Why buy the property and lose the property tax money if it’s not necessary? … We don’t have a manufacturing base to tax so give the people of Kannapolis a break and stop taxing them to death in order to fill the chosen few’s pockets. Let us keep some of our money. The government cannot be everything to everybody.
— Phil Meacham

I respect Mr. Murdock as a businessman. … However, I think that Mr. Meacham might have a very good point. I think we need to keep this property in the tax base. If Mr. Murdock wishes to dispose of the property, let’s lead him to a dialog with existing businesses in the area that specialize in development opportunities. I think our elected representatives already have a full plate to deal with. … [The condition of city streets should have a higher priority than Mr. Murdock’s potential property sales.
— Jeff Conway Sr.
The sheriff has done a superb job in giving the Parsons enough rope to hang themselves on the public assistance fraud charges, until Erica or her remains are located and other crimes may be charged if sufficient evidence exists to move forward. Once the couple is separated in different jail cells, more of the truth is likely to come out.
— Jeff Morris

My thoughts are that they should most definitely give lie detector tests to Casey and Jamie Parsons. Somebody knows more than they are telling and they know what happened to Erica.
— Margaret Brown

It seems as if these current charges may just be the beginning of their discomfort, but I agree that it takes a while to accumulate these financial records in order to charge them. We, as the concerned public really care what happened to this child. Lets hope that info is forthcoming…God bless this little girl.
— Anne Dellinger Craig

The rest is soon to come. Excellent work Sheriff Auten and the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
— Frank Pleasants
Name one other private employer where unknown strangers are allowed and encouraged to access nearly every part of their building? There is a difference. Do we really need an armed audience at every budget hearing, rezoning, etc? If your answer is yes, then the county employees deserve to be equally armed, and in my opinion, trained to effectively defend themselves.
— David Anderson

A law-abiding citizen isn’t going to be the problem at any of these places. The criminal that won’t care if there is a rule will carry anyway. Guns can get into some of the most secure locations if the criminal wants it to. … It was against the law to carry a gun on school property at Columbine and Sandy Hook. Did that stop the shooter? No, but a teacher trained to carry could have stopped them sooner. I’m not saying everyone should carry, but I do believe it should be allowed if the person is trained.
— Bubba Gregory

I never go anywhere without my gun, unless it is not allowed. … I can only imagine some of the angry people our county workers have to deal with. I think they should be allowed to conceal carry as long as they have been trained properly.
— Crystal Gale
It doesn’t take much research to see that there will be a tremendous teacher shortage in North Carolina within 3 or 4 years. There’s already a shortage of hard-to-fill positions such as Exceptional Children, Math and Science. High school students are deciding against entering teacher education programs in NC colleges and universities. It won’t be easy (or quick) to re-start that pipeline.
— Ron Turbyfill

Our teachers are the ones who teach the potential CEOs of our world. Unless we start paying teachers a better salary, Rowan County will not be producing any CEOs for our future. To me, teaching is at the top in importance in educating smart, confident children that will provide for their and our futures.
— Jennifer J. Doering

Let’s hope that NC colleges and universities keep their teacher education programs open. There are schools in our area that are seriously considering terminating their programs due to declining enrollments.
— Reginald Brown