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Registration has begun for the “Dream Big – Read” summer reading program at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City and the Macon County Library in Franklin.
The programs start on June 4 with different events for all ages.
The theme for this year’s teenagers is “Own the Night.” There are a variety of programs for children from preschool to high school seniors. All participants will receive a reading log to record their books. Prizes will be given at the end of the program in July. 828.488.3030 or 828.524.3600.
Jackson County Visual Arts Association will present two workshops on book arts from 9 a.m. to noon on June 2 and 23 at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
Phyllis Jarvenin will teach “Introduction to Book Arts” on June 2 and “Long Stitch Binding” on June 23. There is a fee for materials, but no experience is required. Jarvenin describes long stitch binding, “the signatures (groups of folded pages) of the book’s text block are stitched directly to the cover material along the spine. The long binding stitches are exposed, and the text pages are open fully when the book is finished.”
828.337.3468.
The Jackson County Arts Association will hold an artist reception as part of “Sylva After Dark” from 6 p.m. to 9.m., June 8, at Gallery 1.
At the event, visitors can walk through the streets of Sylva and enjoy a night of arts, dining, music, refreshments, shopping and more. The reoccurring event is held during the first Friday of each month from May to December.
Gallery 1 will have an exhibit called, “The Peep Show: New Works for Spring,” where the public can enjoy light refreshments as they meet artists Tim Lewis, Robert Clayton, Perry Kelly, Joe Meigs, Daniel Murch, Tadashi Torii, Corina Pia and Jim Smythe. The gallery will also display artistic expressions from participants of the recent “Healing the Heart through Art” class.
828.337.3468.
The 10th annual Gourd Artists Gathering and Art Festival will be held at the fairgrounds in Cherokee from 1 to 4 p.m. on May 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 1 and 2, and 9 a.m. to noon on June 3.
The festival has attracted a large amount of interest from artists and organizations worldwide, and this year’s theme is “Celebrating the Gourd Life.” Hundreds of artists from around the country will be meeting to share ideas and experiences about gourd art and techniques. There is no admission fee to attend the festival, but there will be classes with a small registration fee. Visitors are encouraged add their own artwork to gourds that will be auctioned. The auction will take place at 8 p.m. on June 2. There will also be a musical instrument project that includes constructing and decorating a gopiyantra, which is an instrument with a gourd drum from India and Bangladesh.
The Leapin’ Frog Gallery in Waynesville will host a workshop on mixed media abstract collages from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., June 9.
Local artist Silvia Cabrera Williams will teach participants how to create a mixed media abstract collage. Williams has been an artist for several years and will be featured in an upcoming publication by North Light Books called A Walk Into Abstracts.
There will be a $35 fee to attend the workshop. Pre-register.
828.456.8441.
A World War II exhibit from the Museum of Military Memorabilia in Naples, Fla., will travel to Franklin in June.
The mini-museum will be open to the public in Franklin’s Tartan Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 6 through June 8 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 9.
Greg Garcia, the curator of the collection, will showcase everything World War II from weapons and uniforms to an authentic Army Jeep. A movie presentation of “The Last Bomb” and “The Japanese Surrender” will play at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on June 6 and June 8; 2 p.m. on June 7; and 11 a.m. on June 9. Ted Logan, author of Jump Damn It Jump, will sign books and speak to visitors about his experiences as a World War II pilot at 11 a.m. on June 7.
Admission to all events is free. Any donations received will go to the Macon County Historical Society Museum.
“Thunder On the Parkway,” a new motorcycle ride from Gainesville, Ga., to Maggie Valley, will take place from June 8-10.
The ride will follow part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and end up at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. There will be vendors, a magician, lots of music and a bike show.
All proceeds will go to “Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway,” an organization dedicated to preserving the parkway.
A large part of the event will be a “Battle of the Bands” competition. Up to 20 artists will be selected to participate with an entry fee is $25 per band. The winner will receive a cash prize and a spot as the headliner for Saturday night.
Haywood County Arts Council’s will host an artist reception for its new exhibit, “Celebrating Appalachia,” from 6-9 p.m., June 1, at Gallery 86 in conjunction with Waynesville’s Art After Dark.
The new exhibit will be display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 31 to June 30, at the Main Street gallery in Waynesville. It will feature musical instrument maker, Molly McCurdy, in the gallery from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 2, and it will include pottery, basketry, weaving, blacksmithing, and woodwork by more than a dozen Western North Carolina artists.
The Cherokee Voices Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 9 at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
All are welcome to come attend,and meet with Cherokee people and learn about their history and culture. This year’s festival kicks off the 250th anniversary of the journeys of Timberlake and Ostenaco. Visitors can meet Ostenaco and Timberlake and watch the Warriors of AniKituwha present the dance that greeted Timberlake when he arrived in the area.
The festival is a free event sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. There will be more than 25 demonstrations of traditional Cherokee arts and crafts. Food and drinks will be available all day by Harvey and David’s Catering.
www.cherokeemuseum.org or 828.497.3481.
Catch the Spirit of Appalachia awarded the Elmer and Irene Hooper Civic Leadership Scholarship to Autumn Skye Baird.
The scholarship was established in memory of Elmer Hooper by his wife Irene Hooper and Catch the Spirit of Appalachia. The fund provides financial support for students from Jackson, Macon, Haywood and Swain counties in North Carolina.
This year, the committee selected Autumn Skye Baird from Blue Ridge School in Glenville. She has demonstrated excellence in volunteerism and leadership and is committed to making a difference in the community.
Autumn has worked with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, in nursing homes, with the Cashiers Humane Society, with the Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad and in her church, among other places. She is a takes part in many activities, including the Beta Club, Interact Club, Student Government, Debate Club, Student Ambassador, Upward Bound and is the senior class president. She is heading for Western Carolina University to major in Forensic Science.
The Haywood County Quilt Trails project is bringing tourists to Haywood County with the colorful display of traditional quilting patterns.
The Quilt Trail joined several other trails in Western North Carolina in November 2010. That made WNC the largest concentrated area of quilt trails in the nation. The trails give tourists an opportunity to see rural areas that they would not have seen before. Vacationers are traveling to Clyde, Canton, Waynesville and Maggie Valley to see bright quilt squares while getting a taste of the heritage as they explore the county, according to the county Tourism Development Authority.
Haywood County has 14 squares, with about 9 more going up in the coming weeks. A walking quilt trail is planned for Downtown Waynesville.
The Midtown Men will take the stage at The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m., June 2.
The Midtown Men are made up of Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, David Reichard and J. Robert Spencer — four members from the original cast of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys. The concert will feature top hits from the 1960s and 1970s. They will do renditions of the hits by the Four Seasons, Beach Boys, Four Tops and The Beatles.
Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased online or at the theatre’s box office in Franklin.
www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.
The Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts will welcome two comedy acts to its stage at 7:30 p.m., May 31.
Jimmy Travis and comedy duo Bean and Bailey will offer good, clean, wholesome fun for audiences of all ages. Tickets start at $12 each.
Travis mixes comedy and music. His special blend of humor relates to audiences of all kinds. His clean and refreshing performances are family-friendly, and since he frequently interacts with the audience, no two shows are ever them same. Travis has performed in all 50 states and made more than 50 national television appearances on such networks as Odyssey, The Family Channel, TNN, The Inspirational Network, and NBC.
Bean and Bailey also have a clean, family-friendly comedy act that includes everything from stand-up comedy to songs and musical parodies. Bradley Bean, who is organized and conservative, and Jackson Bailey, who is random and free-spirited, have been performing together for more than 12 years. They have entertained audiences all across the US and Canada, sharing spoofs on such topics as Walmart Greeters, doughnuts, and Elvis Presley.
www.GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.
Smoky Mountain Brass Band will perform a free concert at 2 p.m., June 2, on the lawn of the historic Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville.
The group is a 30-member brass band conducted by John Entzi, a trumpet professor at Mars Hill College. The band has presented great concerts for music lovers throughout Western North Carolina for thirty years. The band performs marches, British band music, jazz and swing favorites, hymns and pop selections.
By Paul Clark • Contributing Writer
A village that attracts residents because of its spectacular beauty has attracted a film festival that celebrates mountain splendor and exploration.
Mountainfilm in Telluride, one of the country’s oldest film festivals, is bringing its 2012 documentaries to town for an event that raises money for the Cashiers Village Council and its work making Cashiers a beautiful place to live.
Curated from the Mountainfilm in Telluride’s Memorial Day Weekend festival in Colorado, these are films of outstanding physical beauty, of icy rivers, flower-carpeted meadows, white-capped mountains and people climbing them, biking through them and parasailing over them. Buddhist prayer flags flutter against impossibly blue skies, and haunting music provides the serenade.
“They say these are ‘movies that matter,’” said Jim Sibley, executive director of the Cashiers Village Council. “The message that each movie is telling inspires people to improve their surroundings. The beauty is that in watching them, you are entertained. Without even knowing it, you are moved to do good.”
The festival is an excellent fit for Cashiers, he said, because of its natural beauty, world-class trout streams and hiking and biking.
The Mountain Film Festival 2012 will occur over two nights, each of which will have different lineup of films. Ranging in length from five to 20 minutes and totaling about 90 minutes each night, they’ll be shown on the sculpted hillside behind Tommy’s Coffee Shop, a business near the intersection of U.S. 64 and N.C. 107 in the center of town. The backdrop to the large movie screen will be Whiteside Mountain, behind which the sun sets.
“It’s a pretty incredible site,” Sibley said. And it’s a pretty cool thing for Cashiers, too, evidently.
“Film festivals are a great way to publicize a city,” said Jack Sholder, director of the motion picture and television production department at Western Carolina University. “It raises the profile of Cashiers and brings a little culture to the area. There is glamor associated with films. They create a lot of buzz.”
The films are a collection of documentaries that capture the spiritual and physical power of mountains and the people who do great things in them. Power and empowerment are the hallmarks of the films selected by Mountainfilm, a film festival started in 1979 by mountain climbers who climbed by day and watched films about mountains by night. The festival there evolved and has come to include explorers, environmentalists, artists and activists, photographers and filmmakers.
Mountainfilm came to Cashiers three years ago at the behest of a private developer. Steve Zoukis hosted the event because he believed the kinds of people the films would attract – younger people active in the outdoors – were the type who would buy the clever, highly designed cottages he wanted to build at Cashiers Village.
“The event was really well received,” Zoukis said. The audience included people from outside Cashiers, including some filmmakers. The films ran the gamut of outdoor adventure and adventure travel and included one about some older barbers from North Carolina’s coast who spend time between haircuts picking bluegrass in their shop. The barbers came to Zoukis’ event and picked until Zoukis was ready to go home. And then they picked some more, at their hotel.
“People commented to me that this was a different collection of visitors than Cashiers usually gets,” Zoukis said. “People came out of the woodwork and told me ‘I didn’t know that there were people like this around here.’”
Some of the visitors came from Brevard, which every year sells out the BANFF Mountain Film Festival World Tour and its mountain adventure films. There is a modest number of film festivals held each year in Western North Carolina. Despite the scaling back of the city-run Asheville Film Festival, Asheville has several festivals this year, including Actionfest (April), Asheville Jewish Film Festival (April), Twin Rivers Multimedia Festival (May 25-27) Qfest (fall, dates to be announced), the Asheville Cinema Festival (Nov. 1-4) and the Asheville International Children’s Film Festival (fall).
The city-sponsored Asheville Film Festival didn’t make money for the city, but it brought national exposure, Sholder said. He’s been a judge at film festivals in Asheville, Belgium, Portugal and Spain. “They feed you well, put you up in a nice place, there are a lot of fans,” he said. “You have to watch a lot of movies, and not all of them are good.”
But that’s not the reputation of Mountainfilm, he said. It is know for excellent cinema, he said.
Brookings’ Cashier Village Anglers is a festival sponsor because, like many of its Cashiers’ clients, it is concerned about conservation, said Boone Walker, a fishing guide and employee at the shop.
“Our clientele and the Cashiers community are environmentally aware and don’t mind donating time and money to making improvements around town,” he said, noting the work the council is doing to plant 55 trees in the village.
“Mountainfilm in Telluride screens films that convey a message,” said Henry Lystad, director of the worldwide tour that’s bringing the films to Cashiers. “Whether that message is social justice, mountain culture or incredible personal feats of tragedy or victory – if the story is strong, inspirational and gets people motivated to do something, we will consider screening it.”
And that will bring to Cashiers not only conscientious residents but also people from elsewhere concerned about the environment and cultural preservation.
Should make for a fascinating weekend in Cashiers.
“They’ll end up bringing in some interesting, artistic people, and it’ll be fun,” said Sholder, an award-winning director and editor. “People ask me what’s the best part of making a movie. It’s going to a festival after it’s over. The film is done, and everyone is shaking your hand instead of busting your balls.”
The Cashiers festival begins at 6 p.m. both evenings with food, drink and music (The Honeycutters on Friday, Zorki & Friends on Saturday) presented by the Greater Cashiers Area Merchants Association At sunset, everyone will spread their blankets, set out their chairs and watch the films.
Mountain Film Festival
When: 8:30 p.m. June 8-9.
Where: The hillside behind Tommy’s Coffee Shop.
Cost: $20 adults and $10 children under 13 each night. Two-night pass is $35 adult and $15 child. Other packages available.
More: www.cashiersvillagecouncil.org.
Also: Music from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
The listed films (others will be a surprise):
• “Chasing Water”
• “Dark Side of the Lens”
• “Mr. Happy Man”
• “Waiting For a Train”
• “Kadoma”
To the Editor:
At the most recent Jackson County commissioner meeting at the Balsam-Willets-Ochre Hill Volunteer Fire Department, Commissioner Mark Jones once again showed his true colors. His siding with an anti-capitalist, anti-commerce group like the Occupy Movement is consistent with his voting record as a commissioner.
One would think in a county, which has experienced a negative growth rate and an unemployment rate in double digits (potentially due to Commissioner Mark Jones strict construction ordinances), he would take a more pro-business stance. Sadly, he has instead chosen to side with a movement that endorses the destruction of capitalism and seeks to promote the entitlement society.
Fortunately, this is an election year. The voters of Jackson County will have an opportunity to give Mark Jones more time to spend railing against the evils of corporations and capitalism while his opponents can get back to work, growing Jackson County’s economy and providing for their families.
Ginny Jahrmarkt
Sapphire
To the Editor:
According to recent letters to the editor, Christians, or anyone else, should not be allowed to vote on amendments the “tolerant left” does not support. This form of discrimination and attacks on Christianity continues to grow in this country and people will continue to defend their right to make individual choices at the ballot box according to their beliefs.
Our basic laws are derived from the book of Leviticus, for those not familiar you can find that in the Holy Bible. Our Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; it does not say that religious people can’t participate in government and elections.
We did not hear mournful cries when President Obama supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman before he needed to raise money for reelection. Gays and lesbians are lobbying for special rights that are not necessary. They already have equal rights. Our laws also prevent same sex heterosexuals from marrying, period.
The LGBT are protected in our constitutions as individuals and rightfully can’t be discriminated against for their lifestyle, nor should they receive special status and privileges. For those living an alternative lifestyle, there are alternative resources to provide for each other, same as those used for heterosexuals who choose to live together.
Many churches publicly supported the marriage amendment, some remained silent and some were against it. How can one say it was “Protestant’s forcing their religious beliefs on the populace” when churches clearly supported different views? Were there only Protestants voting for it? Were all the 38 percent that voted against it secularists? What name should we give to the 65.34 percent of registered voters that did not vote?
In contrast, the LGBT are trying to force their beliefs on the majority who continue to stand against changing the definition of marriage. Thirty one states so far have felt it necessary to exercise their 10th Amendment rights in this battle to affirm and defend the definition of marriage. In those 31 states the amendment has passed with a majority ranging from 52-86 percent. Six states and the District of Columbia allow same sex marriage through legislation or the judicial system, but have not done so by a referendum or amendment, ignoring their constitution and denying the people a vote. In North Carolina 92 out of 100 counties voted for the amendment. Over 50 percent of the states’ Defense Of Marriage Amendments have passed with 62 percent and higher majority. Every time a state has put this issue on a referendum-type ballot, the attack to redefine marriage has failed, twice in California.
There is nothing hateful, fearful or ignorant about standing firm that marriage is between a man and a woman. How could maybe 3 percent of the population have the right to redefine marriage for everyone else? Liberals are always in favor of majority rule, taking a stand and every vote counts, except when they lose.
Carol Odom
Cullowhee
To the Editor:
Sometimes misunderstandings can get completely out of hand. Such was the case at the last meeting of the Jackson County Commissioners at which a group of citizens, including myself, again attempted to offer and gain the passage of a resolution for a constitutional amendment that would take money out of politics and bring back fair elections to our nation.
One misunderstanding took place when I spoke during the public comment period at the end of the meeting, after the commission had already voted to reject the resolution. Commissioner Doug Cody had stated that he voted against the resolution because it singled out corporations without also mentioning limitations on campaign contributions from labor unions, non-profit organizations and other groups. He viewed this as discriminatory.
I began my statement by mentioning that the actual amendment we are supporting did, in fact, include limitations on all these groups, including labor unions. Perhaps I rushed over this point too quickly because I was limited to a 3-minute comment. Commissioner Cody apparently thought I was referring to the resolution we had offered originally and on which they had just voted (not the amendment itself). Commissioner Cody and the Board can verify this by reviewing the video recording of the proceedings on the Canary Coalition webpage, www.canarycoalition.org.
Cody was correct that the resolution only referred to limitations on corporations. He was very upset because he thought I was lying to him and to all who were present. He was so upset that he would not allow me to explain myself after the meeting.
The wording of the resolution voted on that night was also a result of a misunderstanding. From previous conversations with Commissioner Cody, he and I agreed that the resolution could and should address limitations on campaign contributions from labor unions and other groups as well as the issue of corporate personhood. The problem here was that I and other proponents did not expect the resolution to be placed on the agenda that night, and we were not prepared. At the previous commissioners meeting on May 9, Chairman Jack Debnam had indicated he was not ready to place it on the agenda for the next meeting, even if Commissioner Cowan asked for it.
I had assumed that if/when this issue was placed on the agenda, I and others would have a chance to talk with the commissioners, exchange ideas and find language for the resolution that would be agreeable to all. But, that chance never materialized. The original resolution was put on the table, with no opportunity for me or any other member of the public to address it until after the vote.
It’s nobody’s and everybody’s fault. Lack of communication and the resulting misunderstanding is the real culprit here. If we had been notified that it would be on the agenda, this misunderstanding could have been avoided and we would gladly have modified the resolution to be more inclusive as expressed by Commissioner Cody.
Likewise, if I or other members of the public had bothered to review the county government’s website prior to the meeting, we would have seen our item on the agenda.
I hope the commissioners can view the sequence of events at the last meeting in a different light after reading this. For the sake of government of, by and for the people, in a non-partisan manner, let’s work together and start this process over again. I’ll be at the next commissioners meeting with a revised resolution in hand.
Avram Friedman
Executive Director of the Canary Coalition
To the Editor:
I commend Becky Johnson and The Smoky Mountain News for providing the facts to its readers regarding the non-payment of the Settlement of 2010. It is a bad situation.
By all appearances the National Park Service is going out of its way not to pay Swain County. In 2011 and 2012 Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, got $4 million appropriated by Congress each year. In 2011 NPS stalled paying until the money was rescinded as part of the budget cuts Democrats and Republicans agreed to.
Now they are stalling again. If it is not paid to Swain this time it will be spent for something else. The project list that specifically designated Swain County disappeared from the legislation and NPS got a lump sum identified only as “construction”. They have insisted all along that Swain’s payments be put in the construction account. Their budget request for 2013 does not include any money for Swain County.
I have requested a meeting with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar about this. Several of us heard him give his strong commitment to seeing that Swain County was paid. His commitment obviously is not shared by the National Park Service. Rep. Shuler, Sen. Richard Burr and Sen. Kay Hagan have been invited to attend this meeting, if it happens. Salazar has not agreed to meet with us yet, but I’m hopeful. He can direct the NPS to make the payment.
The position taken by NPS is irrelevant. There may not be specific legislation for the payments that can be pointed to that says “authorized.” The Settlement Agreement signed by Salazar, $4 million paid up front before the agreement, and $8.8 million paid upon signing of the agreement demonstrate in fact authorization by the administration and Congress.
Moreover, authorization is not required. Every year Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has a press conference detailing billions of dollars appropriated and spent that were not “authorized.”
The Senate and the House operate differently. Each makes rules binding itself to certain procedural requirements they should follow in deciding how to spend money. According to the Harvard School of Law, when Congress violates one of its own rules, someone in Congress must challenge it, get that challenge voted on and win the challenge. This has to happen at the time of the appropriation. Otherwise the appropriation is legal whether or not authorized. The appropriation is the authorization. The proof that the appropriation was legal is that the money has been transferred to NPS.
On top of that, one Congress cannot bind a later Congress with these rules. That’s why we see Sen. McCain railing about it. He cannot get Congress to uphold his objections so he goes public.
Please notice who it is that must raise the objection. It has to be a member of Congress, not an employee of NPS. The money for Swain was not objected to or challenged by anyone in Congress. It is inappropriate now for someone at NPS to wave that flag. Actually they do not have the standing to make the issue.
Rep. Shuler, Sen. Burr and Sen. Hagan are all aware of this issue and in varying degrees all trying to help us. Some of us thought that this Settlement Agreement could end nearly 70 years of animosity between NPS and Swain County and could be the turning point for a new era of cooperation and good relations. Now it looks as if the animosity from the past will continue into future generations. Hopefully we’ll get the meeting with Sec. Salazar, all our congressional delegation will attend, he will order the payment and take appropriate corrective measures at NPS. We are investigating what legal recourse is possible, if any.
Thanks again to The Smoky Mountain News for their careful investigation and accurate reporting on this situation.
Leonard Winchester
Chairman, Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County
A seminar intended to help small businesses in Canton develop the town’s potential will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Monday, June 4, at the Colonial Theater Annex in Canton.
“Developing Canton Businesses: Where Are We Now?” will be a facilitated discussion that will focus on organization, such as how business, government and community can work together, and design, including the philosophical question of what feel and experience downtown Canton wants to convey. There will also be a discussion of economic restructuring and promotion.
The workshop is sponsored by the Haywood Community College Small Business Center.
Russ Seagle will be the facilitator. Seagle holds a degree in marketing from Appalachian State University and a MBA from Western Carolina University. He has served as small business center director for Southwestern Community College for 11 years. He is now an independent consultant and speaker.
828.627.4512.
Haywood Organizing for America, the local campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama and other Democrats, will hold its first monthly county team meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 31, in Waynesville.
People will have the chance to meet other volunteers with similar ideals, learn about the campaign and get involved.
Call Chuck Dickson at 828.421.1997 or Megan Smith at 828.768.2026.
Community meetings seking input on a regional bike plan will be held in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.
• Haywood County from 5-7 p.m., May 31, at Waynesville Recreation Center.
• Swain County from 5-7 p.m., June 12, at Southwestern Community College’s Swain campus.
• Jackson County from 5-7 p.m., June 13, at the public library in Sylva.
The purpose of the meetings is to get feedback from residents about bicycling safety, desired routes, challenging spots, and what types of infrastructure you want to see in your community.
The Blue Ridge Bike Plan is led by a 25-member executive committee of representatives of local governments, organizations, businesses and community members. Land-of-Sky Regional Council, a multi-county planning and development organization, is developing the plan in partnership with the Southwestern Commission, through a grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation.
A Steering Committee has been collaborating with project staff since November 2011 to develop goals, recommendations and initial findings pertaining to a regional bicycling network. www.BRBP.org.
Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville will host a chess tournament starting at 10 a.m., June 21.
The Smoky Mountain Chess Club will conduct the tournament, which will start with practice games, registration and lunch from 10 a.m. to noon.
Those wishing to play must register by noon, and the first game will start at 12:15 p.m. The entry fee is $5 or $10 for rated players age 18 and older. Call to reserve a playing slot as space is limited.
The games will be one-hour, sudden death matches and follow the U.S. Chess Federation rules.
Please park at post office, church lot or in on-street spaces. No food or drink from outside allowed.
828.648.5739 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A group of four-legged students possessing powerful senses of smell visited the Western Carolina University campus recently as 66 dog handlers from across the eastern United States brought their canine partners to Cullowhee to take training in human remains detection.
The handlers and their dogs, commonly referred to as “cadaver dogs,” traveled to WCU from 25 states (and one team came from Canada) to take part in field exercises and listen to lectures given by WCU faculty members and outside speakers – all with the intent of improving the skills of the dogs and handlers when they are called upon to assist in searches for human remains.
The cadaver dog training at WCU was held in cooperation with the university’s forensic anthropology program and was coordinated by Paul S. Martin, a graduate of that program who has specialized in human remains detection since 2000 and who has conducted searches or consulted on cases for local, state and national agencies.
Classroom lecturers included John A. Williams, director of WCU’s forensic anthropology program, whose career experiences has included mortuary operations at the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Several guest speakers from off campus also gave presentations for the handlers, including Arpad Vass, a forensic anthropologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee who is an expert in decomposition odor analysis.
828.227.7397.
The Frog Level Brewing Company will host a Dogs and Suds event to raise money for Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation from 5-8 p.m. on June 14 at its storefront on Commerce Street in Wayensville.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Each ticket is an automatic entry in drawing for $100 gift certificate to the Chef’s Table. A 16-oz. beer, hot dogs, chips and dessert will be served. Proceeds will help fund Sarge’s efforts to save as many dogs and cats as possible from the county shelter and place them in foster homes until they can be adopted.
“When we realized our shelter dog, Annie, needed a companion, we turned to Sarge’s and were blessed with Tula, a mountain cur,” said brewery owner Clark Williams. “Frog Level Brewing Company felt honored when Sarge’s volunteers asked us to provide the venue and some craft made local beers.”
Advance tickets can be bought at Sarge’s Adoption Center, 256 Industrial Park Drive, Waynesville; Mountain Dreams Realty, 3457 Soco Road in Maggie Valley; and Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery in Downtown Waynesville.
Other sponsors for Dogs & Suds are H.T. Hackney Company, the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority and Smoky Mountain Dog Bakery.
Lake Junaluska will host the Native American Tribal Social Justice Issues Conference June 29- July 1. Richard Twiss, a member of the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux Reservation in South Dakota will headline the event.
Twiss is the author of “One Church Many Tribes — Serving Jesus The Way God Made You” and will speak about the dispelling myths and stereotypes that plague the Native American community.
One of highlighted topics at this year’s conference is the cultural difference among tribes. Participants will identify Native American communities of the Southeastern Jurisdiction and will learn to be in ministry with Native America, not to Native America.
828.454.6697.
A one-day intensive course in the Cherokee language will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, in Room 143 of the Cordelia Camp Building at Western Carolina University.
Two fluent speakers of Cherokee, Tom Belt, WCU visiting instructor of Cherokee, and Hartwell Francis, director of the university’s Cherokee language program, will introduce the Cherokee syllabary, provide tools for learning it and review Cherokee syllabary literature. Students will move on to engaging in brief conversations in Cherokee.
Participants will be provided with Cherokee language sound files on CD for review and further study, a syllabary chart and reference sheets.
The course fee is $59 for those who register by June 11 and $79 thereafter. A lunch will be provided.
learn.wcu.edu and click on “Conferences and Community Classes” or 828.227.7397.
There are steps you can take to lessen conflicts on avoiding conflicts with black bears emerging from hibernation.
The N.C. Wildlife Commission cautions not to feed bears that wander into camp sites, yards, parks, sidewalks or other residential areas. Feeding a bear rewards it for coming close to people and their homes, and makes it more likely to approach again.
While black bears are rarely aggressive toward people, they can become bold when they become accustomed to feeding on human-provided foods, such as garbage and bird seed. Often, they may lose their fear of people.
Contrary to popular belief, wildlife employees will not trap and relocate bears, because this would simply relocate the problem, rather than solve it. The solution is to modify habits, such as how you feed your pets or where you store your garbage, before a problem begins.
Residents can prevent problems by:
• Securing bags of trash inside cans stored in a garage, basement or other secure area, and placing the cans outside, as late as possible, on trash pick-up days — not the night before.
• Purchasing bear-proof garbage cans or bear proofing your existing garbage container with a secure latching system.
• Discontinuing the feeding of wild birds during spring and summer, especially in areas close to bear habitat or if residents are aware of bear activity in the vicinity. Even if bear feeders are removed at night, bears are still attracted to seed that spills on the ground.
• If you live in an area with bear activity, don’t leave home with windows or doors open and nothing but a screen to prevent an animal from gaining access to the house.
• Avoiding “free feeding” pets outdoors. If you must feed pets outdoors, make sure all food is consumed and empty bowls are removed.
• Cleaning all food and grease from barbecue grills after each use. Bears are attracted to food odors and may investigate.
A guided hike to see the wild rhododendrons of Andrews Bald in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be held Saturday, May 6.
It is a bit early for rhododendrons at that elevation, but given the unseasonably warm spring the hikers are hoping for a bloom show.
Hike leader Marti Smith is an experienced hiker and a “900-miler,” who has hiked all 900 miles of trails in the Smokies. The 3.8-mile round trip hike starts at Clingman’s Dome and follows the Forney Ridge Trail. It is easy to moderate in difficulty.
Bring a snack or lunch and water.
The hike will be led by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. The fee is $5 for GSMA members, $10 for non-members. Children 12 and under hike free but must be accompanied by an adult.
865.436.7318, ext. 222.
N.C. Outward Bound School will hold a 5K and 8K trail race on Saturday, June 9 at the N.C. Arboretum, part of a new trail running race series for this year.
The series will be managed by the River Bound Trail Race Series, designed to appeal to all levels of runners. There will be a second race on Oct. 6, also at the arboretum.
For information, go to riverboundasheville.racesonline.com
The French Broad Challenge Triathlon will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at Carrier Park in Asheville as part of the weekend-long Mountain Sports Festival.
Teams of two and three people will tackle a 1.5-mile run, a 2.5-mile paddle, an 11-mile bike and a final 2.9-mile run. The race will start and finish inside the track at Carrier Park.
The run will include a portion of the French Broad River Greenway, with the boat launch taking place at the Asheville Outdoor Center. The paddle is downstream to Jean Web Park. Following a bike route up and down Riverside Drive participants will run back to Carrier Park.
There will be two relay categories: a three-person where one person completes the first run and paddle, one person completes the bike course and one person completes the final run leg. In the two-person category, both team members will complete the initial run leg and paddle leg (in the same boat) and split the bike and final run legs.
The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department is offering two summer soccer camps, a British Soccer Camp and a TetraBrazil Soccer Camp.
The TetraBrazil Soccer Camp will be held from July 9 to 13 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. The camp will be offered for advanced players only from ages 10 to 18. There are both half-day and full-day options at a cost of $140 or $190 per camper respectively.
The British camp will take place July 23 to 27 at Vance Street Park in Waynesville.
There is a session for three- to four-year-olds from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. for a cost of $75; ages four to six go from 10:30 a.m. to noon for $95. There are morning or afternoon half-day sessions for ages six to 16 for $120; a full-day camp for ages eight to 18 at $170; and an advanced player session for ages 12 to 18 from 5 to 8 p.m. for $111.
828.456.2030 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A free kids fishing day will be held in various spots across the mountains on Saturday, June 2.
The event allows families and friends to share fun and quality time together, while learning about one of the nation’s favorite pastimes — fishing. Fishing poles are provided, as well as experienced fishermen who will show youngsters who to cast a line and help reel in a fish if one bites. The fishing day is for children ages 12 years and younger sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
Here are the Kids fishing days events in this area:
• Jackson County from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cullowhee Creek. 828.293.3053.
• Haywood County from 9 a.m. until noon at Max Patch Pond just past the Max Patch trailhead parking area. 828.682.6146.
• Macon County from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Cliffside Lake in Cliffside Recreation Area off U.S. 64 south of Highlands. 828.524.6441 ext. 421.
• Buncombe County from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. June 2 at Lake Powhatan. Call 828.877.3265 for reservations.
Kids can explore nature, wildlife, the environment and science during week-long Discovery Camps held at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville this summer from preschool through middle school. The camps utilize the 434-acre arboretum property as an outdoor classroom to cultivate a sense of adventure and wonder in the outdoors and promote environmental stewardship and conservation.
There are multiple camps at the arboretum throughout the summer on a variety of different themes different weeks. For the specific themes, weeks and times for different age groups, go to www.ncarboretum.org.
Preschoolers will discover the critters in the forests, ponds and fields and go on short hikes to meet real animals during “animal adventure week.” There is also bug week, and “Camouflage Critters.”
Rising Kindergarten and first graders can spend a week as a “nature ranger” while they play outdoor games, go on hikes and make crafts, or during aquatic week exploring creeks, ponds and puddles and other water habitats. There’s also an “Eco Artists” week or “Fur, Feathers and Scales.”
Rising second and third graders will learn about animals that live in the Southern Appalachians and become junior mountaineers, learning outdoors skills. There’s also a “Nature’s Superheroes!” theme, “Active Adventurers” and “Nature’s Studio.”
For fourth and fifth graders, themes include “Wilderness Explorers,” where they learn to use maps and GPS units while exploring the woods, “Boots, Paddles and Reels” and “Mountain Sports Camp” with activities from disc golf to mountain biking.
The camp for rising sixth through eighth graders will be more adventure based, with hiking, paddling, orienteering and other skills, with field trips to the Pisgah National Forest, Dupont State Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and other recreation spots.
828.665.2492 or www.ncarboretum.org.
More than 150 homes in North Carolina are now producing power from rooftop solar photovoltaic panels thanks to Progress Energy Carolinas’ SunSense Solar PV program.
The program offers rebates to customers to help offset the cost of installing rooftop solar arrays. It also helps Progress meet the requirements of the state’s renewable energy and efficiency portfolio standard, established in 2007.
Launched in 2011, the utility’s SunSense Solar PV program offers upfront and ongoing incentives to North Carolina residential customers who are accepted into the program and install a solar PV system at their home. The program is designed to help offset the cost of installing solar power systems, by providing upfront rebates of $1,000 per kilowatt of capacity and monthly bill credits of $4.50 per kilowatt.
A wild edibles adventure will be held from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at Cove Creek Gap next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Cataloochee area of Haywood County. The day will be spent hiking and foraging for wild edibles with landowner Chip Hultquist, and then a lunch will be made out of what was found. This is an event sponsored by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
The hike will be held on a private, preserved tract along the Cataloochee Divide.
The cost is $25 for conservancy members and $35 for non-members. Directions will be provided when reservations are made.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.253.0095 ext. 205.
The Highlands Plateau Audubon Society chapter is leading birding outings throughout the summer, with the next one planned for May 26, starting at 7:30 a.m. from The Bascom in Highlands, with several roadside points along Turtle Pond. Here, birders scout the Southern Highlands Reserve on Toxaway Mountain earlier in the month. Contact 828.787.1387.
Training for people new to trail work will be held from May 29 through June 1 through the Wilderness Skills Institute, aimed at teaching trail volunteers the skills necessary to do trail maintenance in designated wilderness areas.
This training will give participants an understanding of basics in the field, and more skilled trail workers will also be able to tackle technical construction problems with experienced trail crew leaders. It is a joint effort by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, The Wilderness Society, the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards, the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service.
The training will be held at the Cradle of Forestry off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Transylvania County. Registration is $50 per person and is free to members of the conservancy and the wilderness society. The fee includes camping near the Cradle of Forestry.
A trail workday in Panthertown Valley will be held Saturday, May 26, and is open to anyone willing to lend a hand.
Trail tools and instructions will be provided. Friends of Panthertown is hosting the trail workday along with REI Asheville, which will offer prizes and incentives for those who volunteer. Pathertown Valley is a 6,300-acre backcountry recreation area in the Nantahala National Forest with almost 30 miles of public trails.
Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Salt Rock Gap entrance at the end of Breedlove Road in Cashiers. The group plans to hike approximately five miles on easy to moderate trails and be finished by 2:30 p.m. Trail volunteers are asked to pack a lunch, bring plenty of water, wear good shoes, and bring a pair of work gloves and pruners if you have them.
828.269.4453 or www.panthertown.org.
An aqua fitness class at Western Carolina University will be held from 12:10 to 12:55 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting June 12 and running through Aug. 2 in the pool of Reid Gymnasium.
Participants will engage in a variety of aqua exercises designed to increase cardiovascular endurance. Equipment such as water buoys will be utilized at times.
Exercise experts tout the benefits of aqua fitness activities because they allow individuals of all ages to exercise all parts of the body, but because the water causes a body to be buoyant, there is less strain on the muscles and joints. Participants also remain more comfortable because of the cooling effect of the water.
828.227.7397 or http://learn.wcu.edu and click on “Conferences and Community Classes.”
• Black Perigord Truffles: Three years ago researchers brought in Filbert trees that had their roots inoculated with truffle spore. The trees were planted at the station to see if truffles will grow in Western North Carolina. The hope is to develop a new and lucrative cash crop for the region.
• Broccoli trials: This is a five-year effort to develop broccoli varieties suitable for the East Coast. Most of the broccoli now grown in the Eastern U.S. was developed for growing conditions in the western part of the country, which means when it turns warm the broccoli bolts.
• Hemlock and Fraser fir project: Researchers are trying to breed Hemlock or Fraser firs resistant to the lethal adeglid insect that has all but wiped out the species. A few trees in the wild have shown some tolerance for this destructive bug, and researchers hope to capture the genetic traits of those resistant trees. The project is modeled on the American Chestnut Foundation’s breeding program.
• Nitrogen rates on narrow row corn: Prompted by a farmer’s question about how much nitrogen he needed to worry about with his corn, the research station is testing the different levels of nitrogen uptake needed on narrow rows of corn versus wide rows of corn.
• Weed control for organic farmers: Researchers are growing mustard, rye, sorghum-sudan grass, vetch and sun hemp in different plots to test for weed suppression effectiveness. Eventually results of the tests, if proven successful, could be implemented by organic farmers and traditional farmers to cut down on or better control weeds without using herbicides.
• Pumpkin variety trial: A large-scale pumpkin research trial is under way, testing various varieties for yields and quality. The effectiveness of various fungicides on pumpkins is also being evaluated.
• Heirloom tomato evaluations: Researchers are testing varieties of heirloom tomatoes, prized by consumers, for yield and quality. Additionally scientific data on how well organic fungicides work is being collected.
• Canola testing for alternative fuels: Targeting the use of canola oil as a biofuel, canola varieties are being researched to determine yield of oil per acre. Different varieties are being planted, the seed is harvested, and oil is extracted.
n Performance bull testing: Fifty to 60 bulls are brought in each year for performance trials. This includes measuring weight gain and growth, breeding soundness and more. The bulls are then sold to local producers to improve local herds. This program is more than 30 years old.
City Lights Bookstore will host discussions and book signings for two novelists — Bob Plott and Harold Littleton — during the next two weekends.
Plott will present his latest book Colorful Characters of the Great Smoky Mountains at 6:30 p.m., May 26. His book details the legendary lives of a few fascinating people that have lived in the Smoky Mountains. Whether it is French and Indian War hero, Captain Kennedy or Plott’s relative Von Plott, he crafts each narrative to honor the legacy of some of most interesting and influential people of the area.
Harold Littleton will present his historical novel, Jesus A Would Be King, at 2 p.m., June 2. The novel is about two families in the first century of the common era that shaped the course of history. Their quest for power set them on a collision path that shook the empire to its core, altered a thousand-year-old religious tradition and initiated a redefined expectation that dominates religious understanding to this day. This novel takes the reader through a journey that explores several controversial issues regarding the life of Jesus.
To the Editor:
According to recent letters to the editor, Christians, or anyone else, should not be allowed to vote on amendments the “tolerant left” does not support. This form of discrimination and attacks on Christianity continues to grow in this country and people will continue to defend their right to make individual choices at the ballot box according to their beliefs.
Our basic laws are derived from the book of Leviticus, for those not familiar you can find that in the Holy Bible. Our Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; it does not say that religious people can’t participate in government and elections.
We did not hear mournful cries when President Obama supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, before he needed to raise money for reelection. Gays and lesbians are lobbying for special rights that are not necessary. They already have equal rights. Our laws also prevent same-sex heterosexuals from marrying, period.
The LGBT are protected in our constitutions as individuals and rightfully can’t be discriminated against for their lifestyle, nor should they receive special status and privileges. For those living an alternative lifestyle, there are alternative resources to provide for each other, same as those used for heterosexuals who choose to live together.
Many churches publicly supported the marriage amendment, some remained silent and some were against it. How can one say it was “protestant’s forcing their religious beliefs on the populace” when churches clearly supported different views? Were there only Protestants voting for it? Were all the 38 percent that voted against it secularists? What name should we give to the 65.34 percent of registered voters that did not vote?
In contrast, the LGBT are trying to force their beliefs on the majority who continue to stand against changing the definition of marriage. Thirty one states so far have felt it necessary to exercise their 10th Amendment rights in this battle to affirm and defend the definition of marriage. In those 31 states the amendment has passed with a majority ranging from 52 percent to 86 percent. Six states and the District of Columbia allow same sex marriage through legislation or the judicial system, but have not done so by a referendum or amendment, ignoring their constitution and denying the people a vote. In North Carolina 92 out of 100 counties voted for the amendment. Over 50 percent of the states’ Defense Of Marriage Amendments have passed with 62 percent and higher majority. Every time a state has put this issue on a referendum-type ballot, the attack to redefine marriage has failed, twice in California.
There is nothing hateful, fearful or ignorant about standing firm that marriage is between a man and a woman. How could maybe 3 percent of the population have the right to redefine marriage for everyone else? Liberals are always in favor of majority rule, taking a stand and every vote counts, except when they lose.
Carol Odom
Cullowhee
By Martin Dyckman • Guest columnist
In July of 1861, Major Sullivan Ballou of Rhode Island composed a letter to comfort his wife in the event of his death, which came soon after at the first Battle of Bull Run. What he wrote stirred millions of modern American hearts when its reading concluded the first episode of the Ken Burns PBS series The Civil War.
Most may recall it for how beautifully he expressed his profound love for his wife, Sarah. But it also bears remembering now — particularly now — for how he stated his devotion to the Union cause.
“I know,” he wrote, “how American civilization now leans on the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt.”
Not “this country.” Not “this nation.” Rather, “this government ...”
Ballou understood the government, as established by the Constitution, to be the proudest accomplishment and the living embodiment of the people of the United States. He did not regard the government and the people, in the way some people do now, as antagonists. To Ballou, the nation and the government were inseparable.
That government – our nation – owed its existence and its survival to the principle of compromise, beginning with the Constitution itself. But the time came when some preferred to destroy the government and the nation rather than compromise to any extent over slavery. The Civil War was the result.
Even as we mark the 150th anniversaries of those events, we’re in deep danger again. As before, the crisis is the stubborn refusal of a radical faction to compromise over anything. They may not be threatening to dismember the government this time, but they would reach the same effect by crippling it in two ways: financially, by “starving the beast,” as they say; and morally, by destroying what’s left of the people’s trust in their government.
They’re well on their way to achieving both goals.
Their latest success was Sen. Richard Lugar’s defeat in the Indiana Republican primary. The Pollyannaish explanation is that the voters saw him as no longer a Hoosier but as a Washingtonian. Whatever the truth in that, the larger reality is that it was the radical faction that exploited it. They include the fanatically anti-tax Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association, and the shadowy ultra-right financiers who nourished the Tea Party. A nonentity like his opponent, Richard Mourdock, could never have won on his own.
It had been quite a while since Lugar had voted with Democrats on anything, but he might do so again one day, as he had when he voted to confirm Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. So he had to go, even if it meant purging the last Republican in Congress who deserved to be called a statesman.
In defeat, Lugar lamented the “unrelenting partisanship” of Mourdock, who happily confirmed it by declaring, “I have a mind-set that says bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view.”
If that’s the future of this country, we have no future.
There are only two ways to destroy the United States. One is by invasion, which hasn’t been a credible threat for 200 years. The other is by subversion – by insidiously, persistently undermining our respect for the government that represents us. No foreign foe has ever succeeded at that, either.
Writing in the time of Joseph McCarthy, the cartoonist Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo, said it best: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
(Dyckman is a retired associate editor of the newspaper formerly known as the St. Petersburg Times who has written several books on Florida politics. He resides in Haywood County and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
To the Editor:
California is back in the news. Two Saturdays ago, Gov. Jerry Brown announced that the state’s budget deficit would exceed the original estimate he made in January of $9.2 billion. The new deficit is projected to be a remarkable $16 billion. With state spending still through the roof, unemployment at 11 percent, and poverty on the rise in the Golden State, hope is diminishing that California’s finances will ever return to normal with anything short of a declaration of bankruptcy.
So how did California get in this ugly predicament? The same way the federal government did; by interfering with free market forces by erecting a massive welfare leviathan. The only difference between the caretakers in Sacramento and the caretakers in D.C. is that the latter have the political luxury of printing money to forestall the inevitable day of reckoning. Sacramento does not have that same luxury and unless something drastic happens, it faces insolvency right now.
The five features of the welfare state that have brought the current financial calamity upon California are overregulation, bureaucracy, high taxes, social welfare programs, and unionization.
Overregulation and bureaucracy go together. It has been said that the fastest-growing entity in California is government and its biggest products are bureaucracy and regulation. California’s environmental regulations have always been legendary, but little noticed is the enormous bureaucracy built to regulate most other areas of life. Maintaining these ever growing monstrosities costs a fortune. Additionally, their onerous regulations are one reason that for the seventh year in a row Chief Executive Magazine’s survey of 500 chief executives ranked California as the nation’s worst state to do business in.
Besides regulations chasing business from the Golden State, there are also high taxes. Statists claim that California’s budget deficits have been caused by an ever-shrinking tax base. This is the old chicken before the egg argument.
The reason the tax base continues to shrink is precisely because taxes are so high. California has the 48th worst business tax climate. Workers who earn more than $48,000 a year pay a top income tax rate of 9.3 percent, which is higher than what millionaires pay in 47 states. Its sales tax is one of the highest in the nation, at 8.25 percent. Rounding out the levies that rank among the highest in the country are its capital gains taxes, gasoline tax, and vehicle license taxes. High taxes are a big reason why the state has seen a net loss of four million citizens to other states in just the last two decades. When government raises taxes, the astute find ways to avoid them. The industrious cut back their enterprises and in the case of California, many simply left for lower tax states.
Lastly, Californians have voted for and built a huge social welfare system that puts an enormous strain on the state treasury. The state has about 13 percent of the country’s population but 33 percent of its welfare recipients. Add to that the union contracts of state workers and it is no wonder California is a sinking financial ship. Her prison guards and public school teachers are the highest paid in the country. As of 2009, the average pay and benefits package for a firefighter was $175,000 per year.
California is not alone. For decades, the United States, Greece, and Spain have created welfare states that have choked the lifeblood out of the free market. All face grave financial circumstances today. The free market’s great revenge is that welfare states cannot last forever. Their inevitable collapse comes because they are not self-sustaining. They grow by feeding off the labor of hard-working citizens either through higher taxes or inflation. At some point either those sources dry up or the social programs become so large that no amount of money could ever be raised to keep the scheme going. Like Spain and Greece, California is facing immediate financial insolvency. The only thing keeping the United States from the brink is Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s printing press.
Kenn Jacobine
Jonathan Creek
To the Editor:
Three letters in the May 16-22 edition of the Smoky Mountain News reflect differing views about what the voting results on Amendment One mean, but all three, unintentionally I presume, use numbers from the actual vote count in a misleading way.
The North Carolina “electorate” is the 6,296,759 people who are registered voters. On May 8 only 2,182,675 of those people chose to actually cast ballots in the primary. In other words only 34.66 percent of the electorate voted. Only 35 out of every 100 eligible voters bothered to vote. The true “majority,” the 65 out of 100, said nothing in the primary because they did not think it was important to vote.
Amendment One passed because 61 percent of those voting (the 35 percent) voted in favor and 39 percent voted against. So Amendment One was not passed by “a majority of North Carolinians” as one letter claimed, because only 35 percent voted. Neither was it “passed with the support of 61 percent of the electorate” as another letter said because the amendment got 61 percent of votes actually cast by 35 percent of the electorate. Also the votes were 61 percent for the amendment and 39 percent against, so the margin of victory is only 22 percent percent and not 61 percent as the other letter claimed.
Is it really that important to be “so ticky” about how the numbers were used? Yes, it is really important to understand exactly what the voting numbers are saying. The way these numbers were used in the letters left readers with the impression that a strong majority of North Carolinians supported Amendment One, but the reality is that barely 1 in 5 North Carolinians actually voted for the amendment, which is now part of our constitution.
When only 35 percent of the eligible voters bother to vote, any winning vote is a minority opinion even if it gets 100 percent of the votes cast. Amendment One got 61 percent of the votes cast but that was from a minority of the electorate to begin with. Sixty one percent of 35 is 21. That means only 21 of every 100 eligible voters voted for the amendment, 14 voted against it and 65 did not vote at all. Since when is 21 out of 100 a majority opinion?
People who are passionate about an issue or candidate will usually show up to vote on it when they get a chance. If their view happens to be a minority view within the whole electorate, it can only become law when the majority remain silent by not bothering to vote. Democracy is not a spectator sport; it only works when a true majority participate by taking time to vote. This must be what Plato was talking about when he said, “The price of apathy is to ruled by evil men.”
Jane Harrison
Waynesville
MedWest-Haywood will discontinue in-home aide services in Haywood County, laying off 17 nursing assistants that visit housebound patients and aid them with routine personal, such as bathing.
MedWest-Haywood serves about 200 patients with skilled home health care services in Haywood and surrounding counties. Private companies and other community agencies that offer personal in-home care will take over the services, and the laid-off workers will hopefully be able to get new jobs with those companies.
MedWest-Haywood is working to provide a seamless transition by June 30.
The decision was based on cost. MedWest will continue to provide more skilled home health care services, which include nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical social services and home health aide for personal care.
“It’s rare for a hospital to provide in-home aide services as part of home health care,” said Dwayne Hooks, chief nursing officer at MedWest-Haywood. “As a home health division, we can now focus on growing those specialized services that help people in their homes from a clinical aspect.”
The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department will offer the “Fun in the Sun Summer Camp” for kids ages 5 to 12 beginning June 11 and ending on Aug. 7. The camp will take place Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
There will be swimming, arts and crafts, games, and weekly field trips. The cost is $75 for members of the Waynesville Recreation Center or $95 for non-members for the week. Campers may also register by the day at a cost of $15 for members or $20 for non-members.
828.456.2030 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
MedWest-Harris Emergency Medical Services will host an open house from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 23 to celebrate EMS Week.
At the open house, community members can show support for local EMS personnel, get free glucose and blood pressure checks and enjoy light refreshments. Favors for children and adults will also be available.
MedWest EMS serves Western North Carolina residents with paramedics who are certified in advanced cardiac life support, basic trauma life support and pediatric advanced life support. The EMS operates a 911 division and also provides critical care transports from area hospitals to tertiary care centers in the region.
MedWest EMS received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services for its compliance with national standards of excellence, achieving a perfect accreditation score of 100 percent. MedWest EMS also offers first aid and other courses to area fire departments, schools and other organizations.
828.586.7790. In case of emergency, call 911.
Food coach Manon Fancher of Sylva will be at the Jackson County Public Library at 7 p.m. on May 31 to offer a free program on healthy eating for all ages and body types.
Fancher will discuss different kinds of foods and how to prepare them. She’ll also answer audience questions about different kinds of diets, such as “What does macrobiotic mean? What’s the difference between vegan and vegetarian? What about gluten intolerance?”
Fancher works as a food coach to private clients, helping them with shopping, cooking and storing/preserving foods of all kinds. Her work revolves around educating people about food and how to use different foods for longevity, health and even beauty.
828.586.2016.
