Time for workers to get paid sick leave
For all of those workers out there who keep our nation running but aren’t able to take time off when they get sick or need to care for a loved one, Labor Day is a reminder that it’s time we stop being the only industrialized country in the world to not provide paid sick leave.
While the Family and Medical Leave Act has kept millions of people from losing their jobs when serious medical needs arise, it doesn’t cover 40 percent of people on the job. That causes too many parents without access to paid sick leave to send sick kids to school, potentially impacting their long-term health and ability to focus on school work.
FMLA is also unpaid leave, so when workers get sick without paid sick days, they either have to take time away from work without pay, putting their jobs and livelihoods in jeopardy, or they have go to work anyway. In fact, people without paid sick time are 16 times more likely to go to work sick, where their productivity suffers and they risk infecting their co-workers.
For all these reasons and more, it is shameful that Republicans in our General Assembly left Raleigh without even allowing a vote on a bill that would have provided just a few days paid sick leave to North Carolina workers. They get paid to cast votes and couldn’t even do that much for working people!
One of the best ways to honor workers and create a strong workforce is to ensure we all have the ability to take time off when we’re sick or when we need to care for a loved one. That’s something worth remembering on Labor Day and every day.
— Tracy Nail
Woodleaf

Trickle down effect
Many of us have heard the phrase “rush to judgment” mentioned a number of times recently on a national level. How sad that incidents such as the recent accusations made against the Salisbury Police Department encourage many of us to do the same on multiple levels.
To be sure, few understand the rigorous process required to become a police officer. Even fewer understand the dangers every officer faces daily. False allegations always smack of a desire to breed mistrust, which in turn begs the question of agenda. Why?
We may never know. We do know these allegations reveal that many people support Chief Collins and the department. We know the accusations involved local clergy who failed to handle their perceived issues in a biblical manner by speaking directly with Chief Collins, giving the benefit of doubt, giving him time to investigate. (Matthew 18:15) Now we know the evidence reveals how this might have saved some from embarrassment and others from the inevitable fallout.
I have read numerous comments stating these allegations, although now refuted, give proof why one cannot trust clergy or the organized Christian faith. How sad when there are so many dedicated ministers, pastors and priests in our community. How sad, when so many people are searching for spiritual truth, for belonging and acceptance, that the actions of the past few weeks give some an opportunity to discredit fellow clergy and parishes that seek to serve in the model of Christ.
Let us not allow these events to divide us. Instead, may we make a conscious choice to see these events for what they are — a brief success for the enemy to cause so many of us to be sidetracked from the reality of God’s love in and through Jesus Christ.
— The Rev. Jim King
Salisbury

The value of trust
The recent video of Mr. Godair’s traffic stop which was made reference to in his assertion that he has experienced mistreatment by police personally has proven Mr. Godair false on two main points.
First, he says he was mistreated by the officer and that the officer’s actions scared his wife. The video proves this to be a lie, as the officer is calm and cordial to them beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Second is his claim that to the press that he was speeding in order to visit a sick church member in the hospital. Lie. He told the officer he was rushing to the dry cleaners.
What makes this so bad is that this story is concocted, not from omission or defense, but solely to jump on the bandwagon to further his own wants and paint himself the victim without provocation. He further claims that five other of his church members have been harassed by the local police, but this incident may further cloud fact and fantasy.
I found it interesting to note this is the pastor of the same church that pledged $10,000 to the Tea Party-led county commission to go towards litigation of the secular prayer issue, an offer which I wondered would not call into question their 501c(3) status as a church. Ten thousand dollars could have fed a lot of people,instead of the billboards.
— Robert Kent Smith
Spencer

Better use of money
At first I thought I was just a crabby senior citizen when it comes to supplying our students with laptops or iPads in Rowan County.
Wes Rhinier sure hit the nail on the head with his Aug. 27 article (“My Turn: School system overstepping bounds”).
Dr. Lynn Moody and the school board have crossed the line on this idea. Why were we not able to vote on this?
I want my tax money spent on teacher assistants and a raise for our dedicated teachers, not laptops and iPads.
— Alta Christy
Mooresville (Rowan County)