By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

As captain of the Maggie Valley police department, Jason Moody normally keeps his emotions in check. Today, though, as he leads a tour around the police department’s new building, he’s beaming.

Looking for a Christmas present? Western North Carolina is home to many outdoors organizations, conservation groups, outing clubs, nature societies and environmental non-profits in need of charitable contributions.

After a successful five-month run at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the “Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee and British Delegations,” will return to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and reopen on Jan. 3.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Officials at Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority are waiting for the go-ahead from the state to increase sewer treatment plant capacity, which could end the current moratorium on sewer hook-ups.

It marked the end of an era for North Shore Road supporters and Blue Ridge Paper Products, and ushered a new wave of progressives into office. Counties tackled tough development questions, voters said no to taxes that would have funded schools, and whispers of election fraud were heard in Swain County and Cherokee. All in all, 2007 was one for the books.

For those of us who have been beating the drum about the need for mountain communities to get serious about land-use planning, it’s been an eventful year. Not only was a lot of real progress made in 2007, but signs point to an even brighter future as many progressive candidates won seats on county and town boards throughout the region.

By Chris Cooper

Years ago I read an article in one of the many music and entertainment publications out there in which Elvis Costello laid out his ideal playlist for a 12-hour day. It was enlightening; reading the list of musical selections the bespectacled one chose for the time allotted — much of which not being what one would expect.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Sylva Town Board members are brainstorming for ways to manage Pinnacle Park, 1,100 acres of land located at the northern part of town that is widely used by locals for hiking and camping.

By David Curtis

“Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new born King.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

After 64 years, it looks like the battle over the North Shore Road in Swain County may have finally reached a resolution.

There are two ways to hike to Pinnacle Peak, which is renowned for its 360-degree views from the Plott Balsams.

By John Armour

We have two cats: Weasel, a grey female calico, and Orion, a male orange and white tabby. Orion is a big, lump of a cat, twenty pounds if he’s an ounce. He’s taught me a lesson for years that I finally realized today. He teaches by example.

Western Carolina University’s board of trustees unanimously approved proposed tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year, including increases to support operational costs for a new indoor recreation center currently under construction and to begin meeting student requests for enhanced campus health services.

A Franklin-based mining company has filed an appeal against the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources decision denying a permit to operate a rock quarry in the Tuckasegee community in Jackson County.

Christmas Eve dinner

Not the particular food, per se, but the tradition. In our home it’s Lori’s homemade lasagna, and one pan probably weighs 10 pounds because it has so much cheese, meat and pasta. My pasta-loving children get all up in the mix helping her make it and devouring a good portion of the extra — purposely included in the preparations as the eating during cooking is part of the tradition — during the process. It hits the oven when we leave for Mass, and it’s ready when we return. Lots of bread dipped in oil, perhaps a salad, and it’s a feast. My wife is carrying on her mother’s tradition, and it’s a good one. Nothing like warmed over lasagna for lunch after the Christmas morning rush to the presents.

Raking

Everyone else is done, and their leaf blowers are neatly packed away. I’ve still got a quarter of my yard to go, but I’ll take my time. Here’s one tradition I’ll keep, that of pulling out the rake and getting rid of the yard litter. Yeah, it takes forever. Yeah, I could be done by now. But I like the time outdoors, like using the retro rake, and I absolutely despise the noise of leaf blowers. I’ll be finished sometime before the daffodils start blooming.

The rush of post-holiday fitness freaks

OK, my gym is already getting crowded. That’s the pre-holiday fitness folks who are preparing for the food that seems to keep pouring in from every direction. After Jan. 1 the influx really gets huge. It’s fun to see new people at the fitness center, in the cardio area, the gym, the weight room. It’s like a party for a while. Then it ends. The one-month trial membership limps to a close. Come on, hang around this year. Here’s to hoping we’ll still be seeing each other in June.

— Scott McLeod

By Tom Jensen • Guest Columnist

John Edwards and Mike Huckabee are the most popular Presidential candidates in their own parties in Western North Carolina, according to recent surveys conducted by Raleigh’s Public Policy Polling. But Rudy Giuliani is the most popular candidate with the public at large in WNC.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

On June 1, 2007, A.J. Rowell left Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and began pedaling a bicycle across North America. Just before 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 19), the Jackson County native pulled into Sylva, seven months and nearly 10,000 miles later.

A ridgeline tract adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooking Waynesville has been saved from development, thanks to the acquisition of the property by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Frank Singleton, the spokesman for the 4,500-acre proposed Cataloochee Wilderness Resort in Haywood County, stopped by The Smoky Mountain News office to answer some questions about the planned development. Singleton said the ball is definitely rolling on the project, with announcements about retail operations set to come in the next few weeks and a public presentation planned for the end of January. He addressed public opposition to the project, the developers’ appearance at a county commissioners meeting on Dec. 17, and the involvement of Dean Moses, a Haywood County businessman notorious for questionable business dealings he made here six years ago.

By Stephanie Wampler

A thick, green sheet of moss is growing across my roof. When I first noticed it the other day, driving home, I grimaced. I thought, “Somebody’s going to have to get up there and spray it off. We’ll get rid of it, but it won’t be gone forever. Oh, no. It’ll come back, next year and the year after and the year after that.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

For more than 60 years, students have been learning at Cowee Elementary School. But with the rise in Macon County’s student population, county leaders are looking to build a new school to accommodate the county’s sudden influx of pupils.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Landfills in North Carolina should become a lot emptier due to a new law requiring nearly 8,000 restaurants to start recycling alcoholic beverage containers.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Students at Smokey Mountain Elementary and Cherokee Indian Reservation schools will be learning an important lesson about land development.

Walter Kulash, a private traffic engineer, has been advising the Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance on and off for four years on issues pertaining to the Southern Loop. Kulash specializes in “livable traffic” design and has worked as a consultant on projects all over the country. Kulash will be speaking at a presentation on Jan. 10 hosted by Smart Roads. We asked him for his take whether there’s a fix for N.C. 107 that doesn’t involve the Southern Loop.

Kinky Boots

Start the year off on the right foot with this 2005 Brit flick starring Joel Edgerton as Charlie Price, the hapless inheritor of a shoe factory, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola, the charming drag queen who sets Charlie’s world on fire with the idea for a new niche market of sexy boots. Life allows us to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, if only to learn more about our own insecurities and hidden abilities. In this case, these shoes come in the form of “two-and-a-half feet of tubular sex.” The film’s soundtrack ain’t too shabby either with soulful hits from David Bowie, Nina Simone, and James Brown. My favorite is the sassy salsa number “In These Shoes” by Kirsty MacColl.

Exercise Calendar & Stickers

While you’re making those New Year’s resolutions, try charting your progress on a calendar. Better yet, each day you work out at the gym, run, swim, bike, aerobicize or get some form of exercise, mark it with a sticker — like the ones you used to get for good work in kindergarten. It may seem silly, but it works as a motivator. Keep the calendar somewhere in the house where you’ll see it every day. I keep mine on the bathroom mirror. I like using a colorful assortment of thumbnail-sized stickers with pictures of googly-eyed bugs, butterflies, flowers and fruit. Add a little fun to your exercise goals in ‘08.

Bad President

Count down the last days of Dubya’s lame duck presidency with this handy page-a-day desk calendar featuring head-shaking Bush quotes, fun facts on countless White House blunders, lies from Cabinet lackeys, and quips from your favorite comedians about the Commander of Misspeak. Take another walk through the hall of shame that leads to the Oval Office. The trillion-dollar disaster in Iraq. How we went to war on phony and misleading evidence. Underestimating the subsequent Iraqi insurgency and civil war. Billions in military contracts missing or unaccounted for. Warrantless wiretapping that began seven months before 9/11. Denials of torture and secret prisons only to be proven true. The underfunded, ill-advised, high-stakes testing farce known as No Child Left Behind. The Katrina fiasco. Lax environmental protection. Tax breaks for the rich. Poverty rates that have risen steadily since Bush took office. A ballooning deficit ($9.1 trillion and counting). But you can bet, ol’ George is grateful for his time in the saddle as Leader of the (sort-of) Free World. In his own words back in 2004, he challenged us to hope: “I’m honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein.”

— Michael Beadle

By Chris Cooper

Looking back on the albums and/or shows (be they local, regional or major label offerings) I’ve had the opportunity to write about over the last year, two things struck me: 1) that I was lucky enough to hear all this music in the first place, sometimes even for free, and 2) that I wouldn’t have heard any of it on the “radio.” I know, that’s a pretty easy target these days. The real challenge might be finding anybody that doesn’t hate mainstream radio.

By Michael Beadle

A lawyer battling personal demons returns to a small town near Pittsburgh where a sensational crime forces him to face up to following the letter of the law — even if that means letting a dangerous criminal go free.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

“Overall, it’s been a really tough year for farming,” said Jackson County farmer William Shelton as he reflected back on 2007.

“It’s one for the history books,” agreed Bill Skelton, director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Haywood County.

The best news about the proposed Cataloochee Wilderness Resort is that it appears that from here on out, there will be at least some public disclosure on whatever progress is made. At least that is what representatives of the development group are saying, and there’s no doubt that media scrutiny will be very high.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

After investigating the actions of the Macon County School Board for the past two months, officials at the North Carolina State Board of Elections have determined that the school district violated two campaign finance statutes.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The crowning achievement of Haywood County’s bicentennial celebration is a 600-page, hardcover book that will be the first definitive account of the county’s 200-year history.

One is a new law that just took effect Jan. 1, and the other is a hoped-for statute that we believe is absolutely necessary for the continued prosperity of Western North Carolina. Both are good for the region.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

The Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail hope its first-ever executive director will be able to complete the missing lengths in the footpath that runs the breadth of the Tar Heel state.

Skinny Dip, Carl Hiaasen

This 512-page novel is a fast read that unfolds like a movie, painting a vivid picture of crime and adventure in South Florida. The story itself isn’t deep — Chaz Perrone offs his wife in an effort to cover up his ineptitude, but even at that he is a failure. However, the story’s moral comes from Hiaasen’s description of the desecration of the Everglades and the human nitwits who plunder and pillage the native environment for their own financial and political gain. He does all this using descriptive phrases such as “psychotic gopher,” characters including a hairy goon who steals fentanyl patches from incapacitated nursing home residents, and a hoard of animals from mating alligators to incontinent lap dogs. Hiaasen produces one of the blurbs of praise on the book jacket for Christopher Moore’s The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, which though it is slightly late in the season is next on my reading list.

Feist, The Reminder

Those who have seen one of the latest in the ranks of catchy iPod commercials will recogniz Feist’s big band-meets banjo dance number “1234” seemingly stolen from some trendy, ironic British musical. This album is the breakout solo for the Canadian songstress who also has worked with another of my similarly recommended groups, Kings of Convenience on their 2004 release Riot on an Empty Street. The Reminder is split about half and half with songs as equally catchy as “1234” and sinuously, delicately beautiful ballads. It’s an album that will enjoy placement in your collection as one that oft receives play.

Judd Apatow

As of late, the genius of Judd Apatow has become a verb. When a comedy is falling flat Hollywooders are making the call to “Judd it up.” It’s an effort to capitalize on the brand of dead-pan, awkwardly sarcastic humor that has been found to appeal tremendously to those who have grown tired of the sit-coms, canned laugh tracks and politically correct punch lines designed to appeal to the mass market. Apatow has been the mastermind behind recent greats including “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “The 40-Year Old Virgin,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” and “Juno” and “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” both now in theaters. You’ll also find his work on television’s long-since cancelled “Freaks and Geeks” and “The Critic.” This year has me looking forward to the release of several upcoming films with Apatow as producer. “Drillbit Taylor” stars Owen Wilson. Seth Rogen, Apatow and Evan Goldberg (also a writer on “Superbad”) jointly wrote “Pineapple Express,” which features Bill Hader and Gary Cole of “Office Space” (Lumbergh) among others. “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” brings more Apatow alumni including Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd, while “Step Brothers” partners the producer with writers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. 2009 promises the re-teaming of Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (both from “Superbad) with Jack Black in “Year One.” Ah to be a fly on the wall.

www.funnyordie.com

All that Apatow talk naturally brings me here to www.funnyordie.com. Created by Will Ferrell, Adam McCay and Christ Henchy this online comedy site is the home of the greatly famed skit “The Landlord.” It’s all homegrown comedy created from the minds of some of Hollywood’s finest and some of the greater world at general’s up and coming current nobodies. Next time you’ve got some time to waste (and a fast Internet connection) go on a video binge. And if you’re one of the 462 million Americans who still hasn’t seen “The Landlord,” make sure to remedy that situation first.

— By Sarah Kucharski

By Michael Beadle

Long before the days of microwaves and fast food meals, there was the slow-cooked stew, a Southern standard prepared in vast pots over an open fire. These stews included tender meats, fresh vegetables, secret seasonings and a day’s worth of preparations that would bring out an entire community.

There was an interesting coincidence on July 11, 2006. Thom Yorke released Eraser to mixed reviews, and the same day a band that still desperately wants to be Radiohead (that would be Muse) dropped their newest, Black Holes And Revelations.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The widening of Howell Mill Road in Waynesville will take years to complete, cost millions of dollars and displace residents who live along the thoroughfare.

The two-lane road starts at Russ Avenue next to Rite Aid, winds through a residential area, passes the Waynesville Recreation Center and ends at Business 19 close to the Haywood Community College High Tech Center. The DOT project aims to widen the entire road and install sidewalks that will provide pedestrian access to the recreation center and a turning lane that will help alleviate backups and accidents on the increasingly busy stretch.

The town of Waynesville and DOT recently agreed on Alternative 2, which calls for a sidewalk to be put in on one side of the road and a middle turning lane at a cost of $12.5 million. The other proposed alternative, number four, would have consisted of the installation of a median down the center of Howell Mill and a multi-use path separated from the road by a ditch at a cost of $14 million. At one time, the town hoped the multi-use path would be connected to its greenway system.

“The town likes Alternative 2 because of the sidewalk, and DOT likes it because it’s a million cheaper,” explained Town Engineer Fred Baker.

Additionally, Baker said, the multi-use path would have cost the town more, since it would require additional right of way to be purchased. The cost would have been $590,000 rather than the $270,000 to only build a sidewalk.

“We were really pushing to do a good pedestrian component to the road. Right now, the best we can do is putting a sidewalk in. At least there will be a pedestrian pathway,” Baker said.

The DOT will start purchasing right of way in 2009, according to District Engineer Jamie Wilson. Five residences and two businesses will be displaced. Construction will begin in 2011 and take two and a half years to complete.

“One thing that takes a long time is buying people’s property,” Baker said.

“There’s people losing their property that aren’t happy. That’s one thing DOT has to balance — the need for the public at large to be able to move about in a community,” he said.

Uprooted and moved

Eighty-two year old Laura Gunter is one resident of Howell Mill Road that will have to be relocated. Gunter has lived in her house for 31 years with Dewey, her 59-year-old mentally handicapped son.

“We hate to give it up, because it’s been home,” she said.

Gunter said she understands that sometimes these things happen, but admits it will be hard to leave.

“It would be bad to have to jerk up and move, but the state’s going to build roads eventually,” she said.

Gunter has another son in the area who will be in charge of talking to the DOT on her behalf. She says her son Dewey, though used to his surroundings, won’t be bothered by the move — and she’ll continue to care for him somewhere else.

“I’ll tend to him as long as I can,” she said.

Gunter is far from alone in her dilemma. According to Andy Simpson, relocation coordinator for the DOT, 231 owners and tenants were relocated due to DOT projects in 2006.

The DOT offers as much assistance as possible to the people they relocate.

“We have to go out and find three comparable properties to what they live in or rent,” Simpson explained from his Raleigh office. “Our right of way agents work very closely with Realtors because they know what the housing market is. We have to inspect all the properties to make sure they’re decent, safe and sanitary.”

The DOT provides transportation to look for housing, provides referrals, sets residents up with Realtors, provides information on mortgages, and pays most of the closing costs of the new property.

It’s not always possible, though, to get a property near the one that has been acquired as right of way. This is a particular concern for Gunter, who says she would miss her proximity to the recreation center, where she walks one mile every day.

“It really depends on the housing market in the area. We start out as close to their house as possible. If they’re in a subdivision, we look at that subdivision, or we look down the street or at side streets, then we go further out to find comparables. In rural areas, we can’t necessarily find other houses similar to those, and they can be up to 15 miles away,” Simpson said.

Balsam Gap Segment

This portion of the trail runs for approximately 35 miles from Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) Balsam Gap Ranger Station (milepost 442.9) to the intersection of the BRP with NC 215 (BRP milepost 423.2). Abundant wildflowers and shrubs such as rhododendron and azalea and a number of wild berry patches — blueberry, strawberry and blackberry — grow along this scenic section. It harbors northern hardwood and spruce-fir forest bird species including black-billed cuckoo, brown creeper, wild turkey, yellow-bellied sapsucker, and black-capped chickadee. Grassy Ridge Mine, an old mica mine, is visible off Grassy Ridge Overlook at BRP milepost 436.8. Spectacular views of the Great Balsam Mountains and the Tuckasegee River Valley are visible from Double Top Mountain Overlook (BRP milepost 435.3). This segment also offers excellent vantage points for watching the monarch butterfly migration.

Mount Pisgah Segment

Running from NC 215 (BRP milepost 423.2) to the BRP French Broad River Bridge (milepost 393.5) for approximately 39 miles (66 miles if following the alternative Art Loeb Trail, the only loop on the MST at this time), this high-elevation segment follows the Pisgah Ledge through the upper reaches of the Pigeon River watershed to spectacular vistas including views of Devil’s Courthouse. The alternative route, Art Loeb Trail, drops down to the Davidson River before climbing back to Mount Pisgah through the Pink Beds. The trail courses past cascades and waterfalls, conifer groves, thickets of mountain laurel, and tunnels of rhododendrons that are breathtakingly beautiful when their blossoms open in May and June. Wild turkeys and northern bobwhites roam below as common yellowthroats, white-breasted nuthatches, cedar waxwings, several species of warblers, and even a few ruby-throated hummingbirds and golden eagles fly above.

Mount Mitchell Segment

High-country hiking is excellent along this stretch which runs approximately 14.5 miles from Balsam Gap Parking Overlook (BRP milepost 359.8) to U.S. Forest Service Black Mountain Campground. In these spruce-fir forests chances are good for sighting the northern saw-whet owl, pine siskin, red crossbill, veery, downy woodpecker, golden-crowned kinglet, and a number of warblers. Small mammals and white-tailed deer, black bears, bobcats, and gray foxes roam this area. Some of the most spectacular scenery east of the Mississippi includes views of the Asheville Watershed, Potato Knob and Mount Mitchell in the Black Mountain range, and the nearby Great Craggy Mountains. This trail segment also includes a short side trail to the summit of Mount Mitchell, at 6,684 feet the highest point east of the Mississippi River.

(From the Web site http://www.sherpaguides.com/north_carolina/mountains/long_trails/mountains_to_sea_trail.html)

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Sylva Town Manager Jay Denton has resigned from his job to become the executive director of Jackson County’s Economic Development Commission, but county commissioners refused to confirm his appointment to that position when they met Monday night (Jan. 7).

Upcountry Carolina Beef Hash

5 lbs lean beef, cut up for stew

1 1/2 lbs large onions diced

1 lb butter

1-2 tbsp salt

pepper for taste

— York County, S.C., recipe

Brunswick Stew of Brunswick Co., Va.

6 hens

15 lbs potatoes

5 lbs onions

5 lbs sugar

3 lbs butter

5 lbs fatback

4 qt tomatoes

4 qt corn

1 box celery seed

1 box black pepper

1 box red pepper

— Thea Matthews

Lowcountry Boil

5 large boiling potatoes

1 1/2 lbs smoked sausages

6 ears of corn

2 lbs shrimp in the shell

Boil all in water flavored by crab boil

and serve with hot sauce.

— Vertamae Grosvenor

Kentucky Burgoo

2 lbs beef shank/brisket

3 lbs mutton or breast of lamb

6 qt. water

2 bay leaves

2 dried red pepper pods

2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. sage

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. black pepper

3 cloves garlic

3 1/2 – 4 lbs chicken, quartered

1 lb boiling potatoes

1 lb onions, peeled and chopped

1/2 lb carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cups cabbage, chopped

2 cups tomatoes — blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 large green pepper, diced

1 cup lima beans

1 1/2 cup whole kernel corn

1 cup okra, sliced

1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley

Boil meats with spices. Simmer 1 1/2 hours. Meats are boned and coarsely ground. Return meat to pot and add vegetables for stew to slowly simmer another 2 hours.

School official will use lottery proceeds to install artifical turf at the Pisgah and Tuscola high school stadiums, it was announced at a county commissioners meeting on Jan. 7.

By Michael Sanera • Guest Columnist

In what appears to be a first in Jackson County, planners from a private consulting firm have been invited to teach students at Smokey Mountain Elementary and Cherokee Indian Reservation schools. The consultant will use a one-sided curriculum called Box City that not only ignores the realities of private land ownership, but also encourages students to engage in political activity. The Box City curriculum provides students with small cardboard boxes and maps so they can plan their ideal community.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

As Shelli Milling of Georgia unpacked her minivan she watched her two sons play in the snow at Maggie Valley’s Jonathan Creek Inn parking lot.

By David Curtis

College football and presidential primary politics make strange bedfellows, but in this New Year I think they have been sharing the same sheets.

By Michael Beadle

Brad Ulrich was 10 years old when he began playing the trumpet. He’d started with the guitar but picked up his brother’s trumpet to sneak a few notes here and there.

By Chris Cooper

A few years ago there was this gangly guy with a mop of shaggy blonde hair sitting on a bench reading Beneath The Wheel by Herman Hesse. I recognized the book because a friend of mine had recently acquired a copy, and I’d made a half-hearted attempt to work my way through it.

Jackson County is almost at the end of its rope in the fight against Duke Power, but it is important that it make this final appeal. Its citizens deserve one more attempt at getting their fair share in what has become a drawn-out battle.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Tom Dowell searches a large topographic map of Jackson County for his home located along Airy Lane. He is one of the many residents whose homes may be in jeopardy if the North Carolina Department of Transportation gets its way and the Southern Loop is built.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Patricia Frisbee Meyer’s son needed help.

The mental illness he had battled since childhood stayed mostly under control, but Meyer knew the onset of a bad episode when she saw it. Meyer, along with her husband, took her son to the emergency room at Haywood Regional Medical Center that Sunday — beginning a saga in which her son was restrained for nearly 48 hours before getting the care he desperately needed.

By Angela Faye Martin

Presently, I am stalking though my local library collecting my thoughts on what I will write about in my next column when, wham! Someone across the room is getting a call on their cell phone.