Karin Fuller and her column will be missed each Sunday
Editor:
One of the best decisions I ever made as managing editor of The Charleston Gazette was recruiting Karin Fuller to write a column for the lifestyles section of the Sunday paper.
At the time, the higher ups wanted a female columnist like Ellen Goodman, the Pulitzer Prize-winner for the Boston Globe, to write about juggling a career with raising a family. I was stumped. I surveyed the newsroom, observing that only one woman was married with children, but they were grown and out of the house.
Then, as Fuller recounted in her Dec. 26 column, I learned she had won a writing award. not long before, I had been very impressed by a short fiction piece by her that had been published in a magazine.
I asked Fuller to write about her life - her family, work, hobbies.
I knew, but I don't think she did, how hard it is to find something to write about week after week that you hope will interest, entertain and, perhaps, inform readers. Unlike sports and political columnists, she didn't have games and current events to provide topics.
For nearly two decades, Fuller has opened her life to readers. In well-written, precisely crafted columns, Fuller wrote about everything from escape-artist pets to pranks pulled to life-changing, heart-wrenching upheavals.
I admire the courage and honesty in her writing, and recognize the talent and hard work that went into each column. Every Sunday, I looked forward to reading Smell the Coffee. I will miss it.
Rosalie Earle
Charleston
Learn the difference between bond issue and levy
Editor:
Someone needs a tutorial on the difference between a bond issue and a levy. The Gazette unfairly criticized Fayette County voters for not passing a school levy. Au contraire, they pass school levies. They balked at a bond issue and I don't blame them.
Beyond that, Fayette County was also unfairly compared to Harrison and Jefferson counties. This isn't right because Harrison and Jefferson (which recently got SBA funding, good for them) have much higher per-capita median incomes and a stronger tax base than Fayette (Think FBI center, federal jobs, both places.). Fayette has a few Federales: Park Service police.
The state has had control of the Fayette school system for the last five years. State schools Superintendent Martriano says Fayette's schools are in the worst condition that he has seen anywhere in the state. This is not surprising for a couple of notable reasons, each involving the real estate taxes. Consider what taxes were lost when the New River Gorge National Park was created. None of us regret that park; it is a major "best foot forward" for the state for thousands of tourists who visit every year.
Last year, the state voted to let the Boy Scouts convert to nonprofit-for-profit status, rather like the NFL. This paper was in favor (many of us were not because Fayette County got it in the neck again). It lost 80K a year in property taxes which support schools and emergency services. Also last year, Collins Middle School was condemned as unsafe, and a few weeks ago the plumbing blew out sewage in Fayetteville High School, where the Collins students were sent.
A bond issue would be an almost never-ending fee on an already poor county. Levies? They are more immediate and can be revoked by vote. Please learn the difference.
Jane Wallace Claymore
Fayetteville