It may already be too late
      Meetings today and next Thursday will give Wilkes County taxpayers their last chance to say something about tax increases proposed by the Wilkes County Board of Education and the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners - for all the good it will do.
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Our family caught in the fire
      The rampaging wind and firein southern California are a continent away and while terribly, terribly tragic, don't seem to affect us much in our quiet community. At least not until we realize that at least one of our own and his family have already been displaced by the fireand will probably lose t...
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Book Review
The White Cascade By GARY KRIST
Reviewed by PEGGY BARNETT
      Many of us fondly remember the Age of the Railroads, even if we did not experience it directly. Threatened by air and car accidents, we tend to think nostalgically of trains as safe. However, the subtitle of this book is "The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche." Alt...
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Vox Pop
      Some area businesses and restaurants are refusing to serve customers while they are on their cell phones claiming that it causes confusion and inaccuracies when taking orders. Do you think such requirements for cell phone etiquette are justified?
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Hallelujah party
By GARY TOOLE
      I was in a diner and it was all decorated for Halloween and on the wall it read, "Happy Halloween." I thought to myself, "I've never had a happy Halloween and don't want to." I've noticed that more and more houses are being decorated for Halloween; even putting up lights. Innocent fun, they say...
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