To the Editor:

This is an open letter to the Jackson County Planning Board and county commissioners. Things to consider: 

• We have an existing steep slope ordinance.

• Mudslides are not covered by insurance in N.C.

• Changes being considered to make the present ordinance more “user friendly” could weaken it.

 • Finally, we live in an increasingly litigious society.

 If someone loses his/her home to a mudslide in Jackson County that might not have occurred except for a weakened steep slope ordinance, will our county tax dollars be used to defend present planning board members and county commissioners, or will these individuals be responsible for their own defense? This issue has become even more personal to me as I pay thousands of dollars to clean up a mudslide on my property that is not covered by homeowner’s insurance.

Craig N. Green

Sylva

To the Editor:

It is hard to believe it was a month ago that our little house in Waynesville burned. Through the shock, sadness, transition and confusion, two things have remained consistent in our minds. First, how very blessed we are to live in a community so caring and responsive, with friends, family, and neighbors’ support. Second, how very important it is to tell everyone how to avoid the simple, innocent act that caused the fire. Please know that I would not bother writing this if it did not seem it could help others.

Our home caught on fire from a plastic power strip, the type you plug in several devices to keep things safe. It has been explained to us that unfortunately those plastic devices, most often made in China, are not subject to the same safety regulations as those made here in the U.S. Furthermore, it is more a question of “when” it may cause a fire rather than if. The recommendation from several trained sources, both fire personnel and investigators alike, is to discard plastic strips and replace them with metal ones made in the U.S. It is a precaution well worth the extra expense.

We wish to express our deep gratitude and respect for the brave people, both staff and volunteers, that responded to the fire at our home, as well as those who tried reviving our elder kitty taken in his sleep by the smoke. You truly are a blessing to this community. We also want to thank our amazing neighbors for responding quickly, and then opening their homes and hearts to us. Thank you all for making Waynesville such a unique and special place to call home! Our house will be restored, our lifestyle simplified, and our hearts and souls left open by the grace we have received. We are grateful to be part of this community, and hope to ‘give back’ in the ways we can to support it.

Starr T. and David Hogan

Waynesville

To the Editor:

As a gun owner, parent, teacher and American, I believe that there is no legitimate reason for civilians (such as myself) to own weapons capable of firing more than 10 shots before reloading. A 30-round mag (typical of AR15 or AK47-type assault rifles) can do as much or more damage as a hand grenade.

Also:

• Hunters don’t need 11 shots in a row, unless they’re hunting wild hogs, and a couple guys with 10 rounds each will do the job.

• There are already too many assault weapons in circulation. We need to stop adding to the problem. I am not advocating the confiscation of legally owned weapons. Instead I am advocating that a finite amount of them are in circulation, as opposed to an infinite amount, growing every year.

• As for pistols, 10-shot max mag as well. Self-defense seldom requires a shoot-out.

• Civilians have no rational reason to own or use armor-piercing, incendiary and tracer ammo.

• As for the 2nd Amendment, it was written at a time when you couldn’t fire more than two bullets per minute from a muzzle-loading rifle. Our technology has far outpaced our laws.

• The NRA is a lobby for the paranoid and U.S. gun corporations. When Congress banned assault rifles some years ago, all it did was ban the import of foreign weapons, while U.S.-made assault rifles continued to flood the streets with the NRA’s blessing.

• Finally, the president needs to make it clear, that he will not go after legitimate hunting rifles, shotguns that hold six or fewer rounds, etc. Americans do have a legitimate concern about a slippery slope of once you ban some things, it’s easier to ban more things. 

I understand big boys and their toys, but these “toys” are inherently too dangerous. Weapons designed for mass killing can be and have been used for just that. It’s time to end the insanity.

Some people are stockpiling guns and ammo, and rather than “prepare” for civil war, we should be spending our time, money and energy to prevent such a catastrophe.

Look at Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan. Once a war begins, every child, every family in every neighborhood is at risk, and forgiveness is something we are all too short on. Prevention is the key to peace and stability. We need to come together as a community for our common good, not be divided for the profit of some and the paranoia of others.

 Fear can drive us insane. Yes, I want to protect my family, but taking on the sheriff’s department, the state or the feds never ends well for trigger-pullers. Prevention. Sanity.

We need to pull together as a community for the good of all our children.

Dan Kowal

Franklin

To the Editor:

I believe Macon County’s commissioners need to closely analyze and thoroughly discuss the results and proposals made in the recent compensation and classification study before any changes are made to the county’s compensation plan.

I suggest that county commissioners obtain a second opinion from another consultant on classification and compensation, prior to committing to the significant increases in employee compensation proposed by the Springsted study. Those increases could result in an annual cost estimated at between $613,000 and $1.13 million for taxpayers. Would those additional expenditures be appropriate when the U.S. economy could be headed for another recession this year?

Without question, county employees deserve competitive compensation for their services in order to maintain a stable and productive workforce. That compensation includes both salaries and benefits that should be considered together in a compensation package. Instead, Springsted has split salaries from benefits in its analysis.

As well as providing county employees with competitive compensation, it is also important to protect the interests of taxpayers by getting the best value for taxpayers’ money by not overcompensating county employees. I am not convinced Springsted’s study meets the dual goals of equity for county employees and for taxpayers.

I believe a major flaw of the study was the poor selection of the market used for establishing a new pay scale. Three of the ten North Carolina counties/cities used in the “market” are more than 200 miles away. Meanwhile local towns, nearby counties, and local private sector companies were ignored.

I am not a compensation consultant. However, I have made my own analysis of 42 Macon County jobs using salary data obtained independently. My “amateur” analysis shows some salary adjustments may be appropriate for county employees, but does not indicate the need for the massive overhaul Springsted recommends. Thus, my suggestion for a second opinion from professionals.

The announcement by Springsted that 55 percent of employees are paid below the minimum salary rate of the proposed pay grade schedule has certainly put Macon County commissioners in a difficult position. Most county employees are now wondering if they are among the 55 percent that are being underpaid based solely on Springsted’s study. I hope county commissioners take the time necessary to assure themselves the proposed increase in the county’s payroll is proper.

Vic Drummond

Franklin

To the Editor:

Recently, after a serious falling accident, I experienced medical treatment from our local health care system at Highlands-Cashiers Hospital and at Asheville’s Mission Hospital. Doctors and nurses at Highlands-Cashiers Hospital saved my life and I spent 10 days in Mission’s ICU getting well.

My treatment and care at both hospitals was, in my opinion, the best there is. Highly qualified doctors, nurses, staff and specialists in both hospitals exhibited the utmost in professionalism and impeccable care.

It saddens me to think that our children and grandchildren will never know this quality of health care. As Obamacare unfolds, we are seeing how, with this onerous law, the federal government dominates the system and we will watch as the quality of medical care declines. Government is inserted into what should be strictly a patient/doctor system. As bureaucrats in government agencies dictate how doctors and hospitals treat us, good doctors will leave the primary care profession and hospitals, especially emergency rooms, will be overrun with more patients than they are equipped to handle.  

Obamacare requires continuing higher taxes to support the increase in commitment to such things as free access to contraception, sterilization and the abortion drug Ella. As Obamacare expenses kicks in, either Medicare spending will be cut or deficits will rise. Because of Obamacare’s unrealistic mandates, businesses are opting out of providing employer-based insurance and insurance companies are raising premiums. It is estimated that families will pay an average of $20,000 annually for medical insurance under Obamacare. So there you have it for families — higher taxes and health care expense, a decline in health care quality, and the federal government dominating one-fifth of our economy.

It angers me that our Congress passed Obamacare under backroom pressure pushed on faltering members and even bribes to fund state wish lists were granted to those who continued to hold out their vote. The U.S House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill after being told by Speaker Nancy Pelosi that “we have to pass the bill to find out what is in it!” Would you sign on to any legal document, contract or even your child’s permission slip for a school trip without knowing what is in it? I don’t think so. Yet members of Congress did just that. They passed the bill and now agency bureaucrats throughout government like the Department of Health and Human Services and the IRS are writing the details of the “law” we have to follow.

It encourages me that individual states are refusing to be bullied by the federal government. Many, including North Carolina, have rejected the state-based insurance exchanges that require funding states do not have. We can hope that these sovereign states and voters will demand that Congress delay, repeal or reform Obamacare and replace it with a patient/doctor centered, non-federally dominated, market-based plan.

Carol Adams

Glenville

To the Editor:

Tourism, tourism and tourism are the three most important words to line the struggling businessmen’s pockets and the county tax collector coffers. One must ask, who were the folks in Dillsboro responsible for tar and feathering plus running the single most important revenue producing train out of the city in the first place?

Sure, there is the downturn in the economy a few years back that can be blamed for the lack of the all-illustrious tourist. However, after taking a leisurely stroll in downtown Sylva yesterday one word came to mind to describe the town: shabby. We are not talking shabby chic here, just plain and simply shabby. There was not a window that I looked in that did not need cleaning. Let’s put it plain and simple again: the windows in every shop were dirty.

So now we have shabby and dirty to describe our little town. We can now move on to the peeling paint on some very nice mill/woodwork on a few historic looking buildings, the peeling window film on a few windows, and the peeling plaster in one restaurant’s outside seating area. The window displays? What can one say other than cluttered, dusty, and lacking creativity. Nothing says I want to shop here like junky, cluttered, dusty and tacky window displays.

Once you make the mistake of entering a few shops and one restaurant, you walk out with another descriptive word: dingy. I understand times are hard; however, a few gallons of paint and creative lighting will make considerable improvements. I feel like some of these business owners have lost that pride of ownership that they surely had when they started their business.

I feel the town and the county are more interested lending money to start-up or once-failed businesses then lending money to improving the appearance of the downtown or for that matter making improvements to the downtown. They would rather spend money on a study to attract tourism than spend money on completing the paving of bricks on the sidewalks. They need a comprehensive color scheme for downtown; they need a volunteer day or two to sandblast, pressure wash, tear down (like worn out awnings and decayed wood), and paint and clean the downtown shops. This town needs a coming together, a happening, something like an old-fashioned barn rising, and leadership.

I won’t waste your time or mine in describing Mill Street. Anyone who has ever driven or had the unfortunate experience of walking down Mill Street knows exactly how to describe that place. We have the most beautiful library/courthouse in the state. Once a tourist takes a few pictures of the steps leading to the library, it is time to leave and head for the N.C. 107 fastfood alley. Harsh but true.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have time or the energy to start on the Jackson County Ghost Town of Dillsboro. Well, other than to say they got what they deserved from their greedy elected leadership. I’m all for the train returning to Dillsboro. However, I’m totally against using taxpayer dollars in bringing it back.

Frank Parrish

Sylva

Several boards and bodies will formally vote in coming weeks on whether Lake Junaluska should become part of Waynesville, form its own town or continue as a sophisticated homeowner’s association. Here’s a look at who will be weighing in and when.

SEE ALSO: Ongoing coverage

February 22: Public hearing by Waynesville leaders. 11 a.m. at new town hall.

February 26: Waynesville Board of Alderman votes. 7 p.m. at town hall. Alternate date first week of each month.

February 28: Property owner survey results announced. 7 p.m. at Harrell Center at Lake Junaluska.

February 28: Lake Junaluska task force votes. 7 p.m. at the Harrell Center at Lake Junaluska.

March 5: Lake Junaluska Community Council votes. 4 p.m. at Junaluska Welcome Center

March 8: Lake Junaluska Board of Directors votes. No time specified.

March 13: General Assembly deadline for bill to be introduced. Vote by state lawmakers by late summer.

Jackson County is no longer a banner-less government. County commissioners selected an official county flag this week from a pool of a dozen designs submitted by high school, community college and university students. The chosen design is by Southwestern Community College graphic design student Jessica Waldron.

The Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College is hosting a wild game dinner at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at the Haywood County Fairgrounds.

There will also be a wild animal calling competition for both game and non-game species.

There will be live music, door prize drawings, a silent auction and a live auction. The grand prize drawing will be a lifetime hunting and fishing license.

The dinner is a to provide the financial assistance for students to attend a southeastern wildlife conference, scholarship funds, and other opportunities. Bring a wild game dish, vegetables, or dessert. Bread and drinks will be provided. Admission is $10, or $5 with a dish, and children under 12 years old eat free.

828.627.4560.

Parkway Superintendent Phil Francis has announced that he will retire on April 1 after 41 years in the National Park Service. During his eight years at the Parkway, he faced continuous budget cuts, which reduced the number of full-time employees at the Parkway from more than 240 to 160.

The Parkway, which receives more visitors than Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon combined, currently runs on a budget of approximately $1 per visitor per year.

Francis was credited with keeping the parkway functioning during those times and working with local communities and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation to do more with less.

Francis came to the Parkway from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where he was the long-time assistant superintendent.

The gravel road leading into Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was washed out by recent heavy rains and has been closed just past Palmer Chapel.

Vandals hit an area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park known as “the Sinks” — a popular roadside waterfall located on Little River Road on the Tennessee side of the park. They spray painted pictures and profanity along the walkways, stone walls and natural rock throughout the area.

A regional trails map showing hiking trails, greenways, public lands, rivers and other outdoor recreation landmarks in the seven western counties has recently been completed by the Southwestern Commission — marking one of the first such publications for Western North Carolina.

While there’s a slew of trail maps for every occasion — national forests, national parks, wildlife game lands, privately conserved tracts, county greenways — there was no single source that amassed all the paths in one place.

The trail mapping project also had a secondary goal in mind: identifying where new trails or connections may be needed.

“There are so many opportunities to build new trails and greenways throughout the mountains,” said Don Kostelec, project manager for the plan. “Balancing the needs and interests of hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians and other users —along with finding  money to implement the plan — will always be a challenge but I think we have represented those interests well.”

Ideas from the public included everything from new paddle trails, long-distance trail connections and intown greenway expansions.

The maps can help tourism entities market recreational opportunities in their area more easily and promote the outdoors as an economic development tool.

“Say the chamber of commerce wanted to create a hiking map,” said Kostelec. “We now have compiled all the files to make that done more easily.”

The project was funded through a grant from the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation.

To gather public input on that front, the Southwestern Commission is hosting an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Jackson County Public Library in downtown Sylva for people to review and comment on the maps or point out any features omitted.

The maps can be viewed at: www.regiona.org. Comments can also be submitted online through Friday, March 1.

To the Editor:

It’s about time that the USDA finally suspended operations at Chief Saunooke’s antiquated concrete pit in Cherokee. Now is the time for Chief Michell Hicks and tribal council members to make this permanent.

Anyone who continues to cage wild animals in cheap sideshows for profit should be shut down. It is simply cruel, inhumane and totally disrespectful to the animals. Black bears in the wild require up to 50 square miles of territory, not 50 feet of concrete! 

Cherokee has changed so much from when I was a kid, and I am so proud of all the progress that has taken place. But how can a such a disgraceful practice be allowed to continue? My blood is not full Cherokee, but I was taught to respect all of God’s creatures, and the bear spirit is among the most sacred. It is to be revered, not caged up for tourists to snap pictures of while it paces back and forth in misery. 

Please do the right thing and shut down all of these horrible zoos. We should not need PETA to point this out.

Mylan Sessions

Clyde

To the Editor:

The article about the upcoming decision regarding possible annexation of Lake Junaluska by Waynesville in the Feb. 6 issue of The Smoky Mountain News included a statement that “... Lake Junaluska property owners have had ample opportunity to voice their opinion at public meetings ....”

While there have been public meetings at the lake, it would not be accurate to conclude that many property owners have had a chance to voice opinions. Most, if not all, of the meetings have been after Labor Day when many property owners are no longer at the lake. My guess would be that no meeting had even 100 of the almost 800 property owners in attendance.

When the property owner survey comes out, we will be voting “no” on annexation for the following reasons:

Ï• Lack of complete information as to why this is a good move for Junaluska. The minutes of meetings do not provide enough information. In addition, I sent four questions to the executive director last November. One question called for numbers/dollars. To this date, my question has not been properly answered. The information sought is information that a property owner should be provided upon request.

• If we go with annexation now and it turns out to be a mistake, then we are more or less stuck with that choice. There is little if any chance of undoing annexation once it occurs.

• If we retain the status quo and it turns out to be a mistake, then we still have all of the options before us that exist now.

• The important thing is to make a good decision, not a fast decision. If the decision will truly affect the lake for the next 100 years, then waiting another two years should not be a problem.

• Finally, the overriding question remains: why? We have never heard a good reason for annexation. Just because a committee comes to that conclusion does not make it so.

Thanks for your coverage of the annexation question. We have heard very little information from the city side. It will be interesting to see the commissioned report once it becomes available. It may convince property owners that annexation is in the best interest of the lake if indeed that question is addressed. If the study is only on feasibility and not best interest, then the study might not be of much use to us property owners.

Walt Logan

St. Petersburg, Fla.

To the Editor:

Thanks for standing up to the governor in your column about our state universities (“Majoring in philosophy? More power to you,” SMN, Feb. 6). Even those of us who earned technical degrees appreciate our universities as more than just factories to produce employees. In the U.S., we cherish diversity.

One point overlooked in your editorial was that no school — university or trade — can fill jobs that don’t exist. In the robust 1950s and 1960s, manufacturing represented 28 percent of our gross domestic income; today, it is under 12 percent. What is left for U.S. workers is mostly financial and service jobs. So, governor, it wasn’t the universities that failed us, it was the leadership of American manufacturing that sold out for a boost in stock value.

I propose that we turn the tables on the governor and judge his performance by the same yardstick. He talked a lot about jobs in his campaign. If he can bring the textile industry back to North Carolina as it was years ago, he will be a hero. We might even make him governor-in-perpetuity. But if he can’t, he’s just another talking head.

So what will it be, governor? Are you up to leading us back to full employment?

Frederick (Rick) Bryson

Bryson City

Life Share of the Carolina’s and a local organ donation recipient are hosting a Transplant Party to celebrate the lives saved through organ donation from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 16, at Main Street Perks in downtown Waynesville.

Waynesville resident Rachel Tucker received her heart transplant 11 years ago on Feb. 13 after being diagnosed with a condition known as viral cardiomyopathy. The event aims to raise awareness for the need of organ donation and encourage people to become donors as well as raise funds for Life Shares through a silent are auction. Battle Victorious, Michael Pilgrim, Kryss Dulla, Cyndy Tippett, and JANSML will provide live music. It is free and open to the public.

The Fine Art Museum will host a “Third Thursday” reception for a new exhibit, “Critology,” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at Western Carolina University.

The fundraising race is on among several business and civic leaders in Haywood County who are competing for the title of Mardis Gras King and Queen in the annual Haywood County Schools Foundation benefit.

Stage and screen students from Western Carolina University will perform the classic drama “Rashomon” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, through Saturday, Feb. 23, in the Hoey Auditorium.

The Broadway Musical “I Do, I Do” is coming to the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and 16, and 3 p.m. Feb. 17.

A whole lot of residents and business owners are excited — and that’s putting it mildly — about Ghost Town’s May 25 re-opening. It’s probably the most anticipated business event in years in Haywood County, and there’s good reason to believe that the additional tourist traffic will have a positive economic impact on the entire region.

By Brent Martin

The most popular subject of conversation in mountain communities today deals with the hollows and ridge tops of Appalachia being filled to capacity with gated and mysterious wealth.

Who is he:

Tobias Miller, who lives near Sylva, was honored this month as the 2006 employee of the year in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Miller is the trails foreman for the North Carolina side of the park. That makes him responsible for a 400-mile trail system and a couple dozen backcountry campgrounds. Before coming to the Smokies, Miller was a trail crew leader in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Motorists sporting Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park license plates have helped the organization top the $1 million fund-raising mark since the inception of the specialty license plates in 1999.

“Ghost Town is one of the biggest things that has happened to the western end of North Carolina in many a day. It has proven a giant boost to the economy of a people long hampered by a natural terrain that made farming mostly impractical and by transportation problems that, until lately, didn’t allow much influx of big industry.

A Homecoming, Of Sorts (whilst never leaving Main Street)

I’ve lived in WNC for nearly four years now. I’ve written about the musicians and venues around here. I’ve poked a little fun at Sylva and Cullowhee but taken an outsider’s view of the town’s merits when some of the locals inevitably complain of its shortcomings. And for the most part I’ve tried to at least appear as though I fit in to some degree.

But it wasn’t until sometime last Friday morning, as I rounded the corner and began my descent down the old courthouse steps that I looked out over the stoplights and rooftops and felt something kind of strange. As the town maintenance guys pounded and jack-hammered at the fountain, the cars rolled through from Dillsboro, dogs barked from a hundred little yards and a hundred little houses, I got the unsettling sensation that I was “home.” This is coming from a guy who’s spent an inordinate amount of his life wishing to be almost anywhere but where he happened to be at any given moment.

When I wander down Main Strett, past the windows and shops and passersby I realize that I recognize more faces than I ever thought I might. Seems I can’t seem to go within 50 feet of Guadalupe café without stopping to chat with someone about, well, anything. It’s usually Luke Webb playing the role of “someone.” Coffee Underground has a whole gravitational pull of its own, let alone what’s quickly become my favorite menu on the block. Who would’ve thought that eggs and avocado could make such sweet music together? Mill and Main sure has a knack for crafting a fine martini, much to my concrete laden head’s chagrin the next morning. Mr. Menze is a fixture at the gallery steps, photographer Matthew Turlington is perpetually either coming or going, and now that the familiar rumble of the air conditioner on the corner that used to belong to Bay has returned, everything seems (and smells) a little more “right” around here.

Maybe it’s that I was mostly oblivious to the fact that over time I had developed some real friends around here. In an instant, from atop that daunting mountain of steps, the focus that labeled most everyone as “acquaintances” shifted just enough to reveal living, breathing people with lives and stories and the whole nine yards. It never ceases to amaze me just how much you can get back when you’re willing to put a little in.

Now if only we had a good Thai restaurant around here...

— By Chris Cooper

By Chris Cooper

If a band stays together long enough, it’ll probably morph into something a little beyond its starting point. At least, that’s the idea. With King Wilkie, this evolution involved letting the straight bluegrass roots of their beginnings fall away in favor of a more truthful, colorful representation of who they are.

By Michael Beadle

There’s a dance of light in a work of glass. Move around the piece and it changes color as if it were alive.

After being closed for five years, a North Carolina icon, Ghost Town In The Sky, is re-opening on May 25.

• Ghost Town in the Sky first opened its doors to the public in June 1961. Construction began in September 1960, with the extensive removal of 70 feet from the mountain top for the western townsite. Thousands of yards of dirt were moved to create room for the three additional townsites.

Businessman R. B. Coburn, who was inspired to build a park with a western theme after visiting several ghost towns in the American West, conceived Ghost Town in the Sky.

Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town “The Movie” will premiere at the Eaglenest Entertainment Center in Maggie Valley at 7 p.m. on June 2.

By Michael Beadle

Before you ask the most obvious question – why? – remember, it’s not a race or a sudden urge to drop out of society so he doesn’t have to pay his bills.

Like the bumper sticker reminds us, “All who wander are not lost.”

By Stephanie Wampler

One morning in early spring, I woke up before anyone else and went out on my porch. The air was cool and clear, the thin morning mist was a veil over the grey trees of winter. A soft green had spread across the ground. In my flowerbeds, daffodils and crocus were blooming, and in the corner of the yard, a golden forsythia drooped under its load of blossoms. The woods were quiet with a few birds here and there tuning up for the morning. I sat quietly on the rocker, not even watching, really. I was just there, part of the morning.

The road, it appears, stops here. Now, elected leaders and citizens must demand a timetable for the $52 million settlement due Swain County.

By John Armor • Guest Columnist

There are certain categories of ads on TV which offend me, and no doubt you, whenever they appear. There are the impotence ads. (Known as “E.D.” to its friends.) Plus the constipation/diarrhea ads. Plus the mobility (scooter) ads. The implication is that older men can’t get it up, can’t get it out, or can’t get it moving. Throw in the Alzheimer ads, and we can’t remember whether we’ve done any of that.

“It’s well past time to bury this boondoggle and resolve the issue in this positive way for the park and the people. The ‘Road to Nowhere’ has been a dark cloud over the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the nearby communities for more than three generations. Anglers will still have some of the best streams in the East to fish, and hikers will have some of the best trails and wild country to roam — without the din of highway traffic nearby. The community will get a much-needed economic boost to make the best choices for investing in its future. ”

Memorial Day with a soldier

He’s just a kid, 23 year old I think, dating one of my young cousins. My brother, a veteran who is 51, and I stood against the privacy fence at a weekend cookout in Fayetteville drinking beers and listening to his stories from two tours in Afghanistan. The scenes he talked about in an almost off-handed way were of violence and gore of the worst kind, maimed bodies and women and children blown to bits by bombs. He extended his enlistment for five years while in Afghanistan, and he’ll head back in November. These are the defining, formative times of this young guy’s life. He was a polite, not-yet-shaving boy from a farm in Idaho who loves to hunt and fish, and he already has a lifetime of horror stories from war. He never voiced his opinion of the politics of the war, just of doing his job and of the camaraderie with the guys in his unit. He let it slip that he’s having trouble sleeping since he’s returned. He’s the face of this war, now, for me, one of the young men who might make it back or might not.

All the roadrunning

Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler — of Dire Straits fame — put together this disc last year, and it’s worth adding to your collection. Central Elementary School Principal John Sanderson gave it to me before Christmas, but I’m only just now getting around to really listening to it. Both of these artists have made careers of producing great music not just by themselves but by working with other musicians, and their ability to blend styles is evident on this collection. Knopfler’s understated, almost mundane singing and inspired guitar playing work well with Emmy Lou’s near-perfect vocals. There are no great songs here, but they are all very good and get better with each listen. The most memorable is easily “This is us,” a scrapbook of poetic memories from a marriage. Old musicians making quality new music is a good thing.

Coming home

Every time I go down east, approaching the mountains gets me excited. As soon as I can see them down by Marion I get excited. By the time I’ve passed Old Fort, I feel like I’ve arrived. I was a military brat who moved frequently as a kid, but I’ve found home. It’s more a feeling than anything else, an emotional tie to a place. Most people probably know it from an early age, and I envy those folks. It took me a while longer.

— By Scott McLeod

By Chris Cooper

John Prine and Mac Wiseman: Standard Songs For Average People

John Prine just sounds like a nice guy. You can almost hear the side of his mouth curl into a grin as he finishes a line, even on a sad little waltz like “The Blue Side Of Lonesome.” He’s also not a “singer’s singer,” he doesn’t belt it out and wow you with his pipes. But for most of us that’s another reason to love the guy, because what he does with what he’s got is always so satisfying and genuine. Joined here by bluegrass troubadour Mac Wiseman, Standard Songs For Average People collects 14 songs, some well known and some not, for these two remarkable singer/songwriters to interpret however they see fit.

You get anything from the brushed snare and tinkling piano nostalgia of “Old Cape Cod” to the world-weary storytelling of “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine,” both endowed with gorgeous backups from the Carol Lee Singers. You’re also afforded the opportunity to hear these two artists having fun with each other, trading verses with an almost conversational quality that masks some of the fact that this is a studio recording, not an impromptu songwriter’s jam among friends. The acoustic guitars are warm and woody, the vocals sweet, and the arrangements impeccable in their simplicity. It can’t hurt to have a virtual laundry list of fine players contributing to the project, with Tim O’Brien on banjo and mandolin, Del McCoury bassist Mike Bub and multi-instrumentalist/session man extraordinaire Pat McLaughlin on just about everything else with a string on it.

Swinging, two-stepping and tear-in-the-beering its way through just over an hour, Standard Songs For Average People is just the right thing for when you’re just a little blue, and these guys are just such characters on the microphone that it’s hard not to crack a smile after a while. This is an album that draws from many traditional American country sounds, from the mountains way down to Texas. Add to that the caliber of musicians delivering the material, and all you’ve left to do is cue up “Saginaw, Michigan” and turn the volume in a general “up” type direction.

Various Artists: Texas Hoedown Revisited

Fiddle tunes have served as a kind of boot camp not only for budding fiddlers but for many bluegrass mandolinists and guitarists alike. Doc Watson made a name for himself by adapting many such songs to the guitar’s repertoire. With County Records’ recent re-release (with the prerequisite bonus material) of 1965’s Texas Hoedown, you get to hear a few of the lesser known Texas fiddle practitioners; Benny Thomasson, Bartow Riley and Vernon Solomon. Thomasson gets the majority of the aural real estate here, sawing his way through half the CD on the classics “Ace Of Spades” and “Lady’s Fancy,” as well as some more obscure picks like “Killie McCrankie.”

Things almost veer into the realm of swing when Vernon Solomon tackles “Beaumont Rag,” accompanied here by chopping guitar and loping piano from his two sons, only 13 and 16 at the time of these recording sessions. Listening to the performances of all three fiddlers is a lesson in the appreciation of expression and technique inherent in the instrument, with Thomasson going pizzicato in the middle of “Black Mountain Rag” or Solomon’s exceptionally smooth bowing and intonation on “Red Apple Rag.” Riley gets some quick legato runs and a few blue notes in “Grey Eagle,” and in all, though Texas Hoedown Revisited is whole bunch of fiddle to consume in one sitting, it’s an enjoyable meal.

This re-issue as well includes some unusual tracks and live material- Thomasson’s “Star Waltz” is a pretty little tune that suffers a bit from wobbly intonation. He and an unknown group of accompanists get the last word here with live performances of “Forty Years Ago Waltz” and “Golden Eagle Hornpipe,” complete with wind noise in the microphone and the occasional chuckle from an audience member. Taken as a whole, though, Texas Hoedown Revisited surely succeeds in its goal: unearthing 24 tracks of fine Texas fiddle music from three of its best players.

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

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

With vigorous hip pops and shimmies, members of the Sidra bellydancing group are sending small metal coins and beads flying. The costume decor rolls and bounces across the hardwood floor and the dancers smile, knowing that while it will take hours to sew each of the tiny adornments back on, all that shaking makes for a great show.

To the Editor:

Just over five weeks ago a mentally disturbed 19-year-old young man went into a school in Connecticut and slaughtered 20 young people and 6 adults. Mentally disturbed people caused similar incidents in the last few years, including the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Gifford, the death of the soldiers at Ft. Hood in Missouri, and the people in the movie theater in Colorado.

On the day the 20 first- and second-graders were gunned down, 4,200 innocent unborn babies were also terminated. That was a total of 4,220 very young people who died that day. The difference between the deaths of the 20 young kids and the 4,200 unborn babies is that the 20 kids had loving and caring parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents. Not so the other 4,200 unborn babies. This same thing happens 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year for a total of about 1.2 million unborn babies a year. That has been going on since 1973. For 40 years would be mothers have been doing away with their babies for whatever reason. Some abortions are necessary and required to save a mother’s life and they are totally justified. The majority are not.

I knew a young girl who got pregnant and her comment was, “I made one mistake but I am not going to try and cover that up with another mistake.” Any girl who gets pregnant has three options: abortion, adoption and keeping the child. There are millions of families who would be happy to adopt a child born in our country. Making a mistake is one thing, but compounding it by making the second mistake is wrong.

There are many ways to prevent pregnancy. Why do women young and old choose not to either take the pill or have the boyfriend use a condom? Condoms also prevent some nasty diseases like herpes, AIDS, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

When I was a kid we had prayer and the Ten Commandments in schools. On the wall we had the Pledge of Allegiance. Abortions were nearly nonexistent since they were illegal and murders happened infrequently. When they took prayer and the Ten Commandments out of our schools the moral decline quickly followed as an end result of this attack on religion and the Ten Commandments. Using the name of God in a public school was banned. This is a great example of the unintended consequences of the actions of some American anti-religious “zealots.”

Jim Mueller

Glenville

To the Editor:

Thank you for your excellent reporting on the consideration to a change in the development rules in Jackson County. The economy is not a reason for a change in the rules. Once a mountain is changed there is no reversal possible. In recent years there has been severe damage to the mountains of Western North Carolina. If anything, it has been too easy to decimate the mountains in exchange for big money. The recent heavy rains have identified some of the results of our irresponsible development.  

Unless we change our attitude toward the maintenance of these lands, future generations will pay the price for the damage. Your paper has made reference to a report by the forest service regarding our forests and water and how the changing land use will impact our future. It should be required reading by our land planners and government officials.  

Thomas Moore

Waynesville

Angler and Sylva native Josh Stephens recently earned a silver medal in team competition during the National Fly Fishing Championship in Bend, Ore., as a member of one of the Team USA squads competing.

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park was recently awarded $2,000 from Sustainability for Generations to Come, a Western North Carolina organization formed to support conservation efforts in the mountain region.

28 Western North Carolina farmers received nearly $150,000 total in grants to help diversify their farm businesses. The money was awarded by WNC AgOptions grant program, which is funded through the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

Most of the awards were $6,000, given to farmers undertaking projects that are unique to their counties or innovative for agriculture nationwide. Joe Ward, one of the recipients, in Jackson County is establishing a no-till planting system in an area where few farmers use this method. In no-till fields, soil erosion and runoff are decreased.

A grant also helped sustain several significant farms, such as a Bethel Valley farm that has been in the family Joseph Cathey for more than 200 years. Grants include:

• Macon County, $6,000 to Rabbit Creek Bee Company for pollination services.

• Haywood County, $3,000 to Walnut Cove Farms Sustainable for vegetable production.

• Swain County, $6,000 to Balltown Bee Farm Pizza Love for a mobile pizza-making oven.

• Swain County, $6,000 to Van Winkle Farm for shiitake and goldenseal production.

• Jackson County, $6,000 to Ward Farm for a customized Kinze row planting system.

The U.S. Forest Service may increase, or begin charging, fees at seven recreation sites within the national forests in North Carolina. The Sliding Rock Recreation Area, within the Pisgah National Forest and three shooting ranges in the Nantahala National Forest are some of the areas being considered for the increase.

At Sliding Rock the daily fee would increase from $1 to $2 to provide expanded hours for lifeguards and pay for the maintenance. In Nantahala, all three shooting ranges will begin charging a standard $3 daily fee per person, instead of per vehicle charge. The annual fee would also change to $25 per person.

All proposals will be presented before a citizen’s advisory committee at meetings this spring which are open to the public. If approved, the Forest Service will implement the fee changes later in 2013 over a two-year period.

Comments can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. through Feb. 28.

828.257.4256.

A free program on “The Business of Growing Hops” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Haywood Community College.