Re: T&D opinion, Sept. 2: Brab McCully might not be the big fish in the sea where gas prices are concerned, but he sure as heck is making more than most. He is trucking gas to his own stores, when most have to pay that middle man even more of a mark up. Give us all a break here.

And I don't see prices lower at his EZ-Shops stores in places like St. George, where it is higher than most places. He charges the same thing they do. He might hate to see it go up on a weekend holiday like Labor Day, but that didn't stop him from jumping it up 10 cents a gallon on Wednesday before Labor Day at his Branchville stores.

I have yet to understand why stores in Orangeburg can sell it for $2.48 a gallon, stores in Branchville for $2.57 a gallon and stores in Bowman for $2.69 (those at 210 and I-26) -- all at the same time. Surely they don't expect consumers to believe it cost more to deliver gas to those stores in Bowman than it does to Orangeburg or Branchville? Those poor guys in Bowman must have it really bad. There was a time when it was 40 cents more a gallon over there than anywhere else in Orangeburg County. St. George is the same way; they are on Interstate 95. Those people will pay it no matter what and they really sock it too them.

-- Charles Murray, Branchville

No reason for rivalry

between Bamberg, Denmark

I am a resident of Bamberg -- and a supporter of the hospital being kept in this general location. I am fed up with the rivalry between the Denmark and Bamberg communities. There is NO reason for such a rivalry as neither area has anything of value to offer the residents -- no restaurants, no shopping, no recreation. There is NO place to spend your money unless you go to Orangeburg or Walterboro. I am also MORE than fed up with bottom-feeding attorneys receiving almost $1 million to fuel this rivalry between communities. They are getting rich off the petty differences while the citizens do without a decent local hospital.

Forget representatives who want a scalp on their belt, forget attorneys who want to drive Beamers and forget the hate mongers who pump the anger well between two communities who share a communal road and nothing else.

Build the hospital, serve the community and get on with life. These fat cats are acting like members of Congress and need to be told off and fired -- and a stop put to their ever-increasing greed and deep pockets.

-- Sandy Rhoad, Bamberg

Dialysis must

remain priority

As caregivers in a dialysis facility in Orangeburg, we have the privilege to serve 70 or more patients in our clinic. We are one of three dialysis facilities in our community.

As your readers may know, dialysis is a blood-cleansing process necessary for those who have lost kidney function. The care we provide is not optional -- short of a kidney transplant, dialysis treatments are life-saving.

There is a debate in Washington that will cut future Medicare payments for these life-saving treatments. We find it alarming (as caregivers and citizens) that our elected officials are threatening to cut this Medicare benefit for the most vulnerable of our community, especially when many policy-makers know that this program is already underfunded as it stands.

Clearly, our elected officials in Washington must ensure that this cut is reversed. It is necessary to ensure quality care for the citizens in our community and our country who rely on dialysis for quality of care and quality of life.

-- The Teammates at DaVita North

Orangeburg Dialysis Clinic

Not everyone's RMC

experience is good

This letter is in response to Celia Whaller's letter to the editor of Sept. 2 in which she stated that she couldn't understand why the residents of Orangeburg feel they have to rush off to Charleston or Columbia for medical attention.

Ms. Whaller was blessed to have received the care that she has at the Regional Medical Center. If, I or my husband, had been blessed enough to have received the type of care she did, we would feel the same way she does.

However, on numerous occasions we have not been as fortunate. Bad experiences anywhere will cause you to want to take your business somewhere else, especially when it involves something as important as your health.

-- Tamera Lank, Cordova

Vegan diet best way

to battle cholesterol

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control recently announced that September is National Cholesterol Awareness Month. The best way to lower your cholesterol is to adopt a healthy vegan diet.

Unlike meat, eggs and dairy products, plant-based foods contain no cholesterol and have been shown to actually reverse heart disease. Researchers have found that a vegetarian diet rich in soy and soluble fiber can reduce cholesterol levels by as much as a third.

David Jenkins, a professor of nutrition and metabolism at the University of Toronto, has said that "the evidence is pretty strong that vegans, who eat no animal products, have the best cardiovascular health profile and the lowest cholesterol levels."

According to Dr. William C. Roberts, the editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Cardiology, "A vegetarian diet is the least expensive and safest means of achieving the plaque-preventing LDL [low-density lipoprotein cholesterol] goal."

Vegan foods are much tastier than cholesterol pills, too. Trust me; I've been vegan for more than 15 years. It's easy to be green. Just visit www.GoVeg.com for tips on making the transition to a vegan diet.

-- Heather Moore

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Norfolk, Va.

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