As the Corporate Dietitian for Ingles Markets I do a variety of things! Here are the “Top 10”:

To the Editor:

In response to an opinion letter published recently, I would like to share how the GOP tax cut bill has affected me. While I realize the effects of this bill will be finalized next year, this is where I am right now. 

As a retired teacher of 32 years my Social Security monthly payment has increased by $8. My monthly health insurance payment has also increased by $3. This leaves me with a monthly gain of $5 each month and over a year a whopping $60 additional income. Thanks to Rep. Paul Ryan and the GOP I get $60. More so, millionaires and billionaires and most large corporations get millions in tax breaks. 

If you are pleased with the way this tax bill has affected you, then I am happy for you. If you are as upset as I am with the false promises from the current administration about how great this bill is supposed to be, then call your representatives and let them know. Put these numbers in your cell phone as speed dials or near your land line and use them frequently. Remember, they were elected to represent you and you pay their salaries: 

• Rep. Mark Meadows, 202.225.6401. 

• Sen. Thom Tillis, 202.224.6342. 

• Sen. Richard Burr, 202.224.3154. 

I would really like to know if a real live person here in Haywood County did indeed receive the windfall they were promised. Please be honest. 

Nancy Copeland 

Waynesville

To the Editor:

It is encouraging to see more and more letters to the editor noting that our economic and political systems are not working for everyone. My unscientific opinion is that 1 percent of the people in the world are predator/sociopathic, 1 percent care about others and are working for a better world, and 98 percent are just trying to get by. The predatory 1 percent hold power in government and business and make the rules to their advantage. A Concise Economic History of the World, by Cameron/Neal, describes this process. 

The American middle class thrived after World War II because there was so much wealth (prosperity) that the rich couldn’t accumulate it fast enough to deprive the working people. This turned around in the 1980s as the wealthy gained more and more leverage.

I am not a socialist, I am just asking for a level playing field, an even break, if you will. I would like to see a coalition of those trying to improve life in various ways, or at least a widespread realization that our current economic and political system is corrupt and works better for some than others, e.g., corporate emphasis today is on the investors, not the customers or the employees. 

An example would be the health insurance industry. The system is not broken for everyone. Those with money and power will push back using any means necessary to preserve the status quo. At the least there will be name calling, and at the worst, well, read The Lessons of History, by Will and Ariel Durant. 

David Stearns

Otto

To the Editor:

The liberals want Trump out of office because they have someone in there who cares about the people and isn’t paid to play. They can’t control him and are so worried they are going down quickly and are running scared. I am amazed how really corrupt they are. 

We thank President Trump for bringing it all out to see how crooked they really are — sad for our country.

Nan Smith

Waynesville

City Lights Café in Sylva has been recognized by the state for its sustainability efforts, earning certification from the N.C. GreenTravel Program. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway will resurface more than 65 miles of pavement between Asheville and Cherokee this summer, with work beginning in mid-May and lasting through September. 

From mountains to coast, a cadre of land conservation agencies is working to preserve the properties most important to North Carolina’s beauty and environmental health. Two of these agencies are celebrating recent acquisitions in Madison, Buncombe and McDowell Counties.

A new report from the National Park Service shows that 11.3 million visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2017 spent a combined $922.9 million in communities near the park, supporting 13,900 jobs. 

The late George Masa, whose photographs were pivotal to the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will be inducted with the eighth class of Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame honorees Friday, May 4. 

Performing at certain venues can be the highlight of a musical career, as if the stage itself shares a star billing, and members of Western Carolina University’s Concert Choir will get that experience this month.

Vaya Health announced it will move its Sylva regional office to a new location in town as part of an administrative consolidation to strengthen the organization and increase cost-effectiveness.

The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen is now taking applications for appointments for both the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustments from both Maggie Valley residents and residents within the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). 

The District Attorney’s Office recently hired a new prosecutor, Kimberly Hayes Harris.

What's the difference between “vegetarian” and “plant-based”?

The Western Carolina University College of Fine and Performing Arts presents WCU Roadworks, a free outreach program offering experiential arts opportunities throughout the summer to the community. 

To the Editor:

The red wolf, which once ranged from Pennsylvania to Texas, is now battling extinction in the wild for a second time. Less than 30 individuals remain, found only in eastern North Carolina.

Like its gray wolf cousin, the red wolf faced mass extermination for hundreds of years thanks to human development and widespread misconceptions. 

By the time they were brought into captivity, only a handful of survivors remained. To restore the species to its rightful place, a small population was released within the North Carolina’s Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in 1987. The population increased in size for decades, peaking at around 150 animals.

However, over the past few years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, facing political pressure, has lost sight of its mission and turned its back on the red wolf. By eliminating the strategies that allowed them to grow the population, the red wolf population has plummeted. Recently, the agency proposed throwing in the towel and sending most of the last wolves off to zoos. 

North Carolinians should be outraged. The red wolf is part of our state’s natural legacy and deserves one last place in the wild, where it can hunt and howl as it has for thousands of years. 

If you care about North Carolina’s wildlife and heritage, please do your part to reverse the decline of this species. Call or email USFWS Acting Regional Director, Michael Oetker and urge him to recommit to red wolf recovery. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 404.679.4000

Christopher Lile

Waynesville

To the Editor:

As with most newly proposed developments everywhere, all the standard comments come out in newspapers and town meetings, pro and con: “meets community needs;” “NIMBY (not in my back yard);” “increased tax revenue;” “increased traffic and safety issues;” “school overload;” “we can do what we want with our land;” etc. And the list goes on and on. 

Then after all that, the town/county leaders appear to ignore all comments and do what they want — typically siding with the developer presumably because the potential increased tax revenue seems too sweet to pass up. 

In the case of the proposed apartment complex on Plott Creek Road, there is a real risk that project will go the same path at the expense of the neighboring properties and Hazelwood as a whole. Practically all residents near the proposed development do not support this business venture simply because it is not in concert with the community as a whole. 

Towns like Charleston have enacted ordnances that limit the height of buildings in the city; homeowner associations all over the U.S. limit residents from erecting structures that do not fit the neighborhood — all in an effort to maintain a sense of community where a relatively high density of neighbors exist.

Hazelwood and the neighboring streets are essentially single-family dwellings (typically one story) and in the case of the Plott Creek community, relatively low-density. For the land where the three-story apartment complex is proposed, low-density single-family housing (houses with acreage) would probably be welcomed by the neighboring residents and would fit the community needs. A multi-story, multi-building complex does not fit that mold. The single-family home option is most likely less appealing to developers, but in the end what we get should be more about community needs than lining developers’ pockets. 

Those near the proposed project hope the community leaders will look beyond the potential tax revenue and develop the area more in line with the needs/wishes of the community as a whole. We highly recommend not approving this apartment complex as proposed and counter with something that is more in line with the Hazelwood and Plott Creek communities. The residents in and around the area will appreciate it and the community-friendly precedent will be set for all other proposals going forward.

Steven Winchester

Waynesville 

To the Editor:

I am a 59-year-old disabled veteran and lifelong Christian conservative. And I am appalled at what I see happening in the leadership of the Republican Party. 

Even here in sleepy little Haywood County the attacks on grassroots conservatism by the establishment GOP leaders is unsettling to say the least. Over the course of the last few years, these grassroots conservatives in Haywood have spent over $10,000 in legal fees to fight false allegations by GOP leadership.

Charges range from cyberstalking (case dismissed), assault charges (acquitted), and more cease and desist letters than I can count.  Numerous Haywood citizens were served “no trespass orders” without trial or jury by North Carolina Republican Party Chief Legal Counsel Thomas H. Stark, preventing these Republicans from attending GOP events in our own county. 

Then, in a kangaroo court held down east at the NCGOP State Convention, a group of at least five Haywood Republicans were charged with party disloyalty! This resulted in several being banned from the Republican Party for five years. The vice chair of the North Carolina Republican Party in a very public Facebook post even called the Haywood Republican Alliance (a group of Christian conservatives made up mostly of veterans and our families) “terrorists.” 

Now a civil suit asking for more than $75,000 has been brought by a Haywood GOP official against the conservative Political Action Committee “Haywood Republican Alliance” and several of its members, including six John Does. Grassroots conservatives in Haywood County have had to resort to a “Go Fund Me” page just to fight off the vicious attacks of the progressive establishment GOP. These are the kind of attacks one would expect from far left radicals, not the Republican Party.

The establishment NCGOP bureaucrats down in Raleigh have had their nose in Haywood County politics trying to control us for far too long. It’s high time the NCGOP learns to stay out of our lives and let the people of Haywood County run our own county.

My question, is when are these attacks going to end? Why does the NCGOP not follow the Republican Party platform? Why does the NCGOP leadership not value their hard-working grassroots conservative volunteers? 

My suggestion is get back to your Christian values, support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, and do the job you were elected to do: support our president, our veterans and stand up for America. Long live the Republic. 

Eddie Cabe 

Canton

To the Editor:

Yes, we do need a wall to protect ourselves.

A couple weeks ago a contingent of Guatemalan men and women escaping from violence stormed our southern border. They arrived accompanied by dozens of crying children armed with teddy bears. This dangerous contingent took no prisoners, except, apparently, our president, who has been ranting ever since: “We need a wall and we need it now; our southern border is under siege.” 

So, if you are as tired as I am of hearing his constant whining about a wall, may I suggest we all send in our contributions so we can make the multi-billion-dollar wall a reality. This will protect him from teddy bear brigades, and it will protect us from further whining.

Just a reminder, one billion equals one thousand millions. So, please be generous.

Paul Strop

Waynesville

To the Editor:

In 1804 a Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted impeachment charges against a sitting Supreme Court judge. The Senate had the wisdom to vote this down. This event is considered a landmark victory for the independence of the judiciary and for the separation of powers of the federal government. Up until the present there has not been another serious effort to attack these cornerstones of our democracy. This may have changed.

Rep. Mark Meadows is our Republican congressman from Asheville who represents North Carolina’s 11th District. He is the leader of the Freedom Caucus, the Tea Party faction of the House of Representatives. Under his leadership this group is threatening to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein for refusing to turn over classified information relating to the Muller investigation. It is established law that investigators are not required to turn over classified information critical to an ongoing investigation. This principle was reaffirmed by a Supreme Court decision in the early 1940s.

Meadows and his Tea Party supporters are seeking the names of individuals currently under investigation by the justice department. Meadows is a close ally of Donald Trump. It is reasonable to assume that he is seeking this information to give to Trump. 

Rob Rosenstein has refused to release this information. He has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. Meadows took an oath to support and protect the Constitution when he entered Congress. If our government leaders betray their oath to uphold our Constitutional democracy, it will be destroyed.

Meadows and his Freedom Caucus may push the country into a constitutional crisis if they continue this path. The founders of our Constitution showed great wisdom in creating a government where the executive, legislative and judicial branches are separate. In this way no one person or group of people could seize power and destroy our democracy. 

Meadows and his supporters are threatening to erase the separation between our branches of government. I am ashamed to think he is representing the great state of North Carolina and the district I live in.

Margery Abel

Franklin

The Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center is increasing its partnerships and training options, providing more opportunities for the students it works with. 

The Haywood Community College student chapter of The Wildlife Society finished fifth place overall against 24 other schools at the 2018 Wildlife Society Conclave. 

A five-year red wolf status review, released April 24, showed that only about 40 red wolves are left in the wild with only three known breeding pairs remaining. 

Jackson County’s request for a no wake zone on Lake Glenville has been denied following an April 26 vote from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, but the commission’s law enforcement division will increase boating safety patrols this summer to promote public safety. 

After 35 years of service — 30 of them in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — Chief Ranger Steve Kloster has retired. 

By Nick Breedlove • Guest Columnist

On May 6-12 we celebrate National Tourism Week, and this year’s theme from the U.S. Travel Association is “Then and Now.” 

In my role as Director of the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority, my goal is to create awareness about what a special place this area is and to inspire others to travel here and spend a night, or two or three. 

By Evan Boyer • Guest Columnist

A few months ago, some legal trouble loomed over me, and I was told that it would be in my best interest to start doing community service. My mom mentioned Haywood Waterways. I contacted Christine O’Brian, and she told me about Howell Mill Road, the trash surrounding it and how it was increasing her blood pressure day by day. I needed hours, she needed help. So I donned a vest, grabbed a grabber, and set out to clean Howell Mill. 

To the Editor:

Are we a nation governed by the rule of law or by Trump’s fantasy lies? Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, and his Tea Party Republican colleagues seem to favor lies over law. They persist in attacking the rule of law and making excuses for Trump via lies and misrepresentations on Fox “News” propaganda.

Meadows introduced a bill to “investigate the investigators” that actually attacks hard-working FBI agents who are trying to do their job in the face of constant spurious accusations. What we need is legislation that would provide resources to learn all we can about the Russian meddling in the past election and finding ways of preventing such attacks on our republic. Instead Meadows and fellow Republicans are doing all they can to hinder any and all investigations instead of protecting our elections.

The latest distraction was for House Republicans to demand access to the memos James Comey used to document his interactions with President Trump. The memos were delivered to the Republicans, and within hours the entire trove of documents was leaked to the press. Compare this to the persecution of Andrew McCabe, whom Republicans are trying to prosecute for releasing information he had the authority to release. McCabe’s biggest “crime” is having a wife who ran for office as a Democrat.

As the special prosecutor’s investigation gathers more and more evidence and gets confessions and indictments, both House and Senate leaders refuse to take steps to guarantee that the investigation will not be stopped by Trump. Instead they have people in charge of committees to supposedly also investigate the Russian hacking of our elections who seem committed to covering up as much as they can.

For example, Paul Ryan kept Rep. Nunes as head of the House Intelligence Committee even though Nunes as a member of the Trump transition had a clear conflict of interest. Nunes would not require witnesses to testify before the committee and terminated its investigation before the might have discovered something. This is the same Nunes who had endless investigations of Hillary Clinton without ever getting sound evidence of any wrongdoing.

Republicans have long claimed to be the “Law and Order” party. Apparently that only applies if your skin color is other than white or your party affiliation is something other than Republican. It is high time that Rep. Meadows and his fellow Republicans in Congress start looking after the public’s business and our national security. Russian hackers tried to influence the last election and are likely to do so again this year. This is a clear attack on our system of government. It would seem that Republicans feel that since the Russians favored Trump in 2016 that means the meddling is OK. Maybe they think the Russian hackers will also help Republicans seeking office in the House and Senate this year.

It is high time that Republicans and so-called conservatives start putting country over ideology and petty partisanship. Republicans used to be a party with high integrity. Sadly, Republicans currently in Congress do not seem to share that trait.

Norman Hoffmann

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Last week, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, took center stage with several others to interfere with the work of the Justice Department and to assist President Trump in his effort to obstruct justice in the Mueller probe. Their spurious demand for Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to release a vast amount of documents was a thinly veiled attempt to gin up an excuse to charge him with Contempt of Congress, thus providing the groundwork for Trump to fire Rosenstein and close or impede the Mueller probe. Such reckless politicizing made a mockery of Congress’ oversight function.

Throughout the Trump presidency, Rep. Meadows has shown a pattern of blind allegiance to Trump regardless of his bullying behavior, his undermining of our democratic norms, or his refusal to protect our country from Russian meddling.

In November, let’s choose a representative who will uphold the values of our exceptional democracy, not one who shields his party leader at any cost. We can start now by voting for one of the three good congressional candidates in the Democratic primary.

Fred Schmidt

Waynesville

At Dillsboro Elementary School (1950) we played dodge-a-ball during recess. The game was set up kind of like this: a large circle was etched in the playground with a stick. Students rushed inside the circle to play. Their goal?  Avoid being hit by a soft rubber ball that two players outside the circle hurled back and forth at them from opposite sides of the circle. Many of you will recall this inexpensive game. It was great fun and took our minds off the affairs of our childhood world. But the end of recess meant the end of that fun for that day.

Fast forward to 2018. A dodge-a-ball game is now being played at an increasingly faster pace. Those inside the circle are adults who have paid to play: Donald, Paul, Rick, Michael, Michael, George, Carter, Sean, Steve and a few others whose names don’t come to mind at the moment. There is some possibility that players from Russia will soon get in this game (most likely outside the circle, throwing balls). 

The ball is larger and harder in the adult game. The circle is much bigger, but is re-drawn steadily smaller with the passage of time. The original attackers were: Robert, Stormy, Karen and Michael. When a player gets hit he/she may become an attacker, adding yet another ball for those inside the circle to dodge. Needless to say some of the players have grown weary with the pace of the game. Some have merely taken the hit and joined the attackers, complicating the strategies for those within. The difference most noteworthy is that there is no recess to free the players up. Like the Eagles sang in “Hotel California:” “… they can check out any time they like, but they can never leave.” 

Rather than airing on ESPN, this historic game is being played day and night on several news channels. Things have gotten really hectic recently as the circle grows smaller and more people become attackers. This question looms across America: who will be the last one standing? Some have wondered aloud to friends and spectators — why did I choose to play this game in the first place? 

As famous singer/songwriter Joe South observed: “Oh, the games people play now every night and every day now, never meanin’ what they say now and never saying what they mean.”

Dave Waldrop

Webster

Bethel Elementary School third-grader Jade Cody has been named the state winner in a poster contest sponsored by the N.C. Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation. 

A new video series celebrating Western North Carolina’s local foods economy — and the small businesses and communities that drive it — is now available online. 

A handful of road projects will impact travel in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the coming weeks. 

On April 28, a Macon County Schools activity bus was traveling back to Franklin from an Upward Bound trip with a group of students. 

A candidate challenge against Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has been appealed to the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement after the Swain County Board of Elections dismissed the challenge during an April 9 hearing. 

According to a press release from Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland, Macon deputies were dispatched to 164 Pheasant Dr., around 11:41 p.m. April 29, in reference to a dispute amongst neighbors regarding boards with nails placed on a driveway, blocking a neighbors exit. 

The Haywood Community College 2018 graduation ceremonies will be held at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, in the Charles M. Beall Auditorium on the Clyde campus. 

A friend of mine has celiac disease and must be careful of “cross contact.” What does that mean?

This year’s synchronous firefly viewing in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be Thursday, June 7, through Thursday, June 14, and a lottery for tickets will be open from noon Friday, April 27, through 8 p.m. Monday, April 30. 

Black Mountain resident Kenny Capps is in the midst of a cross-state run that he’s undertaking while also battling an incurable blood cancer, multiple myeloma. 

Tuscola High School students came in first place during the annual Area 1 Envirothon, held March 23 in Waynesville.

If you’ve seen a hellbender, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission wants to know. 

To the Editor:

In this week that we celebrate Earth Day, I’d like to make a few observations.

In her book on the Tea Party, Strangers in Their Own Land, Arlie Russell Hochschild compares what she calls “the high road” to prosperity, versus “the low road.” Politicians of both parties are choosing to sell one or the other agenda to different states or regions of the country.

The high road can be seen in places like Washington state, where investments are made in the quality of life, good schools, updated infrastructure (including high-speed internet), clean air, pristine water and copious opportunities for outdoor recreation.

The low road is a strategy that does just the opposite. It is based on cutting spending on all the assets mentioned above.

In the short run the low road can reap some impressive results, like bringing in mining and drilling (and now fracking) operations, and the highly polluting plants that follow. But in the long road the results are miserable. 

The land is left spoiled. Traditional occupations like farming are drastically reduced. The money is boom and bust. The businesses that swoop in like vultures won’t even ask their executives to live in the affected states, so most of the high salaries (touted so eagerly by the politicians) end up flowing to other states (high road states), or even foreign countries.

Looking at the voting records of our representative in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, and at many of our local county commissions and city governments, we can see that the low road is being pushed upon us. All is not lost, however, as there is strong recognition that Western North Carolina is not the place for it.

In the long run, our greater prosperity is linked to keeping WNC on the high road to the future.

Boyd Holliday

Lake Junaluska

To the Editor:

The Haywood County NAACP supports gun safety and freedom. Today, fear and terror exist in our children’s classrooms. The NAACP advocates for laws that will protect and save children and teachers from gun violence and allow them the freedom to learn in a safe environment.

We support:

• Passing a law to ban the sale of assault weapons like the ones used in Las Vegas, Orlando, Aurora, Sandy Hook and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. These are weapons of war, which should be restricted to the military and law enforcement.

• Prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines. Limiting the number of bullets a gun can discharge at one time will at least force a shooter to reload and give children a chance to escape.

• Closing the background check law loophole that allows dangerous people to buy guns online or at flea markets. A background check should be required on every gun sale — with no exception.

It is time to insist that politicians and the NRA act in the best interests of public safety by supporting sane and sensible gun safety laws. It is time that parents are free from the ever-present fear of a shooting at their child’s school. It is time that children and teachers are free to learn without fear.

Chuck Dickson

President, Haywood NAACP

To the Editor:

I happened to come across a column written by Martin Dyckman in an old edition of the SMN in which he made some rather strong comments against the soon-to-be-passed tax reform legislation. In that column Mr. Dyckman wrote the following: “There are only two classes of guaranteed winners (with the tax bill)… the wealthiest of all Americans, and large corporations.”

I wonder if he might now have a different opinion of the tax legislation? As of this date, hundreds of different companies — large and small — have given their lowest paid employees bonuses, salary increases, larger retirement contributions, utility reductions and have even increased jobs. Stories continue to be shared from across the country of the powerful and positive impact that the tax reform bill has had on hundreds of thousands of Americans and their families. 

It is amazing to me how otherwise intelligent individuals on the far left continue to be so irrationally influenced by their hatred of Donald Trump — in addition to their ever-increasing lack of touch with everyday Americans. Other examples of this, of course, include Nancy Pelosi’s “crumbs” comment, and someone who Mr. Dyckman quoted in his column, Paul Krugman, who famously forecast a global recession “with no end in sight” under President Trump. Maybe what Krugman actually meant to say was “no recession in sight.”

But then again they say that liberalism is a disease. So I guess it’s not so surprising after all. 

Tom Smith, 

Davie, Florida

Lake Junaluska Assembly received notice recently that the North Carolina Utilities Commission will in the near future be resuming regulation of Lake Junaluska Assembly’s provision of water and sewer service, including setting the rates for those services. 

I am trying to avoid eating dairy because it makes me feel bad.

While there are plenty of summer camp opportunities for youth in WNC, parents have to begin planning far in advance while also being prepared to shell out big bucks for their children to attend certain programs.