyone is now a stakeholder in the outcome.
Violent extremism needs to be treated for what it is, unallowable antisocial behavior. Its purpose is to intimidate
free discussion and democracy. But we must be nuanced |enough to understand that false-flag operations and
agent provocateurs regularly gaslight real political events, with the media amplifying the message distortion rather than analyzing what actually occurred.
Today, the American public is finally tired of war, surrounded by impending technological change and questioning its basic economic underpinnings.
I, for one, believe better days are ahead.
Charles Larsen, Murphy
COVID hot spot in jail
I’m writing to hopefully inform the public of the ongoing situation of the North Carolina prison conditions due to the Covid-19 virus and how the inmates are treated.
Whereas the prisons are overcrowded with a high percentage of parole violators with a year or less with nonviolent offenses, the chance of a Covid outbreak is inevitable.
There is not really a good quarantine, with inmates sleeping two feet apart on bunk beds 40-50 to a dorm, 100 to a building, a very slow pace of vaccination period, no constant checks of the virus even though there are people going in and out the gates and no mandatory use of masks for correctional staff, vendors or visiting staff or of inmates.
There is no rehabilitation
taking place, no classes for education, no job assignments to help inmates reduce their sentence to possibly ease the overcrowded conditions with releases, no medical treatment for possible infection outbreak and the list goes on. There has not been any mention from the media of this horrible treatment, and it’s like there is a “hush” about it.
People are quick to mention everything else in relation to those that are affected by the Covid, but not the prisons. Do the prisoners who cannot help themselves not matter? Does the money earned by putting all the parole violators back in prison for simple violations that doesn’t call for reimprisonment mean more than the person?
Would you, the media, be the voice of those who cannot be heard?
Christopher Grant, Caldwell Correctional, Lenoir
On God and dogs
Thank you for running my previous letter to the editor; however, one part was left out. It was not Satan who sent the plagues to the Egyptians. It was God because the Egyptians would not give God’s people their freedom.
Another thing that bothers me is the story of the dog trainer. Why would a “supposed” dog trainer and lieutenant starve Mr. Tory Shivers’ dog for 14 days? The reason I don’t think Shivers raised them from a puppy is, can you imagine the smell? What real moral did his dog really learn from that?
If I was a veterinarian, I would not think this was a proper way to handle this dog.
Also, if I was chief of police from Andrews, I would consider him hired.
Willena Helton, Murphy
What a dream!
My wife passed away 19 years ago. I have really missed her. Recently, I had a dream, and it seemed so real.
I was at a football game, sitting toward the top. I saw someone from behind, as her hair looked identical to my wife’s. About that time she turned, and it was her.
She then came up through the crowd to see me. In the meantime I was shaking all over, trying to figure out I was going to say, when she got to me. I said, “You are supposed to be dead.” She looked like she did when we got married.
She grinned and said, “How are you doing?” I told her I was OK.
I then wanted then wanted to tell her about some of her kin who had passed since she died. She told me before I could mention any names that they were fine and she was fine.
I asked her if she was going to stay. She replied as she was still grinning, no she was going back.
She then went up, just like Patrick Swayze did in the movie Ghost.
The moral of this story is if you have been saved, you will be in heaven with your loved ones.
Charles Stiles, Murphy