Western North Carolina’s educational institutions must re-emphasize the importance of mathematical skills at all levels — from basic addition and subtraction to advanced statistics, analysis and predictive modeling — if mountain students are to succeed in the modern workforce.

A 5K race will be held on the campus of Western Carolina University in conjunction with Mountain Heritage Day festivities.

The race will start at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, with check-in and race day registration from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. at the Stillwell Science Building on the WCU campus. The course will take runners on a partial tour of the WCU campus, including past the signature fountain at the campus center. The route offers a mix of flatland and hills. A course map is available online. The race is open to runners, joggers and speed walkers; all participants should be able to complete the race within 50 minutes.

Awards will be presented to first place male and female runners and the top three male and female runners in each age category, including 17 and under, 18-31 and 31 and over.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.283.0203 or www.claws.wcu.edu/sma/5K.

No junior women’s freestyle kayaker in the world was better than Stecoah resident Rowan Stuart recently at the ICF Canoe World Championships — a freestyle boating competition.

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee will host its first Fish Frenzy, a kayak and canoe fishing tournament, Saturday, Sept.28, at the Tsali Boat Ramp on Lake Fontana.

In time for peak hurricane season, Duke Energy is going mobile with its lake level information.

The smart phone-friendly website can be accessed at www.duke-energy.com. The default menu shows an option for “Lakes and Recreation.” Duke Energy’s lake information web pages include recreational water release schedules, lake levels and alerts. The page attracts thousands of hits each month when heavy rainfall causes high water at lakes managed by the company. 

“We’ve provided this information for years, knowing how important it is to people who live near the lakes and to those who use them for recreation,” said Duke Energy spokesperson Lisa Hoffmann. “This enhancement will make popular lake information even more accessible.”

Lakeside residents are encouraged to monitor weather forecasts and check for lake level alerts when heavy rains are in the forecast. The public also can check real-time lake levels and special updates, 24 hours a day, online or over the phone.

www.duke-energy.com/lakes/levels.asp or 800.829.5253.

A group of raptors will be featured at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, at The Village Green Commons in Cashiers. 

For homeowners with bear problems, the B.E.A.R. Task Force is hosting a program to keep the persistent beasts away.

A $1,000 grant given to the Elk Bugle Corps in Cataloochee Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be used to buy gear for the new bike patrol.

The grant from the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority to Friends of the Smokies went to help fund the Elk Bike Patrol and get volunteer riders some key pieces of equipment.

The money provides uniform shirts, bike shorts and pants, safety mirrors, repair kits, and radio gear. The bicycle volunteers, like Stefanie McIntosh of Asheville, help control traffic while dealing with elk-caused jams and answering visitor questions.

“Being on a bike allows us to respond quickly during high traffic times and during visitor emergencies,” McIntosh commented.

The TDA grant also supplies additional uniforms for the Elk Bugle Corps who rove valley on foot and in the volunteer vehicles, so that visitors know where to turn for information. 

Representatives from the town of Clyde and HomeTrust Bank removed 80 pounds of trash Saturday, Sept. 7, from the small tributary of the Pigeon River. It was the town’s first waterway cleanup since it adopted the stream next to the Clyde Fire Station as part of Haywood Waterways’ Adopt A Stream program. Participating organizations “adopt” a stream to clean up its trash and improve its water quality.

It took about two hours for the group of nine to collect the trash, which was mostly plastic soda bottles and shopping bags.

A larger stream-cleaning event, Haywood County’s Big Sweep, will be held on Sept. 21. Haywood Waterways is recruiting volunteers to help. 

Trash ends up in streams several ways, with the bulk entering through storm drains. Litter and trash from cars is washed by rain into streams and rivers. Much of the trash, particularly plastics, can take hundreds of years to decompose. Besides being ugly, trash is bad for wildlife and can clog drains and pipes, which can cause flooding and problems for water users in industry and agriculture.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.550.4869.

The 39th Mountain Heritage Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. The event will be preceded by a 5K foot race at 8 a.m.

WCU’s free celebration of Appalachian culture also will feature a full schedule of mountain music, fun activities, about 100 booths of the region’s finest arts and crafts, and 25 vendors offering ethnic, heritage and festival food. Balsam and Blue Ridge stages and the Circle Tent will offer continuous mountain music, storytelling and clogging. 

Other areas will be active with demonstrations of Cherokee stickball and other Cherokee games, shape-note singing and an antique auto show. The Children’s Tent will provide entertaining activities for younger visitors throughout the day, and kids also will enjoy free wagon rides and hayrides.

The festival also offers a variety of demonstrations and contests centered on authentic mountain folk arts and skills: competitions for best beards and mustaches, period costumes and chainsaw woodcutting. Apples are the key ingredient in this year’s entries for the annual Best of the West award in the Mountain Heritage Day “A Gathering In” Traditional Food Competition. Contest rules, categories and entries are found at www.mountainheritageday.com.

The Mountain Heritage Center’s exhibits of Appalachian culture and history will be open all day. Festival attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets for comfortable seating. Shuttles will operate throughout the day, with stops at designated parking and attraction location.

www.mountainheritageday.com or 828.227.7129.

The annual Mountain Life Festival in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Mountain Farm Museum near Cherokee.

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Daniel and Belle Fangmeyer Theater on the grounds of the Performing Arts Center at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, in Waynesville.

Since kicking off a $1 million dollar capital fund drive in July 2012, HART has raised more than $640,000 toward the construction of a new second stage, which will allow them to nearly double their performance schedule by the 2015 season. The new theater building will provide rehearsal space so cast can start working on an upcoming show while another one is still running on the main stage.

The second theater building will be a medium-sized venue, smaller than HART’s main stage but bigger than the small studio theater.

Architects Joe Sam Queen and Sarah Queen have designed a facility, which will provide for unique productions in an ever-changing setting, but continue the physical style of the current theater facility.

www.harttheatre.com.

The Tony Award-winning puppet musical “Ave. Q” hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20-21, 27-28 and Oct. 4-5, and at 3 p.m. Sept. 22, 29 and Oct. 6, at Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

Country sensation Scott McCreery hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.

Called “the world’s greatest tribute to Chicago,” musical group Brass Transit will perform at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.

With a growing legion of fans on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border, the eight-piece Toronto group rips through Chicago’s catalog of hits from the 1970s — classics such as “Make Me Smile,” “25 or 6 to 4,” “Call on Me,” “Wishing You Were Here,” “Old Days,” “Questions 67 & 68” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”

The group regularly performs to sold-out crowds across the U.S. and Canada – no easy feat when the real members of Chicago are still actively touring.

Tickets for the show are $20 for adults, $15 for WCU faculty and staff, and $5 for students and children. The Brass Transit performance is sponsored by Tonemaster Muffler Shop of Sylva.

828.227.2479 or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

To the Editor:

North Carolina has the 49th highest unemployment rate in the USA, tied with Rhode Island and followed by Illinois at No. 50 and Nevada at 51 (Washington, D.C., was included in this survey). 

There are well over a million people unemployed in North Carolina. This was the condition the state was in after 12 years of two Democratic governors. There have been many letters to the editor as well as several news organizations protesting our new governor. Do the protestors want to elect more people to office like the last two Democrats who were in charge? You would think so from all of the negative letters written to the papers. Do people realize it costs millions of dollars to help unemployed families in our state? We know our teachers are underpaid, but at least they have jobs. Until the economy in North Carolina gets better and employment increases, the state and the people will have to do the best they can to get by.

The legislature and Gov. McCrory substantially changed our tax system to encourage businesses to move to or expand in North Carolina. Gov. Perdue borrowed $2.5 billion from the U.S. Treasury to pay for unemployment insurance; the interest on that loan costs approximately $100 million a year. The governor hopes to pay off that loan by 2016. Our new tax system is now rated as the 17th best tax system for businesses in the USA. It will take time to get our business community booming again. Before the last election North Carolina was surrounded by four states that have lower tax rates and lower unemployment rates than our State. We can now compete against those states for business growth. 

Gov. McCrory was in Sylva on Sept. 12 for a lunch with many local citizens and business people and stated that he is committed to restoring prosperity to all of North Carolina. He admitted our state is broke and that the only way we can recover is to help our people find work. He said we had to change our tax system to compete with other states to do that. He knows his personal popularity has taken a hit, but he is committed to this goal. He made Charlotte into a prosperous city and he will do the same for North Carolina. Let’s see where North Carolina is by 2016?

Jim Mueller

Glenville

To the Editor:

 The national criticism of his voter suppression law — yes, he signed it, so it’s his — must be working on Gov. Pat McCrory. He wrote a defensive op-ed piece in USA Today not long ago in which he rationalized a photo ID for voting by the necessity to show one to board an airplane.

His apologists have been filling the newspapers with letters that equate a photo ID for voting with having to show one to cash a check or purchase certain controlled medications.

These are blatant examples of false syllogism — stringing together two or more facts to support a nonsensical conclusion.

An example found on the web goes like this: “Only women are nuns. Only women can have babies. Therefore, only nuns can have babies.”

McCrory’s equation is just as flawed: It’s a fact that honest voting is important; it’s a fact that aircraft security is important; it’s a fact that curbing drug misuse, as in the making of methamphetamines, is important; it’s a fact that preventing check or credit card fraud is important.

But it’s also a fact — conveniently ignored by the voter suppression apologists — that there is scarcely ever an instance of someone trying to vote under another person’s identity. When the State Board of Elections searched its records, it could find only two examples among many millions of votes cast. And no one ever died from it.

But nearly 3,000 people died on account of airplane hijackings on 9/11. Many thousands more have died from drug abuse — in one year, more than 500 from meth alone. Check and credit card fraud are daily occurrences that cost billions of dollars annually.

Unlike those examples, voter fraud is an imaginary problem.  

McCrory also contended that voter fraud is a real threat because of multimillion-dollar political campaigns. As the beneficiary of one, he ought to know. But this, too, is false syllogism. The special interests and their candidates don’t try to buy individual voters; it’s too cumbersome, and they know they would be caught. Their money buys advertising, chiefly negative, to influence voters en masse. It’s a lot more bang for the buck.

The interests behind McCrory are already pouring advertising money into trying to gild his shabby performance. When you see or hear the ads, consider the motive.  

Martin A. Dyckman

Waynesville

To the Editor:

In January, Republicans swept into state government on a mission of frugality, vowing to trim fat from the state budget. And trim they did, taking a cleaver to unemployment benefits, our vaulted education system, welfare, health care, and the environment. Millions of North Carolinians — young and old — were negatively affected.

What we are learning, though, is that not everyone in the state is hurting. Wealthy citizens got a big tax break on income tax. Others have benefitted, too. Turns out that it’s good to be close to the governor and high officials in his administration. Recently, Gov. Pat McCrory gave huge raises — over $20,000 — to his staffers because, as he noted, it is expensive to live in Raleigh. Perhaps the governor needs to be aware that it’s expensive to live in a few other places in North Carolina, notably anywhere between Murphy and Manteo.  

McCrory has been generous to himself, too, at least to his image. He recently authorized $150,000 for a TV ad campaign that shows him boasting of his accomplishments in his first few months in office.

But all is not sweetness and light in Raleigh, and reports show that there is an undercurrent of darkness in this administration. They don’t like it when they are crossed.  Recently, a section chief in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), a 35-year state employee who’d served six governors, was let go by DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos because she defended her own staff members for lobbying legislators about unfair spending by the DHHs. These staff people had gone to the legislature on their own vacation time with a story to tell, quite a story about how budget cuts were going to reduce health services to children. This was not what Secretary Wos wanted to hear, but the section chief was only protecting the rights of her staff to speak freely. Doing so got her fired.  

Now, on the other hand, we find that Secretary Wos has a generous streak, well, at least for friends. Through personal services contracts, she hired Joe Hauk and Les Merritt to help streamline her now depleted department.  What are their qualifications? Hauk was a member of a company run by Wos’ husband; Merritt is a former state auditor and confidant of Art Pope, the man who brought in 75 percent of the money to finance the Republican takeover of NC government. Hauk and Merritt are going to live well in Raleigh or wherever they wish. For eight months consulting, Hauk was paid $228,375. Merritt is doing OK, as well; in two months, he was paid $58,500, part of a year-long contract that is capped at $312,000.  (Note that Merritt is also a member of the N.C. Ethics Commission. Ouch.)  

So, what is one to conclude? That the old cliché of it being good to have friends in high places is still true. However, for the rest of us who are obliged to scratch out a living or try to find a job, we need to have a long memory, at least until the elections of 2014 when we can put some folks back into the legislature to block this naked cronyism.

Rick Bryson

Bryson City

The creation of a monolithic blueprint that will lead the seven western counties into a new economy is under way, but the team of researchers behind it is calling for community input to ensure the vision being crafted is the right one.

“We want to speak to people in the region to show them what we have done so far and make sure we are capturing their perspective,” said Ben Brown with the Macon-based Placemakers consulting firm that’s part of the research team.

A $1.3-million, year long visioning process known as Opportunity Initiative — or Opt-In, for short — is engaging business, civic and community leaders. But it also wants to check in and touch base with the general public.

A series of upcoming public meetings will synthesize key findings emerging from the mountains of data and research. Some of the findings are old news. Manufacturing has declined. High-speed Internet access is lacking. The population is aging. 

But until now, what these disparate realities actually mean hasn’t been assessed collectively as a region.

“There is no doubt that all rural areas are struggling for a sense of identity and strategic purpose,” Brown said. “Rural communities have to be much smarter to use the resources that are there and to create new resources.”

But the massive visioning study will hopefully come up with concrete solutions to putting WNC on the path of a shared vision.

“Where do we put our time and energy? How to we maximize our opportunities? Are we making the best use of our assets right now?” Brown posed. 

The answer likely lies in WNC’s strengths. While it may seem intuitive, the study will assess how the region can tap into its assets to build a better economic future, Brown said.

“What things are we really good at? Outdoor recreation, the mountains and rivers, are really strong consistent assets,” Brown said.

The following is a list of public meeting locations where the research team will gather public input. Drop-bys start at 5:30 p.m., with the formal presentations and discussion from 6 to 8 p.m.

• Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Monday, Sept. 23, at Tribal Council House.

• Robbinsville, Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Graham County Community Center.

• Franklin, Thursday, Sept. 26, at Macon Bank Corporate Center.

• Cullowhee, Monday, Sept. 30, at Western Carolina University’s A.K. Hinds Center, multi-purpose room.

• Bryson City, Thursday, Oct. 3, Swain County Technology and Training Center.

• Waynesville, Thursday, Oct. 10, at Regional High Technology Center.

— By Becky Johnson

Haywood County has secured the first right of refusal on the 1.4-acre tract where the Mauney Cove trash and recycling collection site is located near the intersection of U.S. 276 and U.S. 19.

The county currently leases the site for $6,000 a year.

The Board of Commissioners agreed Monday to secure the first right of refusal on the property, giving the county first dibs should the owner ever decide to sell it.

“This doesn’t commit us to anything. Just the option to purchase the site should the need arise,” said Commission Chairman Mark Swanger.

Mauney Cove is one of its most used collection centers in the county.

“Should this site be sold we could lose one of our most coveted centers in the county,” Swanger said.

The lease on the property is good until September 2016.

In the same meeting, the commissioners also accepted a $30,000 grant from the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources to help pay for new recycling receptacles at all the county’s convenience centers. The total cost of replacing all the old recycling containers is about $272,300, which was included in the county’s solid waste budget for the year.

— By Caitlin Bowling

Building permits are trending upwards in Haywood County thanks to an increase in single-family home construction.

The majority of new permits are for mid-range homes less than 4,000 square feet and below $500,000 in value, according to Bruce Crawford, director of building inspections in Haywood County.

The county issued 25 permits for single-family homes in July and August, compared to 16 for the same two-month period last year.

Building permits last fiscal year were up slightly compared to the year before as well.

During the 2012-2013 fiscal year ending in June, the county issued 105 permits for single-family homes. That’s 25 more than the previous year.

“I guess the economy is getting a little bit better,” Crawford said. “It has improved enough that people are starting to turn loose some money.”

The total number of all building permits issued by the county — including additions and commercial buildings — was up by 76 more permits last fiscal year compared to the prior year.

Permits for home additions still remained by far the most popular type of permit issued, topping nearly 250 last fiscal year. Home additions are likely up for several reasons. Low interest rates have made refinancing an attractive option, liquidating home equity for people to then plow into an addition. And those who want more space but are unable to sell their existing home for a decent price tend to improve what they already have instead of moving.

The county has not seen much in the way of new business permits, however.

“Basically, all we’ve seen is just small business type stuff and not much of that,” Crawford said.

The county’s building permit numbers don’t include construction in the town limits of Waynesville, which handles its own building permits. Waynesville issued 16 more buidling permits last year than the year before, but so far this year is about even with the same period last year.

— By Caitlin Bowling

Swain County Manager Kevin King made another trip up to Washington, D.C. last week, though this time the visit was not strictly for Swain County’s benefit.

The National Association of County Commissioners paid for King and 24 other county leaders from 13 states to fly into Washington and lobby for continued funding for the PILT, or payment in lieu of taxes, program. The program provides federal payments to counties with national park and national forest land to offset the losses to the county’s property tax base. The government doesn’t pay property taxes on land it owns, so counties with a lot of federally owned land like Swain miss out on the property taxes they could otherwise collect if the lands were privately held.

About 87 percent of Swain County’s acreage is federal land, either owned by the Forest Service, National Park Service or the Tennessee Valley Authority. Swain gets about $575,000 per year in PILT due the large amount of federally owned land — and thus non-taxable land — in the county.  It’s a sizeable part of the small county’s budget.

No PILT funding is included in the federal budget right now, however, which could hurt counties that expect the annual allocation. 

“Without mandatory funding, PILT will revert to a discretionary program subject to the annual appropriation process, which could jeopardize continued full funding for PILT. We can’t afford to let this happen,” said King, who has gone on PILT lobbying trips before.

King just got back from a trip to Washington last month with Swain County Commissioners Phil Carson and David Monteith to meet with National Park Service and Forest Service leaders.

— Caitlin Bowling

To the Editor:

Congratulation, the Republican legislature just gave everyone in the state a tax cut. Well, maybe not, just those whose income is over $84,000. If your income is over $400,000, your tax cut may be as much as $10,000. More great news if you are a major corporation, you tax rate was cut substantially. Of course, if you are a small business, you probably will see your overall tax bill go up.

In fact, two out of every three dollars in tax cuts dollars will go to the top 1 percent of North Carolina’s wealthiest citizens. But 80 percent of North Carolina citizens will pay more in taxes under this new budget.

In essence, the Republicans have replaced a progressive income tax system with a flat tax. A flat tax, by its nature, is a very regressive tax. In simple terms the wealthy pay less and the lower and middle class pay more in taxes as a percentage of their income. In case their intention was not clear enough, they eliminated significant tax credits and exemptions that primarily impacted those in the lower income levels.

Here are just two examples: the Republicans eliminated the Earned Income Tax Credit that was implemented to help low-wage workers. Their taxes will now go up significantly. Retirees will lose both a $4,000 deduction for government retirement income and a $2,000 deduction for private retirement income. But the wealthy still get a $1,500 cap on sales tax for their corporate jet or new yacht.

When asked why this change in the tax code, one answer given is that it will be fairer. Is it fairer to the 80 percent who will pay more? 

But the reason most often cited is that this business-friendly budget will bring in new business, create jobs and stimulate the economy. No matter how much Tea Party types advocate this discredited policy, study after study has proven that more money given to the wealthy in tax cuts does not mean more money in your pocket. 

CEOs say they are looking for world-class schools, a robust health care system, strong middle-class economics, modern infrastructure, and a culture that promotes upward mobility, not one that creates a permanent under class.    

The real losers in this budget are the citizens of North Carolina. The General Assembly’s own Fiscal Research Division estimates this budget will cost the state at least $1 billion a year when the changes take effect.

If the Tea Party Republicans are out to destroy state government, this is a good start.

Louis Vitale

Franklin

To the Editor:

In a recent letter titled “New laws bring advantages to N.C. citizens,” the writer stated “It’s time to speak the truth about the gains made by the N.C. legislature in its 2013 session.” While most of the facts stated are true, the writer didn't tell the whole truth! The rest of the truth follows in the areas addressed by the writer. 

Education: it is true that the appropriation is $361 million more than the previous year, but it is $120 million less than what the state budget office said was necessary to maintain education at the 2012 level. The rest of the education story: $10 million in public funds were allocated for private school vouchers; 5,200 teaching positions lost and 4,580 teacher assistant positions cut in the new budget; starting salary for N.C. teachers is $30,800 which is less than $15 per hour;  2,400 at-risk children are cut from pre. How do these budget realities bring advantages to the state's students and teachers?  

Election process: early voting reduced by seven days even though 56 percent of voters used it in 2012; no same day registration, no straight ticket voting; 25 percent increase in contribution limits on what private donors can give candidates; ID requirement means that 318,000 registered voters that do not have a driver's license or state-issued ID will have to get one — even IDs issued by state-supported colleges and universities will not be accepted. “Free” IDs will cost taxpayers $834,200 in 2013-2014 and $24,100 every two years after that. Out of almost seven million votes cast in the last election, only 121 were referred to the proper authorities for investigation. No doubt these were cast by both parties. Does any of this give an advantage to N.C. voters?  

Tax Reform: 170,000 workers will lose benefits; 907,000 low-wage workers will have a tax increase because the Earned Income Tax Credit is ending (64,000 military families claimed this credit in 2011); millionaires will get an average tax cut of $10,000 while 80 percent of taxpayers will get an increase; $50 million a year lost by cutting out the estate tax. 

Individual Rights: are the rights of women really being protected? The writer states that Medicaid will be “more patient oriented and fiscally responsible.” How so when 500,000 low-income adults will be without health insurance because legislators voted against participating in the Affordable Care Act? What advantage is there is allowing guns at schools and in bars? Will this make anyone safer? The writer concludes by saying “Fair thinking voters will see that they made the correct choice in electing a majority Republican legislature.” I suggest that a majority of voters will see that the “advantages” the writer identifies are in fact disadvantages for the majority of us and will vote accordingly in the future. 

Linda Fulk

Sylva

To the Editor:

The 2013 North Carolina legislature has enacted numerous measures to benefit corporations and attract new business to our state. Tax reform is reducing corporate income tax and the state excise tax is being repealed. Middle- and lower-income earners will experience increased taxes, a necessary sacrifice to attract new business and jobs. Unemployment in North Carolina remains at one of the highest rates in the nation. The legislature did not create programs for workers since prosperity will trickle down as new businesses create jobs. Trickle down policy in the “good old days” of the 1920s contributing to the stock market crash in 1929. A Pope (Art Pope) presides over state economic policy and plans a different outcome for us.

A major factor in attracting new business is the quality of a state’s education system. Public school teachers’ pay in North Carolina has dropped to 46th among the 50 states. Many public school teachers are leaving our state for better jobs elsewhere. Factoring in inflation and student population growth, North Carolina is spending less on public education than in previous years. The legislature has provided millions of dollars in scholarships so students can attend private schools. We are returning to the “good old days” of the 19th century when private schools dominated education unrestricted by 20th century state regulations.

Teaching jobs in private schools will be easily filled since state certification and special training are not required. They are exempt from providing for special needs students and any state curriculum requirements. Private schools may teach students that global warming does not exist; religion may be a required subject and evolution an unproven theory. They may learn poverty stems from people grown dependent of living on government handouts. Private schools might adopt textbooks similar to those in Texas, which eliminate Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin from U.S. history. This education uniquely prepares private school graduates for 21st centaury jobs in science, technology and humanities.

The voter reform law enacted by the legislature returns us to “the good old days” of voting restrictions. This law will eliminate the less than 1 percent of illegal voters in North Carolina while leveling the voting field for all white voters under age 65. Elderly voters, college students and minorities may confront major obstacles to voting. Those who can’t overcome restrictive voting requirements have only themselves to blame. They’re probably too naive, ignorant or senile to vote right anyway.

The legislature is eliminating many environmental protection regulations, saving businesses money. Fracking may now occur on private land without owner’s permission. Funding for the unemployed is cut or eliminated along with other social programs. These reforms fund tax cuts for wealthy job creators. People on welfare must live within the means of those poor paying jobs available to them. They are probably drug addicts. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, sponsored the new law requiring welfare recipients pass drug testing to receive state food assistance. He suggests this law will teach their children a lesson.

North Carolina’s legislative actions have been in the spotlight of the national news media. Our state was also mentioned by several speakers at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. We were featured in a Rachael Maddow show broadcast live from North Carolina. With this national publicity just imagine which corporations will wish to relocate here! N.C. voters preferring 21st century values over “the good old days” must overcome voter restrictions and elect new legislators in 2014.

Margery Abel

Franklin

To the Editor:

In the winter of 1979, in the midst of studying for a degree at a large university, things weren’t going well. Academically I was OK, but emotionally, spiritually, I needed a break. One afternoon I returned to my dorm room, tossed my books, and headed out for a walk to clear my head. I wandered the main commercial drag. The scent of stale beer wafted from open doors of bars lining the street, calling to mind some weekend hangovers.

I ended up perusing an outfitter store’s bookshelf, finding Appalachian Hiker, about hiking the Appalachian Trail. I bought that book. It changed my life. I dropped a course and used that time to prepare for an AT section hike. On April 1, this fool began a memorable eight-week journey that took me 700 miles from Georgia to Virginia.

In retrospect, that journey was a pilgrimage. 

In her book Fumbling, a tale of her journey on an ancient Catholic pilgrimage trail in Spain, author Kerry Egan cites anthropologists Victor and Edith Turner, who describe the pilgrimage experience as “a time in which a person is separate and apart from everyday life and expectations, apart from the normal patterns and strictures of society. A pilgrim is in an in-between space for a little while, a time of both great transition and great potential. In this place you can learn and experience things that it would not be possible to learn while not on pilgrimage.“ That AT experience helped me understand who I am. 

I also experienced wonderful people on the AT — fellow hikers and trail angels. As Egan puts it, “a pilgrim experiences communitas, the elimination of differences between people of different ages, classes, and nationalities. Barriers between people are thrown aside as a great feeling of unity and connectedness brings people together in a way that seems impossible within the regular structures of society.“

I also experienced for the first time extended vistas of deep forested mountains. I had not realized such views were possible in the eastern U.S. — blue and smoky ridges extending to the horizon, unmarred by development. The Southern Appalachian Mountains are a unique and, for me, sacred place. After other adventures elsewhere, including the Andes and Himalayas, I returned 11 years ago to make this area my home.

Last week, again on the AT, I enjoyed the pristine view from Standing Indian Mountain, and recalled my pilgrimage of 33 years ago that, as Egan says, “is transformative, cleansing and purifying.”

Let’s maintain this AT experience for others. 

While the construction of a new cell tower in the Rainbow Springs area by Pegasus Tower is a certainty — it was approved by Macon County Commissioners in July — let’s encourage the company to reduce its visual impact through measures suggested by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, including setting the tower off the ridge, no or subtle lighting, and non-illustrative finish. 

Also, let’s encourage our Macon County commissioners to amend our Telecommunications ordinance to require notification to the ATC for any proposed tower within four miles of the AT. 

Dennis Desmond

Franklin

The Macon Aero Modelers is holding its 5th annual BBQ Charity Fun Fly at 9 a.m. Sept. 21-22, at the club’s flying field on Tessentee Road in Otto.

Each year the club, made up of radio-controlled airplane enthusiasts, hosts the Fun Fly to raise money for non-governmental, non-profit organizations. This year the club is sponsoring the event to raise money for REACH of Macon County. REACH is a non-profit organization that works with victims of domestic violence. It also has a court advocacy program, rape prevention education programs, youth advocacy programs, a 24-hour crisis hot line and provides emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence, among other services.

There is a $5 parking fee. Barbecue plates are $7 and hot dog plates are $5. 

The rain date for the event is Sept. 28-29.

828.421.7843.

MedWest-Haywood is asking the community to step up to the plate and do their best rendition of the ‘Pink Glove Dance’ on Monday, Sept. 16.

The ‘Pink Glove Dance’ has become a national hit to raise awareness of breast cancer. There will be two sessions: at noon in front of the hospital and at 6 p.m. in the gym at the Health & Fitness Center.

Pink surgical gloves will be provided and dance participants should try to wear one pink item, such as a shirt, scarf or hat. People of all ages and all levels of mobility are invited to join in.

No experience is necessary, but be forewarned, the dances will be taped and a video submitted as part of a national Pink Glove Dance contest. The winning videos receive cash prizes donated to breast cancer charities of their choice.

Over the course of the week, videos of the Pink Glove Dance will also be captured in doctors’ practices, by nurses on the floors of the hospital, and even in the administration wing.

The first Pink Glove Dance video was created in 2009 by Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore. It went viral and the national media spotlight prompted hospitals all over the world to do their own version. 

www.medwesthealth.org/PinkGlove.

The 12th annual Railfest will bring a taste of railroad food, memorabilia, storytelling, Appalachian music and dance, and special train excursions to downtown Bryson City Sept. 13-15.

The 6th annual Youth Arts Festival will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro.

Professional wrestler and country singer Mickie James will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14, at Thunder In The Smokies bike rally at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. 

Tree seedlings planted at McKinney Meadow in Cashiers this week may signal a new chapter for the American Chestnut in the area and its fight against blight.

The chestnut seedlings planted at McKinney Meadow are part of a unique breeding program headed by The American Chestnut Foundation to restore the American chestnut to the eastern forests of America. 

At one time, the trees stood up to 100 feet tall and numbered in the billions in the Southeast, until an Asian fungus, known as chestnut blight, wiped out about four billion trees by the 1950s. Now, assisted by nearly 6,000 members, volunteers, and partners, the TACF is planting potentially blight-resistant trees in select locations.

Helping with the recent planting were students from Summit Charter School and Blue Ridge school, along with representatives of the Village Conservancy. The Village Conservancy is working to protect McKinney Meadow and preserve the entry to the historic N.C. 107 corridor of Cashiers.

828.281.0047 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.acf.org. 

Haywood County high school students will have more educational opportunities in the areas of electronics and machining, thanks to a nearly $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Haywood Community College and Haywood County Schools will use the two-year, $193,000 grant to create a dual enrollment electronics engineering technician option for high school students. The effort will also work to recruit females into electronics and machining careers. The goal is to train workers to meet the skilled employment needs of area manufacturers.

There has been a decrease in jobs in traditional manufacturing as they are replaced with more technologically oriented positions. Also, a high percentage of the manufacturing workforce is nearing retirement and those entering the work force are generally not trained to replace them.

Manufacturing is an important part of the economy in Haywood County, providing high wages in comparison with other sectors of the local economy. The major manufacturing employers in the county are Evergreen Packaging, Haywood Vocational Opportunities, Consolidated Metco, Sonoco Plastics, Giles Chemicals and Powell Industries. 

828.627.4632. 

A Western North Carolina farm tour provides the perfect chance to see where food comes from and to get to know the farmers who grow it.

A day full of activities at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center near Asheville promises mountain music, outdoor literature, local food, environmental education and a guided hike. Events run from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at the visitor center along the parkway.

Haywood Community College will soon build an experimental geothermal pre-cooling facility to extend the shelf life of produce and crops in Western North Carolina.

A walk along the Blue Ridge Parkway will take hikers on a journey to explore the mighty chestnut tree and its future in Western North Carolina.

Mast General Store is offering outdoor enthusiasts a way to get new gear while helping out the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Until Sept. 14, Patagonia footwear, apparel and gear purchased at Mast General Store in Waynesville will benefit the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies. The fund-raising initiative will culminate Sept. 14 with a celebration at the Mast General Store, at which 10 percent of the store’s sales on that date directed to the friends group.

There is a parallel event in the company’s Knoxville store, and this is the fourth year of the fund-raising campaign.

Representatives from Friends of the Smokies will be on hand Sept. 14 to share information about projects in the park. Currently, the organization’s trail crew is working on the Chimney Tops Trail. Information about volunteering with the crew will be available on-site as well.

This month also marks the 20th anniversary of Friends of the Smokies.

“Twenty years ago this month, our organization was established to help the Smokies. We wouldn’t still be here without the support of businesses like Mast who recognize what an economic engine Great Smoky Mountains National Park is for its surrounding communities,“ said Holly Demuth, North Carolina director of Friends of the Smokies.

www.friendsofthesmokies.org or www.mastgeneralstore.com. 

• Western Carolina University will host information sessions on a new part-time MBA program starting in January and held in Cherokee. Sessions will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Sept. 12 in the hotel ballroom at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and from 12 to 12:45 p.m. and from 5:15 to 6 p.m. Sept. 16 in WCU’s Forsyth Building. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• A free small business workshop will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 16 at Southwestern Community College in Sylva. Learn about loan programs offered through SCC’s Small Business Center and WCU’s Small Business and Technology Development Center. Registration required. 828.339.4211 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• A resume preparation workshop will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Jackson County Public Library. Register. 828.586.2016.

• A free seminar entitled “Small Business Taxes” will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, at Southwestern Community College’s Macon Campus. Register. www.ncsbc.net/center.aspx?center=75490.

• A seminar titled “Your Rights and Responsibilities as an Employer” will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Sequoyah Fund office in Cherokee. Learn basic employment laws and regulations, how to deal with employees fairly and legally, what you need to know when hiring employees, and how to get your ducks in a row should you need to fire someone. $5, lunch included. www.sequoyahfund.org/classes.html or 828.359.5006.

• Learn how to increase the return on the personal investment you make in your business with a financial management seminar sponsored by the Cashiers Chamber of Commerce-sponsored seminar at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Cashiers Community Library. Free for chamber members. $20 for non-members. Register. 828.743.5191 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• Three “how-to” eBay workshops are being put on by the Haywood Community College Small Business Center. The eBay Marketplace is used by millions of sellers daily, as a source of side-income, supplemental business revenue or a full-time occupation. A beginner’s workshop will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, September 18; an advanced workshop will be from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 19; and a free eBay store workshop will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, September 19. Free. 828.627.4512.

• The 2014 Apple Harvest Festival, held Oct. 18 in Waynesville, was a tremendous success. The estimated attendance was 50,000-plus festivalgoers. Planning is underway for the 2015 event. 

• Hunter Banks Co. has been fly fishing the South since 1985. The store, specializing in fishing apparel and gifts, has opened a new location at 48 N. Main St. in Waynesville. 828.251.9721. 

• Students in Western Carolina University’s master’s degree program in business administration recently created export business plans for six North Carolina companies. The reports were for companies such as Equilibar, based in Fletcher, and Microbroo, which is located in Asheville.

• Rita Willis was recently named branch manager for Champion Credit Union’s Arden office. Willis has over twenty years of experience in the financial industry.

• Eric’s Fish Market, which has been operating in downtown Sylva since 2008, recently opened a new location in Waynesville. The new fish market is located on Depot Street, just below the historic courthouse.

• In her first year as director of Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center, Tiffany Henry more than doubled the number of free services available for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs. Henry seeks out new seminar topics that will benefit entrepreneurs throughout Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties as well as the Qualla Boundary.

• Highlands Dermatology, which has served Macon County from its office in Highlands for the past decade, recently opened a location in Franklin. The new office of is located at 118 Holly Springs Park Drive.

• Mountain Laurel Gems & Jewels recently celebrated a move. The store, offering local jewelry and art, relocated to 304 Depot St. in Franklin. 

• Champion Credit Union recently participated in a CU Lunch Local event in Canton. The CU event, held Oct. 14, is part of a larger nationwide cash mob event. 

• The Haywood Tourism Development Authority, along with Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, invites the public to a workshop titled “Servicing the Group Tour Market: Parking, Pricing, Potties and More!” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 13. The workshop will be held at the Colonial Theater Annex in Canton. 828.298.5330.

• Kimberly (“Kim”) Carpenter has joined the law office of Earwood & Moore in Sylva. For the past eighteen years, Kim has practiced law with the local firm of Melrose, Seago & Lay, PA and had been a partner since 1998. 

• The Small Business Center of Haywood Community College will offer a seminar, “Modern Tourism Drivers: Authenticity, Community & Sustainability,” Thursday, Nov. 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Haywood Community College Creative Arts Building. Free. To register, call 828.627.4606.

• The Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce is currently accepting nominations for its 2014 Volunteer, Educator, Business Person, Citizen of the Year and the Evergreen Award. Nominees must be submitted to the chamber by Oct. 31, with winners announced during the chamber’s Nov. 13 meeting. 

• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort will recognize U.S. military veterans on Tuesday, Nov. 11 with a free meal at Chefs Stage Buffet. The meal is offered from noon until 10 p.m.

• Otto resident Amy Poirier recently won a free laptop, the grand prize for Southwestern Community College’s seminar series focused on preparing students for a job search. The Dell Inspiron 15 was donated by Drake Enterprises. 

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital is expected to come under the umbrella of Mission Health in coming months.

The Highlands-Cashiers Hospital is current a stand-alone, independent hospital, but has been engaged in talks with Mission for a year about entering an affiliation.

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital is now on the verge of finalizing a deal with Mission. The two signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding last month as they enter the final throes of due diligence. The memorandum outlines the major terms of the proposed relationship between HCH and Mission Health and sets the stage for the final negotiation of terms.

“Mission Health is invested in our community, and our membership with Mission Health positions us well for the future so that we can keep physicians in our local community, ensure that our facilities in Highlands and Cashiers remain current and continue to deliver the outstanding local care our patients have come to expect from their hospital,” said Craig James, President and CEO of Highlands-Cashiers Hospital.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, the local hospital board of trustees will maintain a strong, long-term voice in the strategic direction of the hospital.

Mission Health and Highland-Cashiers Hospital will now enter into a more detailed, joint planning process to define and quantify the initiatives and resources that will be required to address existing and future needs of the HCH service area. The planning process will focus on capital requirements, medical service providers and new and expanded services. It will also drive the long-term investment plan for HCH facilities, providers and programs.

Angel Medical Center in Franklin recently came under ownership of Asheville-based Mission Hospital as well. The hospitals in Brevard, Spruce Pine, and Marion are also owned by Mission.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians held tribal council elections last Thursday (Sept. 5).

All 12 seats on tribal council were up election, with two seats representing each of the reservation’s six communities. All the sitting council members ran for reelection, but only two-thirds of them held on to their seats.

Come next month, the Eastern Band’s governing body will feature four new faces:

• Bo Crowe from Wolftown.

• Brandon Jones from Cherokee County/Snowbird.

• Albert Rose from Birdtown.

• Teresa McCoy from Big Cove, who has held a tribal council seat in the past.

Those no longer in office are:

• Council chairman Jim Owle from Birdtown

• Mike Parker from Wolftown

• Diamond Brown from Cherokee County/Snowbird

• Bo Taylor from Big Cove, who lost in the primary.

Owle, who only lost by eight votes, took it in stride.

“That is the way it goes sometime. You have to live with it,” Owle said. “It was a good clean race.”

The current chairman said he was unsure if he would run for a seat on Tribal Council in the future, but he does plan to sit back and take it easy for a bit once his term officially ends starting in October.

Fellow ousted council member Diamond Brown was shocked that he was beaten out by just 60 votes.

“I was surprised,” Brown said. “I really was.”

Brown said he thinks a high number of votes cast by enrolled members who live off the reservation partly accounted for his defeat.

The town of Waynesville will soon put in temporary restrooms next to the popular children’s playground on Marshall Street.

They will be a step up from the status quo of two lone portable potties plunked down at the edge of the parking lot. But they will fall short of full-blown restrooms, although that may still be in the cards in the future.

The new toilets will be housed in an elevated mobile trailer at a cost of $40,000. Old restrooms near the Waynesville Kiwanis Community Playground became run-down, were plagued by vandalism, and were eventually shut following arson in 2011. The old concrete structure, which was originally a pool bath house, will be bulldozed to make way for the mobile restroom unit. The cost will be paid for out of $97,000 in insurance money the town received after the fire.

Town leaders had contemplated using the cinderblock shell of the old restrooms as the backbone for a new restroom facility to include meeting space and a concession area, and even had architectural plans drawn up. But trying to salvage the old structure proved more costly than simply tearing it down and starting anew, so the town has gone back to the drawing board on a long-range plan. 

Rhett Langston, director of Waynesville’s Parks and Recreation Department, said one benefit of the new restroom trailer is it can be picked up and moved if needed elsewhere for festivals or town events.

“It will be a very good and sound investment,” Langston said.

— From staff reports

Waynesville plans to repair the six cracked and aging tennis courts in its recreation park, as long as the local tennis community chips in.

The town board authorized the Waynesville Park and Recreation Department to spend about $50,000 to resurface the courts, which will add five to seven years onto their useable life. However, it came with one condition. The Waynesville Tennis Association had to raise enough money to cover 10 percent of the cost, which was easily said and done.

The association meet its $5,000 goal in nine days, said Linda O’Neil who has advocated for the project on behalf of area tennis players. 

With that secured, the town can now bid out the project, which will include pressure washing the courts, patching holes deeper than one-eighth of an inch, installing a fiberglass membrane over cracks, seal the courts with acrylic resurfacer and repaint the court lines.

Once finished, O’Neil said she hopes to get more young people playing tennis on the courts.

“My goal is to get the kids out there,” said O’Neil, who is a former cardiac surgery nurse. “It’s all about the health of the kids.”

— Caitlin Bowling

Clyde Police Chief Gerard Ball won’t return to work until Oct. 5 after the Clyde Board of Aldermen decided to suspend him without pay.

Following a three-hour discussion, the town board voted unanimously last Wednesday (Sept. 4) to suspend Ball for 30 days for “personal misconduct” related to his job, though they would not go into more detail because it is a personnel matter.

“We just aren’t at liberty to release that,” said Town Administrator Joy Garland, who has received a few emails from the public asking for more information.

In the meantime, Captain Mike Lindsay will serve as interim chief.

Ball was placed on suspension the prior Friday, waiting for the Board of Aldermen to meet and decide whether to keep him or fire him. Ball will be placed on probation for one year. During that time, the town can fire him without warning if the leaders find his work or conduct unsatisfactory.

Ball was hired a little more than a year ago after the previous chief, Derek Dendy, was fired for personal misconduct. When each officer is hired, they are automatically on a one-year probation. Ball’s probation period just ended this July.

— By Caitlin Bowling

The annual Dam Race at Fontana Dam — featuring a run over the top of the towering dam itself — was held last week, attracting runners from throughout the Southeast to race against the backdrop of mountain peaks and Fontana Lake.

Daniel Brooks from Cullowhee placed third in the 10K race. The 5K race included two Robbinsville High School Cross Country Team members finishing ahead of the field, Irvin Portugal placed first and Zach Beasley placed second. The female race went to two Robbinsville High School Cross Country Team members as well, Kaitlyn Carringer placed first and Madison Dockery placed third.

Olympic silver-medalist Lauren Tamayo from Asheville was among the 460 riders from 18 states who pedaled the scenic roadways, byways and Blue Ridge Parkway during Haywood County’s Blue Ridge Breakaway, Aug. 17.

The event featured rides of varied distances, from 24 to 105 miles, up and down the Appalachian Mountains.

The breakaway, in its fourth year, is sponsored by the Haywood Chamber of Commerce. 

www.BlueridgeBreakaway.com.  

A program about climate change in Western North Carolina will explore how oldtimers and scientists alike view changing weather patterns in the mountains.

The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River will hold two meetings on the topics on Monday, Sept. 9.

The first discussion, from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Senior Center off Hughes Branch Road in Swain County, will explore climate change as experienced by local residents. Connie Southard will present her personal weather records and lead a discussion with other long-time WNC residents and scientists on weather.

From 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., there will be a similar program at the Jackson County Library in Sylva. This program will include personal and scientific presentations.  

Both programs will include staff from the University of Georgia’s Coweeta Listening Project, a group that promotes communication between scientists and non-scientists. Partners in the events are the Canary Coalition and the Tuckaseigee Chapter of the Western North Carolina Alliance.

Those with questions or looking to make their own presentations can contact the organization by phone.

828.488.9337 or 828.488.8418.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has promoted Tim Sisk to the position of captain for the state’s western counties, covering a district that stretches from Madison to Cherokee counties.

Sisk will manage enforcement operations for hunting, fishing and boating, and coordinate boating safety and hunter education programs. He will supervise 23 wildlife officers and a hunter education specialist in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood, Transylvania, Madison, Buncombe and Henderson counties. 

The 26-year veteran with the commission was previously a lieutenant in the district. His predecessor, Greg Daniels, recently retired. 

“This region has a rich heritage of hunting and fishing, boating and wildlife watching,” said Sisk. “We have numerous game lands, state and national forests and parks, rivers and lakes that are world-renowned for outdoor recreation. I look forward to my new position and continuing role in serving conservation and public safety in these beautiful mountains.”

Sisk holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UNC- Charlotte and is a 1987 graduate of the Wildlife Basic Law Enforcement Training School.