The NET3D Team is comprised of experienced writers, each former contributors to local newspapers and each with a belief in journalistic integrity, freedom of speech and civil discourse. You may not always agree with our writers and we may not always agree with each other; each writer’s opinions are representative of only his or her own thoughts and there are no official NET3D stances. Our core team of writers will be moderators and regular contributors for NET3D, but other writers are invited to provide content; see the “Write for NET3D” section for more information.

Meet our core team:

Kenneth D. Gough is a Johnson City native, now semi-retired and living in Elizabethton with his beautiful and amazingly-tolerant wife, Sheila.  Ken is a graduate of Science Hill High School and the University of Tennessee (BS, Mechanical Engineering, 1978), and also attended Milligan College, East Tennessee State University and the University of Cincinnati.  After engineering school Ken spent 2 years building jet engines for General Electric, which is just about the coolest thing a young engineer could ever do.  In 1980 an opportunity to help run the family business, Accurate Machine Products Corporation in Johnson City, unexpectedly arose, and he moved back to Northeast Tennessee where he has lived happily ever since.  He closed the business in 2016, but has been busier than ever with four part-time jobs, all of which he enjoys and one of which actually pays pretty well.

Ken is a soccer fan and was active in youth soccer as an administrator and USSF-licensed coach and referee for 21 years.  These days he’s into cycling and rides as much as he can in spite of looking ridiculous in Spandex.  He’s proud of his role in the creation of the Tweetsie Trail as a member of the Tweetsie Trail Task Force.  He currently serves as Chairman of the Carter County Parks & Recreation Board.  And he’s an avid if decidedly amateur backyard bird watcher.

During his business career Ken was active in the National Federation of Independent Business and served as a member of the Tennessee Leadership Council for many years.  An interest in political philosophy and government policy developed early, which in recent years turned into occasional guest op-eds for the Johnson City Press, then a regular spot as one of the Press’ Community Voices columnists until the newspaper took a “new direction” in 2019 and terminated its contributors.

Ken thinks of himself as a mainstream conservative who believes that government is best constrained within a system of ordered liberty.  His interests are wide-ranging; he is a free-marketeer, an opponent of socialism in all its forms, and a supporter of Constitutional governance.  He is deeply concerned with (among other things) the state of education, the abysmal treatment of the mentally ill, the sad state of federalism, a debased and degraded culture, and the danger posed by an unaffordable welfare state.

Rebecca Horvath is an East Tennessean by way of California, Virginia and North Carolina. (Don’t tell the others, but she likes Tennessee the best.) 

Rebecca is a 1997 graduate of Wingate University (outside of Charlotte, North Carolina) with a degree in Psychology but significant time spent writing for the campus newspaper, The Weekly Triangle. After time working in human resources and education, she dedicated several years to full-time motherhood. For nearly a decade, Rebecca wrote a regular Community Voices column for the Johnson City Press, where she was known to ruffle a few feathers. In 2018, she began writing for the National Federation of Republican Women, interviewing and profiling candidates such as Sen. Martha McSally and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Rebecca is also a writer and editor for New Right Network and its sister brand, Patriot 911 News. She’s also the author of Preparing Room: An Advent Journey Through “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Rebecca is active in her church, her children’s schools, and several community organizations. She and her husband, Eric, have been married for twenty-five years and they are blessed with three active, busy daughters. They’ve called East Tennessee home for 18 years.

Ron McCarley of Johnson City is married to the former Vickie Hensley and is the proud father of twin daughters. He has Navy training in navigation and weather, degrees in geography and audiology and extensive experience in city planning, zoning and development issues.  He has written on science and climate-related topics for the past 10 years.