The Mountain Science Expo will feature science programs and exhibits designed to interest kids and adults from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville.

Learn the basics of trail construction and environmental stewardships by volunteering with an Appalachian Trail Conservancy trail crew.

Learn how to grow fruit trees successfully at a fruit tree workshop coming up in Jackson and Swain counties through the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service. It will cover site selection; the differences between dwarf, semi-dwarf and seedling trees; proper soil conditions; pollination requirements; differences in cultivars; chilling requirements; fertility need; tree spacing and general pruning principles.

Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines will screen the film “Shored Up” at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at the theater of A.K. Hinds University Center in Cullowhee.

The 35th annual International Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, on the lawn of A.K. Hinds University Center at Western Carolina University.

A workshop focusing on regional points of musical interest, entitled “Why and How to Connect to the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina” will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

The Mélange of the Mountains culinary celebration will run from April 10-13 around Haywood County. 

To the Editor:

Recently, I became curious about the N.C. Opportunity Scholarships (a new name for vouchers) that are being billed as a way for families in poverty to have more choices for their child’s education by allowing them to choose private schools.

I am perplexed as to how these vouchers of $4,200 a year could possibly benefit families that are truly low-income. Most private schools charge between $18,000 to $20,000 a year. In addition, the private schools do not provide transportation, a serious barrier for most low-income families. Likewise, the private schools charge large fees for after-school care and do not provide subsidized lunches.

These Opportunity Scholarships are really designed for the middle class that have the resources to bridge the gap between the $4,200 voucher and the true costs of a private school education. In 2015, the vouchers will be available to middle-income families.

Opportunity Scholarships would not really make a private school education any more accessible for children from low-resource families. The claim that these vouchers are designed to benefit children in poverty just doesn’t make sense. Maybe Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, can explain this.

Clayton Ramsey

Franklin

To the Editor:

It should be reassuring that so many groups are concerned about “voter integrity” on Election Day, making certain that a voter’s physical address squares with the voting rolls. No problem there.

However, the opportunities for voter challenges have been significantly increased under the new N.C. voter laws: in addition to the two poll observers from each political party to monitor polling places, we now learn the chair of each political party in a county may designate 10 additional at-large “observers” who reside in the county, and may attend any voting place in that county.

Also under the new laws: any registered voter of the same county has the “right” to challenge the right to vote of any registered voter on the day of a primary or election. Election Day challenges are no longer limited to voters who reside in the same precinct.

This hardly “restores confidence” in elections and paves the way for burdensome delays and more confusion at polling places. A well-organized minority can easily intimidate voters under the guise of voter integrity. Are we creating more observers than actual voters at polling places?

Roger Turner

Sylva

To the Editor:

TV host Glenn Beck and other stalwarts of the Christian right have attacked the recent blockbuster “Noah”as being “pro-animal” and unfaithful to the Bible. Well, yes and no. The film is pro-animal and faithful to the Bible, at least to the Book of Genesis, our only source for the story of Noah.

After all, Genesis 1:29 admonishes, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” It is only after the flood, with fruits and vegetables no longer abundant, that humans get permission to eat animal flesh. Even then, the Bible stipulates that only select animals may be taken and always with reverence and minimal cruelty. This is certainly a far cry from today’s factory farm and slaughterhouse practices. 

Regardless of how we may feel about “Noah’s” interpretation of the Bible, each of us can recreate the recommended diet of the Garden of Eden in our home by dropping animal products from our menu.

Weston Madrigal

Waynesville

To the Editor:

We must speak out against this proposed room tax increase.

The county leaders may want it, but the citizens of this county do not want another tax increase. Our tax-and-spend county commissioners and their band of socialists want to increase the TDA tax from 4 to 6 percent. That’s a 50 percent increase in their taxes.

We the people do not want any more tax increases.

Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, is the hardest working and most conservative representative we have ever had. She works for the people, not the county leaders who have already put us in debt to the tune of $68,713,290 and climbing, not to mention some $10 million in special revenue funds.

When will the county leaders start to listen to their constituents the way Ms. Presnell listens to hers? We the people put Ms. Presnell in office to stop people like our socialist county leaders, and I applaud her for her hard work and perseverance! 

And I can assure you, Ms. Presnell will get my vote again.

Eddie Cabe

Canton

To the Editor: 

In a recent article about the sad state of North Carolina teacher salaries, Rep. Michele Presnell was quoted as follows: “We cannot help education until we get a handle on Medicaid. Obamacare has thrown all these additional people in there. That is the problem with giving educators more of a raise.”

Is something wrong with Rep. Presnell’s memory? Last year she voted for Senate Bill 4, No N.C. Exchange/No Medicaid Expansion. This bill became state law March 6, 2013. Medicaid expansion would have changed the Medicaid eligibility rules, allowing very low-income adults to use Medicaid for their health care. The federal government would have paid 100 percent of Medicaid costs for the first three years, then no less than 90 percent for subsequent years.

However, this did not happen in North Carolina because of Senate Bill 4. All who receive Medicaid in North Carolina are subject to the strict Medicaid eligibility rules set by state lawmakers long before the Affordable Care Act. 

The reason the state doesn’t have money to give our teachers a long overdue pay raise is because Republican lawmakers and the governor chose to give big tax cuts to corporations and wealthy individuals while cutting education funding. Rep. Presnell voted for this also.

Any legislator using Medicaid costs as an excuse not to reward our teachers either has convenient amnesia or thinks we are all so stupid we would forget what happened last year.  

Carole Larivee

Waynesville

To the Editor:

I find it noteworthy that in the March 26 column on Rep. Michele Presnell’s opposition to the proposed 50 percent increase in the room tax there is no clear indication that the writer had attempted to go into depth with Rep. Presnell, R-Burnsville, herself concerning the reasons why she says the bill is “still controversial.” If in fact such an attempt was made, her answer for some reason best known to the editor was not shared with his readers, which would seem to constitute a disservice to them, even in an opinion piece.

It may be that the reason Rep. Presnell opposes the increase has to do with the knowledge that tax increases often have the opposite of their intended effect — in this case by encouraging people to find better deals elsewhere or to stay in places where the room tax rate is the same but where there are more local attractions. It could be that she is aware of the tendency of our local governments to be rather vague and general about what they intend to spend the money on. It might be that she — and a substantial number of her constituents — have concerns about the fairness of imposing a tax that burdens one sector of the local economy but not others. All these reasons may be in play, but we do not know, because either she wasn’t asked or her answer was not shared with us.

I also find it noteworthy that in the same column, when writing of the recent Haywood County GOP resolution opposing the room tax increase, the editor neglected to mention that the vote of delegates from all parts of the county in favor of the resolution was overwhelming. This fact seriously calls into question Commissioner Ensley’s claim that a “small faction” has taken over the county party. This sort of spin is typical — if illogical, given the nature of majority rule — when one’s own faction has been defeated, and that decisively.

 It is also worth noting that Mrs. Presnell’s brief is to represent all her constituents — those who do not serve on elected or appointed boards as well as those who do. These boards (whose political composition is not nearly so bipartisan as Mr. Ensley’s statement would make it appear, by the way) are not supposed to constitute some sort of impermeable barrier between the citizens of the county and their representatives in Raleigh, nor is their opinion necessarily worthy of being given greater weight than that of those citizens whose money they propose to tax and then spend.

 Samuel Edwards

Canton

Great Smoky Mountains Association earned two first-place awards and four honorable mentions last month for its work in media and partnership. 

The park’s quarterly newspaper, Smokies Guide, garnered first from the Association of Partners for Public Lands in the informational publications category for delivering “well-written content in an engaging style and design.” The video series “An Island in the Sky: Clingamans Dome and the Spruce-fir Forest” got first in electronic media as “a gorgeous video that is thoughtful and insightful.”

www.smokiesinformation.org or 888.898.9102.

Anglers will have a chance to compete for $20,000 in tagged fish March 28-30 at the Cast Into Spring Tournament, hosted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

 Duke’s profits off the hydroelectric power dam on the Pigeon River in Haywood County have funded another round of environmental water quality projects in Haywood, Buncombe and Madison counties.

The annual fund was created in 1996 thanks to the Clean Water Act, which requires power companies to provide environmental compensation in exchange for harnessing the river with dams. Ten projects totaling $258,552 were recently awarded by the Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation, including:

• Haywood Waterways Association: $56,000 to continue coordinated community efforts to address water quality issues, implement the Haywood Watershed Action Plan and increase public appreciation of water resources through educational programs and publications. 

• Haywood Waterways Association: $30,800 toward the costs of repairing failing septic systems in the Richland Creek area of Haywood County for low-income homeowners.

• Southwestern NC Resource Conservation and Development Council: $14,120 toward the Envirothon and Youth Environmental Stewardship Camp programs that engage middle and high school youth in hands-on learning about water quality issues.   

• Southwestern NC Resource Conservation and Development Council: $30,000 for a stormwater assessment of the Maggie Valley commercial area and creation of a plan to minimize runoff pollution into Jonathan Creek.

• Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy: $20,000 to conduct a natural heritage inventory and update the water quality assessment of the Plott Balsam Mountains, which in turn could help win funding for land conservation. 

Ideas are being solicited for riparian habitat enhancement projects in Jackson, Swain and Macon counties as part of Duke Energy’s requirement to carry out conservation projects in exchange for harnessing the region’s rivers with hydroelectric dams.

Appalachian Trail hikers can get a free breakfast in Franklin through April 11. First Baptist Church in Franklin has offered this four-week period of “trail magic” for eight years, last year feeding 595 hikers from 44 states and seven countries.

Whether you’re roughing it on the AT or just looking for a fun way to spend your Saturday, several upcoming AT festivals in Western North Carolina are sure to fit the bill. These events celebrate hikers, hiking and all things AT-related, just in time for the glut of through-hikers reaching the area after stepping off from Springer Mountain in Georgia earlier this month.

Hiker Haze at Fontana Village

Check out Fontana Village’s AT celebration March 26 and 27. Each day is packed full of events ranging from a corn hole competition to a Native American artifacts presentation. Try your luck at Karaoke or roast the perfect smore over a campfire. The full schedule is online at www.fontanavillage.com/events. 

April Fool’s Trail Day in Franklin

Festivities spread across three days, March 28-30, and include everything from guided hikes to movie screenings to a celebration of the Wilderness Act’s 50th anniversary. Check out the schedule and mark your calendar. 

Friday, March 28

• Guided hike to Siler Bald, leaving from Wayah Gap. 4 miles, medium, RSVP 828.369.1983

• 6 p.m. Hiker Bash at Sapphire Inn. Food, trail stories and hiking advice.

Saturday, March 29 

• 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Beginning Birding workshop with local birder John Sill. Learn where to look, what they eat, what you need and how to identify local birds. Franklin Town Hall, bottom floor.

• 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Path of Life, a presentation from through-hiker and author Amy Allen. Allen’s book Summoning the Mountains: Pilgrimage into Forty tells of the 2006 hike she shared with her two teenage sons as a divorced, single 40-year-old. Franklin Town Hall, bottom floor.

• 2 p.m.: Amy Allen book signing, Franklin Town Hall, bottom floor.

• 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.: Monitoring and Management on the Appalachian Trail, a discussion about citizen science with Appalachian Trail Conservancy resource manager John Odell. Learn about invasive plant control, plant monitoring and life cycles. Franklin Town Hall, bottom floor. 

• 3 to 4 p.m.: The Wilderness Act turns 50:  History and Significance for the Southern Appalachians, a presentation on the significance of the act’s 50th anniversary by Jill Gottesman and Brent Martin of the Wilderness Society. 

• 6 p.m.: Hiker Bash at Sapphire Inn. Food, trail stories and hiking advice.

• Guided hike to Laurel Fork Falls, S.C., 8 miles, strenuous, RSVP 828.586.5723.

• Guided hike to Wayah Tower, 4.2 miles, RSVP 828.524.5298.

• Guided hike to Bartram Trail Loop from Wallace Branch, 2 miles, easy, RSVP 828.369.6820.

Sunday, March 30

• Guided hike to Wine Spring Bald, shuttle from radio tower exit to Wayah Bald entrance, 2 miles, medium, RSVP 828.369.7352.

• Guided hike to Standing Indian Mountain from Deep Gap, 4.8 miles, medium, RSVP 828.369.1983. 

AT Founder’s Bridge Festival at Nantahala Outdoor Center

Come out April 4-5 for an event featuring everything from gear repair to training for citizen scientists. Enjoy a hiker’s feast and live music or check out the hiker Olympiad. 

Friday, April 4

• 7 p.m. “Walking With Freedom” movie screened at River’s End Restaurant.

Saturday, April 5

• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gear repair and vendor fair at Outfitter’s Store.

• 10 a.m. Phenology Training with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at NOC Outfitter’s Store, a workshop on the importance of monitoring plant and animal life cycles and the process of training citizen scientists to collect data. 

• 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. OBOZ Hiker Olympiad at NOC Outfitter’s Store. 

• 2 p.m. Warrior Hike presentation about a hike organized to raise money for returning military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. At NOC Outfitter’s Store.

• 5 p.m. Osprey Hiker’s Feast at Big Wesser BBQ + Brew

• 6 to 8 p.m. Sourwood Honey plays live at Big Wesser BBQ + Brew

Directed by Broadway star Terrence Mann, the Tony-Award-winning musical “Les Miserables” will be performed at 7:30 p.m., April 3-5 and at 3 p.m., April 6 in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.

The Haywood County Arts Council has renamed their outdoor summer festival. Previously known as International Festival Day, the name has been changed to ArtFest. 

ArtFest will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 19. Though the name has changed, the festival will continue to feature food, live entertainment and children’s activities as it has for the past 28 years. 

Artists and vendors may obtain a festival application at Gallery 86 in Waynesville, or by visiting www.haywoodarts.org online.

In 2011 a large Hollywood film descended upon North Carolina. It was a secret and it went by the name of “Artemis.” The film was actually “The Hunger Games.” 

As soon as word got out, fans and media starting flocking to the filming locations. One of those locations was DuPont State Recreational Forest near Brevard, which served as the arena in the film.

Since then, the Hunger Games Unofficial Fan Tours have been catering to the film’s fan base. Guided trips have been selling out for the past two years. 

The company offers three types of tours. Day tours are offered for DuPont State Recreational Forest and the Henry River Mill Village, which served as District 12 in the first film of the series. For fans with several days to spend in the area, the company offers a weekend package at Earthshine Discovery Center. 

www.hungergamesunofficialfantours.com

Artists transform everyday objects into works of art in the exhibit “Out of the Ordinary,” which runs April 5 through June 15 at The Bascom in Highlands.

An exhibit celebrating the work of photographer Hugh Morton will open with a reception and talk March 27 at the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University. 

Budding artists from across Jackson County were recently recognized during the annual Youth Art Month exhibit hosted by Western Carolina University’s School of Art and Design. The exhibit is part of a nationwide recognition of visual arts programs and the role such programs play in the nation’s public schools.

The exhibit featured work from local students — kindergarten through 12th grade — and opened in February. Winners from the exhibit were announced during a public reception earlier this month at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center.

• Blue Ridge School — first place, Kathryn Potts (10th grade); second place, Alexis Hervert-Mezquite (fifth grade); honorable mention, Destiny Ferra-Martin (10th grade).

• Cherokee Elementary School — first place, Naomi Smith (fifth grade); second place, Miss Nipper’s Class (kindergarten); Teacher’s Choice Award, Aidan Wolfe (third grade); honorable mention, Jaelyn Lossiah (third grade), Eva Gagama (first grade), Eeyannah Catolster-Hernandez (fifth grade), Brandon Martinez (third grade) and Ayina Lambert (seventh grade).

• Cullowhee Valley School — first place, Mariana Ramirez (seventh grade); second place, Noah Hinton (sixth grade); Teacher’s Choice Award, Garrett Lindsay (eighth grade); honorable mention, Leslie Folres (second grade), Lucy McRae (sixth grade), Garrett Lindsay (eighth grade), Jessica Carter (eighth grade), Gracie Ruebel (seventh grade) and Brett Aquino-Lopez (fourth grade).

• Jackson County School of Alternatives — first place, Ronnie (10th grade); second place, Sierra (10th grade); Teacher’s Choice Award, Group Paper Design.

• Fairview School — first place, Peyten Wilson (third grade) Stillwell (third grade); honorable mention, Jack Cathcart (second grade) and Sophie Cathcart (fifth grade).

• Scott’s Creek School — first Place, Dayle Joseph (third grade); second place, Samantha Rosario (fifth grade); Teacher’s Choice Award, Jalyn McSpadden (fourth grade); honorable mention, Keria (second grade), Nevaeh Biddle (second grade), Julianna Welch (fifth grade), Lily Lenart (kindergarten), Emma Colindres (fifth grade), Hayes Stewart (second grade), Sebastian Hornbuckle (second grade), Alexis Hopper (seventh grade) and Will Morris (seventh grade).

• Smokey Mountain Elementary School — first place, Elijah Smoker (fifth grade); second place,  sixth grade class; Teacher’s Choice Award, Katelin Pelkey, (eighth grade); honorable mention, Miley Holder (kindergarten), Abby Branning (second grade) and Malia Little (seventh grade).

• Smoky Mountain High School — first place, Taylor Stack (12th grade); second place, Erin Nicholson (12th grade); Teacher’s Choice Award, Morgan Carpenter (9th grade); honorable mention, Marah Stefanisko (12th grade), Darion Powell (12th grade), Hollis Ayling (11th grade), Kendall Rhymer (10th grade) and Briseida Palestine (10th grade).

• Summit Charter School — first place, Peyton Kaylor (first grade); second place, Jacob Hudson (seventh grade); Teacher’s Choice Award, Colin Stoltzfus (seventh grade); honorable mention, Ajani McIntosh (seventh grade).

Acclaimed bluegrass acts Balsam Range and The Boxcars will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets are $10 and $15.

Balsam Range won the Album of the Year at the 2013 International Bluegrass Music Awards for their record “PAPERTOWN.” Performing around the country and beyond, the group is one of the fastest rising bluegrass ensembles in the music industry today.

www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

The 2013-14 First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass Jam Series continues with Crooked Pine at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University.

Established and emerging authors of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction will discuss and read from their works at Western Carolina University during the 12th annual Spring Literary Festival from Monday, March 31 to Friday, April 4, in Cullowhee. All events are free and open to the public and held in the A.K. Hinds University Center theater, unless otherwise noted.

• The Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poets Series featuring Richard Chess will be at noon March 31. The series will also feature student poets Samuel Fox from WCU, Patrick Bahls from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Teleia Tollison from Spruce Pine and Grace Wester from Odyssey Community School.

• Historian/writer David Cecelski will lead a discussion at 4 p.m., March 31. Cecelski is the author of “The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves’ Civil War.” His work centers on history, race and culture in the American South. Cecelski has been honored with awards including the Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavis Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights.

• Pulitzer Prize-nominated Mexican-American author Luis Alberto Urrea will read from his works at 7:30 p.m., March 31. His focuses include poetry, fiction and nonfiction. A winner of the Lannan Literary Award and Pacific Rim Kiriyama Prize, Urrea uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph in his writing.

• Appalachian poet Ron Houchin will present at 4 p.m., April 1. Houchin, whose published poetry collections include “The Man Who Saws Us in Half,” has been a recipient of the Poetry Book of the Year from the Appalachian Writers’ Association.

• A tribute to the late Robert Conley will be at 7 p.m., April 1. Conley was WCU’s Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies before his death on Feb. 16. The tribute will be followed at 7:30 p.m. by a presentation by Native American author Linda Hogan. Conley, who was a registered tribal member of the Cherokee Nation, authored poems, short stories, nonfiction and more than 80 books ranging from The Cherokee Encyclopedia to award-winning Westerns. Hogan, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her novel “Mean Spirit,” writes books, poetry and essays, and has a special interest in exploring environmental issues and indigenous spiritual traditions and culture in her work.

• Donna Glee Williams and Charles F. Price will present at 4 p.m., April 2. Williams’ first novel “The Braided Path” was released in March and grew out of her award-winning short story that appeared in the anthology “The Year’s Best Science Fiction.” Price has authored historical fiction and nonfiction works ranging from “Hiwasee: A Novel of the Civil War,” set in Western North Carolina, to a book about a terror outbreak in 1863, set in Colorado.

• Fiction writer Jill McCorkle will present at 7 p.m., April 2, in the Community Room at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. McCorkle has had five works named New York Times notable books. Her most recent novel, “Life After Life,” was released in November.

• Fiction writer George Singleton will present at 4 p.m., April 3. A Southern author who has written collections of short stories and three novels, Singleton was recipient of the 2011 Hillsdale Award for Fiction by The Fellowship of Southern Writers.

• Award-winning authors Column McCann, Ron Rash and Lisa Consiglio will hold a presentation about their work with the organization Narrative 4 at 7:30 p.m., April 3 in the Coulter Building at WCU. Narrative 4 is a global organization that seeks social change through encouraging diverse people to share stories in a way that builds empathy and understanding. McCann is the Irish-American author of “Let the Great World Spin” and “TransAtlantic,” and co-founder of Narrative 4. Rash is the WCU Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture and author of acclaimed books including “Serena,” “One Foot in Eden,” “Saints at the River” and “The World Made Straight.” Consiglio is the executive director and co-founder of Narrative 4.

• On April 4, there will be several presentations in the University Center theater by more than a dozen authors from the WCU community. Faculty and staff members who will present at 10 a.m. are Mary Adams, Catherine Carter, Deidre Elliott, Rosemary Peek and Rash. Alumni writers and artists presenting at 11 a.m. will be Anna Browning, Josh Crawford, Caroline Holland and T.J. Holland. Alumni authors presenting at 1 p.m. are Sue Ellen Bridgers, George Frizzell, Dawn Gilchrist-Young, Leah Hampton and David Joy. Students will present at 2 p.m.

Festival sponsors include WCU’s Visiting Writers Series, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences, ACE series, Parris Distinguished Professorship, Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Provost and Division of Student Affairs and the Jackson County Public Library and North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. The project also received support from the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

www.litfestival.org or www.wcu.edu or 828.227.3926

To the Editor:

Here is what I think about Jackson County’s revised steep slope ordinance: self-serving, self-serving and self-serving.

But here’s the real question: what does one think the results will be when you elect or appoint builders, developers and realtors as county commissioners or members of planning boards?

Frank Parrish

Sylva

To the Editor:

Just an observation that I am sure others have made also, but what about all the trash along the roadside all over our beautiful Haywood County? People what is going on? What happened to all the volunteer groups that have their signs posted for being responsible for those areas? All along N.C. 209, Richland Creek, the access roads, it’s crazy. Soon the summer growth will creep over to hide some of the garbage, but this has got to stop. No wonder tons of junk winds up in Lake Junaluska. Please stop throwing trash out of your window. It is a shame and a big eyesore.  

Mylan Sessions

Clyde

To the Editor:

I attended a political club meeting last night. I purchased tickets for a fundraiser — a dinner — to be held in a few weeks. I was asked to please provide user names, addresses and phone numbers on the back of tickets. I assumed it was simply a handy way to gain names for future contact. I was wrong.

During the course of the meeting I learned why this was necessary when another attendee spoke about experience gained as a past candidate for office. A goodly sum of money had been donated during a fund raiser. All money had been raised from individual attendees’ donations, a cake auction, and other enjoyable contests. These funds, relatively small from private friends and like-thinking persons, were necessary to pay the expenses of the campaign and were required to be reported. Not easily. Not simply. Not in lump sum. Each donation had to be reported individually, person by person. It took the candidate, who naturally did not have a staff, many after-work hours over four days time to fill out the required forms to report each donation.

Most candidates for local government do not have an office or staff to care for the nitty-gritty required by election laws that are designed to keep campaign spending honest. Indeed, they’re lucky to have willing family members or a few personal friends to help.

Similar rules apply to all politically connected organizations, clubs and political party offices. Funds need to be accounted for. Who they’re from, and how they’re spent. Keeping our campaigns and elections honest! Remember that word, “honest!”

This is incredibly labor-intensive as we compare these relatively minuscule donations to the huge donations and spending of dark money from nefarious political action groups. Particularly evidenced are enormous fund amounts funneled and tracked from state to state in order to promote their desired candidates for office, intentionally skewing the balance of power, with obvious purpose to influence these candidates’ future votes in state and national offices.

We all want honesty in our elections, but honestly, is this honest? Look at the other unnecessary recently enacted requirements for future N.C. elections, hindering the peoples’ right to vote but all purported to be in the name of honesty! Really?

We the voting public, no matter our political party, can’t tolerate this hypocrisy? Think about it. It’s our voting rights at stake. Who, or what, is running you and me? Do you tolerate or even support this? We invent, impose and keep some rules of honesty, but discard others? Large coalitions of corporate big money are OK, but we peasants (you know, we the people) are to be tabulated?

Where’s the oversight? Where are the regulations? Where oh where is this endlessly touted honesty? 

Shirl Ches

Franklin

To the Editor:

Welfare cheats. It seems that every conservative has a favorite story about how someone on public assistance is cheating the system. Food stamp cards used for fancy food, having babies to get more money, living off unemployment, phony disabilities claims; all these takers are wasting my tax money. It does not matter if these stories are true or not. Conservatives believe them, and they are mad. More proof, to them, that we are heading into a socialist hell.

There is no doubt, given human nature, that there are bad people out there cheating the system. Every government program, in fact any system involving money, can be cheated. And, until we as humans evolve to a higher level of spirituality, it will always be thus.

But why pick on welfare cheats, who in fact are very few in real numbers, and whose actual cost to the taxpayer is minor compared to say, actual tax cheats. Why not get mad about the people who really cost the taxpayers tens of billions every year? How about giant agribusinesses that are paid not to grow food? What about billionaire investment bankers who pay a lower tax rate for moving money around than we pay for actual work, or giant multinational oil companies that pay no tax at all while making huge profits on the American market? Where is the outrage?

The answer is simple. It’s called the golden rule: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” While the 1 percent grows even more wealthy and more powerful, they need a diversion to keep the voters’ attention off of them. It is a classic case of blame your troubles on the other. Powerful interests have been using this tactic since the time of Machiavelli.

The poor, the disabled, minorities, the slackers, the “takers” are the ones to blame. We are bombarded by story after story about how these cheaters are dragging this country into dreaded socialism. Whether it is right wing media or Paul Ryan, the story is always the same: those “other” people are cheating the government out of our tax money.

Of course the facts, those pesky facts, show just the opposite. Socialism is the distribution of wealth from the rich to the poor. What we have in the United States of America, however, is just the opposite. The middle class is disappearing, real income is decreasing, and the effective tax rate for the wealthy is at a historic low. The concentration  of wealth at the top is now greater than any time in U.S. history.

So the next time you hear a story about some surfer dude who is using his food stamp card to buy wax for his surf board, remember that someone of great wealth is paying a good-looking talking head to tell you that story, over and over and over again.

Louis Vitale

Franklin

To the Editor:

Every two or three years I read in the newspaper that a homeowner shot an intruder. Typically, the homeowner hears a noise during the night, gets his gun and flashlight and goes downstairs with his wife hanging on his shoulder. He opens the door to the garage and sees a man trying to steal his new Cadillac and he blows him away.

The perpetrator is not armed, and the homeowner is now on trial for manslaughter and facing several years in jail. These scenarios happen all the time across the country because people think that they have a license to kill anyone in their home. Just last week, a local jerk told me: “If I shoot someone on my porch, I will drag him in the house so I am covered”. 

This is a common misperception. In North Carolina, we have a Castle Law that allows certain protections in your home, your place of business or in your vehicle. It includes the camper or tent you use when camping. The law makes the assumption that if someone is in the process of breaking into your home, they are not doing so to sell you a Bible. The law presumes there is an intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence, and you have a right to shoot them while they are in the process of breaking in, if you fear you will lose your life. 

Once the person is physically in your home, the circumstances change. If the perpetrator is armed with anything that can cause serious physical harm or death, and you fear for your life, you can shoot them. However, if there is no sign that they are armed, and they are simply there to steal something, you may not shoot. You can use physical force to protect your property, but not deadly physical force. 

For example, say you come home from shopping one evening, open your door, and you see two guys in your living room holding your new HD TV in their arms and about to walk out. If there is no sign that they are armed, you may not shoot them. Remember, we have no death penalty for larceny or grand theft, regardless of the value of the item.

In any situation where an intruder is armed with anything that could kill you, even a screwdriver in his hand, you can shoot to protect your life. You must be able to state that you feared for your life and the facts must back up that statement.

In North Carolina there is no “citizens arrest.” There is no provision to shoot someone who decides to flee, armed or not. It will be difficult for you to explain exit wounds in the perpetrators chest, or why you shot an unarmed person. In this area, you would have to be nuts to break into an occupied house because most homeowners have a gun for protection. 

It is the drugs that give the criminal the false courage to do so. The drugs also give the criminal a false sense of security. He believes you will not shoot him, especially if you are a woman, or are old, and very often they will charge at you to take your gun away. Warn them to stay back, and if they come at you, and you fear for your life, you may shoot to protect yourself. It takes eight hours to explain these laws in the Concealed Carry Pistol Permit classes. In any event, where you may use a firearm to protect yourself there is a firm requirement that you understand the laws of self-defense, whether or not you want a concealed carry pistol permit. The basic rule is that you must be in fear of losing your life!

Jim Sottile

NC Certified Firearms Instructor

Franklin

Macon County commissioners unanimously approved the first round of bids to begin construction of a $3.8 million sports complex in Franklin.

The county will pay CTech, a Franklin-based engineering company, $49,750 for site plans, geotechnical engineering and construction oversight. Commissioners also accepted two bids from Ritter Architecture, another Franklin company. For $10,000, the company will design a building to double as a concession stand and scorer’s booth, and $6,000 will go toward designing a pavilion. 

The bids are the first concrete step the county has taken toward turning a 48-acre property it bought last year for $550,000 into a tournament-level ballfield complex. Last month, commissioners decided in a split vote to go ahead with development plans estimated to cost $3.3 million. The result will be a full-on recreation park complete with eight baseball and softball fields, a soccer field, a nine-hole disc golf course, hiking trails and picnic shelters. 

Proponents of the project hail it as an opportunity to engage the county’s youth in sports, while bringing dollars into the community through baseball and softball tournaments. Its detractors contend that those economic benefits are trumped up and that it’s not wise to sink money into a massive capital project during a recession. 

— By Holly Kays

The Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, taking place March 27-30, will feature six leadership speakers from across the globe. The speakers will talk about the role faith communities have in combating disease, violence and poverty — often the causes of poor health. 

Dr. Christoph Benn, former member of the Global Fund, will be a keynote speaker at the conference. It will also feature local speakers, workshops and panels, including a presentation by practitioners of alternative spiritual approaches to health care.

Benn moved to southern Tanzania in 1988 to work as a doctor-in-charge at a rural hospital — young people were dying unexplained deaths. This was just at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic that would hit Africa.

Benn has more than 20 years of experience in global health, including stints as a clinician in the United Kingdom and as deputy director of the German Institute for Medical Mission, during which time he helped to initiate several pilot projects to implement antiretroviral treatment in Botswana, Kenya and Russia. 

Those efforts by Benn led in part to the establishment of The Global Fund in 2002, an international financial institution that so far has mobilized $40 billion dollars and developed partnerships between government, civil society, the private sector and communities living with the diseases to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in more than 140 countries. 

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a key supporter of the fund, has contributed or pledged $1.4 billion, and President Obama pledged up to $5 billion dollars over the next three years.

In addition to Benn, other conference speakers include: 

• Dr. Gary Gunderson, vice president of Faith and Health Ministries at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem.

• Dr. James Cochrane, professor in the Department of Religious Studies and senior research associate in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

• Dr. Henry Perry, founder of Andean Rural Health Care and senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

• Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, presiding bishop of the Raleigh area of the United Methodist Church.

Organizers of the conference view the event as an ongoing response to God’s call to peacemaking and reconciliation. Affirming the community of Abrahamic faiths, the conference seeks to work in partnership with Christians, Jews, Muslims and members of other religious traditions to advance the work of reconciliation and peace. 

www.lakejunaluska.com/peace or 800.222.4930.

The Macon County Sheriff race will be short and sweet. Incumbent Sheriff Robbie Holland, a Republican, only faces one challenger, Bryan Carpenter, also a Republican. Because the two candidates are in the same party, the primary election will decide the race.

Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran will have an easy primary season, with no Republicans challenging his bid for a third term in office. But four Democratic challengers are fighting it out during the primary. Here’s a look at those candidates:

Franklin is one step closer to getting its first microbrewery, which plans to set up shop in the former town hall building on Main Street.

The Franklin town board voted unanimously last week to lease and possibly sell the old town hall building to The Lazy Hiker, a brewing company owned by two Macon County men. 

The Lazy Hiker would lease the building for $1,250 per month for the first year and $2,500 per month thereafter, according to the 10-year contract approved by the town.

At any point along the way, the brewery could exercise an option to buy the building outright for $325,000. That’s less than the building’s 2013 appraised value of $725,000, but more than the highest offer the town has received so far, $200,000. 

There’s a 10-day window for higher bids on the property to be submitted before the deal is signed.

— By Holly Kays 

Swain County

Swain Commissioners

What’s up for election? All five seats on the county board are up for election, including four commissioner seats and commissioner chairman. Both Republican commissioner candidates here automatically advance.

About the race: As usual, there’s a deep bench of candidates running for Swain commissioner. And in this Democratic leaning county, where it’s rare for a Republican to win local elections, the Democratic primary is always the most packed. The winners in the Democratic primary nearly always prevail come the general election. All five sitting commissioners are Democrats and are running for reelection.

This is the last year that all the commissioner seats will come up for election at the same time. Going forward, the terms will be staggered — instead of all the seats being on the ballot every four years, half the seats will be up for election at a time, with alternating seats up on the ballot every two years. This year’s commissioner election will set the stage for staggered terms. The top two vote getters will serve a full four years. But the third and fourth highest vote getters will only serve two years before their seats are up for election again. They will resume a four-year election schedule after that, with alternating election cycles established.

Swain voters approved the switch to staggered terms in a ballot question in 2012. It passed with 2,912 voters in favor of staggered terms compared to 1,930 against.

Swain Commissioner

Democrat

•David Monteith is the longest serving county commissioner with 16 years on the board. Retired Ingle’s market manager and a school bus driver.

•Donnie Dixon, a machinist at Conmet manufacturing plant, has been on the board for four years, plus a previous term in the 1990s.

•Steve Moon, owner of a tire shop, has served for 8 years.

•Robert White, retired school superintendant, has served for eight years.

•Correna Elders Barker 

•Ben Bushyhead, a retired department director in Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians government. He narrowly lost in the 2006 election for the county board.

•Thomas Ray Simonds, foreman at Owle Construction

•Vida Cody, former county finance director who sued the county for wrongful firing

•Danny Burns, a Pepsi Cola technician 

Republican 

•Carolyn Bair, retired grocery store cashier and fast-food worker.

•Lance Grant II

Swain Comm. Chairman

Democrats

•Phil Carson, on the board for eight years and chairman for the past four, works with his family-owned plumbing business.

•Boyd Gunter, 63, recently retired medical technologist at the VA Hospital in Asheville.

Gunter ran for commissioner four years ago but lost. He lives in the Alarka area. He believes the county’s outlying communities are not currently represented on the board.

Swain Sheriff

About the race: Sheriff Curtis Cochran has served two terms as sheriff. And like his reelection campaign in 2010, he will once again face a suit of challengers, although not nearly as many this go around. When Cochran first won in 2006, the victory was narrow but impressive, as one of the few Republicans to ever serve as sheriff in this predominantly Democratic county — and given his odds as a novice lawman against the sitting sheriff at the time, who was a career law enforcement. Cochran’s first term was a bit rocky, with controversies including inmate escapes, a money-losing jail, and political feud with county commissioners. But his second term has been calm. Can Cochran hang on to the seat again?

Republican

• Sheriff Curtis Cochran

Democrat

•Chuck McMahan retired in 2010 from the North Carolina Highway Patrol after 27 years of service. The candidate said he would like the opportunity to work to keep Swain residents safe. “I think there’s a need and I think I can make a difference.”

•George Powell has taught martial arts for the past three decades, currently overseeing the Shotokan School of Martial Arts and two regional non-profit Christian martial arts organizations. The retired police officer and detention officer previously ran for sheriff eight years ago. If elected, Powell said he would “hold officers accountable for their actions” and “get back to the basics of community policing.”   

•Larry Roland currently works at the Microtel Inn in Bryson City and previously worked for the state prison system. The candidate believes the current powers-that-be are “abusing their powers.” “It’s just time for a change. That’s what everybody says, it’s time for a change.”

•Rocky Sampson 

Unaffiliated

• Odell Chastain is a retired law enforcement officer who has worked at both the city and county level. Chastain said he is seeking office “because I’m a patriotic American and I see that our rights and our liberties are being taken away from us.”

Macon County

Macon Commissioners

What’s up for election: One seat in the Highlands district and two seats in the Franklin district.

About the race: There are three commissioner seats up for election in Macon County: one seat for the district representing the Highlands area and two seats for the district representing the Franklin area. All three incumbents are running.

Do I vote in all the districts, or just mine? Every voter in Macon County gets to vote for every commissioner seat, no matter where you live in the county. While the county is parceled up into three territories for the commissioners race, the geographic districts only apply to the candidates. Candidates must live in the district of the seat they are running for, but that’s the only import of the districts.

Macon commissioner: Highlands district, one seat

Republican 

•Jim Tate is seeking reelection because he wants to “ensure that Macon County will continue to be a great place to live and call home through low taxes, great schools, safe communities and efficient services.” He is president of Tate Landscaping Services, and has served on numerous Highlands town boards.

•John Shearl is a business owner — J&J Lawn and Landscaping Services and Shearl Produce — and former Highlands volunteer firefighter. Currently serving on the Macon County Planning Board, the candidate is seeking a the Highlands commissioner seat with an eye on “lower taxes, limited government and less regulation.”

Democrat

•Michael David Rogers owns a landscaping business. If elected, he plans to focus on attracting business to the area, as well as environmental issues. “I love the mountains and the water and I just don’t like seeing it be trashed out and destroyed.” 

Macon commissioner: Franklin district, two seats

Republican

•Ron Haven, a motel and inn owner and sitting commissioner, said he intends to “keep taxes low” and work to improve the community for future generations. “I’ve got an interest in watching my children grow up and have opportunities in life.”

•Gary Shields, a retired educator and Vietnam veteran, said he feels a sense of  “civic responsibility” to his home. “I care, I care about Macon County. If you’ve got the time, the energy and the want-to, you need to be involved.”

Democrat

• Ronnie Beale is a two-term commissioner who previously served as chairman, and is a leader in the NC Association of County Commissioners. He is president of a construction company and previously served on the planning board.

Libertarian

• John Martin is a “semi-retired entrepreneur” who has worked in the insurance and real estate fields. He wants to “facilitate a better tomorrow” through “long-term sustainable growth.” He intends to work to “keep taxes low” and ensure Macon County is “business friendly.”

“Good jobs in Macon County are getting tougher for people to find today and citizens deserve better.”   

Macon Sheriff

About the race: Since there are only two candidates — both Republicans — whoever wins the primary will be the ultimate winner, since there would be no Democratic challengers to face come fall.

•Robbie Holland, 47, has served as Macon’s sheriff for the past 12 years. He intends to continue the stint.

“I want to continue serving my community and making a difference,” Holland said.

•Bryan Carpenter, Republican, 30, is a local business owner. He is running for office in an effort to “bring the hometown feeling back home.”

Jackson County 

Jackson Sheriff 

About the race:  This promises to be one of the most hotly contested elections in the region this year. Current Sheriff Jimmy Ashe will step down and that has thrown the floodgates wide open for contenders — nine in all.

Candidates were going public months before the official candidate sign-up period in February. And several had turned in their election finance paperwork far in advance so they could start their campaign wheels turning.

Ashe would have been a vulnerable candidate had he decided to run, due to lack of public visibility in recent years and a series of public relations stumbles and controversies.

Democrats:

•Steven Lillard, assistant police chief at Western Carolina University

•Chip Hall, chief deputy in the sheriff’s department

•Glen Biller, a Haywood sheriff’s deputy

•Robin Gunnells, who has a custom truck cover business and has worked in a variety of law enforcement positions

•Doug Farmer, a Sylva police officer

•Michael Gosnell, private security guard in Highlands, with a variety of law enforcement positions over his career 

Republicans:

• Curtis Lambert, a Sylva police office

• Jimmy Hodgins, a retired logger

• Mary Alice Rock, a bail bondsman 

Jackson Commissioner

What’s up for election? Three of the five seats on the board.

About the race: There was a major power shift in county politics four years, after an upset election ushered in a slate of conservative-leaning candidates. Three sitting commissioners, all Democrats, were ousted by three challengers.

It’s hard to say whether the election four years ago was an indictment of the progressive policies of the commisioners at the time, or whether it was trickle-down effect from a national Republican tide that election year.

This year, Democrats are trying to take back the seats they loss, and voters will have a chance to endorse or oust the new leadership that took over four years ago.

Do I vote in all the districts, or just mine? Every voter in Jackson County gets to vote for every commissioner seat, no matter where you live in the county. While the county is parceled up into four territories for the commissioners race, the geographic districts only apply to the candidates. Candidates must live in the district of the seat they are running for, but are elected by voters countywide.

Commissioner chairman

•Jack Debnam, the current commissioner chairman and a Realtor. As an unaffiliated candidate that belongs to neither party, Debnam must gather 1,200 signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot. He has until June. 

•Brian McMahan, a Democrat, previously served as commissioner chairman but lost to Debnam in 2010. The 39-year-old chief of security at Balsam Mountain Preserve is now seeking a rematch.

Jackson commissioner: district that spans from Dillsboro to Qualla 

•Charles Elders, a Republican and sitting commissioner, is the owner/operator of Elder’s Superette. 

•Joe Ward, a Democrat and farmer, is retired from CSX Transportation. 

Jackson commissioner: district that includes Sylva and Scotts Creek

•Doug Cody, a Republican and sitting commissioner, has worked in the insurance industry for 29 years. “I feel that we’ve done a good job and there’s still more to be done, and I want to be part of that.” 

•Boyce Deitz, a Democrat, is a retired teacher and football coach. He coached former U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler as a high school quarterback, and later went to work for the congressman. 

“I have a passion about where I live, our culture and the mountains. People back in the coves and hollers don’t have a voice and I feel that they need one.”

Get an early start on this year’s garden by renting a space for seed flats in the greenhouse at the Old Armory in Waynesville.

Plant your seed trays and then bring them to the greenhouse, where they will be watered daily. Fetch your sprouted seedlings to take back home come planting season.

The cost is $5 per tray with a maximum of five trays per person. Space is limited. Reserve a spot by March 24.

Stop by the armory Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. or Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

828.456.9207 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District has announced the winners of its annual poster and essay contests.

Third- through sixth-grade students participated in the poster contest while the essay contest was open to sixth-grade students. About 200 students participated. This year’s theme was The Living Soil. The first-place poster winner advanced to the Area 1 contest in Waynesville, where they will compete against 15 other Soils and Water Conservation Districts of Area 1. 

Interactive activities for kids have been installed along a 1.3-mile section of trail at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, which has officially joined the network of Kids in Parks TRACK Trails.

“The TRACK Trail provides an educational experience for families that can be accomplished at their own pace,” said Jonathan Marchal, the arboretum youth education manager. “Opportunities for kids to explore their natural world and get their hands dirty are essential, and that’s what the TRACK Trail provides.”

Kids hike with the help of Turtle Tales, which lets them experience the trail from the point of view of Shelly, an eastern box turtle. 

A grand opening for the trail will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 22. There will be a pond exploration, scavenger hunt for soil invertebrates, backyard bird watching advice, butterfly hunt and a tour of the EcoLab classroom.

There are several other kids’ TRACK Trails in the region, developed by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation with funding from a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation grant.

Brochures with suggested adventures and activities are available for each trail, and children can earn prizes for TRACKing their hikes in online nature journals on the Kids in Parks website.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office reminds the public that gathering ginseng on the Nantahala National Forest without a permit is illegal. 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to rove the Oconaluftee River Trail, Mountain Farm Museum and fields along Newfound Gap Road near Oconaluftee Visitor Center at the main N.C. entrance to the park outside Cherokee.

A major paddling race will be held on the Nantahala River March 22 and 23, with around 60 of the country’s top slalom paddlers coming from as far away as Colorado, Texas and Washington.

MedWest Haywood will hold another series of community meetings in April and May. Feedback collected from the community during an initial round of public meetings last spring will be shared during the upcoming events.

Last year, Medwest Haywood Health System hosted meetings in an effort to learn how it might better serve the community. 

“I continue to be interested in knowing how our community thinks we are doing, because this is their community hospital,” said MedWest President and CEO Janie Sinacore-Jaberg. “I want to know the good as well as the cases when maybe we didn’t meet expectations, because if we don’t know about it we can’t fix it. We are here for one reason only; to provide safe, excellent care to our community. And it’s important to me that I get out and hear what people have to say.”

The first meeting will be held from 6 to 7 p.m., April 2 in the auditorium at the Haywood Community College. A second meeting will take place from noon until 1 p.m., April 8, at the MedWest Haywood Health and Fitness Center. The third meeting is scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m., May 1 at the town hall in Maggie Valley. The final meeting will take place from 6 to 7 p.m., May 5 at the Colonial Theater Annex in Canton. 

Community members may R.S.V.P. by calling 828.452.8883 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To the Editor:

As I discuss the upcoming District 50 senatorial campaign with my neighbors, it is becoming clear to me that they are deeply troubled by the current senator from Franklin.  They are especially disappointed in his unwillingness to support our public schools. They know that the tactics being used by Republicans in the North Carolina legislature now are part of a long-range plan to privatize education. Almost all local school systems recognize this fact and realize they must steel themselves for a struggle against these ill-advised attacks.

Ron Robinson is a voice of reason. He knows that our public schools face great challenges. He wants to work to meet those challenges rather than run from them. He knows that the latest technology must be made available to our students. He knows it is wrong for vouchers to bleed money out of the public schools for which they are constitutionally mandated.

Ron pledges to work with a proven system of public education. He will make every effort to raise all teacher salaries to at least the national average. He will push to restore due process and, thereby, provide a sense of security for them when political changes come about.

I urge you, your friends and family to vote for Ron Robinson in the upcoming election. 

Dave Waldrop

Sylva