Family pets left behind
Lori Newkirk, a member of the Valley River Humane Society, left her home as usual early one morning this week and returned home carrying two starving puppies. “I could not let them die,” she said.
The shelter has been filled to capacity for some time, so keeping the puppies there was not feasible. Plus, the puppies were in such poor health condition when they were surrendered by a local couple, that it was necessary to keep vigil on them overnight just to keep them alive.
With Lori’s help, the team at VRHS quickly arranged to have the two scrawny boxer mix brothers examined and given all the necessary medications and vaccines to stave off disease and kill the flea infestation they suffered. They also needed immediate infusion of fluids to keep them hydrated. And we administered tiny bits of food on a nearly hourly basis to help avoid re-feeding syndrome, where the shift from fluids to solids can create trauma in malnourished creatures.
“Who does this?” asked the couple leaving the puppies in Lori’s care. Sadly, many do. The heartbreak is that for every dog rescued and brought back to health, there are countless others abandoned, neglected and left to die alone. These are not feral creatures. They are domesticated, family pets.
The cost of emergency veterinary care, like what was provided to these two puppies, is astronomical for many. The couple who left the puppies with us did so because they could not afford the vet bill.
At VRHS, we are committed to saving the lives of animals who can be returned to health and made ready for adoption. We will continue to do so, but donations and contributions from caring individuals help to defray the cost of veterinary medicine and food.
We ask the community at large for your financial support, and to keep an
eye out for signs of distressed domestic animals who may need our help. Donations can be made via the humane society’s website at valleyriverhumanesociety.org/donate.
Much has been done to arrange transports of some of our dogs to shelters all across the country. Many of them have waiting lists of families wanting to adopt shelter pets. Our goal is to continue the work of saving animals, socializing them and making them ready to return to a happy and safe family environment, wherever that may be.
Diana Ciarlante, Murphy
The writer is a board member with the Valley River Humane Society.
Are the ’60s back in U.S.?
The continuum of human behavior may have reached a level of unprecedented forms of extreme, overt and even perverted expression? Or is this just a replay of the 1960s decade?
This phenomenon can be found in art, music, education, clothing and a new vocabulary of certain words. It is further evidenced in the physical alteration of one’s body, adorning it in shapes and colors or changes to a preferred gender or non-gender.
The new reality seems to defy all that is deemed status quo. Many behaviors are being redefined and replaced with a new order of non-conformity, and a deconstructive philosophy that wants to change historical perspective.
In the 1960s, Timothy Leary’s espoused counterculture was to “Turn on, tune in and drop out.” Today’s mantra might be “to turn off, stifle the tune and cancel it out.”
Our country is engaged in a self flagellation for our historical sins and mistakes, while redefining our nation as oppressors and oppressed, privileged and marginalized. We are focusing on our transgressions, until we can no longer envision the overriding freedoms and liberties of our country.
We continue to fragment into groups and subgroups, adding letters, symbols, new words and language to describe and segment ourselves. Non-binary, asexual, intersectionality, “they” vs. “he or she,” as if this new language could further validate each of us as human beings.
It may feel familiar to those of us who lived through the ’60s. Some of us fought in Vietnam, some burned our draft cards, others burned their bras and some died on the green grass at Kent State University.
There was the “Summer of Love,” yet our country was divided then as it is now. Unrest over war, over civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights.
Today, the list of things to disagree upon continues to grow.
We have become that bitter species that chooses to surround itself with all the arguments over our differences until all we have left is the common ground we will be buried under.
Robert Karl, Murphy
Vote Ackiss for GOP chair
I am a 50-year-old lifetime resident of Cherokee County, as well as lifelong Republican and former chairwoman of the local Republican Party. My leadership in party responsibilities has included many activist roles in local, state, and national campaigns.
On Saturday, March 25, in the Peachtree Community Center, registered party members will elect Cherokee County officers, including the most important – chairperson. Republican decorum was once famously characterized by President Ronald Reagan as the “11th Commandment,” which declared, “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.”
However, in today’s liberalized GOP, where squishy moderates or Republicans who support sub rosa messages of the “Go along to get along” crowd, the party has drifted into “troubled waters. Reagan and President Donald Trump’s conservative policies and agendas have been thwarted by collusions between politicians, media and even law enforcement.
I strongly endorse Margaret Ackiss for chairperson. I urge other Republicans to vote for her because she has the professional experience, political acumen, and savvy to “right the ship.” Her qualifications include:
- Strong commitment to improve business attraction to the county and support programs that enhance education.
- An over 30-year back-ground in business and finance.
- Ability to organize, integrate and communicate Republican policies to the public in a manner that generates confidence.
- Superior insider knowledge on the power brokers in North Carolina state and local politics.
- A strong record of fighting for our First Amendment rights, including a recent two-year legal battle and victory against the collusion of social media, local magistrates and elected officials who attempted unsuccessfully to silence her high school consolidation views.
- Strict adherence to local and state Party Plans of Organization and the N.C. Party Platform.
- Strong advocate for full transparency of our five county commissioners and party committees to expose and alleviate cronyism.
Shannon Greathead, Murphy
Fox doesn’t tell the truth
I am reading about texts exchanged between top Fox on-air talent and senior management, wherein they acknowledge that President Donald Trump lost in 2020, that he was not a good person, and that they would lose both money and market share if they told their listeners that truth.
I wonder how far that information will get into the right-wing media environment, of which Fox is the capstone? How many in that information bubble will read and believe that contradictory information?
Quoting Mark Twain: “It is easier to fool a guy than to convince him he has been fooled.”
David Jockusch, Peachtree
Celebrate Girl Scouts week
On March 12, our organization celebrated another year of bringing the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to girls, another year of truly making a difference in the lives of so many. Who would have thought that Juliette Gordon Low’s first Girl Scout troop of 18 girls in 1912 would lead to a worldwide organization that helps girls and women become the eventual leaders of tomorrow?
At Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont, we are proud to continue the work Juliette began over 100 years ago. We are 10,600 members strong and continue to add more girls to our sisterhood every day, building on the generations we have already served and continuing the momentum of our mission into the future. From outdoor experiences to troop meetings to community partner programming, everything we offer girls gives them opportunities to expand their interests, builds skills for a lifetime and increase their ability to face any challenge head on.
We know the importance of having this all-girl environment for today’s girls. A safe place where they can learn how to navigate the world with courage and confidence, believe in themselves and others and be able to try new things in a safe setting – where success and failure are all done with the support of caring adults and forever friends. We know it’s Girl Scouts, and I want the rest of our community to know that, too.
Join me in extending an open invitation to all girls throughout western North Carolina to become a part of the GSCP2P family and greater Girl Scout Movement. With your commitment to making this world a better place for all girls and our dedication to providing programming and resources that lead to positive lifelong values, friendships and skills, we can and will make a difference.
Jennifer Wilcox, Hickory
The writer is chief executive officer of Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont, which includes Cherokee County. For details, visit www.girlscoutsp2p.org.
Team-based care working
To best serve the needs of North Carolina patients, we must have a system of care that keeps the patient at the center of the care team. When that team includes clinicians with varying levels of experience, education, and training, strong leadership and physician involvement is needed to define responsibilities and develop a coordinated approach that promotes patient success.
There are those who disagree with team-based care and who advocate for removing physician involvement with patients. Their arguments often suggest they are seeking nothing more than getting rid of burdensome red tape.
This grossly understates the impact on patients. When physicians are removed from the care team, patients are denied access to health-care practitioners who have the education and training needed to make critical medical judgments.
After medical school, we were required to complete a residency program in our respective areas of practice. Residency is a mandatory step to achieve medical licensure because physicians cannot take their national exams without completing a residency program, typically at least two years in duration.
Physicians must complete their licensing examination and submit their scores along with verification of their medical education and post-graduate training verification before their application will be considered by the N.C. Medical Board. Allowing other members of the care team to provide medical care that a medical school graduate could not legally provide in the state does not put the patient first.
Removing physician involvement also limits patient choice – especially patients in rural and underserved areas. Patients expect a physician to be involved in their care. A recent AMA survey found 95 percent of U.S. voters believe it is important for physicians to be involved in diagnosis and treatment. Creating a two-tiered system that allows physician access for some, but not all, does not put the patient first.
We stand united in our goal to always put the patient first.
Dr. Arthur Apolinario and Dr. Charlene Green, Raleigh
Apolinario is president of the N.C. Medical Society; Green is president of the Old North State Medical Society. For details, write N.C. Medical Society, P.O. Box 27167, Raleigh, NC 27611; call 919-833-3836, Ext. 5261; or visit www.ncmedsoc.org.
Inmate says turn to God
I’m a recovering drug addict incarcerated in prison. In 2021, I overdosed 22 times on heroin. One time in Blairsville, Ga., it was so bad the detectives were trying to get in contact with my mother cause they did not think I was going to be brought back by Narcan.
During my time being locked up, I have really come to understand and love God. I also understand that I’m here because He has a plan for me.
What I’m trying to tell the community is there is way more to life than being high and hurting our families. It hurts our family more than it hurts us, because we’re chasing our next high.
Friends, we can’t keep doing this. We have to accept Christ in our lives and kick the devil out. As a community, we have to come together and keep these terrible drugs out of our lives because it’s taking over.
Well, friends and family, I hope this touches your hearts. God is good, and He is real. If he can save me 22 times and change my heart, he can and will do the same for you. Amen, God bless.
Dustin Pressley, Spruce Pine