LETTER: District 1 Needs Granville Hogg as Supervisor
November 3, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
There are many people that meet the call for public service. Granville Hogg is one who has a long track record of initiating actions for the safety and benefit of the County to improve the community.
The residents of the Townfield Area, with Granville’s assistance, were able to get a posted speed reduction on Townfield Road toward Cherrystone Campground to 40 mph.
Granville observed a traffic safety problem at the median crossing between Shore Bank and Food Lion. He delivered a petition signed by 200 citizens to the Board of Supervisors to improve the level of safety at this dangerous intersection. VDOT responded by insisting that the current speed limits be enforced. Since then, there has been a significant speed enforcement increase on Route 13.
When the EPA made claims that the residential septic systems around Kings Creek were polluting the creek, a group of citizens, with Granville as one of the leaders, met with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The group conducted a bacteria survey on Kings Creek to determine sources of pollution that was restricting shellfish harvesting. It was determined that the Bayview trash collection site was a major contributor to the problem. Granville presented the facts to the County, but to date, the County, under Chairman Willie Randall, has not taken any action to correct the problem.
Granville learned that VDOT was in the process of replacing the steel stoplight poles and replacing guardrail supports at the Cheriton intersection but ignoring the potholes there. Through his efforts, VDOT fixed the potholes as the other items were being addressed. [Read more…]
LETTER: Former Superintendent Supports Dunham
October 31, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
School Boards in Virginia are charged with three tasks: (1) Determine the policies that everyone must follow to keep the organization running smoothly; (2) Prepare and present to the public and Board of Supervisors a budget that will cover everything from pencils and erasers to salaries, buildings and equipment; and (3) Hire and supervise the Superintendent to manage the affairs of the organization.
Next week we will go to the polls to vote for Northampton County School Board members. I worked closely with school boards over 38 years in education in seven communities and two states, including 14 years as Northampton’s School Superintendent. I know what makes a school board work and what doesn’t.
The success of a school board depends on the support of the community it serves. It also depends on diversity among its members. That diversity allows for an exchange of views, a broader range of options, and extra security that issues are resolved in the most appropriate manner.
There have always been retired educators on the School Board. Many Board members have also come from the business community, and when we got really lucky we had an attorney on the Board as well. [Read more…]
LETTER: Why I’m Voting for Shannon Dunham
October 30, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
I am writing in response to the recent letter in support of Tamsey Ellis for the School Board from District 1. Shannon Dunham possesses valuable attributes which none of the other candidates running for the School Board have. Namely, she has a vested interest in the school system in that she has three young children who are approaching school age. The need to have a balance on the School Board which would include young parents is essential for a board which should represent all of the community. The notion that she would not devote the necessary time to the School Board if elected is ludicrous.
The value of having a lawyer on the School Board cannot be overestimated, as Shannon would be able to make certain that policies and decisions made by the Board are in fact legal, and the Board would not have to go back and re-work decisions which would in fact be illegal without her guidance.
The writer is bothered by the request made by Mrs. Dunham to postpone the trial date for Tonya Bundick to allow more time to provide an adequate defense. In high-profile cases such as this one, it is common for defense attorneys to make such a motion. I believe such a request shows the due diligence which all of us would want if we were being represented by a lawyer in any legal case.
The writer also denigrates Mrs. Dunham for remarks she made concerning the ultimate use of the legal system against some parents. Evidently the writer cannot conceive of parents who cannot be bothered to get up in the morning to get their children ready for school, both dressed and fed. She does not understand that there are children of all ages who are basically raising themselves in our community. If it is necessary for the welfare of the children to involve the legal system with such parents, that path should not go unused. [Read more…]
LETTER: Why I’m Voting for Tamsey Ellis
October 28, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
We face a choice here in District 1 for who will sit on Northampton County’s first elected school board. Shannon Dunham, a local lawyer, is running against Tamsey Ellis, a retired educator.
Having heard both candidates speak at the public forum at the old middle school a few weeks ago, I have made my choice. While I am sure that the dynamic Ms. Dunham is as smart as they come, and as ambitious, I have serious doubts about her ability to devote the time and energies to the enormous problems our schools face.
She is a full-time lawyer, currently defending the accused female Eastern Shore arsonist in a looming high-profile trial across the bay. She recently asked the judge for an extension, claiming she is not ready, to which the judge replied, essentially, “too bad.”
Then she asked to remove herself from the case. Again, the judge refused to let her off the hook from her obligation.
She herself made an issue at the forum of being the mother of three small children, caring for four dogs, and a full-time career. She also played the “outside the beltway” card, claiming that because she is in the law profession and has never been “in education,” she can see with clearer eyes the problems our schools face. [Read more…]
LETTER: Thanks to Town Staff for a Job Well Done
October 11, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
As the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Unusual Mortality Event (UME) Investigation continues, close to 700 strandings have been collected so far. The tentative cause of the UME is being attributed to cetacean morbillivirus, based upon preliminary diagnostic testing and discussion with disease experts. Of 93 dolphins tested to date, 84 were confirmed positive or suspect positive for morbillivirus.
These studies involve several NOAA laboratories and science centers, stranding network members, non-profit research organizations, and academic partners, yet it is important to note that the important data needed would not have been collected without local boots-on-the-ground members of coastal communities like ours. Here is the rest of the story:
We are lucky enough to have a Town Manager and Public Works staff that has been very effective in the handling of dolphin strandings here in Cape Charles. There have been several strandings in and around our harbor, with two dolphins actually landing on our beaches. In both cases, Town Manager Heather Arcos instructed Pete Leontieff of our public works staff to secure the dolphins as best as possible (there’s no handout or standard operating procedure for this) and then contact the Virginia Aquarium. After the technicians were able to conduct the testing and gather the data, Pete and his crew disposed of the dolphins according the specifications supplied by the Aquarium staff. [Read more…]
LETTER: Cape Charles DOES Care About Children
September 27, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
Please print my response to the vacationer’s comment in the “Anonymous” section [click here to read “Anonymous”]:
Thank you for choosing Cape Charles as your family vacation spot. Families like yours are a vital part of this town’s economy, and I know the local businesses appreciate you choosing Cape Charles.
I understand that the Old School issue has soured a lot of people; however, I would caution people from making statements such as “I’m sad to hear that they don’t believe in investing in their youth,” when referring to this town.
Yes, the basketball nets are down, but this town has done an extraordinary job of creating other opportunities for children. Please take note of the tennis courts, skate park, soccer goals in the park, the countless programs offered year ’round by the library, as well as numerous special events throughout the year such as the upcoming Trunk or Treat, the New Roots Youth Garden, Movie Night in the Park, and the many athletic programs offered throughout the summer. [Read more…]
LETTER: 9/11 Juxtaposed Man’s Inhumanity with Humanity
August 25, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
Last week my spouse and I took a mini-vacation to the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore. While walking over to visit the National Aquarium I noticed a pile of twisted steel girders outside a tall building. The building turned out to be the Baltimore World Trade Center and the girders were part of a memorial to the 68 Marylanders who perished as a result of the 9/11 tragedy.
While I continued walking, my mind returned to what I was doing and where I was on that fateful day. Whenever I think back, it is always with an overriding sense of sadness.
9/11 Memorial at Baltimore World Trade Center (Photo: Don Woods)
LETTER: Save the Bottlenose Dolphins
August 24, 2013
DEAR EDITOR,
Over the last few months this summer, many of us that have been out on the water have been discovering dead dolphins, stranded in and around the Bay. What at first appeared to be a local event has turned out to be more widespread. Bottlenose dolphins are being found stranded all up the mid-Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Maine, with at least 124 strandings (45 possible deaths) reported since July, a death rate seven times higher than normal.
This has led the National Marine Fisheries Service to declare a federal UME, or “unusual mortality event.” At the top of the list of possible causes is a measles-like infection called “morbillivirus,” which has been associated with previous sickness events of dolphins and seals. Since mid-summer, marine science organizations such as the Virginia Aquarium, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in New Jersey, and Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation in New York began documenting an increase in bottlenose dolphin strandings along the mid-Atlantic coast, and these strandings are continuing into late summer.
So far, all ages of bottlenose dolphin strandings have been reported. The NMFS reports, however, that there are no unifying necropsy findings aside from some dolphins having been found with pulmonary lesions. Preliminary testing of tissues from one dolphin indicates possibly a morbillivirus infection, although it is too early to say whether this is the cause of the UME. [Read more…]
