Ray Price, a country music singer, songwriter and guitarist who has often been praised as one of the best male voices in country music, will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts.

The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will host a free concert by local guitarist Pete Friedman at 7 p.m. Aug. 9 in the community room.

Joshua Aaron will host an evening of Messianic worship and singing at 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at Calvary Chapel in Waynesville.

Friends and family of Popcorn Sutton are holding a reunion from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Aug. 3-4 at the Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley.

Maggie Valley will celebrate one of its most infamous moonshiners with the third annual Popcorn Sutton Acoustic Jam Aug. 3-4.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

As Macon County officials work to create a new tourism development association, the financial picture for the Franklin and Highland chambers of commerce could change drastically.

Right now, the Highland’s chamber receives an estimated $280,000 from the county’s lodging tax and the Franklin chamber gets $180,000. However, a countywide audit two years ago raised questions about how the county was disbursing the room tax money, Macon County Manager Sam Greenwood said in a telephone interview.

“Money from the county’s lodging tax was not being distributed properly,” he explained.

All visitors who stay at a county hotel or vacation rental are required to pay a 3 percent occupancy tax. The tax, established in 1986 by state legislation, is used to promote tourism and travel within the county.

Macon County is one of the few counties that has not established a county-wide tourism development association to control the room tax money.

Instead, county commissioners currently act as the tourism association by giving the room tax money to each chamber of commerce based on where the room tax is collected.

This method, according to Greenwood, does not meet state regulations because the chambers of commerce are private organizations.

When county officials turn over the money to the chambers, those groups decide how to spend it to promote tourism and travel. Once the new committee is formed, it will oversee the distribution of the lodging tax, said Greenwood.

The old way

As it is now, the Highland’s chamber receives the room tax money from lodging businesses in three townships: Highlands, Flats and Sugar Fort. The Franklin chamber receives funding from the rest of the county lodging businesses.

“Each chamber operates differently,” Green-wood said.

Franklin’s Chamber of Commerce uses the money as grants for various organizations to promote special events. The money is also used for advertising and marketing of the area.

In Highlands, the money helps the chamber operate a visitor center and promote the town through an assortment of advertising.

Another reason for changing how the tax is allocated is because its collection has been irregular.

“A number of business were not participating and collection was spotty,” Greenwood said.

The new way

“It’s the commissioners’ responsibility to ensure funds are spent within legal guidelines,” Greenwood said.

Macon County Attorney Lesley Moxley is in the process of evaluating the permitted uses of the tax money. She would not comment on the project’s specifics.

One possible solution is to allocate the tax money to each chamber to run a visitor center, Greenwood said. The rest of the funding could be allocated to the tourism committee, he added.

“That would be an easy solution to how funds are spent,” Greenwood said.

Plans call for the commissioners to adopt a new distribution system in December, Greenwood said.

But as county officials work out the committee’s specifics, both chambers are waiting to become involved in the process.

“We don’t know what’s happening in regard to the eventual plan,” Bob Kielyka, executive director of Highland’s Chamber of Commerce said. “We want to be part of the process.”

Linda Harbuck, executive director of Franklin’s Chamber of Commerce, had the same response.

“We have not been informed on how it’s going to work,” Harbuck said. “We have recommended and asked to be included in the process of developing a committee.”

Both executive directors have gone on record stating their support of forming a tourism committee.

“The Highlands Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center looks forward to participating with the county in promoting tourism and economic prosperity,” Kielyka, wrote in a letter to Macon County commissioners on June 13.

Harbuck agreed. “We’ve expressed our willingness to join a county-wide program,” she said.

Franklin members have even proposed suggestions to county officials such as allowing a representative from the Franklin chamber be involved in the process.

Once the new committee is in place, each chamber will have six months to transition to the different type of system.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Ghost Town in the Sky has named Kevin Bailey as its new general manager effective Oct. 1.

How’s this for a political endorsement: cast your votes in the upcoming municipal elections for those candidates who support land-use planning.

By Chris Cooper

David Holt is a happy guy. In a recent phone (cell phone, no less) conversation as he strolled down the streets of San Francisco, he let me know one of the reasons why. “I just played the biggest show I’ve ever played,” he said. Accompanying that living, breathing piece of bluegrass history that’s known as Doc Watson, the previous afternoon found Holt playing the Golden Gate Park festival for, oh, about 100,000 music lovers. Which kind of beat me to the whole “favorite moments in your career” question I’d planned to ask later.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Six candidates are vying for three spots on the Highland’s Town Board of Commissioners.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

What to do with advice to give, but no audience to receive it?

That’s the dilemma facing participants of the Haywood County Growth Readiness Roundtable. The diverse group of Haywood County representatives — including Realtors, developers, aldermen, town planners, and others — has brainstormed for months at a series of workshops to create a comprehensive list of development guidelines for their community.

More than 400 acres on a mountain in Sandy Mush have been protected thanks to a special conservation fund created by the Buncombe County commissioners.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The town of Canton will experience an infusion of dollars Oct. 12 when Blue Ridge Paper workers get their cash payouts from the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

The National Park Service announced its long-awaited but much expected decision last week over the North Shore Road: don’t build it.

By Michael Beadle

Making a mess never looked so fun.

It’s Friday morning at Studio 598 in downtown Sylva, and art instructor Norma Smith is guiding several young students through a fresco workshop. These Jackson County home-schoolers range in age from 6 to 11. With paint brushes and a palette of colors, they dab and stroke and scrape and swish paint onto moistened wooden canvases. Over a few hours, maps of strange lands appear. Bright skies where the sun’s always willing to shine. A pasture where a mythical horned beast awaits. A path that leads to a dark secret.

By Sami Felmet • Columnist

My muse seems to be marred in divorce and family issues lately. I think it was about this time of year that I became a single woman again. There were some surprises along the way. Some were hard to reconcile. Others were easier.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A round of layoffs struck Evergreen Packaging (formerly Blue Ridge Paper) last week when officials cut the positions of 28 salaried employees outright and decided to eliminate 122 hourly positions through attrition.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Five candidates are stepping up to challenge the four incumbents on Canton’s town board, who are all running for re-election. For the past several election cycles, the board has gone unopposed. Two major issues are playing out in the campaign running up to the Nov. 6 election — taxes and how to help the town grow economically.

The Green Book

Looking for more ways to help save energy costs and be more environmentally responsible? Check out this helpful book from Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen. It’s chock full of easy-to-follow tips for helping save the planet from the effects of climate change. Some of the suggestions include recycling and cutting down on the use of petroleum-based products like excessive packaging. That means using canvas bags instead of the store’s plastic bags and buying blocks of cheese instead of the individually wrapped cheese slices.

By turning off power strips when they’re not being used, Americans could save $1 billion in wasted electricity. Turn off lights and other electronic devices when they’re not in use. Lower your heat or air conditioner when you’re not at work. Reuse a water bottle instead of consuming lots of individual water bottles or cups that often end up in landfills. Turn off the tap water when you’re brushing your teeth. You can conserve five gallons of water a day. Buy appliances with the Energy Star label that are more energy efficient and can save households $600 a year on energy costs. Skip gift wrapping when you can. Use newspapers or reuse gift bags and ribbons. If each family in the U.S. family reused 2 feet of holiday ribbon each year, 38,000 miles of ribbon could be saved from the trash dumps — enough to wrap around the planet. Also included in The Green Book are tons of Web sites for learning more about reducing our carbon footprint.

Michelangelo’s Seizure

Renoir. Monet. Goya. Rembrandt. Imagine their paintings and their lives on display as the thousand-word pictures we see in museums. But instead of the visual images framed in temperature-controlled rooms, what if we could capture their genius in words alone, each page full of marvelous metaphors and dizzy-delicious phrases every bit as rich as the paintings themselves. Poet Steve Gehrke takes us inside the worlds of these artists in his latest award-winning book of poems, Michelangelo’s Seizure. Part art history and part lyrical passion, these poems ponder Monet’s blindness, Magritte’s suicidal mother, and Michelangelo’s cramped quarters on the scaffolding of the Sistine Chapel. This style of poetry is known as “ekphrastic” [ek-FRAS-tik], which in Greek means “calling out.” It’s meant to describe, imitate, critique or dramatize a work of non-literary art, usually visual art. After reading Gehrke’s poems about Gericault’s maddening scene in “The Raft of the Medusa” or J.M.W. Turner’s hue-hazy study, “The Burning of Parliament, 1834,” I wonder what these painters might have thought of such imaginative verse tributes.

Place names

While researching the history of Haywood County recently, I’ve come across some interesting stories behind local place names. Haywood County, for example, was named after John Haywood (1787-1827), a long-running state treasurer and the first mayor of Raleigh. Haywood was also a founding trustee for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Meanwhile, Canton was renamed several times from Forks of Pigeon to Buford before its present name, which came from Canton, Ohio, the source of steel used to make one of the town’s bridges. Waynesville, on the other hand, was named after Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne, who was nicknamed for his brash attacks against the British during the Revolutionary War. Wayne’s namesake is found not only in Haywood County and North Carolina’s Wayne County but also in dozens of other Wayne counties, towns, roads and schools throughout the U.S. including Ft. Wayne, Indiana. This same Anthony Wayne inspired subsequent names such as cowboy actor John Wayne, Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, whose full name is Anthony Wayne Stewart.

— By Michael Beadle

By Chris Cooper

I first heard Johnny Irion years ago at a little venue in Charlotte. He was performing with his then quite pregnant wife Sarah Lee Guthrie, and the two of them exemplified everything that’s good about smart, latter day country/rock songwriting. With a collective family tree that includes names like Steinbeck and, well, Guthrie for Pete’s sake, that’s not really a surprise.

By Kathryn Sherrard • Contributing Writer

Do you like to visit a state or national park? Why? For thousands of us, it is the chance to see wildlife. People flock to see bears, elk, moose, deer, wild turkeys, foxes, coyotes, bison and alligators. Other animals that are often spotted include raccoons, reptiles and amphibians.

By Angela Faye Martin

My husband is unwittingly celebrating my month-long, albeit relative, independence from Chinese goods. He sits across from me at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in Sylva. Realizing that we chose Chinese, I remark, “you know, this marks the end of a whole month of having purchased nothing MADE IN CHINA, and it wasn’t all that hard.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A mammogram costs $200 out of pocket. A round of radiation is close to $40,000. And so far, this bill doesn’t include chemotherapy, a mastectomy, or hospital stays.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Spence Campbell, chair of the Henderson County Republican Club, declared his intentions two weeks ago to run for the 11th Congressional District seat against Rep. Heath Shuler.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Last week, John Armor, a Highlands attorney, became the third candidate to declare his bid for the 11th District Congressional seat.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

The removal of an anonymous opinion column in the Cherokee One Feather has sparked a heated freedom of speech debate among Cherokee leaders.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Bright yellow sunflowers ring the edges of Skipper Russell’s Cold Mountain Corn Maize in Canton, a memorial to his wife, Frances, who lost her battle with renal cell and thyroid cancer this February.

By David Curtis

Does time go by faster the older you get, or do we just have a better way to gauge its passing?

The dean of Western Carolina University’s Honors College hopes to replicate a successful fundraiser from a decade ago when he begins a three-day bicycle ride to Mount Mitchell to raise scholarship money for the college’s students.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Now that a site has been chosen for the new Jackson County library, the Friends of the Library have a huge undertaking — raising up to $1 million for furnishing the interior of the building.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A property transfer tax that could potentially bring nearly a million dollars a year to county coffers is meeting fierce opposition in two Western North Carolina counties where the tax will appear on the November ballot.

Rock On: An Office Power Ballad

Written by Dan Kennedy, this venture into life in the corporate music business isn’t available to the general public until Feb. 12, 2008. But that’s OK. That just means that you can go ahead and mark it down as a Valentine’s Day gift for the cynic and/or music lover in your life. Perhaps Todd Hanson, editor of The Onion: America’s Finest News Sources, says it best, “A delirious evocation of the love/hate relationship virtually my whole generation has had with the music industry. The rest of may have dreamed it, but Dan Kennedy actually lived it out in the trenches. The results aren’t pretty, but luckily for him, and us, they are hilarious.” Rock On is an easy read and a must for fans of Augusten Burroughs, Douglas Coupland and Sarah Vowell. (And if you haven’t read their stuff, just go ahead and pick it up too while you’re at it.)

Mangoes in Lemongrass Syrup

Found a Thai cookbook on the clearance rack at City Lights Bookstore one day and have greatly enjoyed working my way through it. This super easy dessert is alive with flavor and goes great over vanilla frozen yogurt. You’ll need two large ripe mangoes, one lime, one lemongrass stem bruised and roughly chopped and three tablespoons of sugar. (Note: I can’t seem to find lemongrass west of Asheville, but they do have it at EarthFare and from what I’ve found you can freeze it and it will maintain relatively well.) Halve the mangoes, remove the pits and peel off the skins. This is somewhat slippery business, so do take care. Slice or cube the mango. Zest a bit of the lime rind for decoration, then cut and squeeze the juice into a small pan with the lemongrass and sugar. Heat gently until sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool. Strain mixture from pan over mango and gently stir. Sprinkle with lime zest and chill before serving.

This American Life, Episode #218

In this episode of the classic radio storytelling production, This American Life finds that “Hamlet” endures, as evidenced by a dozen performances of the play by various theater companies in just one month’s time. However, the most notable performance is that by a group of inmates at a high-security prison who bring to life the story — one about murder and its consequences — performed by murderers living out the consequences. This is one of the best episodes of This American Life on record in my book, one that has been the topic of conversations with various people at various times, each of whom have been touched by the bitter irony and amazing lessons learned as Shakespeare connects with these inmates on the closest level. Find it, download it to your iPod, listen. English teachers of any level — take it to your classrooms, I promise your students will remember the story this go around.

— By Sarah Kucharski

On a political talk show recently, a well-known Republican political consultant spent a lot of time attacking public schools in North Carolina and the people who run them. No surprise there.

By Chris Cooper

Sharon Jones and her amazing band of funk/soul revivalists were responsible for one of the happiest musical misunderstandings I’ve ever experienced. Having seen her previous CD filed in the blues section of the local record shop, with its wholly authentic late 60’s packaging style, grainy, off center cover photo and altogether goofy back cover notes (including a visual diagram to help you learn the latest dance move that’s ‘taking the nation by storm,’ the Dap Dip) I could do nothing but feel safe in the assumption that it was a reissue of some obscure soul gem from back in the day.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

An issue that caused a firestorm of controversy for Waynesville’s current town board is rearing its head in this election cycle — and may prove to be a defining factor in how voters cast their ballots.

Our story last week about a fund that helps women pay for breast cancer testing and treatment pointed out cracks in the health care system. It’s not surprising that this situation exists, and while we hope the funding issues for this cancer program are solved, we hope — more importantly — that the health care debate that takes place every presidential election cycle will gain some traction this time.

The N.C. Department of Transportation is mulling four options for a new road in Macon County that would facilitate future development, but some members of the community wonder why a fifth option — simply improving the existing road — isn’t on the list.

Pumpkin Nut Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon each salt and baking soda

1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon each baking powder, browned allspice and cloves

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 16-ounce can of pumpkin

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Butter and flour 2 small or 1 large loaf pan

2. In one bowl, mix all dry ingredients.

3. In another bowl, mix all wet ingredients.

4. Mix with electric mixer, very well.

5. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

6. Pour in prepared pans.

7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour to 75 minutes

8. When toothpick comes out dry when poked in middle of pan, it’s done.

Source: Nina Mertens, Franklin, winner of 2006 Franklin Pumpkin Cooking Contest

Pumpkin Pie

1 cup pumpkin

1 can condensed milk (fat-free optional)

1 egg

1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

Directions

Blend and pour into a pie shell. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 35 minutes.

Source: Sheila Wilkerson, Waynesville

The benefits to private development of the Siler Road project in Macon County figured prominently in early planning documents and meetings, but were later toned down. Here’s a time line.

By Michael Beadle

Carve ‘em. Cook ‘em. Turn ‘em into glowing faces. There’s plenty you can do with this year’s bounty of pumpkins.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

A complaint filed against the Macon County School Board over questionable campaign actions has the school district in hot water with the North Carolina Board of Elections.

“Away From Her”

Based on the great short story “The Bear Came Over The Mountain” by the ever-amazing Alice Munro, “Away From Her,” adapted for the screen and directed by 28-year-old Sarah Polley, chronicles the devastation of Alzheimer’s without flinching or resorting to TV Movie Of The Week melodrama. Julie Christie is almost a cinch for an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the protagonist, Fiona Anderson, a brilliant, complicated woman who, when the movie begins, still has it together more or less, but has also reached a point where she must label which drawers contain which kitchen utensils. We stand with her husband there in that kitchen, helplessly watching her put a frying pan in the freezer. Of course, it gets worse from there, much worse, but the movie is never for a moment sentimental and does not gloss over the weaknesses of its characters or the fissures in the marriage between Fiona and Grant, played with startling subtlety and restraint by Gordon Pinsent, an actor with whom I was not previously familiar. For anyone who has ever lost a loved one to Alzheimer’s, the movie is going to ring dead true. There are few experiences I can imagine quite so frustrating and painful as watching someone you know so well and love so much crumble inside themselves, falling away from you even as their bodies remain, hollowed out, frightened, uncomprehending. “Away From Her” gets all of this exactly right. Polley is a young writer and director to watch for, and “Away From Her” is one of the year’s best movies.

Magic, Bruce Springsteen

Although I do not consider myself one of the Springsteen faithful, I do like him and consider Born In the USA and Nebraska great albums. When I read rumblings that his latest was another great album, I had to hear it for myself, and while at first I was put off a little by the very grungy mix, after one or two days of constant play as I made my commute to work, the songs really began to sink in. Now, I can hardly wait to get back in the car and drive somewhere just to here it again. Can’t say yet whether it will measure up to his best albums, but I can certainly recommend it as more than a diversion.

Scrabulous

As if we need reasons to spend MORE time on the computer, here is online Scrabble waiting for us, with literally thousands of players from around the world waiting in one of the enchantingly named virtual rooms, places called “Cloud Nine” or “The Oasis” or “Auntie’s Corner.” Brew up a pot of tea, log in, and match wits with a nice elderly lady from South Africa or a college kid from London. But be fairly warned before you venture in: After a couple of hours, this will cease to be a diversion and will begin to resemble an obsession, as you rack your brain for words that contain a “Q” but no “U.” Have fun, but do be careful, or we may wind up meeting each other at 4:30 a.m. in the “Addicts’ Attic” room.

— By Chris Cox

By Stephanie Wampler

I walked across the floor, the crowds cheering, the woman smiling as she handed me an award. Then the crowd fell utterly silent. I turned towards the camera man, smiled, and held up my plaque. It was a timeless moment, and I could think only one thing: How did I get here? No, really, how did I get here?

Brian Regan Live!

Whether you purchase this CD or simply Google Brian Regan on your computer, you will find yourself listening to one of the funniest comedians to arrive on the scene in years. Brian Regan performs riffs on everything from boarding an airplane to a cholesterol report from his doctor. Recently I ate supper with some friends whose television screen was the size of one of my large bookshelves. The computer was tied into the television, and we were soon watching Brian Regan and laughing ourselves to the brink of tears.

By David Curtis

If you are driving west along U.S. 23/74 and nearing exit 102, the Waynesville exit, you will see growing along side the road, a tree radiating a brilliant red. Chances are, you will also say something like, “Wow! That’s a nice one.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

After several years of trying to secure funding for school improvements, Swain County officials say that money generated by a land transfer tax may be the answer they’ve been looking for.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

It’s lunchtime in downtown Hazelwood, and the small area’s only parking lot of roughly 30 spaces is jam-packed. People jump out of their cars to grab a bite to eat, a haircut, medications, or a cup of coffee from the various businesses in this section of Waynesville.

By Michael Beadle

Indulge in a seven-course meal that includes roasted pheasant, foie gras and braised wild boar. Sip award-winning wines from Tuscany. Savor sushi, soft-shell crab and sake. Tempt your tongue with rich chocolates.

In his younger, more naïve hiking days, Joel Zachary found himself watching in slow motion as a bear charged toward him.