Editor’s note: The following is a submission from Haywood Waterways Association reflecting on the organization’s work to protect and improve water quality in Haywood County.

Since 1998, Haywood Waterways Association has instructed thousands of children, written more than a hundred successful grant applications and partnered on projects that directly improve water quality. But what do the Kids in the Creek program or stabilizing stream banks actually mean for water quality in Haywood County?

A 76-acre tract along the Appalachian Trail on Roan Mountain has been permanently protected thanks to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, safeguarding scenic views and wildlife habitat.

The tract is half a mile from Carvers Gap, a popular access point for the AT and the Roan Highlands near the Tennessee line.

Oil painter Jon Houglum will demonstrate “Oil Painting Techniques in a Portrait” for the Art League of the Smokies at 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City. 

A Dillsboro book artist and adjunct instructor at Southwestern Community College, Frank Brannon has been selected for the first Mary B. Regan Residency Grant for a project to revitalize the Cherokee language through his artistry as a letterpress printer. 

Singer-songwriter Dan Shearin will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, at The Classic Wine Seller in Waynesville.

To the Editor:

It’s time for New Year’s resolutions, particularly those about our health. Although gun violence remains the leading cause of death among young people, our most dangerous weapon is still our fork. 

Forty-five times as many die of chronic diseases linked to a diet containing animal products, sugar and salt. Hardly a month goes by without another study linking consumption of animal products with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. No reputable study has ever shown an opposite result.

But times are changing. Hundreds of schools, colleges, hospitals and corporate cafeterias have embraced Meatless Monday. According to a Gallup poll, 22 percent of American consumers are avoiding meat and 12 percent are avoiding dairy products. Harris Interactive claims that 47 percent of American consumers are reducing consumption of animal products.

Accordingly, plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products are growing explosively, propelled by investments from Microsoft, Paypal and Twitter founders. Fast-food chains like Chipotle, Subway and Taco Bell are rolling out vegan options. 

Let this New Year’s resolution be about exploring the rich variety of plant-based entrees, lunch meats, cheeses, ice creams and milks in our supermarket. The Internet offers tons of recipes and transition tips.

Weston Madrigal

Waynesville

To the Editor:

As we approach the year 2015, I appeal to the decision makers of Haywood County to take a progressive, positive action with a request to fix an obvious problem with a local bill which would fix this by next election. As a private senior citizen, I believe it is time for a local bill to our state legislature for changing the method of selecting the county tax collector.

If the remaining 99 counties of North Carolina choose to appoint a tax collector by training, experience, qualifications and references, it would behoove Haywood County to do likewise.

Now is the time to make changes by changes in local election practices.

Ernestine E. Upchurch

Maggie Valley

Southwestern Community College student Stanley Kingsberry has landed a patent for his invention of a magnetic wrench system.

Though offers to buy his invention are streaming in from companies across the nation, he’s holding out for a bid in the nine-figure range. Kingsberry said he hopes to make a firm decision by March on whether to lease the idea to tool manufacturers or sell it outright. 

By Thomas Crowe • Guest Columnist

In case you didn't know it, right here in our midst we have a gem of an organization — an organization that has been fighting for clean air and water for all of us here in Western North Carolina since 1999.

As a founding board member, while I know that many folks have probably heard of the Canary Coalition (think “canary in the coal mine”), there are many that may not be aware of what it does to raise public consciousness about environmental issues and to influence public policy related to these issues.

By Laura Amour • Guest Columnist

“The mountains attract seekers.”

That comment was made by a cherished friend that I have known most of my life.  We grew up together in Memphis, went our separate ways, and ended up about an hour away from each other ... here in the mountains. We have always enjoyed thinking “outside the box.” We always looked for meaning in our lives, whether it existed or not. Did the fact that we are kindred spirits in this way have anything to do with both of us moving to the mountains?

To the Editor:

An article in the Dec. 17-23 issue of The Smoky Mountain News states that the Pigeon Center in Waynesville serves “the black community and ... underserved populations.” In fact, the programs offered there draw many of us who belong to neither of those groups. 

Changemakers for Racial Understanding is a joint project with Grace Episcopal Church, facilitated by trained leaders from the Center for Participatory Change. Members of “Lift Every Voice,” both black and white, are collecting the history of the African-American community in Haywood County, and this program offers internships to history students at Western Carolina University. The Pigeon Center board is very diverse. 

I believe anybody who’s been there will agree that the Pigeon Center is a place of open-hearted community where all are welcome.

Sara Jenkins

​Lake Junaluska

To the Editor:

Denying facts because they conflict with a belief is a survival tactic for the human race. We all do it. But now it seems a lot easier for everyone to have their own “facts.” On the Internet you can find “facts” to justify any opinion. Of course, observable, provable, documented facts are out there, but we must be smart enough and honest enough to pick them out of the sea of fake facts .

Here is a good example. In a recent letter defending the Obama administration, I claimed that, “Illegal immigration is currently net zero.” That means that there are just as many illegal aliens leaving the country as are entering. If true it would call into question the fear that the country is being overrun by illegals. This number can be quantified and documented and thus can be a real fact. So how do you determine that it is a real fact and not something made up because someone wants it to be true?

Go to Google and put in “immigration is net zero.” On the first three pages there are 30 links, every link except one  agrees with the net zero “fact.” Google “Immigration is NOT net Zero” and you get the same 30 links.

Almost all the links quote from the same source, the “Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero — and Perhaps Less,” a Pew Research Center report dated Aug. 6, 2012 (www.pewresearch.org ). Numerous sites have reviewed the data from Pew Research and have found it to be valid. They include Reuters, Politifact, The National Journal, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and the National Journal. In fact, highly respected fivethirtyeight.com reviewed the data in July and found it to be accurate.

So who disagrees? It is NEWSMAX, and who is NEWSMAX? It is like Fox News on steroids. You will notice I did not list any obviously left wing or progressive site in the above list. One would be hard put to call the Christian Science Monitor a left wing propaganda outlet.  

So is “immigration is net zero" a real fact, or is it fake fact? You decide.

Louis Vitale

Franklin

QUESTION: I have high blood pressure and have been told to cut down on salt and sodium. What should I be looking at on the label?

Answer:  One of the key recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is: "Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300milligrams (mg) and further reduce intake to 1,500 mg among persons who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease."

By Burt Kornegay • Contributing writer

It was around 10:30 p.m., just as we were going to bed, when my wife Becky and I heard strange sounds outside our home in Cullowhee. I walked out on the porch and first heard the low, measured hoots of a great horned owl coming up faintly from the valley below, but then came these sharper, louder, impetuous cries from the woods right above our house — hoarse squeals and high-pitched whistles and low clucks.

Nantahala Brewing Company in Bryson City celebrated the Christmas season with a generous donation to Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to support the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Smokies Ridgerunner program.

U.S. Forest Service employees in North Carolina recently received a handful of awards for their work in 2014, including a community engagement award for the forest planning process in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. 

A six-session program aimed at female skiers and snowboarders will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley.

A new conservation easement in Jackson County will provide a critical wildlife corridor, connecting three other easements and located less than 2 miles from Panthertown Valley. 

Seasonal road closures are starting to kick in for the U.S. Forest Service. 

In the Appalachian Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest, 2.9 miles of Longarm Road, FSR-287, will close from its intersection with Blackgum Gap — FSR-288 — March 17 to Aug. 18, 2015. 

Two Western Carolina University faculty members assisted on a recently released award-winning film that chronicles efforts to revitalize the Cherokee language in Western North Carolina.

Hartwell Francis, director of WCU’s Cherokee language program, and Tom Belt, coordinator of the program and a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, were interviewed and credited as associate producers for “First Language – The Race to Save Cherokee.”

Superstar comedian Jeff Foxworthy will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at Harrah’s Cherokee.

Foxworthy is one of the most respected and successful comedians in the country. He is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy Award nominee and best selling author of 11 books.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist “Mean Mary” James will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, at The Classic Wine Seller in Waynesville.

Known internationally for lightning-fast fingers, haunting vocals, and intricate story songs, James explores the genres of folk-rock, bluegrass, and blues with banjo, fiddle, and guitar.

Dr. Donna Glee Williams, author and fellow at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, recently paid a visit to a World Literature class at Pisgah High School to talk about writing.

A Christmas card drive on the campus of Western Carolina University netted more than 4,000 cards for soldiers stationed overseas.

Tables were set up across campus during various times this fall for students to sign cards for deployed soldiers or veterans spending the holidays in VA hospitals.

QUESTION: I have noticed you have a gluten-free section and tag items that are gluten-free – why not a sugar-free section for diabetics?

The good news is that unlike those who need gluten-free products for celiac disease or other medical conditions, someone with diabetes, whether it is Type 1 or Type 2, can virtually buy products throughout the store – as long as they are reading labels! Carbohydrate counting is the method that the American Diabetes Association recommends (www.diabetes.org) for diabetes dietary management of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. 

What sort of training or degrees do you have?

I have two undergraduate degrees, a B.A. in Speech Communications from West Chester University and a B.S in Human Nutrition from the University of Maryland and I have done some work towards a Master's in Marketing.

A $10,000 grant will go toward building up food banks in Western North Carolina in partnership with agribusiness. 

The award, given to the Western North Carolina Food Policy Council, comes from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

A 12-week permaculture school in Asheville will launch in 2015, teaching students how to create landscapes that maintain the health and resilience of natural systems while also providing food, water, energy, shelter, income and spiritual fulfillment. 

A series of three public hearings in January will take public input on the future of protection for the reintroduced red wolf and continuation of coyote hunting in the five-county area in northeastern North Carolina where the wolf was reintroduced. 

Five summer internship positions are available for undergraduates looking to get involved with Discover Life in America’s mission to learn as much as possible about the species inhabiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park through the Mary Raoul Fitzpatrick Photography and Natural Science Internship.

Just after putting the final touches on the Chimney Tops Trail this month, the Trails Forever program in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will begin restoration on the popular Alum Cave Trail in 2015.

The National Parks System could see its largest expansion in decades after bipartisan legislation in Washington, D.C. was introduced proposing a significant national parks package.

For the first time, gill lice have been found in brook trout in the Southern Appalachians. The parasitic crustaceans are common in the northern states but had never been found this far south. 

The opening of the Swain County Visitor Center in downtown Bryson City this year represented the culmination of a $3.46 million investment from the Great Smoky Mountains Association on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

By Steve Ellis • Guest Columnist

As we leave this political season, which has been nasty, brutal and long, I’d like to offer some thoughts. If you doubt my description of nasty, brutal and long, I remind you of our recent controversy here in Haywood County over the newly elected tax collector.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will open its new state-of-the-art, $26 million Cherokee Justice Center on Dec. 17 following two years of construction. 

Folkmoot USA was recently named a Top Ten Festival by USA Today, the only festival in the state of North Carolina to receive such recognition.

The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority will launch its new website that will support its “Play On” branding campaign at 1 p.m. on Dec. 17 in the auditorium of the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee.

A bomb threat was received by the Jackson County 911 office shortly before the beginning of Western Carolina University’s fall commencement ceremony, scheduled to be held in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center on Saturday, Dec. 13, prompting university officials to move the event outdoors.

Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Wood instructor Brian Wurst and students recently finished a project for the U.S. Forest Service to build and install a reception desk for the visitor’s center at their headquarters on the National Mall in Washington D.C. 

The Webster Historical Society will present its 4th annual “John Parris’ Christmas” at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Webster Methodist Church.

Curtis and Janice Monteith Blanton will both read the Christmas stories of Parris and the second original Christmas story that Curtis, a Jackson County writer and storyteller, has written just for the event.

Carolina Brass will feature a variety of holiday and classical songs at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the Waynesville First United Methodist Church.

On Dec. 6, acclaimed bluegrass group Balsam Range began it Winter Concert series with The Molly Tuttle Trio at The Colonial Theatre in Canton. 

Along with the concert was a fundraising event to honor, recognize and celebrate the Haywood County Meals on Wheels program. Event sponsors contributed over $12,000 to help reduce the number of Haywood County residents on the waiting list. 

Western Carolina University’s Harrill Residence Hall has become the university’s second building to be LEED-certified for its comprehensive energy-efficient and environmentally friendly features.

Friends of the Smokies raised more than $18,000 for Great Smoky Mountains National Park on GivingTuesday, far more than its $4,500 goal. 

For the first time since Dale Ditmanson retired in January 2014, Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a permanent superintendent. A string of three acting superintendents have served in the post over the past year.

Ten high school students from the Haywood Community Learning Center recently armed themselves with colorful spray paint to mark the storm drains of Hazelwood with a message: “Don’t Dump … Drains To Pigeon River.”