A signature issue of the 2017 Virginia General Assembly session was the opioid epidemic and methods to reduce fatal drug overdoses. While a staggering average of 3 Virginians die each day from a drug overdose, the Western Region of the State including Pulaski County, whose drug overdose rate often exceeds surrounding counties, contribute disproportionately to this number. […]
An investment in our future – the potential cost of a new middle school
At Monday’s Board of Supervisor meeting, I was privileged to be among a group of over 70 students, teachers, parents and community members advocating for the citizens to be able to vote in November to decide the fate of our middle schools. School board chairman Timothy Hurst gave an eloquent and passionate plea on the price […]
CALL TO ACTION: Libraries face loss of federal funding. Lobby your representative today!
As part of President Trump’s budget proposal, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) faces a loss of $183 million in funding. The LSTA, the only federal program exclusively for libraries, consolidates the federal library program and links libraries electronically. In Pulaski County, LSTA funds make children’s enrichment activities such the Summer Reading Program possible. […]
Addressing the Primary Care shortage in Healthcare – Is there common ground?
While the current congressional debate largely focuses on healthcare insurance coverage, the availability of primary care services is another important issue that we face in Pulaski County. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects that by 2020, there will be up to 94,000 fewer physicians than needed to meet the demand for care in the […]
Southwest Virginia, NRV, or ROVA – just where are we anyway?
Growing up in Pulaski, I considered myself to live in Southwest Virginia (SWVA). As I left the area and lived in Lynchburg, Richmond and Washington, DC, I struggled with how best to answer the question “where are you from?” Especially, living in DC, this was often accompanied by “what kind of accent is that? Are […]