I am an eighth grade student at Green Bank Middle School who is concerned about the future of Allegheny Mountain Radio.
I am writing in hopes that people will better understand the importance of having a community radio station. The main office in Dunmore has been a classroom for me on many occasions. As a Pocahontas County student, I’ve had the opportunity to work at WVMR through the Radio Club at school.
All of the people who work at the station are like an extended family to me, encouraging me to do my best and teaching me the importance of good communication.Working at the station has made me aware of the many services the station provides as well as all of the work that goes into the programming and management.
The staff is friendly and makes a big effort to answer listener’s special requests and works especially hard to get important notifications and news out to the public. They play a vital role in the emergency communication network as well as producing programs with a wide variety of music. In addition to being part of the 24/7 national emergency system, the station provides regular weather updates and is the only source for daily local news.
We have enough challenges in our county and losing our communication tools would add to this problem. My concern is that funding is getting harder to obtain. Recently, President Trump sent a budget to Congress that would eliminate all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If this passes, it will make it really hard for AMR and threaten its survival.
Recently, I worked the phones for one of the fundraising drives. People who called in told me they love listening to AMR. It was great to hear praise from so many locals. It made me think that residents of our county would be wise to speak out to their representatives, Senators Manchin and Capito and Representative Jenkins. Email them and tell them Allegheny Mountain Radio is important to us and ask them to work to keep funding it.
As a volunteer at Allegheny Mountain Radio, I want to share my concerns with your readership.
Communities throughout Pocahontas County, and Highland and Bath counties in Virginia all depend on AMR for announcements of upcoming events, local and national news, obituary notices, road conditions, weather, local emergencies, and a wide variety of music. Many of us tune in, not only for the programming, but also when a storm is coming, a pet is missing, a school, church event or game may be cancelled. Or we listen when swap shop lists our item for sale or a favorite DJ plays a request, etc.
The radio is especially vital to those citizens without online communications or television.
As you know, our stations operate on a shoestring budget already: trying to get by with old equipment, minimum staff, and a large dependence on volunteers who are both on air and behind the scenes. Thus, my concern about our future. We are now in danger of losing funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That loss may impact not only essential services, it will involve emergency communications that are part of our national emergency system.
We depend on AMR for too many things to enumerate, and the list keeps growing. I feel fortunate to have this resource available when many places have little besides canned radio and television.
Our elected officials in the House of Representatives and US Senate need to understand the consequences to our AMR community if CPB funding is eliminated. For a list of elected officials and contact information, please go to the AMR website alleghenymountainradio.org.
Pet owners’ efforts are critical when you consider the number of Postal Service employees attacked by dogs last year reached 6,755 – more than 200 higher than the year before. Within the Marlinton Post Office area, there have been no dog attacks since the beginning of the year.
• If a letter carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors. Dog owners should keep the family pet secured.
• Parents should remind their children and other family members not to take mail directly from letter carriers in the presence of the family pet, as the dog may view the letter carrier handing mail to the family member as a threatening gesture.
• The Postal Service places the safety of its employees as a top priority. If a letter carrier feels threatened by a dog, or if a dog is loose or unleashed, the owner may be asked to pick up mail at the Post Office until the letter carrier is assured the pet has been restrained. If the dog is roaming the neighborhood, the pet owners’ neighbors also may be asked to pick up their mail at their local Post Office.
I am asking everyone to become a responsible pet owner during the coming summer in order to ensure the safety of all our citizens. Together, we can safeguard all from unnecessary and potentially devastating dog attacks.