After 36 years in business, Motion Makers Bicycle Shop owner Kent Cranford has sold all three stores to Specialized Bicycles, the shop’s largest supplier. 

With fishing season underway for Hatchery Supported Trout Waters, wildlife biologists at the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are asking the public to report sightings of mudpuppies and hellbenders. 

A two-year trail rehabilitation project will soon start on Ramsey Cascades Trail, one of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s most popular paths. Located in the Greenbrier area, the 4-mile trail provides the only access to the park’s tallest waterfall, 100-foot Ramsey Cascades. 

More than 600 people from across the region, nation and Canada representing every facet of the outdoor industry converged on Cherokee last week for the fourth annual Outdoor Economy Conference. 

All poultry shows and public poultry sales are suspended in North Carolina due to the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza. 

To the Editor:

Cory Vaillancourt’s March 30 roundup of what WCU professors have to say about the war in the Ukraine (“The messiest story you can have”) was fascinating. Particularly enlightening was Associate Professor David Dorondo’s response to students complaining about ever higher gas prices exacerbated by the conflict: “Remember, you’ll still get your gas. You’ll still get to go home ... and have electricity … and be alive in the morning.” Mr. Dorondo then added that fleeing Ukrainian refugees don’t have those guarantees.

My response is: so what? Professor Dorondo’s salary is more than $66,000 a year, which you can find by checking a state website. That’s four times what I make as a clerk in a secondhand bookstore. I can’t afford to pay more for gas to help people on the far side of the world who have the misfortune to live between the former German and Russian empires. Speaking of which, your reporter didn’t mention that one of Professor Dorondo’s areas of expertise was the German cavalry. In any case, I want to order his book, “Riders of the Apocalypse: German Cavalry and Modern Warfare, 1870-1945.” But does he also lose sleep over what’s going on in the Yemen, inflicted by our ally, Saudi Arabia? It makes Ukraine look like a Rotary picnic.

The truth is, it doesn’t affect regular Americans what Putin does or doesn’t do in the lands covered in the 1918 Brest-Litovsk treaty. Those here who are most concerned — and think a war with Russia might be worth it — include government officials and diplomats whose “expertise” is said to be in that part of the world, or those whose ancestors hail from that area or they themselves were born there (e.g., Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, Col. Alexander Vindman). Plus, we’ve got our own garden-variety, saber-rattling fantasists including the entire U.S. Senate, who hope foreign posturing will make us forget their utter mediocrity.

They can’t imagine not caring about Eastern Europe, but I can. Putin’s writ could run to the English Channel and it wouldn’t make me materially worse off. If Europe won’t pay to defend itself, why should we? NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Is Ukraine getting salt breezes from that Ocean? Romania? And if you want to talk about Munich 1938, bring it on. Neither “Munich” nor “balance of power” mean anything in the age of nuclear weapons.

Stuart Ferguson

Highlands

Famed NASCAR driver Bobby Labonte has a message for all North Carolinians: speeding belongs on the racetrack - not the highway.

The Fund for Haywood County with the J. Aaron and Adora H. Prevost Endowment Fund and the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund awarded ten grants totaling $66,468 in a recent grant cycle.  Since 1994, The Fund for Haywood County, in partnership with The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC), has awarded grants totaling $1,262,766.

The Haywood Community College Foundation will hold an event called Laughter & Libations on Tuesday, April 26, from 6:00 until 8:30 p.m. at Elevated Mountain Distilling Company in Maggie Valley. The funds raised will improve and expand the hiking trail on campus. With the purchase of a $50 ticket, participants will receive one drink ticket and heavy appetizers. 

To the Editor:

It is not my purpose to simply compare costs from a time long past but rather to recognize the consequences and repercussions that have occurred over decades due to the societal and economic (often erratic and unpredictable) variations Americans have experienced since WWII.

To the Editor:

This might sound like a puff piece, but it is really a critical review of a local newspaper. I decided to write this after reading the latest edition of The Smoky Mountain News.

To the Editor:

Late last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 6833, a bill that caps the price of insulin at $35 per month. Now it goes to the Senate for approval. 

To the Editor:

Forgive me if I don’t share the general enthusiasm for the war in Ukraine.

The first case of chronic wasting disease, a fatal affliction affecting cervids like deer and elk, has been detected in North Carolina. 

Tribal members are wanted to work on a conservation crew this summer emphasizing Cherokee heritage and tradition. 

The numbers are in, and in 2021 a total of 322 volunteers with Friends of Panthertown donated 1,945 hours of labor worth $52,904, spread over 68 trail workdays. 

The U.S. Forest Service received nearly 14,000 objections to the forest management plan it released in January for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, but only 891 were deemed eligible for the process. 

Brad Roberts, maintenance mechanic supervisor for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, has been named the park’s 2021 Employee of the Year. 

Clingmans Dome Road will open for the season April 8, a delay from the typical April 1 opening date due to drainage improvement work in the main parking area, including a culvert replacement and roadway patching. 

Two fire specialists in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park recently received awards recognizing them for superior service, innovative thinking and leadership. 

A summer program just for adults will launch this summer at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, offering a five-day, four-night residential experience June 20-24. 

A Sylva man who arrived an hour late to court, appeared to nap through his trial, admitted to using methamphetamine and smoking marijuana during the three-days of proceedings, then attempted to bolt from the courtroom after jury members returned guilty verdicts, will spend at least the next 14 years in prison.

A Tuckasegee man who twice used knives to slash the necks of two men on separate occasions is headed to prison, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said.

A virtual public meeting and hearing 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, will take input on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to move the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act. 

Landmark Learning is now enrolling for a variety of wilderness medicine certification courses planned for the spring months. 

Part-time Sylva resident Richie Kahn is running the Catamount Climb at Western Carolina University April 9 to raise money for One Rare, a nonprofit that works to improve the lives of young adults living with rare conditions. 

A downed powerline along Park Headquarters Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ignited a 1.5-acre wildfire last week. 

Oak Island resident Luke Bennett recently set off on a 1,175-mile journey across North Carolina to raise money and awareness for issues threatening wildlife and their habitats — and have a go at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail speed record.

The Fire Mountain Disc Golf Sanctuary in Cherokee is now open for play. 

To the Editor:

It looks like the leftist propaganda media has teamed up to smear former Rep. Mark Meadows with exaggerated claims of voter fraud, comparing his case to two other cases in which the voter fraud committed was of a totally different nature. 

To the Editor:

This is in response to David L. Snell’s letter published in the March 16 edition. 

Mountain Projects Community Action Agency has received a $30,000 investment grant from Nantahala Health Foundation to increase home safety for underserved populations in Jackson County.

The N.C. Department of Information Technology today announced that qualified internet service providers and electric membership cooperatives providing internet service now have through May 4 to apply for up to $350 million in grants to expand broadband infrastructure in North Carolina. 

Wild bird deaths due to highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, have been documented in four North Carolina counties, and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is encouraging people to report potentially sick birds to the N.C. Wildlife Helpline. 

A total of 94 people completed the grueling Assault on BlackRock trail race Saturday, March 19.

Swim lessons are back at the Waynesville Recreation Center, with a beginner class for ages 3-8 to be offered once per month. 

To the Editor: 

Given the current events many may have missed both the State of the Union and the Republican rebuttal. The combination was a contrast of content and a case study in irony. As is always the case, the rebuttal has less time, but is still an opportunity to present general policy issues. 

A March 17 press release from Maggie Valley Police Chief Russ Gilliland says that no criminal charges will be filed in relation to the unattended death of Kitty Currin at Our Place Inn.

A new Special Enrollment Period on the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace has opened for consumers who have projected income of at least 100% of the federal poverty level but are at or below the 150% of the federal poverty level. This SEP allows qualifying people to enroll in plans in any month during the year without having to experience a “qualifying life event” like other SEPs. Enroll now and coverage should start April 1.

To the Editor:

I appreciate George Hahn’s perspective on old-growth forests and agree with many of his sentiments. A mix of age and structural diversity is important for forests.

Help preserve the multitude of species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by participating in the Smokies Most Wanted program, an initiative that encourages park visitors to record sightings of animals, plants and other organisms from their smartphones, using the iNaturalist app. 

When Clingmans Dome Road reopens for the season on April 1, it will do so with the caveat of single-lane closures, to be in effect intermittently through Sept. 2. 

One of the Pisgah National Forest’s most popular tourist destinations, Sliding Rock Recreation Area, will reopen on April 30 for the first time since Tropical Storm Fred ripped through Aug. 17, 2021.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is looking for volunteers to help park rangers provide minor roadside assistance to visitors. 

To the Editor:

The revised forest management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests have been under scrutiny lately. One of the main critics of the plan is Will Harlan of the Center for Biological Diversity.

To the Editor: 

It’s almost humorous to read about what a child should glean from Pre-K and kindergarten. I said “almost humorous” because to me even the theory of Pre-K and kindergarten is categorically terrifying. I know this letter will quickly take on a Jurassic tone but, in my view, to believe children need Pre-K to learn socialization skills is beyond absurd. 

To the Editor: 

I will be so happy for this uneducated, law-breaking manchild — Rep.  Madison Cawthorn — to be voted out of office soon and let him slither back under the rock he came from.

To the Editor: 

March 11, 2022 was the one-year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that was signed into law by President Biden. At a time when the news cycle moves so fast, we should stop and reflect on this law and how it has helped ordinary Americans, including those right here in Jackson County.