A needless tragedy here
Most of us are aware of the recent death of Frank Mason, who was struck while riding his bicycle on Airport Road. Much has been said attesting to his kind and generous nature. He was loved by all. Doubly tragic is the fact that it absolutely didn’t need to happen.
For many years, concerned citizens have requested that our elected officials take steps to secure a grant from the state to convert the unused railroad tracks between Andrews and Murphy to a multi-use trail for bikers, hikers and joggers. Grants are available for just this purpose. Communities all across our state and nation have done so, and often at little cost, as the recycle value of the steel rails offsets some of the cost of the asphalt.
Many tourists seek out these rail trails, as they are a pleasant and healthy form of exercise and relaxation.
Businesses looking to relocate view amenities like this as a sign of a thriving area that puts residents first. These tracks run parallel to Airport Road, and Frank certainly would have been on the trail had it existed. My question is, “Why doesn’t it?”
Why the resistance from our legislators? Why aren’t our commissioners active in getting this done? Why wouldn’t they want to give our kids and grandkids a safe place to ride their bikes?
Could it be because the adjacent wealthy property owners want the state to divest itself of the land that the tracks occupy? This would increase their land holdings at no cost to them.
Frank’s death was preventable. All our elected officials would have had to do was listen to their constituents and do the job they’re paid to do.
Their inaction almost rises to the level of negligent homicide. It’s too late for Frank, but it’s not too late to prevent another tragedy.
Whether you’re a hiker, biker, jogger or just a concerned citizen who wants to provide a safe place for all of us to engage in these activities, now is the time to speak up. The residents of Cherokee County need to come together to make sure our commissioners, and other elected officials, hear our support loud and clear for the Murphy-to-Andrews rails-to-trails conversion.
Glenn Kolp, Andrews
A miracle forgotten
On Sept. 11, we commemorate the horrendous event that shocked our country to the core, and overlook a miracle that took place on the same day. Was that miracle Isaiah 9:10 being fulfilled?
On July 11, 1609, Henry Hudson’s ship, Half Moon, landing at the future site where the towers would be built? St. Paul’s Chapel, located between the two towers at the site of Hudson’s ship landing hundreds of years earlier being the only building to survive unscathed from the bricks coming down? Covered and saved by a sycamore tree, just like Isaiah prophesied, and not even a window was broken?
Just a short list of countless miracles taking place that day, but what was the forgotten one? Could it be the greatest of them all?
At 9:37 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. All 58 passengers and crew, as well as 125 people in the building and on the ground, were killed, and a violent fire was started.
At 1 p.m., searchers entered the building and could only stay for 20 minutes at a time because of the tremendous heat. Eventually, using halogen lights and wooden beams, they were able to shore up the unstable structure. Using handsaws to cut through concrete and metal, they moved to the spot where the plane had sheared off a section of the building. Among melted steel they found a wooden stool. It was undisturbed, and nothing around it or the two floors above. Sitting on the stool was a Holy Bible, its pages unburned.
Skeptics say someone must have gotten in early and placed the Bible. Snopes claims it was a dictionary, not a Bible. Let the reader be the judge …
References: Published in USA Today on Sept. 14, 2001, with the headline, “Pentagon searchers encounter grisly scenes,” Snopes.com and Freerepublic.com.
Ed Huber, Copperhill, Tenn.
Don’t use puppy mills
Puppy Mill Awareness Day, which takes place in September, is a reminder that countless dogs suffer while greedy breeders line their pockets.
In these facilities, animals languish with untreated infections, painful skin conditions, rotting teeth and wounds from standing on wire floors. Confined to filthy cages and deprived of attention and affection, many pace or spin endlessly.
Puppies separated from their mothers can face lifelong psychological harm while breeding for distorted physical features dooms dogs to a lifetime of suffering from flattened faces, elongated spines and more.
Puppy mills also fuel the animal overpopulation crisis. Every purchase from a breeder or store takes away a potential home from one of the millions of animals in shelters or on the streets.
On Puppy Mill Awareness Day – and every day – we all have the power to stop this cruelty. Refuse to shop at stores that sell animals, and always adopt from shelters.
Melissa Rae Sanger, Norfolk, Va.
The writer is with the PETA Foundation.