… Koontz launches resiliency program to help kids cope with stress

If you are looking for ways to help, you can start by supporting the schools that are trying to meet the needs of the students.

To add to what Carol Ann Houpe said — “If we want to be a trauma-sensitive community, our schools have to be trauma informed and trauma sensitive” — I would encourage you to become trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive. The training and resources that schools need require additional funding. You could become a community partner and support the programs in the school.

I would go further to say that training could be provided for the community to help achieve better awareness in the community. That will need community support, organization and, again, funding.

— Kate Linker

I feel for these children, and hate how they’ve been hurt in life. I also feel for my granddaughter, who has been their punching bag. The things that have been said to her have almost broken her spirit. She hasn’t had the easiest life, either, but she’s kind to others. These kids need help and counseling, too.

— Tony Keys

… Craig Pierce: ‘I don’t have confidence with the current board today …’

Pierce has the potential to unseat an incumbent. If he wins, he would resign his 2016 seat and the board would appoint a Republican replacement. Then the board could reappoint whoever lost. Would that not just be a kick in the pants?

— Mark Lyerly

Rowan County is smarter than that and will not allow Craig back in. If Craig was a  real man, he would give his seat up now and then run.

— Charlie Graeber

… Letter: Getting a grip on reality

I am happy that we have a good economy at this time, but I don’t believe it’s due to Trump’s efforts, nor that it’s sustainable or advantageous to all Americans with the current folks in power.

Trump and Republicans are no longer deficit hawks. The tax cuts they are giving to the wealthiest Americans will create insurmountable debt in the near future and will negatively affect middle class Americans in a myriad of ways.

—Karen Puckett

… My Turn, Bruce LaRue: On diversity

Great analogies — different does not necessarily mean harmony. There is no inherent advantage to an emphasis on diversity without the same on a unity of purpose.

— Tim Deal

Only from a perspective of privilege can a person refuse to see the thoughts, feelings and cultures of others. Bruce LaRue, you are not the standard default model human being by which all others are to be judged and measured.

— Jeffrey L. Sharp

… Registration open for student trade competition

Conversations around the pros and cons of a college education often pit college against trade schools.

In the past, and I think now as well, a class distinction has been imposed on these two models of advanced education. It’s unfortunate that thinking of the two in such a limited way has been perpetuated.

When I was coming up, the pressure for young men was to become a doctor or a lawyer — never a carpenter or even an accountant or shop owner. Then we moved into the tech era and everyone was pressured into IT. Great money, endless potential. But alas, as we all know, even computer geniuses need a plumber when they need a plumber.

Now, we find ourselves with an entire generation that barely knows how to change a lightbulb and industries desperate to fill stable, well-paying jobs.

So, I want to give the trades a positive nod, and encouragement to any student who wishes to follow that path but may be reacting to the old, outdated view of skills training for future careers. The skills you will learn while studying for a trade certification are yours for life.

—Whitney Peckman

… Letter: NRA and our senators

Prayers for the families so soon robbed of their precious young people.

Schools are gun-free zones. Somebody forgot to tell the law-breaker. Just one armed resource (police) officer in each school would make potential shooters think twice before breaking the law. Murder, by the way is still illegal.

— Gene Taggart

Nobody can predict when or where a suicidal individual is going to go off. So many suicidal people are going to do what they want. All the armies and laws will not stop someone willing to kill themselves just to harm others.

— Larry Craver

There was an armed guard at the school in Florida so not an effective solution

— Katherine Taber

… Letter: Ban semi-automatic weapons

Who has deeper pockets? The NRA funded by strong, patriotic member donations or the pharma companies feeding on the week and innocent? The NRA funding argument is a joke in comparison. We are two wings of the same bird, and as long as we wish to destroy the other, this bird will come crashing down. 

— Matt Dotson

We do not have the right to bear arms so that we can go hunting for whatever game we wish to hunt. Our forefathers put the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights in case a tyrant decided to try and destroy our Constitution and way of life.

In case you are wondering what tyranny looks like, look no further than Washington, D.C., and our corrupt politicians. Trump needs to drain the swamp.

—Wes Rhinier

… Letter: Tougher gun laws needed

President Trump undid a regulation last year that prevented people with mental illness from purchasing and owning a gun. I am sure this assailant’s diagnosis of autism would have prevented him from buying a gun.

— Renee Wimbish

What good will it do to make more laws when they didn’t enforce the laws already on the books that would have stopped this animal from getting a gun?

— John Collins

Who are the NRA, exactly? Well, they have a membership of five million plus. At $40 per year, that’s $200 million in simple membership dues alone.

The NRA isn’t just a small group of people sitting in a darkened room. Its a whole lot of people.

—Eric Shock

… Rowan County professionals seek to work on county perception

Stop spending tax monies on fluff. Over-fund law enforcement. Make the county the safest place to live and work.

… Success can be measured by bail bondsmen applying for unemployment benefits.

— Kathryn Pringle Jolly

Focus less on changing perception and combating narratives and more on getting results. Results will prove the naysayers wrong.

— Doug Paris

Many of us see the positive aspects of living and working in Rowan County.

We are fortunate to have a regional medical center, major employers such as Food Lion and Freightliner, a full legal community, a downtown restaurant/entertainment district, and yet we are blessed to live in small towns away from the congestion of the big city. …

I applaud our local leaders for the work they continue to put into our town and its future. Don’t focus on the naysayers. We must keep moving forward.

— Doug Sokolowski

… Salisbury, Cheerwine to host 2018 Cheerwine Festival

I love Cheerwine and bring it back to New York with me when I drive to Salisbury to visit my family. I have friends who attended Livingstone College who also ask me to bring them some.

— John Robinson

Always stock up on Cheerwine when I’m in Rowan County and bring enough back to Ohio to last me until I visit again. It’s unfortunate it isn’t for sale north of Virginia.

— Mark Dierkes

This festival will be on the day of my wedding, literally right in front of my venue at the Rowan Museum. I’m so excited. If you see a bride holding a glass of Cheerwine, that would be me.

— Amanda Morgan

… David Post: Fast Fibrant is hardly a clunker

Fibrant has been in my home since 2011 and I am pleased with its high symmetric broadband speeds. It’s reliable, well worth the price and will not be traded for anything else.

One of the major issues overlooked in the Fibrant debate is its intention to be a public municipal utility, not a business. The primary objective of a business is to make profits for a closed group of shareholders. The main purpose of a public utility is to provide a non-profit service for a community controlled by its voting citizens.

— Reginald Brown

We’ve had Fibrant since the beginning, and couldn’t be happier. The few issues that arise have been handled cheerfully, quickly and locally.

Ensuring all our students have access to internet will not only help in the short run, but throughout their lives, as they’ll be prepared for the wired and connected world they’ll inherit.

Thanks, Mr. Post, for setting the record straight.

— Jenni Pfaff

I have enjoyed good, competitive internet service from Fibrant at the office for over three years. Any occasional problems have been resolved by a really responsive customer service department, as well as field technicians.

—Jeff Morris

Fibrant is boxed into a technology dead end. Like most of the projects the city undertakes, it was done in a half-baked manner without enough industry expertise to help make the go/no-go investment decision, and it needs to be axed. Smallsbury can’t compete in the communications/technology marketplace against billion dollar companies who will always offer cheaper, faster, better services for much less.

—Charles Showfety

Charles Showfety, Fibrant was designed like a normal GPON system with a later upgrade to NG-PON2 with Calix gear. All of the core routers are upgrade Cisco units and do their job well. …

When I was there the network admins always had their finger on the pulse of utilization and we always upgraded bandwidth based upon a monthly trending graph. There no other smoking guns to report, but if it was marketed better and ran without interference like other large providers do it would be out of the red and paying back loans by now.

— Robert Cranwell

Fibrant is engineered to provide up to 10 gig to businesses and anyone else in the city. It has top-notch Cisco equipment that any provider would envy.

It is using a mere 7 percent of its capability in its core router. I have engineered fiber networks worldwide and ensured that Fibrant was also engineered in the highest level possible. 

— Kent Winrich

Fibrant’s base Internet package is 300×300 Mbps for $49.99. If you have any questions, give us a call at 704-638-5300.

— Fibrant