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Opinion

Letters to the Gazette-Journal on any subject of public interest are always welcome. Letters should be 300 words or shorter, and all submissions must include the writer’s complete home mailing address, email and phone number should we need to reach you (this information is not published).

We favor letters that thoughtfully respond to or offer perspective or content published in the Gazette-Journal, and on local or state issues. The Gazette-Journal will not accept letters which comment on articles published in other periodicals; and we may not use letters which have appeared in other publications. We do not accept letters that are primarily broad endorsements or attacks on political candidates or parties. Also, space limitations often prevent publication of thank-you letters.

The right is reserved to refuse letters and to limit letters from individual contributors to one per month, to limit to one the number of candidate endorsements an individual can make, and to edit letters for length, accuracy, clarity, tone, style and other considerations. The newspaper requires a physically signed copy for our records. That can be accomplished by sending a digital image, such as a JPEG, to the editor.

Editorial: Register to vote (9/23/2026) - Wake up, readers! If you have a problem with local, state or federal issues, or if you have a favorite candidate or cause, there is only one way to affect…
Letter: Vote ‘Yes’ on sales tax proposal (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: Vote “Yes” to the 1 percent sales tax as proposed and the need explained to us at a recent meeting so ably and precisely by Dr. David Daniel.…
Letter: Vote ‘Yes’ on sales tax (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: Early voting has already started for the Nov. 3 General Election. There is a referendum on the ballot asking you to vote “Yes” or “No” to add 1…
Letter: Vote ‘Yes’ on sales tax referendum (9/23/2026) - Editor; Gazette-Journal: As a Mathews County landowner, taxpayer, and proud graduate of our public school system, I am strongly endorsing the 1 percent local retail sales tax referendum this November.…
Letter: Web of deception (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: One of the cleverest devices seen in nature is the spider’s web. Painstakingly and patiently woven, its effectiveness of design is remarkably successful. The unsuspecting prey gets caught…
Letter: What is not said (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: The upcoming election, and the just started early voting period, is important on several layers. Here, I want to warn voters about one of the three proposed constitutional…
Letter: A wrong translation (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: In letters on Sept. 17, Sharon Frye mistakenly translates a sign that says “86 47” as meaning “Kill the President.” Miriam-Webster defines the term “86” as a): to…
Letter: Spears for Mathews Commonwealth’s Attorney (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: Please consider voting for J. Grant Spears as our next Commonwealth’s Attorney. Grant, now residing in Moon, is a longtime resident of the area (Hartfield) and the son…
Letter: Thank you for the support (9/23/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: On behalf of the Central Village Homemakers of Mathews, I would like to thank the following businesses for their generous contribution either with a gift certificate or merchandise…
Editorial: The law of the land (9/16/2026) - Twenty-five years ago today, still breathing in the ashes and the scenes of horror from the Twin Towers and Pentagon struck by terrorists a week earlier, Americans really did not…
Editorial: Political letters (9/16/2026) - Anyone paying attention to tiny, tiny details may have noticed that, with Labor Day in the rearview mirror, we have changed our policy on letters…no real change, just one more…
Letter: An essay on democracy (9/16/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: With the mid-terms on our horizon, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves what E.B. White, noted children’s author and essayist, had to say about the Meaning of Democracy.…
Letter: A vision (9/16/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: This letter was supposed to be a reminder to vote NO on all 3 of the Virginia Constitutional Amendments. All 3 of these amendments are written in a…
Letter: Deceptive (9/16/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: There will be an amendment to the Virginia Constitution on the ballot this November called the “Reproductive Freedom Act.” It’s about allowing minors to make their own reproductive…
Letter: Taylor for Congress (9/16/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: Rob Wittman’s recent ad on Richmond TV really surprised me: No mention that he cast 60 votes to kill the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) until he finally figured…
Letter: Healthy aging (9/16/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: September is Healthy Aging Month, an opportunity to remind our neighbors that aging well is determined by much more than what happens inside a doctor’s office. For our…
Letter: Always remember (9/16/2026) - Editor, Gazette-Journal: This letter is a “Thank You” to all the local organizations that participated in The General Anthony Wayne DAV Chapter 58 annual 9/11 Memorial Celebration. We would especially…
Editorial: Our readers remember the 9-11 day of terror (9/9/2026) - A generation has been born, grown up, finished school and gone into the world in the 25 years since the events of 9-11 shocked America. A generation knows of this…
Letter: I will never forget (9/9/2026) - It seems to have been only a few years ago … but it is now the 25th anniversary of 9/11. I will never forget. September 11, 2001, started as a…
Letter: Memories of 9-11 (9/9/2026) - My son Steven called me from the shipyard and asked, “Mom, do you have the T.V. on?” I told him no. He said, “Mom, turn it on, it’s bad.” My…
Letter: Where was his son? (9/9/2026) - Ed Mattson had a son who was an event planner for Borders Books, located on the ground floor of the World Trade Center. There would have been no problem for…
Letter: The world had changed (9/9/2026) - On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in Washington, serving as communications director for U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. My office was on the sixth floor of the Hart Building…
Letter: When we came together (9/9/2026) - On September 11, 2001, I was working at Newport News Shipbuilding. We had just moved into our new building earlier in the year, and I was listening to the radio…
Letter: No planes in the sky (9/9/2026) - I remember that day. The most unusual site that day was what you didn’t see, airplanes in the sky. The bustling international airport in Clark County, Nevada, was shut down…
Letter: The 9-11 memorial (9/9/2026) - Two years ago my daughter visited the 9-11 memorial. My sister’s husband had a cousin who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower and perished. I told my daughter…

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