Late fees for overdue books and CDs have increased at libraries in Haywood County.

Habitually late bibliophiles previously paid 10 cents per day for every late book or CD, with the maximum charge being $10 per item. However, the Haywood County Board of Commissioners voted this week to up the daily fee to 25 cents per book and CD. Though, the maximum fine will remain at $10, and DVD late fees will remain at $1 a day.

The change puts the Haywood County libraries in line with the other libraries in the state.

The Macon Aero Modelers Club is hosting a charity Fly-In at 9 a.m. Sept. 22 and 10 a.m. Sept. 23 at its flying field in Otto.

The proceeds will go to CareNet, a nonprofit organization that collects food for those in need. Visitors are asked to bring 10 cans of non-perishable food or donate $5 per car for parking.

The Fly-In is open to the public and will feature all types of radio-controlled airplanes and helicopters flying, and on display. The club’s airfield is located about eight miles south of Franklin on Tessentee Road. Hotdogs and barbecue will be available for lunch.

By Chris Cooper

For your consideration this week: some engaging new sounds from Canyon Records, and a frantic but exhilarating tribute to one of Britain’s most brilliant and under-appreciated guitar heroes, Jeff Beck.

“Picket Fences,” and “Northern Exposure”

Is it possible to be nostalgic for the 1990s already? Or maybe it is the relative lack of excellent, quirky, hour-long “dramadies,” especially on network television. Before HBO blew the networks away with “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “Deadwood,” and the like, these shows were two of the best television had to offer. “Picket Fences” was created by David Kelley, who also created “LA Law,” “Ally McBeal,” and “Boston Legal,” among other shows, but I thought “Picket Fences” might be the best of the bunch, and after a long delay, the first season is finally available on DVD. Since Kelley’s shows are often topical, some of the episodes seem a bit dated now, and the edginess of the show is not nearly as edgy now in the wake of “The Sopranos,” et al. Still, it is well worth seeking out. “Northern Exposure,” on the other hand, has not dated at all, remaining as fresh and inventive as the day it aired. Instead of watching another stupid reality show, give these a try, or if you know and love them already, go ahead and wallow in some ‘90s nostalgia.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Increasing congestion coupled with pressure from candidates in the upcoming election is forcing the town of Waynesville to confront growing traffic problems along Russ Avenue.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Swain County commissioners have approved a measure that will carve out up to one third of the Tourism Development Authority’s total budget to pay for the purchase of a new downtown visitor’s center.

The ordinance — adopted at the commissioners’ July 10 meeting after being approved by the state — also gives commissioners the authority to either increase or decrease the county’s 3 cent occupancy tax. The occupancy tax is generated by those paying to stay overnight in hotels and motels in Swain County.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Vidalia onions. Georgia peaches. Washington apples. Haywood County tomatoes?

The formal name is still up in the air, but local officials are aiming to make Haywood County known for a variety of tomato unique to the area.

The idea for a product that would distinguish Haywood County came out of the Buy Haywood program, a campaign established through a $60,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation to help market local produce. The Golden Leaf Foundation provides funding to assist farmers in making the transition away from a tobacco-based economy.

By Kathleen Lamont

One doesn’t usually give their septic system a second thought — until the day that you walk into the bathroom and see the bathtub filling up with sewage. It’s Saturday and you’ve never had a problem with your septic tank before. As Carl Malden used to say, what would you do?

It used to be the “revenooers” who were considered the most vile characters in the mountains, but now we have a new villain — the evil developer who swoops in with wads of cash and turns beautiful mountaintops and river valleys into gated developments or golf courses. For that description to hold up, though, local leaders and landowners have to play the part of ignorant country bumpkins who don’t realize they’re being taken advantage of.

By Michael Beadle

Ron Davis is tracking a very special timber rattlesnake along a road at Balsam Mountain Preserve in Jackson County.

In late July, the snake was released back into its habitat after undergoing surgery to have a transmitter placed inside its body. That way, Davis, a natural resources management professor at Western Carolina University, can track the snake with a radio transmitter to learn more about its behavior, habitat and where it will den this fall. This, in turn, should reveal important clues about how timber rattlers survive despite increasing human development carving roads and homes through the very places snakes have long held as a refuge.

By Sami Felmet • Guest Columnist

The birds and the bees. We’re losing them, you know. How will we explain reproduction without them? Maybe it’s easier now with so much sex on TV and in the movies. Is it any wonder the little darlings are having sex younger and have no respect for fidelity? The word is still in Webster’s, but that page is spanking clean at the library.

Editor’s note: Margaret Osondu, owner of Osondu Booksellers in Waynesville, recently conducted an email interview with Masha Hamilton, one of the writers headlining the upcoming Book Mania event Aug. 4 at the Haywood County Justice Center. Masha Hamilton is the author of three novels — Staircase of a Thousand Steps (2001), a Booksense pick by Independent booksellers and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection; The Distance Between Us (2004), chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Library Journal; and The Camel Bookmobile (2007), a Booksense pick. Hamilton was an Associated Press foreign correspondent for five years in the Middle East and spent another five years in Moscow as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. With her extensive background covering Kremlin politics, Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Kenya, Hamilton has been able to draw on experiences in war-torn areas to shed light on the families and individuals in parts of the world that few get to see first-hand. She teaches writing workshops throughout the country and has been awarded several fiction fellowships. She lives with her husband and three children in Brooklyn, N.Y.

How old were you when you started writing?

I wrote from early childhood. I always wanted to be a writer.

Who encouraged you?

I was lucky enough to get lots of encouragement from my parents and teachers early on, and from colleagues as a journalist and an author. I am so moved by the support I got that I try to pass that on whenever possible.

Is there anyone in your educational background who inspired your writing?

I have been inspired by the individuals I met and got to know who lived under conditions of duress in the Middle East, Afghanistan, the Soviet Union. Fellow journalists and authors have also inspired me. Each of my three novels is also dedicated to people, living and dead, who I admire and who had a direct impact on my work.

I notice that many of your stories are about courageous individuals who live in countries riddled with strife and adversity. I imagine there have been many who have inspired you or touched a place deep in your heart. Would you tell me about one of those experiences?

My second novel is dedicated to Kevin Carter, a photojournalist and a member of “The Bang Bang Club” in South Africa who won the Pulitzer for one of his photos showing a child, a famine victim in southern Sudan, with a vulture behind her. Even as he was given enormous recognition for the work, he also was criticized for not stopping to help that girl. Two weeks after he was awarded the Pulitzer in New York City, back home in Johannesburg now, he committed suicide. His suicide note read, in part: “I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners....” I thought of Kevin often while working on my second novel which is, in part, about the price journalists pay to bring us vital stories from around the world.

Did you go to Kenya to research for your book The Camel Bookmobile? I understand there really is a camel bookmobile. How true to reality is the one in your book?

Yes, I had the wonderful opportunity to go out with the real camel library. Initially I did my research by phone calls and emails, though. I waited to travel to Garissa and walk out into the bush with the real camel library, in part because of my journalist background. I didn’t want reporting skills to kick in before the story itself was fully formed, and each character impacted by the camel library in diverse ways. I found the area and people much as I’d imagined them from my research, and the issues they struggle with in this isolated region in transition are many of the same issues the characters in the novel face.

We are planning a book drive at our Haywood County Book Mania event on August 4th. Is there any one genre that is most needed for the people in Kenya?

The librarians in the Northeast Province who travel with the camel bookmobile told me children’s storybooks are most popular, general fiction for kids and adults is also high on the list, and much interest is shown in nonfiction books covering topics ranging from astronomy to geography to history. We also like to send books by African authors. The librarians also said, by the way, that patrons especially love it when a book is inscribed with a note from the sender. It helps them feel connected to places only barely imagined.

What are you reading now?

I just finished The Gate by Francois Bizot. Loved it.

What’s next?

I’m working on a novel manuscript called Thirty-One Hours that takes place over that time period in New York City. I’m dreaming of going to Pakistan and returning to Afghanistan.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Contractors, Realtors and graders in Swain County claim they need more time to comment on an ordinance that would regulate the slope and width of mountainside roads.

County commissioners, who have already held two public hearings on the ordinance, agreed last week to hold a third one.

N.C. Gov. Mike Easley signed a $20.7 billion budget bill Tuesday, July 31, that includes $46.2 million in funding for a new health and gerontological sciences building at Western Carolina University. The 145,000 square-foot facility that will house WCU’s educational and outreach programs in the College of Health and Human Sciences will be the first construction project on the university’s Millennial Initiative property, 344 acres of land located across N.C. Highway 107 from Western’s main campus.

There are serious problems with the energy legislation passed this session in the North Carolina General Assembly, but the bill also marks a watershed moment for North Carolina and the Southeast — this state is now the first in the region to mandate that a percentage of its electricity needs be met with clean energy sources.

What’s in a name? What about Scat?

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Maybe. Shakespeare seemed to think so at least. But what about, um, fecal matter? Would it too retain its aromatic qualities under other names?

By Katie Polonsky

I’m a firm believer that when reading a novel, you bring to it the whole of your perspective on the world. You bring hopes, beliefs, experiences, biases.

Speaking of biases, I should warn you: I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan. On July 20th , I lined up to happily endure the claustrophobia-inducing madness that was the Tunnel Road Barnes and Noble to procure my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as close to midnight as possible. I spent the hours counting down to the big moment sprawled on the floor as I worked with little concentration on a crossword puzzle, my iPod crammed securely in my ears to insure no unwanted spoilers invaded my carefully guarded anticipation. I had avoided the Internet for days, refused to watch the news, and acted as though I’d been struck with a severe case of agoraphobia.

It’s a first for the president and a first for Macon County.

Southwestern Community College Board of Trustees named the new Macon Campus after the college’s President Cecil Groves, whom they called “the visionary leader” behind the project. The name of the 27,600- square-foot building on Siler Road will be the Cecil L. Groves Center.

By David Curtis

As a schoolteacher you always wonder how your students will remember you.

“She was a good teacher, but she smelled like garlic,” was my daughter’s comment when the name of a former teacher came up in conversation.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A sudden turn of events in Haywood County’s bidding for a 22-acre tract slated for use as a park has exposed an overwhelming desire for recreation in the Jonathan Creek and Maggie Valley areas.

Has there ever been a workforce reduction at HRMC in the past 15 years, and does this workforce reduction indicate any long-term financial problems?

This re-engineering process is similar to 1993 when I first arrived. In 1993 there were different issues and work force reduction was not a necessary strategy. The changes we are now making are responding to the changing indicators of the current healthcare system.

The re-engineering process we are going through is the solution to avoid any possible long-term financial problems. Projected revenues were not realized which called for an adjustment in expenses. This was an opportunity to re-engineer the organization to achieve a higher level of operating efficiency.

What is total number of employees at HRMC? (total and full-time equivalencies)

734 FTE’s and 205 part timers, a total of 939 employees.

Has the hospital experienced a net loss in recent months?

The total excess margin fiscal year to date April was 5.18, May was 4.70, June 3.61. The monthly margins for the month of April was -2.19 and June -5.09. In view of the two months losses and the trend of decreasing margins, it was clear that changes needed to be made.

What departments were the workforce reductions in?

Re-engineering occurred in every department including nursing where a number of supervisory positions were transferred to bedside patient care. No bedside nursing positions were reduced. In fact bed side care coverage was increased.

How much of the reduction was achieved through attrition/retirement, how much was through layoffs, how much was through transferring to other departments?

There were 5 administrative positions that we were not able to place through attrition/retirement or transfers to other departments. These personnel will be given first option as the demand for new positions occur.

The press release said the workforce reduction of 36 positions resulted in only five layoffs. How significant are the savings if only five people were actually laid off?

The savings were not measured based on five employees. Savings occurred through attrition and merging positions within departments. The merging process is referred to as a re-engineering of the organization to achieve a higher level of productivity, increasing efficiency, and producing a higher level of quality. It is believed this strategy, which is used by other hospitals and industries will save approximately $ 1.6.million over a twelve month period.

Was there not enough work to go around for the existing staff, or, do these layoffs mean some departments are short-staffed?

Most of these changes were recommended by HRMC Directors. Our mutual understanding was that no changes would be made that would affect quality care. Their successful efforts to share functions and cross over departmental lines made the re-engineering process work very well.

Is the reduction connected to the overall nurse restructuring?

Ms Harris began the process in nursing shortly after her arrival in February. Administration had begun considering changes needed to enhance the delivery of patient care and services prior to her arrival. I conducted a national search to assure the highest level of expertise would be employed to produce an improved level of patient care.

At the surgery center public hearing, we heard about staff taking a mandatory day off to help save on payroll. Was this administration only or other employees as well? Did this not do the trick to save money?

A mandatory day off without pay was requested of our Department Directors. I also requested two days off without pay for HRMC Administrators including myself. Re-engineering involved a serious commitment to achieving efficiencies which should result in cost reductions. The example starts with leadership.

Is this an odd time for a downturn in patient census, during the summer months when second-home owners are in town and the population in the community is up?

We have discussed this with our medical staff leadership only to learn that volumes tend to be down across the board. Medical staff leadership has not been able to find a negative reason.

Is the lack of orthopedic services, namely no on-call orthopedists, one reason for lackluster patient census?

We have half of the on-call covered. However, covering only half call has an impact. Based on the progress we have made in our recent recruitment efforts we are encouraged that a resolve may be in the making by the end of this year.

Has the ER transition contributed to census being down?

Emergency visits this year- to- date are up by 4%.

How will the new surgery center potentially bring up patient volume and/or revenue, and does this cash-flow issue jeopardize the $16.5 million center?

Our current surgery system, although a safe one, is inefficient and cost ineffective for the hospital, the surgeons, and the patients. Demographics show HRMC has significant growth potential in surgical services that cannot be met in our current facility. Our success in delivering an efficient and cost effective surgery program is required in order to grow the organization. The surgery center, including space for additional services remains on schedule. Its successful completion is critical to sustaining a quality hospital for this community.

Will the layoff affect public support for the surgery center?

Re-engineering the organization to be accountable to the public for a well run organization, I should think is what the public expects and will support.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A bill hailed by state and local officials as a way to help pad the bank accounts of county governments may not turn out to be as simple, or as lucrative, as it initially appeared.

By Michael Beadle

So you think you’ve got singing talent? Think you have what it takes to leap and strut on a Broadway stage? Think you’re ready for the bright lights?

Young actors, dancers and singers from around the country came to Western Carolina University last week to take part in the first-ever Broadway in the Mountains camp, an intensive week-long study that featured master classes in auditioning techniques, scene study, dance, song interpretation and all aspects of a musical theatre performance.

By Chris Cooper

Ronnie McCoury: Little Mo’ McCoury

You’d be hard pressed to find a family more deserving of the title “bluegrass royalty” than Del McCoury and sons. Over the years, the group has epitomized the idea of keeping it in the family, and not for the sake of novelty. McCoury’s kids literally grew up on the road with their father, surrounded by all things musically high and lonesome, as well as anything that could be picked, strummed, plucked or bowed.

With all this in mind, it’s really no surprise that mandolinist/vocalist Ronnie McCoury would bring the many facets of the family concept together with Little Mo’ McCoury, an all bluegrass, all children’s album that has more than enough appeal to reach those of us that passed “knee high to a grasshopper” status long ago.

Tackling anyone from Dylan to Randy Newman to Woody Guthrie (and that’s just in the first three tunes) the purpose here is clear from the start — make an album that kids will love, without sacrificing musicality or resorting to the “Barney” styled goofiness that tends to plague many such projects.

Each track is introduced with a different tyke reading off the song title, and from there you get the best of all available worlds: the genetically perfect harmonies of the McCoury clan, the occasional giggle inducing (especially for the toddler set) moo or cluck or insert-barn-animal-noise-here sound effect (as on their excellent rendition of “Man Gave Names To All The Animals”) and appropriately virtuosic picking from everyone involved.

Maybe it’s kind of a cliché, but I’ll say it anyway: the key to making an album like this work is whether you can hear the players having fun in their performances, which obviously wasn’t a problem for these guys. From the call and response banjo conversation on “Mama’s Blues” to McCoury’s bouncing arrangement of “The Fox” to a perfectly lovely little take on “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (which I’d imagine will help send many little ones off to dream) Little Mo’ McCoury packs 18 tunes into less than an hour’s time, offers something engaging on each track. It’s easily the most listenable children’s album to come along in a very long time.

Pick and grin? How about pick and giggle?

Merle Haggard: The Bluegrass Sessions

If ever there’s a country music Rushmore carved into an unsuspecting mountain somewhere, Waylon, Willie, Merle and Johnny are the shoe-ins for stone-carved portraiture.

Over the years each artist has managed to dabble in multiple genres while retaining their individual personalities, whether it was Cash taking on Trent Reznor or Willie stepping into the world of reggae, or the various collaborations that brought them together, like the first Highwaymen album (albeit without Haggard) or Haggard's enthusiastic foray into western swing on his hard-to-find tribute album to Bob Wills. And each has been at the forefront of true “country” music from its very beginnings, able to create amazing music and make a difference no matter what the current climate of the genre might be.

Produced by Ronnie Reno, son of bluegrass legend Don Reno, and with a stellar cast of players assembled by the inimitable Marty Stuart, The Bluegrass Sessions strikes a fine balance between Haggard’s deep country roots and a respect for bluegrass tradition, right down to having the players cut the songs live in a circle, reacting to Haggard’s every nuance and vocal inflection.

Some of the drive and momentum of traditional bluegrass is sacrificed to better suit his delivery, but in return the listener is rewarded with much more sensitive playing from all involved, especially that of Dobro virtuoso Rob Ickes, who steals the show time and again with gorgeous fills and accompaniment — check out his moody, melodic playing on “Mama’s Prayers” and tasty phrasing during “Wouldn’t That Be Something.”

By surrounding himself with players equally at home in the worlds of bluegrass and country, Haggard makes The Bluegrass Sessions sound like a perfectly logical step. But at the core of it all is his songwriting, be it re-workings of classic tunes like “Big City” or hearing Hag take on Wal-Mart, Bush, crappy karaoke bars and pervasive American complacency on “What Happened?”

Blues, bluegrass, country ... whatever — Merle’s the man, as if we even have to be reminded of that fact. Wonderful stuff.

(Chris Cooper can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

By John Armour

If you’ve read many of these columns you know I’m addicted to politics. My spouse, among others, tells me from time to time to cut it out. You may also know I live in a restored farmhouse at the end of a half-mile gravel road in Highlands. There is a connection between those two facts.

By Chris Cooper

So, answer me this: how many people, artists especially, can maintain a vital career for 38 years and counting? Musically speaking, how many of them could possibly continue performing material from their first few albums and still manage to find new places to go with it, new colors and interpretations even after countless lineup changes, deaths, drug debacles and all manner of inner turmoil, let alone the multitude of cultural climate shifts that inevitably come with doing anything for nearly 40 years?

By Michael Beadle

Maggie Valley’s annual running event is only days away, and it looks to be regaining its reputation as one of Western North Carolina’s biggest races.

As of last week, the number of registrants for the Maggie Valley Moonlight Race was up by more than 100 percent when compared to registrations during the same period last year. Race Director Wendy Johnson and her crew of volunteers are expecting an even larger draw this year.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The woman at the forefront of Haywood Community College’s progressive new vision of sustainability didn’t come to the college to champion that cause. Her vast life experiences, though, did help to mold her desire for a better world.

By Brett Martin

Western North Carolina is rich with great literature written on the region, and there are still a few jewels that have gone largely unnoticed or are forgotten. One of these would have to be Eliot Porter’s Appalachian Wilderness: The Great Smoky Mountains that included a “Natural and Human History” by the late Edward Abbey and was published in 1973.

Haywood County experienced its best tourism year ever during the 2006-2007 fiscal year, according to lodging tax figures released by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority.

From July 2006 through June 2007, Haywood County accommodations collected more than $700,000 in occupancy tax — a 3 percent fee charged to guests who stay at a lodging facility within the county. That’s a 7 percent jump in occupancy tax revenue from the previous fiscal year and the most in Haywood County history.

By Michael Beadle

Actress Barbara Bates Smith was bound to meet novelist Lee Smith.

Back in 1985, a friend sent Barbara Smith a newspaper article about Lee Smith. Then, Barbara read another article about the writer in the New York Times. Meanwhile, another friend from Wilson, N.C., sent word that she had just seen Lee Smith give a reading and said Barbara absolutely had to meet the author.

One thing I've noticed over these years of teaching guitar lessons is the principle that not only do we all start in the same place — suddenly finding yourself in the ownership of an instrument that proves in mere seconds to be much tougher to figure out than you originally anticipated — but that many budding rock stars still want to learn the same little batch of classic riffs, regardless of the year or what's “popular” on the radio or MTV or whatever else is happening within reach of eager eyes and developing ears.

Last week Jackson County commissioners passed what is being called the strongest set of development regulations in North Carolina. They’ve set a standard for other counties to follow, and we think they’ve accomplished this in a manner that won’t hurt the home-building industry that has become so important to Western North Carolina.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

One of the driest periods in the last 118 years is prompting TVA to draw down waters on Fontana Lake to wintertime levels, a move costing boat dock owners thousands of dollars of business.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

If Dr. Rose Johnson has her way, the future campus of Haywood Community College will serve as a model of sustainable practices. The college is making it its goal to practice what it preaches.

“Our intention is to demonstrate sustainability by becoming good stewards ourselves,” Johnson says.

Sign-ups are underway for an adult soccer league in Haywood County.

The league is run by Haywood County Recreation & Parks and includes an open league and a women’s-only league.

Games will be played on Sunday afternoons at Allens Creek Park in Waynesville from Sept. 16 through Nov. 4. 

Teams can have a maximum roster of 13 people. 

Anyone who doesn’t have a team but wants to get on one can put in their name to get on a team with openings.

The registration fee is $365 per team and includes a soccer jersey for each player. Register by Sept. 5.

828.452.6789 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The 2012 Freestyle Kayaking World Cup Champion will culminate Sept. 7-9 on the Nantahala River with athletes from more than 17 countries and five continents. Competition will go from about 10 a.m. to around 7 p.m. each day. Spectators can expect shaded riverside seating, a live DJ and event announcer.

Southwestern Community College student volunteers will be hosting kids’ activities riverside near Slow Joe’s Cafe on Saturday afternoon from 1-4 p.m., including face painting, coloring and a variety of games.

There will be free live music on Friday and Saturday evenings after the competition. On Sunday, there will be a riverside awards ceremony.

Parking will be available from remote lots in the Gorge with free shuttles to and from the event site approximately every 10 minutes. Silvermine Road intersects U.S. 19/74 in the Nantahala River Gorge across from the NOC Outfitters Store.

Live video streaming will be at FreestyleKayaking2013.com.

The Cherokee Harvest Half-Marathon and 5K will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, in Cherokee.

Both races will start and finish on the stadium track at the Acquoni Expo Center. The 5K is flat and travels through the main commercial district of Cherokee. The half-marathon ventures into some of Cherokee’s communities and is also flat except for one hill at mile six.

Native Cherokee food, including pumpkin soup, awaits runners at the finish line. The first 300 registered runners will receive a swag package that includes a Nike N7 shirt, a zipped cinch bag and fleece beanie, in addition to the long-sleeve tech shirt and finisher medallion all runners receive. More than 230 runners have registered so far. Cost if $40 for half-marathon or $25 for 5K. www.CherokeeHarvestHalf.com.

A 5K race will be held at Western Carolina University at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, as part of festivities for the annual Mountain Heritage Day festival. 

A 34-acre tract along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesville has been preserved, protecting important views along the scenic road from encroaching development in the future.

The Southern Green Living Expo will offer a weekend of solution-based, interactive, family oriented events on a host of environmental topics aimed at sustainable living Sept. 14-16 in Asheville.

Hundreds of exhibitors, workshops and demontrations will show people how to live a greener lifestyle while saving money. Topics include renewable energy, alternative transportation, sustainable agriculture, green building, buying local, recycling, eco-friendly living and reducing your carbon footprint.

Vendors and exhibits at the expo will feature local businesses, nonprofits, artists, and cutting-edge products that are all working for a more sustainable environment. Demonstrations will feature the newest trends on the forefront of the green economy.

Held at the U.S. Cellular Center (Asheville Civic Center) in downtown Asheville. 828.255.2526 or www.southerngreenlivingexpo.com.

Waynesville will have compost and double-ground mulch available for pickup from 8 a.m. to noon at the town yard waste landfill Oct. 15-17. 

For compost, prices per load are $10 for a regular pickup or trailer and $60 for a tandem truck. For double-ground mulch, prices per load are $10 for a small pickup, $25 for a regular pickup, $100 for a tandem truck and $200 for a roll-off. Tandem trucks and roll-offs will be allowed Oct. 15-17 only. A limited amount of single-ground mulch will be available for $10 per load regardless of truck size. 

Cash or check only. Loads must be covered. The landfill is on Bible Baptist Drive off Russ Avenue, near the bypass on-ramp for U.S. 74. Go straight through the gate at the end of Bible Baptist Drive and see the attendant.

The sale will be canceled in case of wet weather. 828.456.3706. 

The Great Smoky Mountains Association will gather for three days of hiking, special programs and camaraderie in Bryson City Sept. 14-16.

Outings will include an early morning bird walk and a fern walk, as well as talks on the Smokies’ elk herd, nature journaling, Horace Kephart’s Camp Cookery and a live birds of prey program. There will also be group hikes.

The annual weekend gathering is for members only.

www.smokiesinformation.org or 865.436.7318.

A new farmer’s market has joined the local food scene in the mountains. The ‘Whee Farmer’s Market in Cullowhee community of Jackson County is open Wednesday night from 5 p.m. until dusk through October. All locally grown and produced plants, vegetable and eggs. It is located beside Cullowhee United Methodist and behind BB&T and Cat’s Nip Cafe in central WCU campus. 828.476.0334

Trail advocates from several states will converge for the Southeastern Foot Trails Coalition annual gathering Sept. 20-23 at Falls Creek Falls State Park outside Chattanooga, Tenn.

The conference features a packed line-up of speakers, group hikes and workshops. 

Some of the many program topics include: writing trail guides, serving as a trail ambassador, Leave No Child Inside, maintaining trails in wilderness areas, fixes for poorly designed trails, acquiring land for trails and trail protection.

Several hiking clubs and trail organizations from Western North Carolina will be attending to learn new tools and build camaraderie with like-minded hikers from more than 40 trail groups.

www.southeastfoottrails.com.

Trail users are invited to share their ideas for a comprehensive regional trail plan at a public workshop from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  Thursday, Sept. 13, at the Jackson County Library. 

In particular, the regional trail plan will identify trail needs, such as a possible Mountains-to-Sea Trail connection between Bryson City and Sylva, and help tie together the greenway visions of neighboring communities into a regional system.

“There’s always been a lot of interest in hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding in this region,” said Sarah Graham, regional planner for the Southwestern Commission. “We hope to take some of the plans already completed by counties and towns and organize them into a cohesive regional vision for future trails.”

The workshop is being hosted by the Southwestern Commission as part of regional trail plan underway for seven counties in Western North Carolina.

 Southwestern Commission, through a grant from the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation and its State Trails Program, is leading the regional trails inventory and concept plan for Cherokee, Clay, Haywood, Graham, Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties. Other workshops will be scheduled in other counties this fall. 

The plan will result in a region-wide map of existing hiking trails, greenways, mountain bike trails, and some on-road bicycle routes. It will also include recommendations, based on public input, on where new trails, greenways or routes could go.

828.586.1962, ext. 212.

A guided hike along picturesque cascades of Big Creek in the Haywood County section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be held Thursday, Sept. 20.

Photos of wildlife and special places taken by members of the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society will be shared during a special program at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10, in Highlands.

The evening will include a presentation of Ed Boos of Scaly Mountain, a nature photographer who currently has work on display at The Bascoms.

Boos and his wife Cindy have traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada photographing and filming large mammalian predators in some of the iconic Western National Parks as well as nesting behavior and rearing of chicks among birds of prey. Ed’s stunning photos and Cindy’s videos from their trips present memorable images of these special animals in their natural habitats.

They will also share entertaining stories from the extensive time spent photographing these iconic species.

Held at Highlands Civic Center. Refreshments start at 7 p.m. Free. 

www.highlandsaudubonsociety.org.

Go behind the scenes at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute during a special program held from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14.

Tours of the campus will include the new $1.3 million renovations to the Research Building, StarLab planetarium programs and project demonstrations by students, researchers and PARI staff. The hands-on evening will include the opportunity to talk one-on-one with PARI scientists.

The event, sponsored by the Friends of PARI, includes a keynote presentation by Stephen Saucier, executive director of the NC Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative.

Located in the Pisgah Forest in Transylvania County.

828.862.5554 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Jay Erskine Leutze will discuss his book, Stand Up That Mountain at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

Leutze’s book tells of his role in defending a small mountain town on the Appalachian Trail from a large-scale gravel mine operation. 

Leutze, has become a leading voice for state and federal conservation funding for investment in public lands. He is a Trustee for Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, one of the nation’s most established land trusts.

828.587.2233.