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T1

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Public hears from local candidates during forumJames HowellStaff Writerjhowell@heartlandpublications.com

The N.C. Farm Bureau hosted an “issues forum” allowing the public to hear from the candidates running for the N.C. General Assembly and the Ashe County Board of Commis-sioners Tuesday evening at the Ashe County Courthouse.

Each candidate was given an op-portunity offer their reasons for run-ning for public office and ideas for how to improve the region.

Gerald Price, Richard Blackburn, Dan McMillan, Larry Rhodes, Mar-ty Gambill and Gary Roark are run-ning to fill three seats on the Ashe County Board of Commissioners.

Gerald Price reaffirmed his po-sition to be conservative with the county’s tax revenue.

“I never made any promises but one: I will do the very best I can to represent the taxpaying people of Ashe County,” said Price.

Representing the county taxpay-ers was a constant theme from all of the commission candidates during the forum.

Unlike his opponents, Price be-lieves the county should go into a rest period in order to build its re-serve funds. This position is based on his belief that this area hasn’t reached the bottom of the recession, so we should be conservative with the county’s revenue until we have a better idea of what the recession will

bring moving forward.After the county’s rest period,

said Price, we should continue to support education. Price said he is in favor of building additional edu-cation facilities. He also supports agriculture being taught in school, saying he regrets not learning more about the subject.

Price also supports measures to inspire job growth in Ashe County. “If we can do anything to maintain growth without coercion, I support it,” said Price.

Richard Blackburn is a retired school teacher and principal who said the board of commissioners needs a voice of reason.

“The issues commissioners face

James Howell | Jefferson PostThe candidates running for the three available positions on the board of commissioners discussed their ideas during the forum Tuesday night. From left to right: Richard Blackburn, Dan Mc-Millan, Marty Gambill, Gerald Price and Larry Rhodes.

Submitted photo | Jefferson PostGlory Rognstad hams it up with some of the students she has been working with in Ethiopia over the last year and a half.

Local woman changed by mission experienceLinda BurchetteSpecial to the Post

Glory Rognstad wasn’t too sure what she had got herself into her first day in Ethiopia.

“When I first got here,” Glory said in a Skype interview late last year, “I remember walking into this apartment and thought, ‘I can’t live here.’ It was a huge shock.”

The apartment considered nice in Ethiopia would have been con-demned in the United States, she said.

The poverty in that country was difficult to come to terms

with, but by the end of her over year-long mission as a young member of the Baha’i faith, Glory was a changed person.

“My time in Ethiopia changed me completely,” Glory said re-cently as she reflected on her mission. “It changed me emo-tionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Before, I was a lost teenage girl, caught up in the world of makeup, boys and high heels. Now, I am a motivated young woman, ready to take on the world, accepting new expe-riences, people, and culture, for their priceless value to society. Ready to be a binding molecule

in the unification of my commu-nity. Most of all, Ethiopia taught me how to love, freely, uncondi-tionally and completely.”

Such a transformation is, per-haps, the reason behind a tenet of the Baha’i faith encouraging young people to go out into the world for a year and help others. They can choose where to go, and while Glory’s parents wanted her to be closer to home, she chose the poverty striken African nation.

Her brothers have experienced missions as well. Mercy Rogns-

Lansing swears in newest alderman during Oct. meetingWhitney WeaverStaff Writerwweaver@heartlandpublications.com

The Lansing Board of Al-dermen seemed to be play-ing musical chairs at Octo-ber’s meeting, but instead of having too few chairs, one remained empty.

Following Steve Greer’s resignation in August, this month Mark Goss stepped down from the board. This would have left two vacant seats but Dylan Lightfoot was sworn in and joined aldermen Brenda Reeves, Mauvine Shepherd and Jack Brown along with Town Clerk Bernice Prestwood and Mayor George Rembert at the table.

One of the first orders of business was discussion of the decision to replace the traffic light with a three-way stop. Ann Rose of the Great-er Lansing Area Develop-ment Committee said that she thought a second three- Whitney Weaver | Jefferson Post

Lansing Mayor George Rembert (left) swears in new alderman, Dylan Lightfoot (right) during the October aldermen meeting.

Rescue squad celebrates 50th anniversaryJames HowellStaff Writerjhowell@heartlandpublications.com

The Ashe County Res-cue Squad celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday, Oct. 14, to recognize all of the accomplishments of the rescue squad since its inception.

“I would like to thank each and every squad member for your dedica-tion,” said ACRS Capt. Ricky Roark.

Roark was one of several speakers to address the crowd gathered to honor the rescue squad. Another member, A.B. Weaver, a re-tired charter member who was among the first mem-bers of the Ashe County Rescue Squad, gave an elo-quent speech to the crowd.

According to Weaver, the Ashe County Rescue Squad has come a long way since its humble be-ginning.

“We gathered in 1962 (a group of men from West Jefferson) and made a de-cision that we needed a rescue squad,” said Weav-er.

Weaver laughed when he said “we contacted the Red Cross for training, spent 14 nights in train-ing, and then they turned us loose on the people.”

The rescue squad cur-rently has 31 members on its roster and a wealth of equipment, which includes two ambulances, three ful-ly-equipped crash trucks, and two motorized boats.

“I would never have dreamed the rescue squad would become what it is today. Many people don’t know the rescue squad here in Ashe County is one of the best squads in North Carolina,” said Weaver.

Weaver also said the cur-rent members of the Ashe County Rescue Squad

James Howell | Jefferson PostAshe County Rescue Squard Capt. Ricky Roark addressed the crowd on Sunday, Oct. 14, gathered to honor the 50 years of service provided by the squad.

See FORUM | Page 2

See MISSION | Page 2

See MEETING | Page 3

See RESCUE | Page 3

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Page 2 — The Jefferson Post Shopper, Tuesday, October 23, 2012

are very complex and ad-dressing those requires balance and a voice of rea-son,” said Blackburn.

Blackburn said he would try his best to maintain the county’s low tax rate, but he also admitted he wouldn’t promise to avoid a tax increase at all costs. “We can’t afford to let expenditures exceed rev-enue,” said Blackburn.

Blackburn also said the county must provide a new middle school that is on “the cutting edge of technology.” Blackburn also supports agribusi-ness and said he wishes to promote locally-grown food, which is healthier and reduces poverty lev-els in the area.

Dan McMillan is the former Ashe County Man-ager. During the discus-sion, McMillan said he had seen Ashe County change in the 12 years he served as the county’s top administrative officer.

According to McMil-lan, some of the best infrastructure in Ashe County’s history was built during his tenure as manager and this was accomplished without significant tax increases. The only tax increase was a short-term three-cent increase for a new law en-forcement center.

McMillan touted that while he was Ashe County’s Manager, sev-eral capital projects were completed, including the new jail, West Wood El-ementary School, and an improved Ashe County

Public Library.In addition, McMillan

said the board of commis-sioners is responsible for protecting our natural re-sources, like the New Riv-er and our mountaintops. McMillan also said land-use planning is necessary for economic develop-ment because the N.C. Department of Transpor-tation is only interested in working with counties that plan ahead.

According to McMillan, this area has built good educational facilities in the past, and should have adequate funds to build a new middle school.

Larry Rhodes pledged to use his business back-ground and bachelor’s degree in economics from Mars Hill University to make good decisions as a commissioner.

“The only promise I can make is that I will do my very best to serve the peo-ple of Ashe County,” said Rhodes.

Rhodes said future plans for the county must be realistic and must not come at the expense to our neighbors.

According to Rhodes, the Ashe County High School will be paid off in 2016, and so will West Wood Elementary School in 2017 and the Ashe County Library in 2018. Rhodes said he is not sure what should be done about the middle school, but said it “needs im-provement.”

Rhodes said “education is high on my list.” Also, he supports the FFA pro-gram at the high school

and would like student interest in agriculture to continue.

Marty Gambill was the final candidate for the board of commissioners that attended the meeting. Gambill said the people of Ashe County deserve good services and should get their money’s worth from paying their taxes.

Gambill was confident the county could expand its services and infra-structure without raising taxes, and he backed that notion by making a stern promise to everyone in attendance. “I will not vote for an increase in the property tax rate,” said Gambill.

He also said he is in favor of a proactive plan-ning board, so the county doesn’t need to “respond to a situation with a knee-jerk reaction.”

According to Gambill, the board of commission-ers has a responsibility to ensure economic growth is not stifled.

Gary Roark is also run-ning for a position on the board of commissioners, but did not attend this event.

The candidates running for the N.C. House of Representatives and N.C. Senate also attend the Farm Bureau candidate’s forum.

Democrat Cullie Tar-leton is running against Republican Jonathan Jor-dan to represent the 93rd district (which includes Ashe and Watauga coun-ties) in the N.C. House of Representatives.

Democrat Roy Carter

is running against incum-bent Republican Senator Dan Soucek to represent the 45th district of the N.C. Senate, which in-cludes Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga, Caldwell and Avery counties.

Tarleton is a candidate from the Democratic Par-ty and a current resident of Blowing Rock. He is a former two-term repre-sentative of the 93rd dis-trict of the N.C. House of Representatives from January 2007 through December 2010.

According to Tarleton, the best opportunity for growth in Ashe County is the expansion of U.S. 221 into a four-lane road. Tarleton said he worked to push this project to the top of the DOT’s to do list. He also sup-ports expanding current infrastructure, like Ashe County’s airport, and supports a tax system that spreads out the tax burden and is revenue neutral.

Jordan is attempting to get re-elected as the representative of district 93 of the N.C. House of Representatives. Jordan is a local attorney who resides outside of West Jefferson.

Jordan said he strongly supports balancing North Carolina’s budget. “The state cannot spend like there is no tomorrow,” said Jordan.

According to Jordan, he managed to pass a balanced budget while giving teachers in North Carolina a 1.2 percent pay increase.

Jordan said he will pro-tect farmers from over-bearing and needless regulations, adding regu-lations need to be lifted off of all businesses to al-low them to grow.

Both Tarleton and Carter attacked Jordan for a tax credit he sup-ported during his time in the N.C. House of Rep-resentatives. Carter said the state lost $336 mil-lion in revenue thanks to a “poorly written piece of legislation that let every-one save $3,500.” Carter said teachers have lost jobs during Jordan’s time representing the 93rd district.

This is in reference to a tax credit that allows businesses a tax exemp-tion for the first $50,000 made through non-passive income, which amounts to a savings of $3,500 for each business. This credit applies to businesses of all income levels that do not trade stock.

Jordan defended the tax credit, saying 57 per-cent of those who ben-efited from the tax credit made under $100,000 of income, while only 2 per-cent of businesses saving $3,500 made over $1 mil-lion in income.

Jordan said the tax credit was aimed at help-ing small businesses, but all businesses were al-lowed to apply because “the government has no right to pick and choose who benefits from a tax credit.”

Also, Jordan said teachers in North Caroli-

na lost jobs based on the 2010-2011 state budget, which was actually the final year of the budget constructed by Tarleton, his opponent.

Carter is the Democrat-ic Party candidate run-ning for the 45th district of the N.C. Senate. He has lived in Glendale Springs for 47 years and spent 42 years as a school teacher and football coach.

According to Carter, education is his top prior-ity. Carter said investing in education is the best way to promise economic growth long-term.

Carter also said he supports tax reform that would benefit North Car-olina’s farmers, who “pur-chase at retail and sell at wholesale.”

Soucek is attempting to regain his position repre-senting the state’s 45th district in the N.C. Sen-ate.

Soucek said he has been a part of discussions for large tax reform for North Carolina. Soucek says the current tax system is based on an antiquated system. He also said a simpler tax system would restore economic growth.

Soucek also said im-migration laws should be simplified so businesses will be less inclined to “skip around” immigra-tion laws that oppose hiring illegal immigrants into the workforce.

According to Soucek, the state needs a reality check in reference to state spending. “We need a fis-cally responsible govern-ment,” said Soucek.

From Page 1

Forum

tad has been living in Kings-ton, Jamaica for the past two years working with the Baha’is of Jamaica doing neighborhood virtue classes for kids and spir-itual empowerment for middle school aged youth, said Glory.

Glory left Ashe County in December 2010 at 19 years old to travel to the African con-tinent to work with a Baha’i inspired company develop-ing programs on education for Ethiopian youngsters. She worked each day with an edu-cational media team producing a television show with puppets teaching children about char-acter education and healthy living. She was also involved in a program to help educate the people about personal safety and taught children in first, second and third grades.

Since returning home this

past spring, Glory said she has kept in touch with the people she worked with as much as possible through Skype and Facebook. She has a blog, gloryrain.wordpress.com, to help keep people informed about her work and would like to share more of her experience in the future.

Right now, she planning to pursue a degree in special education.

“I really loved teaching,” Glory said. “I had a few kids with special needs and I really connected well with them.”

As she continues to ad-just back to life in the United States, Glory said she carries her experiences with her, and

those experiences had a pro-found effect on her daily life.

“It consumes my everyday life,” she said, “by what I eat, what I wear, where I shop, how I inter-act with people, the experiences I have…everything.”

Upon first arriv-ing back in the Unit-ed States, Glory said her emotions were in turmoil.

“I cried,” she said of the first thing she did arriving home. “I sat in the floor

of JFK and bawled like a baby. I did not want to be back in the United States. I thought I should have been at school with all 167 of my students sur-rounding me, with the noise of Addis Ababa playing like music

over my ear drums. I wanted so badly to be anywhere else but the loud shiny airport full of people running this way and that, not looking each other in the eyes, trying hard to pass by their neighbor unnoticed.”

Glory hopes her experiences will help her encourage other people to be more aware of each other.

“The goal of the Baha’i faith is essentially to unite mankind into one human family,” she said of her beliefs. “We believe this is possible by starting at the grassroots. Unity must first come within the family, then the neighborhood, the town, the city, the country, the continent, then the world. The worldwide Baha’i commu-nity has a systematic and sus-tainable method of doing this, through these neighborhood classes and other activities.

“These are a few things that

Baha’is believe in, the equality of women and men, the elimi-nation of poverty, racial equal-ity, the existence of science and religion, that all the main religions of the world are one and were sent down from the same God and we are all one human family.”

“My year of service in Ethio-pia couldn’t have made these beliefs more concrete in my life,” Glory said. “I have family all over the world now, in Ger-many, Yemen, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, France, China, Australia, New Zealand, and, of course, my home, Ethiopia. I said in one of my blogs that I ‘left home to come home,’ and I believe that through and through.”

Editor’s Note: This was the last story former Assistant Ed-itor Linda Burchette produced for the Post.

From Page 1

Mission

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The Jefferson Post Shopper, Tuesday, October 23, 2012 — Page 3

way stop “would be the key to get traffic to slow down through town.” Rembert said, “I would personally rather not have two three-way stops,” because it might be difficult for driv-ers leaving the grocery store. This issue will be discussed further at a later date.

Emergency management coordinator, Patty Gambill was present to witness the adoption of the High Coun-try Regional Hazard Miti-gation Plan which enabled the area to be eligible for federal disaster relief funds.

Tim Church, water re-sources director, explained that Lansing paid penal-ties related to the analysis of a new well due to the specific window of time during which the analysis was to be completed. “It’s frustrating because it’s a technicality…public health and safety were not com-promised,” Church said. “It was just a matter of timing.”

Rose spoke to the board about the possibility of

purchasing land to become part of the town park. She suggested several uses for the land including extend-ing the walking trail, add-ing a second stage for the Ola Belle Reed Festival, installing raised gardens, and providing additional parking for area business-es.

Rose said, “I’d like for [GLAD’s] efforts to be approved of by the alder-men so we could all work together on this.” She said that federal parks and recreation grants could provide the majority of the funds and the project would rely on private do-nations for the rest.

Shepherd said that some funding could probably be obtained through health and wellness, as the orga-nization is “really pushing for people to take care of themselves…I think it’s a good thing.”

Other matters discussed at the meeting included a memorial for former mayor Jason Ring, bids for snow removal, hauling trash from a residential property, and adding a drainage pipe on the walking trail.

From Page 1

Meeting

show their deep dedica-tion by constantly train-ing to improve.

All of the work is on a strictly volunteer basis, and yet, many members of the rescue squad have received medical certifi-cations like EMT, EMT-1 and EMT-Paramedic.

The Ashe County Res-cue Squad has received several honors during the last 50 years.

For example, in 1991, North Carolina awarded the Ashe County Rescue Squad “Rescue of the Year Award” for a difficult rescue that took place in 1990. On Oct.

29 of that year, the Ashe County Rescue Squad suc-cessfully recovered a family of three adults and a 3-year-old child from a 300 foot high cliff after they rolled down the embankment in their car.

Weaver said the most im-portant aspect of the rescue squad is how it’s deeply tied to the community.

The rescue squad was born from an idea that the county needed a volunteer organization to help those in need during emergen-cies. After operating an underfunded organization for several years, the res-cue squad drew public at-tention for its efforts and

the public began donating money to the group.

“I’ve noticed the county is very supportive of of the rescue squad, and in turn, the rescue squad supports the community,” said Weaver.

Other speakers at the event included 1st Lt. Kenneth Patrick, Presi-dent of the Board and 2nd Lt. Robert Poe, N.C. Asso-ciation of Rescue & EMS (NCAREMS) Executive Director Gordon Joyner, and NCAREMS Area 10 Director Bill Henderson.

From Page 1

Rescue

Ashe County Ford makes large gift to ACHS Boosters

James Howell | Jefferson PostTina Ashley received $5,140 on behalf of the Ashe County High School Booster Club as a gift from Jeff Dollar, president of Ashe County Ford. This donation hap-pened as a result of the “Drive One for Your School” event held one month ago. At the event, Ashe County Ford promised to donate $20 to the booster club for every person who test drove a car from Ashe County Ford (up to 300 people). From left to right: Marc Payne, Ashe County High School’s athletic director, Beth Shelton, Brandy Elliott and Tina Ashley, representing the booster club, Jeff Dol-lar, the president of Ashe County Ford, Ashley Dollar, Jeff and his wife’s daughter, Amy Dollar, Jeff’s wife, and their daughter Addison Dollar.

State of the Child puts children in perspectiveWhitney WeaverStaff Writerwweaver@heartlandpublications.com

Right now, 30 percent of Ashe County children are living in poverty, said Julie Landry with the Ashe Coun-ty Partnership for Children.

With this in mind, what is the community doing to de-velop their well-being?

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, edu-cators, physicians, and child advocacy groups came to-gether at the first State of the Child conference presented by the Ashe B5 Council and Ashe County Partnership for Children to create an action plan for the success of local children.

Landry said this confer-ence was about “getting on a bandwagon” for Ashe Coun-ty’s children by focusing on protecting children, making sure they’re healthy, getting them the education they need and combating poverty.

Smart Start National Tech-nical Assistance Coach and former Executive Director of Smart Start in Forsyth Coun-ty, Dean Clifford, gave the morning’s keynote address. Clifford said that Smart Start combines both public and private elements of the com-munity to provide a family support program, ensuring that children maintain their enthusiasm for learning. Clifford said North Carolina has set an example for other states in its comprehensive approach to early childhood care and education.

Clifford put into perspec-tive where the community is in education, and where it is headed. “We are in a period of national angst,” Clifford said.

In an uncertain political climate, the polarization of parties has led to a paralysis, but the key is for communi-ties to focus on common values such as equality, edu-cation, well-functioning fami-lies, and civic engagement, said Clifford.

Referencing business lead-ers and economists, Clifford said that early childhood edu-cation is the best kind of eco-nomic development because critical thinking, communica-tion, and collaboration skills necessary for building good employees are best learned as children.

Clifford reminded par-ticpants that children in the U.S. are competing in a global environment, and are being outperformed. “Our national security depends on the integrity of our education system,” said Clifford, and with the U.S. scoring 24th in overall education out of de-veloped countries, we need to create a “culture of edu-cation” that recognizes the excellence of teachers and

gives them the respect they deserve.

The conference’s first panel discussion on current issues regarding child pov-erty, health and protection consisted of Jennifer Davis of Child Care Resources and Referral, attorney Tracie Jor-dan of the Guardian ad Li-tem office, Bethany Marshall of First in Families, Teressa Goss of the Ashe Dept. of Social Services, and pediatri-cian Dr. Ila Baugham of the Children’s Development Ser-vice Agency.

The panel was asked how today’s children are doing compared to those 20 years ago, and Baugham said that every year the North Carolina Institute of Medicine issues a child health report. The most recent report showed more children are insured, and im-munization rates are at 97 percent, but breastfeeding rates are “abysmal.

The report also showed the state scored “A’s” in early intervention for developmen-tal problems and environ-mental health, but scored poorly in substance abuse in grades 9-12 because of a 20.5 percent increase in prescrip-tion drug abuse by youth.

Addressing the question of the most pressing issues for children and families, Marshall said much of what First in Families does is help needy families pay for basic utilities and medical supplies not covered by insurance.

For example, “if a power bill is high because a family has a child on life support,” Marshall said. She said that

their second most used re-source is a program provid-ing iPads as communication tools for developmentally disabled children.

Goss said there is a short-age of case managers for children who are develop-mentally disabled. Though funding has been cut to many programs, the “needs are still there and parents are strug-gling.”

Baugham followed by saying the segment of unin-sured children and transpor-tation to health care facili-ties were other issues.

The conference’s second panel focused on issues in education and consisted of representatives from Ap-palachian State University, Dr. Denise Brewer and Dr. Cindy McGaha, and repre-sentatives from Ashe Coun-ty Schools, Jessica Roland, Terry Richardson and Kim Barnes.

“It is incredibly impor-tant that we advocate for education…becoming aware of the political climate and legislation and being spokes-people to local and state politicians,”said McGaha.

The use of technology with young children was dis-cussed. Barnes said that tech-nology “allows [children] greater access to a world they would never know otherwise…and encourages higher thinking and problem solving.” While acknowledg-ing the benefits of technol-ogy, McGaha and Brewer stressed the importance of developmentally appropriate uses of technology.

Whitney Weaver | Jefferson PostDr. Ila Baugham delivers her closing speech at the State of the Child conference.‘Fueling the Fight’ for breast cancer prevention

Giving back to help a cause that’s close to the hearts of customers and employees is what “Fuel-ing the Fight” is all about for Blue Ridge Energies, the propane subsidiary of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corpora-tion.

If you’ve seen the pink propane delivery trucks driving around neighbor-hoods, you weren’t imag-ining things: Blue Ridge Energies has three pink trucks as a way to sup-port breast cancer aware-ness. For every gallon of propane delivered by the pink delivery trucks, a penny will be donated to a local breast cancer re-lated charity.

In Ashe County, the Women in Touch Endow-ment will receive the do-nation.

Blue Ridge Energies is kicking off the effort this October, which is national Breast Cancer Awareness month, and will present donations next October.

“Breast cancer has touched the lives of most everyone in some way so

we’re proud to support this cause with a tan-gible donation as well as raise awareness of breast cancer as our pink trucks travel throughout our service area,” said Glen-da Christian, Chief Op-erating Officer of Blue Ridge Energies.

Submitted photo | Jefferson PostWhen the Blue Ridge Energies pink truck shows up for a deliv-ery, it’s also helping with to a donation to the Ashe County’s Women in Touch Endowment.

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Page 4 — The Jefferson Post Shopper, Tuesday, October 23, 2012