WS Chronicle

School board member urges vote for bond referendum

To the Editor:

Our students in our school system as well as our staff deserve the best. They are our future. This includes both our public schools as well as our Community College. With the passing of the 2016 Bond we can assure that happens.

The school bond includes new schools, replacements schools, additions, renovations, safety improvements, technology, and maintenance and capital improvements. Our last large-scale bond referendum was in 2006. Since then, our enrollment has grown to more than 7,000 additional students.

We have 17 buildings that are more than 50 years old and hope to equip 1,840 classrooms with technology. Safety cameras will be installed for the protection of each and every student. I hope as a member of the WSFCS [Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools] Board, a mother, and a grandmother you will vote for the most important issues facing our community.

Our students are your future and my future. To me, nothing is more important than trying to provide them with the best education possible.

Lida Calvert Hayes 

WS/FCS School Board

Trump is unfit to lead, says Black Caucus chairwoman

To the Editor:

Donald Trump has already painted African-American communities with a broad, tainted brush, telling us that we’re ‘living in poverty,’ and that we ‘have no jobs.’ Now, he’s doubled down on his slanderous comments about five black men who were exonerated for a 1989 assault of a Central Park jogger.

Trump rushed to judgment back then, and he’s not letting up today, even though another man confessed to the crime and DNA evidence proved that the Central Park Five were innocent.

Trump’s reckless and divisive rhetoric proves that he’s temperamentally unfit to lead our great nation.

Presidents don’t peddle racist accusations or baseless charges against the innocent. They seek to unite, rather than divide.

Hillary Clinton understands that our nation is stronger when we lift each other up, and she has the temperament to build upon the progress we’ve made under President Obama. There’s a clear choice this November, and I’m with Her.

Virgie M. Rollins 

DNC Black Caucus Chairwoman

Detroit

Note: Rollins issued the following statement after Donald Trump doubled down on his racially-charged accusations against the Central Park Five in New York City.

Hillary Clinton urges help for hurricane victims

To the Editor:

In times of crisis, Americans come together to support each other. That’s what we need to do now, as North Carolina continues to grapple with dangerous floods, widespread power outages persist and communities from Florida to Virginia begin to pick up the pieces.

My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of Hurricane Matthew’s victims. The federal government should do everything it can to help states and communities respond to the storm and build back better to withstand future disasters. Those who can afford to can help families in need by donating to the Florida Disaster Fund and to Team Rubicon, a veterans’ service organization specializing in disaster response.

As we rebuild and remember those who were lost, we must also address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Haiti, where it’s reported that Hurricane Matthew killed more than a thousand people. I encourage everyone who can to give what they are able to Unicef’s Haiti relief efforts here.

Hillary Clinton,

Democrat Presidential Candidate 

New York, N.Y.

Note: Clinton issued the statement above as the Southeast addresses the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which killed at least 26 Americans and caused damage in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

N.C. Democrats push candidacy of Hillary Clinton

To the Editor:

I agree wholeheartedly with Governor Pence. The language used by Donald Trump to describe women in the recently released video is offensive and inexcusable. Throughout this campaign and his life, Donald Trump has exhibited a repugnant tendency to harass and demean women.

This November, the people of North Carolina will come together to ensure that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the White House – and they will affirm that Hillary Clinton, who has spent her decades of public service standing up for the rights and dignity of all people, is the person who represents North Carolina’s best values. I call on Governor Pence to join scores of fellow Republican leaders in doing what is best for our country and rejecting Donald Trump.

Patsy Keever, 

Chairwoman N.C. Democratic Party

Raleigh

Note: North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Patsy Keever made the following statement regarding Pence’s visit to North Carolina and Trump’s behavior toward women.