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To the Editor:
This is what President Barack Obama said this week: “Where I can act on my own without Congress, I’m going to do so.”
“I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone. And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions ... and I’ve got a phone that allows me to convene Americans from every walk of life.”
What in-your-face remarks those are! Imagine that! Barack Obama will act to make or change laws without Congress! Maybe he thinks we like that? Not so, Mr. President. These are arrogant, disgraceful statements made by a president of the United States.
Barack Obama is saying he will do what is not allowed by the U.S. Constitution to further his own agenda. He is saying that the officials we elected to the United States Congress are of no matter to him. He is disdainful and demeaning to every member of Congress and therefore to we the people.
Congress makes laws, the President signs or does not sign the bills into law. That is how it works, according to the U.S Constitution. We the people elect our senators and representatives to participate in congressional lawmaking according, we hope, to our wishes and direction. The President works with Congress to make compromises or to convince the majority of members of Congress to see the issue his way.
The President of the United States does not change laws on his own, as Obama has done repeatedly, especially regarding Obamacare. Allowing businesses to delay their participation for a year, granting different rules for different groups of people, and changing the rules for insurance company allowed policies are only a few of the changes Obama has made to the Obamacare law.
I urge readers to contact members of Congress and ask: “Does Congress have what it takes to face up to tyrant Barack Obama?”
If the answer is “Yes,” what is the action the House and Senate will and can take to reverse the results of the unconstitutional and unlawful actions by President Obama? If the answer is “No” and Congress cannot or will not stop a President from actions that make and change our laws, then we are doomed to imperial presidencies and Congress should go on permanent recess.
Carol Adams
Glenville
To the Editor:
After reading the Jan. 15 edition and seeing continued plans to weaken the present Steep Slope Ordinance in Jackson County (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/12322), I am reminded of the letter below that I wrote last year. The facts and issues appear unchanged. So that everyone understands possible consequences, it cost me $25,000 to clear and repair the mudslide damage on my property.
Here’s the earlier letter:
This is an open letter to our planning committee and county commissioners.
Things to consider:
1) We have an existing Steep Slope Ordinance.
2) Mudslides are not covered by insurance in N.C.
3) Changes being considered to make the present ordinance more “user friendly” could weaken it.
4) We live in an increasingly litigious society.
My question is as follows: if someone loses his/her home to a mudslide in Jackson County that might not have occurred except for a weakened Steep Slope Ordinance, will our county tax dollars be used to defend present Planning Board members and County Commissioners or will these individuals be responsible for their own defense?
This issue has become even more personal to me as I pay thousands of dollars to clean up a mudslide on my property that is not covered by homeowner’s insurance.
Craig N. Green
Sylva
To the Editor:
I always look forward to the “Awards” issue of The Smoky Mountain News. May I make three short observations?
The “It’s all fun and games until ...” award had one oversight. The unfortunate elk did not “have” to be euthanized, it was just the easiest way out for park officials. There is a behind-the-scenes effort currently under way to prevent a repeat of the unnecessary killing of an elk whose only sin is being friendly.
The “One Size Fits All” award (this year) would have been more appropriately named “There’s a fool born every minute” award. To hire and pay a “branding firm” $50,000 to come up with an inane phrase like “Play On” says a lot about Jackson County’s Tourism Authority ... basically that their breads not fully baked. Any third- or fourth-grade class could have done better, and for a lot less largess.
And once again I failed to make the awards list. How about the “Most unwelcome letters-to-the-editor” award?
David L. Snell
Dillsboro
To the Editor:
The changes in the five-year black bear management plan currently being proposed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission puts major emphasis on killing and relaxed hunting regulations of our valued bears with little or no options dedicated to bear education as a viable alternative. Killing continues to be the preferred wildlife management route pursued by NCWRC officials with little emphasis on addressing the public’s role in creating wildlife issues. I, along with many other North Carolina wildlife advocates, oppose the “killing of more black bears management philosophy” and feel major consideration should also be given to alternatives such as educating the public regarding their role in living safely with black bears.
The American Bear Association is dedicated to promoting the welfare of the black bear through education. It would be prudent to examine their philosophy, which many black bear advocates would like to see emphasized in North Carolina. They state, “We need to live with our wildlife neighbors as more people move into their habitat. A tolerant attitude is particularly critical for those living in bear country. Careless human behavior can create so-called ‘nuisance bears’ and too often bears are shot unnecessarily.”
Despite the strong “kill more bears” recommendations by NCWRC officials, regarding management, many wildlife advocates specifically oppose extending the bear hunting season and increasing bag limits. This proposal fails to address positive education factors that could also have an impact on undesirable bear-human contact. The majorities of the general public feel bears are an important part of our mountain landscape and enrich our quality of life.
Where employed, black bear education has proved to drastically decrease black bear incidences. Organizations already exist in North Carolina which are qualified to assist communities and individuals regarding how to follow “bear safe” practices that have successfully reduced incidences and contact with our black bear neighbors. By educating the public regarding food sources, pets and behavior of black bears, issues can be dramatically reduced.
As a concerned full-time resident who lives in black bear country, I see far less black bear activity and few incidences that call for such a radical killing of more bears. I would like to urge NCWRC management officials and our legislators to seriously consider education opportunities rather than just more killing as an option. Many feel the black bear is a highly valued symbol of the wildness and is a fascinating part of mountain living. In a variety of positive ways, bears touch the lives of residents, visitors and part-time homeowners in Western North Carolina. For many, educating the public regarding how to live safely in bear country is certainly an alternative that should be considered in the NCWRC five-year black bear management plan.
John Edwards
Director of Mountain Wildlife Days
Cashiers
The Golden LEAF Foundation and Duke Energy recently funded a trio of advanced manufacturing training grants, totaling $1.3 million, to Southwestern Community College and several partners.
The funding has ensured that ConMet and other manufacturers throughout Western North Carolina can locally train their employees on the latest technology.
Community partners throughout Swain, Jackson and Macon counties include ConMet, DuoTech Services, TekTone, Franklin Tubular, Jackson Paper, Caterpillar, Hometex and Shaw Industries.
Don Tomas, president of SCC, said the three grants mark the first three phases in an effort to close skills gaps identified by area industries.
“We’re excited about the partnerships we’ve created and communication lines we’ve opened,” Tomas said. “Receiving these grants is a game-changer for SCC and our service area.”
Elements of the grants include:
• $860,000 from Golden LEAF to install the equipment at the Swain County Regional Education and Training Center for workers and students to learn advanced manufacturing skills such as electronics and robotics.
• $220,000 from Golden LEAF for advanced manufacturing training equipment to be housed in the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center.
• $250,000 from Duke Energy to help equip SCC’s Jackson Campus for certificate, diploma and degree programs in computer engineering technology, electronics/electrical technology and robotics.
• A STEM (science-technology-engineering-math) education coordinator will be hired by Swain County Schools to help high school students enter this education and training pathway.
The Haywood Regional Medical Foundation has donated $400,000 to MedWest Haywood for a remodel of the fourth floor, which includes the Women’s Care Unit and Progressive Care Unit.
“We are so grateful to the HRMC Foundation for making this remodel possible,” said Janie Sinacore-Jaberg, President and CEO of MedWest Haywood. “We know our patients and visitors, as well as our staff, physicians and volunteers will really enjoy being in the new units when they are complete. As we move through the exciting transition that lies ahead of us, this is one more indication that our community supports their hospital.”
Recent sizeable donations by the Haywood Regional Medical Center Foundation included $3 million to fund The Homestead Hospice Center and $265,000 to help build the new Outpatient Care Center on the campus of MedWest Haywood.
“The board’s mission and function is to promote fundraising in support of the hospital,” said Laura Leatherwood, Chair of the HRMC Foundation. “It’s mutually beneficial and helps our community in so many ways.”
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will see unprecedented turnover on its board this month, with five of the 12 seats being filled by newcomers.
Jake Flannick • SMN Correspondent
Some homeowners in Waynesville might have started wondering why a certain visitor who had routinely appeared in their yard is no longer coming around: town public works employees, pen and paper in hand, jotting down readings on their water and power meters.
On Sept. 12, Jeff Clontz walked out of Haywood County Jail a free man. It wasn’t his first time, though. Jail, release and failing to pay child support comprised a cycle he knew well, but this time was different. When Clontz left the jail, he left behind more than just physical bonds. His spiritual bonds were gone, too.
Lindenwood Lake, a four to five-acre stretch of water in Highlands, froze over last week during the area’s record-cold temperatures. Michelle Ruigrok, program assistant at the Highlands Biological Station, said she was able to stand on the edge of the frozen pond, where it appeared to be frozen several inches deep. However, she said it was hard to tell how deep the middle of the pond had frozen.
The left loop of the Tsali Trail system popular among mountain bikers is closed due to a slide along the trail.
The other three loops in the trail system remain open. The Forest Service will work to evaluate and repair damage to the trail and issue an alert when the trail is reopened. Located near Fontana Lake, Tsali Recreation Area is nationally known for its 42-mile trail system. The four-loop network is open to hikers and horses, but the system is best known as a challenging mountain bike course.
New farmers market planned for Macon
The Macon County Heritage Center at the old Cowee School is launching a new farmers market in the region this summer.
Friends of the Rickman Store has received a small startup grant for planning the market. It will be on a different day than the Franklin farmer’s market, giving local growers an outlet to increase sales and expand production. The new market may also pull in new growers and new buyers due to the different location.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.421.2923.
Food for thought at Farmers Market
The Jackson County Farmers Market has a lending library full of books and DVDs mostly focused on food — growing, eating, and cooking it. Become a Friend of the Market by donating a minimum of $5 to the market and get check-out privileges for these resource materials. For a complete listing of books and DVDs, visit www.jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org/books/library-books-and-dvds/.
The farmer’s market winter hours are Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community Table, 23 Central St. in downtown Sylva.
Registration is now open for the Assault on Black Rock, a seven-mile trail race in Jackson County that takes runners and hikers on an ascent and descent of one of Western North Carolina’s most picturesque mountain summits.
Haywood Waterways Association is calling on lovers of clean water, those immune to the cold or anyone out there crazy enough to jump on Polar Plunge bandwagon.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will receive 25 to 50 white-tailed deer every year for the next three years from Morrow Mountain State Park.
To the Editor:
When Hillary Clinton proposed a government-run, single-payer system to solve our health care crisis, Republicans responded by proposing a private insurance system based on an individual mandate. Then-Gov. Mitt Romney then adopted this insurance proposal for Massachusetts with great success. It was the conservative approach based on the free market and designed to save taxpayers from out-of-control healthcare costs. That plan was the basis for the Affordable Care Act, now known as Obamacare.
Conservatives hate big government almost as much as they dislike big government deficits. Their plan attacked both problems. Private insurance companies ran the system and made a profit. Out-of-control healthcare costs were curbed.
Money is the key. The United States pays almost twice as much for health care than any other industrialized country, and yet we have much poorer health outcomes and fewer people covered. Our current system was broken, and would have soon bankrupted the country.
The Affordable Care Act is not something progressive Democrats wanted. What they wanted was a government-run single-payer plan. What we got was a private, for-profit insurance plan that everybody has to join because of the individual mandate. As the very conservative Heritage Foundation said, the key is personal responsibility. Everybody has to pull their own weight, no free rides.
What you don’t hear through the media noise surrounding the now-repaired website is the fact that the ACA is already helping to reduce health care cost inflation to a 50-year low. That fact alone will reduce our long-term deficit more than short-term cuts in spending.
Congress spent over a year crafting this law. It is complex because it is full of compromises to satisfy all the stakeholders. It is clear Republicans are doing everything possible to make it fail even though it was their idea.
Whether this law is good for you may depend on who is your governor. Democratic-led states created their own websites, expanded Medicaid and in general promoted competition between insurance carriers. In those states there has been much success.
In Republican states like North Carolina, the insurance rates have been higher because of the state’s failure to encourage competition. The state’s failure to expand Medicaid to more than 500,000 uninsured has caused a financial crisis for many hospitals. One in four uninsured Macon County residents will continue to use the emergency room for basic care, at great cost to all of us.
As Mitt Romney said of the individual mandate in 2006, the plan must include “... the personal responsibility principal, that is essential to bring health care cost down for everyone and getting everyone the health insurance they deserve and need.”
Louis Vitale
Franklin
David C. Friedman • Guest Columnist
Doug Wingeier’s op-ed published in The Smoky Mountain News on Dec. 25, 2013, titled, “Christmas ‘peace’ in the land of the Holy One,” (www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/12259) is an impressionistic and factually distorted presentation of classic anti-Israel bias bordering on a rejection of the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Doug Wingeier • Columnist
My oh my! Looks like the long arm of Israeli surveillance has reached out to us way down here in the mountains of Western North Carolina (see column to the left). I hadn’t thought the experience of a peace-loving octogenarian professor worthy of such attention. But I do appreciate the opportunity to respond.
SEE: Columnist’s anti-Israel tirade distorts truth
What I wrote in that Dec. 25 column was mainly an account of what I personally have seen and experienced in the “land of the Holy One” — not an exercise in ideology or biblical interpretation. In addition to what I mentioned, I have personally experienced the following:
Jake Flannick • SMN Correspondent
He campaigned on the promise of making Franklin fertile ground for new ideas and encouraging more openness and transparency in government.
There’s an open call for actors to audition for “To Kill A Mockingbird” Feb. 2-3 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. Professional actors are asked to be there at 6 p.m., with community theater actors at 7 p.m.
This year HART is trying something new. The theater is giving actors a chance to audition for principal roles for the entire season at one time. The idea is to give actors interested in being considered for leading roles an early shot at casting and give directors more time to assemble a cast. This is the only scheduled audition for “To Kill A Mockingbird,” the first show on the season, which will cast all roles. Anyone interested in being a part of that show in any role should attend one of the two nights or contact the director Wanda Taylor to make special arrangements for another time.
HART’s 2014 season includes “To Kill A Mockingbird,” opening April 25; “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” opening May 23, with auditions March 23-24; “Grand Night For Singing,” opening June 20, with auditions April 27-28; “Hello Dolly,” opening July 11, with auditions May 4-5; “The Odd Couple,” opening Aug. 22, with auditions June 29-30; “Urinetown,” opening Sept. 26, with auditions July 27-28; “Macbeth,” opening Oct. 24, with auditions Aug. 17-18; “A Christmas Carol,” opening Dec. 11, with auditions Nov. 2-3.
Apollo Winds, a professional chamber music group, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, in the recital hall of the Coulter Building in Cullowhee.
The concert features Francis Poulenc’s “Sextet,” a three-movement work with an extensive part for the piano, to be played by Bradley Martin, WCU associate professor of music. Also on the program are “Three Shanties” by Malcolm Arnold, “Dublin Bay” by Percy Granger and “Klezmer Music for Woodwind Quintet” by Donald Draganski.
Apollo Winds is a group of musicians who teach at colleges and universities in Western North Carolina and are members of several orchestras in the region.
Free.
828.227.7242.
Smoky Mountain Sk8way & FUN ZONE will host a ribbon cutting ceremony and customer appreciation skate on Wednesday, Jan. 15, in Waynesville. The ribbon cutting will be from 4 to 6 p.m. followed by a customer appreciation night from 6 to 9 p.m.
The rink has expanded and improved, adding a new FUN ZONE, with inflatable obstacle course, climbing wall and slides, and a new wood skate floor. Also, the snack bar has been remodeled and its menu expanded. The rink also added another 100 pairs of brand new rental skates so they can accommodate larger groups.
Admission is free for this fun-filled night of roller-skating. Skate rentals cost $2; FUN ZONE is $2, with all-night specials on pizza and drinks.
828.246.9124 or www.smokymountainsk8way.com.
Play Shop, a free event in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service and Celebration, will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center, 45 E. Ridge Drive, Bryson City.
This year marks the beginning of Western Carolina University’s 125th year of existence, and university faculty, staff and students are planning a yearlong celebration to mark the milestone.
Appalachian fiddle and banjo duo The Stuart Brothers will perform at 7:45 p.m. Jan. 16 at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.
An exhibit of work by Edward J. Bisese titled “Good Thoughts Better” will open with an artist talk and reception at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, in the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University.
Hiker Danny Bernstein of Asheville, author of The Mountains-to-Sea-Trail Across North Carolina, won third place in the “People on the Trail” category of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail photo competition for this shot of her hiking partner, Sharon McCarthy, while hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
One of the region’s premier garden and landscape designers will give a talk at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, at Lake Junaluska as part of the monthly “Live and Learn” series.
By Colby Dunn • SMN correspondent
Perched atop the crest of a mountain, with two slim pieces of fiberglass strapped to your feet, that last big push to send you careening down the slope is a leap of faith — with nothing but your own skills, a couple aluminum poles and perhaps the assistance of The Almighty to guide you.
Maybe that’s why the ubiquitous youth group ski trip has long been a staple of churches across the country. Perhaps it’s just because teenage bravado and youthful agility are particularly well-suited to chucking yourself down a mountain at high speeds in unusual contortions.
To the Editor:
I love this time of year. Cold, crisp days remind me of the days I spent with my dad and our beagles chasing rabbits. Now it means it’s time to share a blind with a wet retriever or float a river when no one else is on it to see if any wood ducks are still here or if mallards have come down from up north.
Now my 40-year-old son hunts and fishes with me. I love the time I get to spend with my son afield. We hunt and fish on the public lands and public waters that we are blessed to own with other Americans.
Unfortunately these resources and all wildlife habitats are under attack. In recent years our duck hunting has suffered because ducks are just not coming down from the north like they use too. We are finding trout streams that are warming to a point that cold water fish can’t survive. We have witnessed damage from saltwater incursion in national wildlife refuges that kills fresh water marshes as sea levels rise.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) just completed four reports on the impact of a warming world on wildlife habitats:
• Swimming Upstream: Freshwater Fish in a Warming World.
• Shifting Skies: Migratory Birds in a Warming World.
• Nowhere to Run: Big Game in a Warming World.
• Wildlife in a Warming World.
You can find all four reports at the on the NWF website at www.nwf.org/sportsmen-/climate-change.aspx
Whether you are a hunter, fisherman, birder, or simply enjoy kicking around outdoors, I believe you will find these reports compelling.
G. Richard Mode
Morganton
To the Editor:
While I recognize that The Smoky Mountain News’ annual year in review awards are meant to be tongue-in-cheek, the “Longwinded Award,” which reflects on the proposed annexation of Lake Junaluska by the town of Waynesville, misses the mark and, in my belief, misleads readers into the key issue on why the proposal which was presented to the N.C. General Assembly failed to pass.
Lake Junaluska went out of its way to ensure a full and transparent discussion of the issue of annexation. Yes, everyone was given multiple chances to have a voice in the discussion, and all were provided on-line access to minutes of the formal discussions. Those results were also fully reported on in the local print news media.
To even “tongue-in-cheek” call it longwinded does not fairly represent the process, the persons who were involved, or the question of whether or not a consensus was reached. In fact, the comprehensive survey done of all the homeowners resulted in a clear preference for annexation by a 2 to 1 margin.
When a select few of the opposition to annexation — people who had more than ample opportunity (and did) voice their concerns during the public discussions — lost their argument when viewed in the results of the survey, they went to the legislature and found what certainly appeared to be an ideologically driven General Assembly House of Representative to take up and effectively stop even a vote on annexation in the House (after a fully supportive vote to approve annexation had passed in the Senate).
This now leaves Lake Junaluska homeowners with higher out-of-pocket infrastructure costs (with even higher costs potentially coming, as the SMN noted in the closing words of the “Longwinded Award” article).
For Lake Junaluska to be fiscally sustainable and to be able to meet current and future needs, the annexation was, and remains, a critical issue.
I would urge all those persons who see the need for change to speak out and support the bill for annexation in the upcoming short session of the General Assembly.
It is truly not a laughing matter but a very serious one with lasting economic consequences hanging in the balance.
James Ryer
Lake Junaluska Homeowner
In numerous newspapers in late November 2013, it was reported that six U.S. Forest Service (USFS) employees from Western North Carolina were awarded “Law Enforcement and Investigations Awards” by the USFS for their roles in “Operation Something Bruin,” a four-year, multi-agency investigation targeting bear poachers in Western North Carolina and surrounding states, resulting in arrests in February 2013.
It had also been reported earlier that the National Wildlife Federation bestowed "prestigious conservation honors" on Sgt. Chad Arnold, an officer from Charlotte with the Special Investigations Unit of the N.C. Wildlife Commission. Arnold was named "Wildlife Enforcement Officer of the Year", and the Commission was named the "Natural Resources Agency of the Year," according to a press release from the N.C. Wildlife Commission.
By Melanie Threlkeld McConnell • Correspondent
For most of Yvonne Wadham’s 64 years, horses were her life, on a big scale, a 22-acre California ranch kind of scale, where she raised and showed horses, brokered high-priced horses, and taught children how to ride — lots and lots of children.
By Colby Dunn • Correspondent
Since Harrah’s Cherokee Casino opened and started bringing an influx of steady cash to the Eastern Band of Cherokee, it’s been a boost to both the tribe and its more than 13,000 members. Annually, individual members benefit to the tune of several thousand dollars a year, and the Cherokee Enterprise Development Center is hoping they’ll turn that money into much more with their own small businesses.
Southwestern Community College leaders unveiled a master plan last month outlining a major expansion of its campus in Macon County.
The campus would double in size from 20 to 40 acres. The master plan has several phases, but the first phase calls for a 38,000-square-foot science building with 15 classrooms and a lab. The first phase also calls for a new law enforcement training center and indoor firing range.
“Smokey Joe’s Café,” a song and dance revue of hit tunes from the rock ’n’ roll era before the Beatles, will hit the stage as part of the Galaxy of the Stars series at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.
The touring exhibit “Understanding our Past, Shaping our Future,” will be on view through Feb. 9 at the Jackson County Library in Sylva. The exhibit focuses on Cherokee language and culture, using sound recordings as the basis for presenting a coherent story in words and text
The new Earl Scruggs Center, honoring one of the nation’s premier banjo artists, will celebrate its grand opening at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, in the Cleveland County Court Square in Shelby.
Haywood County will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a pride march and a weekend full of services, including the 24th annual MLK prayer breakfast at Lake Junaluska.
• A pride march will be at 11 a.m. Jan. 18 in Waynesville. It will begin at the Haywood County Justice Center in downtown and end at the Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center, where there will be a time to share historical reflections, and refreshments will be served.
• A commemorative service will be at 3 p.m. Jan. 19 at Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church near Lake Junaluska. Speaker will be Rev. Reginald Eldridge, pastor of Harris Chapel AME Zion Church in Canton.
• A prayer breakfast will take place at 8 a.m. Jan. 20 at the Lambuth Inn at Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. The speaker will be Dr. Dudley E. Flood, a retired school sdministrator from Raleigh, with live music by Chuck Beatie (aka Dr. Blues). Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for students and children. Children ages 8 and under are admitted free.
828.215.0296 or 828.246.2588 or 828.648.3363 or 828.648.5471.
Western Carolina University has several speakers and programs as part of its annual Martin Luther King celebration, which is themed “Beloved Community: Peace and Unity,” running from Jan. 20 to Jan. 25.
By Colby Dunn • Correspondent
If someone asked you to describe the world of competitive, non-electronic gaming, your first thought might be poker, perhaps followed closely by chess. Dungeons and Dragons might get a mention in there somewhere, but cribbage probably wouldn’t be the first thing that popped into your mind.
But this centuries-old game — which dates back to the 17th-century English balladeer Sir John Suckling — is still enjoyed by thousands around the country and the world, including Western North Carolina’s Reservation Peggers, or Res Peggers for short. With the distinction of being the only cribbage club on an Indian reservation, they are a group of anywhere from just a handful of committed players to 14, 15 or more who get together weekly to battle it out in this fast-paced card game.
Waynesville cattleman Tony McGaha was honored recently by the WNC Beef Cattle Commission with the Happy Hollow Award for his efforts to promote and support the beef cattle industry.
The winner is selected by past recipients based on the person’s involvement with the WNC Beef Cattle Commission activities over the years.
“We are pleased to be presenting this award to Tony McGaha in appreciation for his dedication to the beef industry. Over the past 30 years, Tony has worked diligently to improve the agriculture for the future and farm families not only in Haywood County but many other parts of N.C.,” said Neal Stamey, a cattleman from Haywood who nominated McGaha.
About 200,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled from a manhole and made its way into a small tributary that feeds Richland Creek outside Waynesville last week.
The sewer overflow began during a period of intense rainfall at about 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, and lasted about 28 hours, ending when the rain and stream flows subsided. The overflow emanated from a sewer manhole at the county fairgrounds off N.C. 209.
The affected areas were cleaned and limed, according to a notice sent out by the town as required by state statute in the event of untreated sewer spills.
The rainfall total for the period was 4.3 inches. Waynesville Public Works Director Fred Baker said maintenance activities and sewer system rehabilitation are being performed to identify and correct infiltration and inflow sources connected to the sewer system to prevent overflows in the event of future heavy rains.
828.456.4410.
A $30,000 grant to repair failing septic systems in Haywood County will help reduce bacteria contamination in local waterways.
A landslide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was recently discovered along Newfound Gap Road, but is not blocking the road and is not considered a safety threat.
Survey your supermarket and you’ll see pretty much the same stuff anywhere in the country: oranges from Florida, onions from Georgia, potatoes from Idaho.
Some variety has crept in recently — with artful displays of mountain-grown produce paying homage to the local food movement — but generally the corn we eat in North Carolina is the same corn they’re eating in Iowa and Utah.
To the Editor:
This move by the state to “reward” 25 percent of the state’s teachers (and I’m not even focusing here on all of the far-from-minimal strings attached to those “rewards”) while at the same time dismissing 75 percent of the state’s teachers as unworthy of even a scintilla of recognition is probably the single most underhanded and potentially devastating action ever designed and implemented by anyone in this state who claims the title of elected representative. Make no mistake, this is a finely choreographed divide and conquer strategy intended to strike at the heart of education — the teachers, the administrators, the support personnel, the parents — by creating a system of “incentives” that will literally force the stakeholders to take sides, so to speak, and disregard and dismiss past efforts at teamwork, collaboration, and consensus.
I firmly believe that it is the unstated but very genuine goal of some of our so-called “education reformers” in Raleigh to dismantle our constitutionally mandated public education system and replace it with a taxpayer subsidized, privatized mishmash of unstandardized and unaccountable educational services that will absolutely ensure ongoing inequity and inequality of opportunity for North Carolina’s youth (but that will, at the same time, provide a wonderful investment opportunity for corporate educational profiteers who will gladly offer their services to our “failing” school systems).
This is a formula for educational disaster ... but such a great opportunity for the profiteers. Those who dreamed up this scheme knew that, though, and they still know it. The public now needs to do its part and call them out on what they are trying to do.
Our “representatives” need to be shamed for supporting such a willfully divisive and potentially harmful scheme — a scheme, by the way, that is nothing less than a slap in the face to professional educators in this state (i.e., “75 percent of you are unworthy”) — and then disingenuously boasting that this is part of their effort to “reform” and “strengthen” education in North Carolina. I urge everyone to contact your legislators and let them know what you think of this “reform effort.”
John Sanderson
retired principal, Waynesville
2013 is behind us now, and all the news reported over the last 12 months is headed for the history books or perhaps a less-lofty final resting place. But lest we all forget, here’s our annual tongue-in-cheek awards, a tribute to those who played some small part in the events that held our interest for at least a few moments during the past year.
Painter and paper maker Elizabeth Ellison will demonstrate the use of collage in a landscape painting at the Art League of the Smokies meeting at 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.
Folkmoot USA had a $9.2 million impact on Western North Carolina in 2013, according to an economic impact study conducted by Tom Tveidt of SYNEVA Economics.
