The Shadow
Welcome back, Shadowers! As you know, I usually stick to local affairs—the good, the bad, and the potholes. But lately, there’s been several national events that I’m sure will eventually make their way to the Highlands and impact our way of life in one way or another.
On January 29, President Trump’s Dept of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk, reported “85 DEIA related contracts totaling ~$1B have been terminated within the Dept. of Ed, GSA, OPM, EPA, DoL, Treasury, DoD, USDA, Commerce, DHS, VA, HHS, State, NSF, NRC, NLRB, PBGC, USAID, RRB, SSA, SBA, BLM, CFPB, NPS, and NOAA.”
On February 11, Trump signed an executive order handing Elon Musk the reins for “large-scale reductions in force.” The federal purge began with probationary employees—those with less than a year on the job. The Department of Veterans Affairs terminated 1,000 workers, the EPA 400, and the Interior Department a staggering 2,300, including national park employees. The USDA and Forest Service saw mass terminations of 2,400 and 3,000, respectively, while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and SBA each shed over 100.
Over at the Health and Human Services (HHS), nearly all 5,200 probationary employees were terminated, including 1,300 at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and 1,500 at the National Institute for Health (NIH). In the “Whoops!” category, more than 300 workers were terminated at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) department. Apparently, the terminated folks were the ones who handled our nuclear weapons and codes. Seems there’s some scrambling going on to get them rehired.
All this, combined with the approximate 75,000 workers taking buyouts, nearly 4% of the federal workforce has now been “liberated” from their paychecks. But wait, there’s more. Seems we’re just in Phase 2 of the reductions, and this week should see the start of Phase 3, which allegedly will invoke more mass firings and cuts across all departments. One major impact all this has had in the DC area already is that it has tanked the housing market by as much as 20%.
“Ok, Shadow, where you headed with all this?” you ask. Well, my angle isn’t to stir the political pot. I’m more interested in how all these financial cuts and workforce reductions will eventually affect us here in the Highlands. The most obvious one to look at first is our school system. While President Trump has called the Department of Education a “con job” and is in the process of shutting it down, the new question is, how will low-income communities like ours, which are critically dependent upon DoE funding for our schools, deal with the impact?
The Shadow went to the AHPS website, and oddly, there are no full budgets publicly available. Seems all budgets and a good chunk of other pertinent information have been removed? There was a “2023-24 adopted revenues” document, and just a cursory look shows AHPS apparently receives millions of dollars from State or Federal grants for critical educational programs and assistance. One line item I couldn’t find was the one titled, “Money for required CO Detectors.”
Seriously though, some parents aren’t having any of this gas leak bally-hoo that’s plaguing Covington Middle School (CMS). Last week was filled with lots of excellent research and investigation from concerned parents. There’s even a petition right now on change.org titled “Transfer Alleghany Highlands Middle School to the New, Safer Building.” The petition, started by Linda Southall, states, “The community demands that the school district take immediate action: relocate the students to the unused building that was constructed less than thirty years ago to ensure the safety of our children. We cannot allow for the health of our children and staff to be compromised further, nor can we wait for another toxic leak to upend lives.” Currently, the petition has 1,451 signatures. If you’d like more info or to add your name, head over to https://chng.it/7TpVdHWkv8.
Another Shadower parent went so far as to get mobile CO detectors for their children’s backpacks. Highlands Christmas Mother received funding from the Alleghany Foundation to distribute free Carbon Monoxide detectors to families in the Highlands. You can get yours at the First Christian Family Life Center on Thursday, February 20, at 6:30 pm.
The Shadow research team has also been busy following the trail of several CMS issues that aren’t adding up. Like the Certificate of Occupancy issued on December 27, 2024, for the school. The question is, what triggered the certification letter being issued on December 27? Why not in October or November after the 1st incident? You’d think that’s when the Covington Building Official (who was also the former Director of Maintenance at AHPS) would have finally required code compliance for CO detectors in all of the schools. However, he didn’t, and now here we are, dealing with a 2nd major incident from Jan 31, along with a growing list of children who experienced elevated levels of CO. However, AHPS stated, “Per the Virginia Department of Health on Feb. 7, the investigation of the CMS event on Jan. 31 has been completed. The findings of elevated carboxyhemoglobin levels that have been reported to the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts on and after Monday, Feb. 3, cannot be attributed to the Jan. 31 event.”
Hold my coffee… Is AHPS, with VDH backing, saying that parents who tested and found their children to be suffering from months of CO poisoning and symptoms, are now simply making it all up?
Another document surfaced last week—the Commonwealth Fire Marshal report from April 2024, that found 14 safety violations at the Covington Middle School. What raised our eyebrows was that the violations weren’t completely signed off on until February 5, 2025, almost 10 months after the report was issued. Oddly enough, one Shadower had written the Commonwealth Fire Marshal one day before, asking for an explanation on how a State Fire Marshal and a Certified Building official could have overlooked the CO detectors required at our schools. Did that prompt the Commonwealth Fire Marshal to quickly close any loose ends now that their department is also under scrutiny? Apparently, they also denied all culpability. And I could be wrong, but as of yet, no agency has stepped up to the plate and taken responsibility for any of the issues. Meanwhile, the CMS students are still in virtual learning mode, and it seems nothing but finger-pointing is getting done.
The AHPS board meeting was last night. Unfortunately, my press deadline was several hours before the meeting, so I can’t give you a report on it. However, The Virginian Review had reporters there, so you should see coverage on it shortly. If there’s anything noteworthy, be assured I’ll cover it in next week’s article.
Lastly, Alleghany Highlands Public Schools announced the loss of Timothy Cochran, Alleghany High School’s assistant principal, on Monday, February 10, 2025.
Property Tax appeals are underway, which sounds like they’re getting mixed results. One Shadower stated, “Anyone else think its horrible set up as the assessors meetings to cram eight people meeting in 1 tiny conference room when they have the whole board room to use instead and can spread people out so your not talking over each other? Most of us are elderly and hard of hearing in the first place, so it’s not a great setup at all.”
Another Shadower stated they missed their meeting, but afterwards, “Spoke with a nice lady in the commissioner’s office, and she said there will be another opportunity and announcement in early March where we can call and request an appointment directly with the board of equalization.”
In the bits and pieces department, a bunch of little things are happening around the Highlands. Like, anyone notice the Mountain Rush sign has been removed from the 410 Main St building, and there’s been no updates on their social media or website since January 17, 2025?
In the “Second Chance” department, Chad Wickline was recently hired as a police officer by the Covington Police Department. If you remember, back in the wee hours of April 14, 2024, former Alleghany County Deputy Sheriff Wickline crashed into a barrier on Interstate 64, fled the scene, got his vehicle illegally towed without reporting it, and then waited more than 24 hours to report the incident. According to official records received from the VSP, VDOT estimated the damage at $20K. Wickline resigned, and the Commonwealth dropped the charges for Wickline leaving the scene of an accident. Wickline pled “no contest” to operating a vehicle with improper brakes. $2k fine. $96 court costs, and he walked. Two big questions are now looming over this situation. If a normal citizen had done the same thing, would they have had the same leniency as Wickline? Secondly, do you think a short ten-month time-out is long enough for Wickline to become clear on what an officer of the law really means? One Shadower likened this situation to this being, “no different than a cashier caught stealing money, being allowed to resign and then getting hired as a cashier in another store to continue down the same path.” Time will tell.
In the 410 on Main Corporation v. The Virginian Review lawsuit, the Virginian Review has officially submitted their response to the complaint to the County Clerk. I don’t have enough space to cover it this week, but suffice to say, it will be a very interesting case study on our First Amendment rights, Fair Use Doctrines, VA Anti-SLAPP laws, and… the good ol’ facts.
I just heard from Fran Burton that she’s closing Ray’s Sweet Shoppe until May. Fran says, “I have accepted a [nursing] travel contract, which begins next week and ends in April. I’ve decided to close Ray’s until I return.” Does anyone have some time for a couple of months who could run her shop for her while she’s gone? If I could figure out how to make my typewriter make awesome Poutine and shakes like she does, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Regardless, we just can’t lose Ray’s, so rally the troops boys! In the meantime, Fran’s having a 50% off sale this weekend (Feb 22) so please stop by and give her some love. Btw, she says there won’t be any staff to help wait on the tables, so can we get a show of hands from volunteers willing to help out for a couple of hours? Fran deserves our support.
I’m out of time, out of coffee, but I’ll leave you with the thoughts of one of my heroes, boxer Muhammad Ali: Looking at life from a different perspective makes you realize that it’s not the deer that is crossing the road, rather it’s the road that is crossing the forest.
