Mountain Artisans’ Summertime Arts & Crafts Show will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 29-30, in the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University.

Mountain Artisans’ Summertime Arts & Crafts Show will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 29-30, in the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University.

Rock-n-roll legend Billy Idol performs at 9 p.m. Friday, June 21, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.

The Trantham Family will perform from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 23, at an open house for the recently restored Francis Grist Mill in Waynesville.

By Chris Cooper

Inspiration comes from a variety of sources. And as much as a new love, a rainy day or a broken heart can provide the fuel for inspired songwriting and performance, so can the pain of loss and the need to understand and deal with it.

By Michael Beadle

Imagine hundreds of stainless steel threads woven together to make a scarf that looks like silk. An optical illusion of sorts, but nonetheless real and exquisite.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Working her way past the miniature Christmas village homes and a star topped tree, Vickie Horne stood fingering ornaments on the wall of Nancy Tut’s Christmas Shop in Dillsboro with an index card full of names in her hand.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

For Germanic cultures having a Christmas tree was all about finding the pickle.

Stand on Zanzibar

In 1968, a British science fiction writer named John Brunner wrote a novel, a 50-year projection into the future entitled Stand on Zanzibar.

Already the noted author of such books as The Crucible of Time and The Sheep Look Up, Brunner won the Hugo award, one of science fiction’s major yearly awards, for Stand On Zanzibar.

I was living in a friend’s attic in the early 70’s, and the walls of this dusty garrett were covered with paperbacks, almost all of them speculative fiction. (We HATE the term sci-fi!) I plowed through a lot of them over the next two years, and was introduced to many of my favorite writers.

This was when I first read Zanzibar, and after 30 years and at least that many re-reads, I am still blown away by the breadth of Brunner’s vision and his uncanny ability to predict trends and outcomes.

There are many sub-plots and characters running through the book, but one of the main threads is a major multinational, General Technics, trying to secure a beachhead in Africa as an offloading port for it’s seabottom mining operations. In effect, they offer to practically buy a country on the west coast of Africa and bring it up to 21st century standards, i.e. new infrastructure, schools, agriculture, government, and everything else needed to bring an entire PEOPLE to literate self-sufficiency.

But that is only the beginning! Every aspect of human society is examined and extrapolated on, from a 1968 perspective, and he hits the bulls-eye so often from a present day perspective, that I can’t help but wonder if Brunner didn’t either come from far in the future or have access to it.

There is genetic engineering, there are people who go crazy and kill hundreds, there are random and senseless acts of terrorism, artificial intelligences, religious cults looking for world domination, racial tensions... the list goes on and on, and each time you read one you will be stunned at Brunner’s prescience, and be a little frightened as to what might possibly come next.

By the way, the title comes from the idea of everybody in the world standing on the island of Zanzibar, an island off the east coast of Africa, now part of Tanzania, and how long it would be before there was no more room.

In a related note, another of my favorite authors, David Brin, wrote his own 50-year projection, entitled Earth. It was written in 1988, and he acknowledges a debt to John Brunner. Brin’s perspective is very good, but he doesn’t yet have the stamp of veracity that the passage of time has given to Brunner.

Read both of these books, but especially Stand on Zanzibar.

50 years is really no time at all...

— By David Cohen

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

A high-rise moratorium is in the works for Macon County.

On Monday night (Dec. 4), county commissioners directed new county attorney Lesley Moxley and Macon County Planner Stacy Guffey to draft an ordinance prohibiting new commercial and residential construction over 48 feet in height or four stories for six months.

Haywood Regional Medical Center and Haywood Emergency Physicians disagree over whether it was necessary to rewrite the doctors’ contract with the hospital while there is still 18 months left on the agreement.

A regional effort is afoot to address mountainside and slope development as a region rather than relying on individual counties to implement development standards.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Jackson County Librarian Michael Cartwright will be resigning from his post by the end of the year, prompting the Fontana Regional Library System to begin a search for his replacement.

Downtown Sylva Association members are doing all the legwork on discussing the creation of a special downtown taxing district. At a point in the near future, however, town of Sylva leaders are going to be forced to take a stand on this issue. We hope they realize the value of such a district to the whole town and move forward with what could be a long-term economic development tool.

A new initiative is now underway to encourage landowners to keep the Upper Pigeon River Valley in the Bethel community of Haywood County rural.

It’s highly possible that you have been daydreaming about a less stressful holiday season, and it includes those memories of how it was for you as a child, when things were kinder and slower.

By Michael Beadle

Kathy Boydston was never one to sit quietly in retirement.

A veteran elementary school teacher, world traveler, mountain biker and marathon runner, she’s now keeping busy coordinating programs in Haywood County Schools that teach students about the importance of water quality.

A private research and public opinion firm was hired by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to measure public sentiment toward Sunday hunting — namely whether it should be allowed. North Carolina is one of the last states with a law banning hunting on Sunday.

Landowners in Jackson County are in the process of protecting 154 acres on Cowee Mountain from future development by placing the property in a conservation easement with the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.

By Michael Beadle

Cyrano’s Bookshop in downtown Highlands may be all of 700 square feet, but that hasn’t stopped its new owners, Clair and Arthur Simpson, from setting up book signings for such nationally notable authors as Pat Conroy, Steve Berry, Sharyn McCrumb and Nicholas Sparks.

By Chris Cooper

I’m beginning to notice a relationship between the acquisition of “new” used CDs at my place of employment and my need to write in a “multiple CD” review format. Coincidence? I think not. But this week I was reminded, for the umpteenth time, that there is indeed a veritable smorgasbord of great music waiting to be heard out there.

NPR’s All Songs Considered Podcast

Admittedly, I’ve been slow to catch on to the iPod revolution. I received a green, personalized iPod mini almost two years ago, but just this month began puttering around on iTunes’s Podcast Web site to find a treasure trove of information.

The Francis Mill Preservation Society in Haywood County is gearing up for a major campaign to replace the metal wheel on the grist mill.

The following statement was provided to The Smoky Mountain News following a meeting of the Haywood Regional Medical Center Hospital Authority Board of Commissioners on Monday, Dec. 11.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

With the announcement of plans to bring a new Wal-Mart Supercenter to Franklin, some say town aldermen have given away their only real bargaining chip that would aid negotiations to make the Big Box store more visually appealing — water and sewer rights.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

The Town of Sylva has begun surveying the Fisher Creek watershed in anticipation of receiving a $3.5 million conservation easement to be awarded by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Parking along Sylva’s downtown Main Street is a challenge.

The competition between Western Carolina University students to win a building contract at a Cullowhee church was just for fun, but the construction ideas and issues they pointed out recently were real — and appreciated.

Jan. 20, 1961. Inauguration Day. The words that stuck in the minds and hearts of all citizens: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” said President John F. Kennedy.

When the administration of George Bush argued Nov. 29 before the Supreme Court that the EPA did not have the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, it was doing this country and its people a monumental disservice. In truth, it’s not a stretch to argue that the current administration’s premise in this case and its continued ignoring of global warming is detrimental to all of mankind.

“A Man for All Seasons”

Robert Bolt’s award-winning play was released as a movie in 1966, winning six Academy Awards that included Best Director and Best Actor.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

The Craft Revival: Shaping Western North Carolina Past and Present Web site is located at http://craftrevival.wcu.edu.

Much of what is considered to be historic Appalachian art work began as anything but. The quilts and clay bowls, hand-wrought iron and homemade dresses were items made for their function.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

The delivery of 3,000 gallons of B-20 biodiesel manufactured by Smoky Mountain Biofuels made Hop’s Gas and Grocery on Old Cullowhee Road the first station to offer a public biodiesel pump west of Asheville last week.

Here is a copy of the resolution, which was passed by the Medical Executive Committee on Dec. 6 and affirmed by a meeting of the medical staff on Dec. 12:

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Two years have passed since the Jackson County Commissioners suspended their participation with the local Economic Development Commission, launched an internal investigation and audit of the EDC and EDC office and attempted to remove Tom McClure — the EDC Chairman, chairman of the county’s revolving loan committee and Chairman of the Jackson Airport Authority — from all county committees and appointments.

Jackson County Commissioners passed a resolution Monday night (Dec. 18) encouraging the state General Assembly to provide funding for the Land for Tomorrow program in 2007.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Macon County Commissioners unanimously approved a moratorium on high-rise development Monday, giving county planning and legal staff 11 months to write an ordinance that if adopted could potentially prohibit such development for a long time to come.

By Bill Rhodarmer

I read with interest a recent column in a local news publication concerning the high cost of a college education and the debt often incurred by students and families — up to $50,000 for a four-year degree. In the column, the editor indicated that the only way to lessen the high cost and associated debt was for the state and federal governments to become more involved in controlling costs and providing more student aid.

The last thing Macon County — or any of the counties west of Asheville — needs is a high-rise condominium development. Commissioners in that county made a wise move Monday to enact a moratorium on any construction over 48-feet in height. They made use of a common tool often employed by local governments who are looking out for the welfare of their constituency.

By Michael Beadle

Just because the temperatures drop and days grow shorter doesn’t mean you have to give up your exercise routine.

A statewide survey to gauge support for making hunting on Sundays legal revealed some interesting side statistics on outdoor recreation.

Something I’ve noticed over the years is that the longer you’re on this planet, the smaller said planet seems to become. This observation becomes especially true if you find yourself immersed in a particular field or occupation for a long time — paths that may have crossed long ago, seemingly by coincidence, inevitably find a way to cross again later.

Tell us about what you do. How did you learn what you do? What are your duties day-to-day? What about your job do you wish people better understood and why? How can people help you do your job better?

The proposed sale of U.S. Forest Service land to find money for counties who have lost revenue from declining timber sales is just a bad idea, a product of the Bush Administration’s fiscal indulgences rather than well thought-out land management policies.

Jackson County Commissioners last week strategically deferred making a decision about who would become the newest member of the Jackson County Airport Authority, in effect throwing out the list of names authority members submitted for approval.

Several years ago, as Christmas approached, I remember my youngest daughter saying, “I can’t imagine what I want for Christmas; I have everything I could possibly need.” She grew up and no longer says such things in anticipation of Christmas or birthdays.

Thursday night, the Haywood Regional Medical Center Board chose to breach the hospital’s contract with Haywood Emergency Physicians rather than consider mediation, as proposed by the medical staff.

This deserves emphasis, given the central role that public education plays in North Carolina political debate: our schools have vastly more resources to work with than they did a generation ago.

2006 was a big year for news in the mountains. From the economy to the world of politics, there’s been a lot of change. We’ve selected some of the best quotes from newsmakers in 2006 to help put the year in perspective.

By Rachel Tomlinson

With the winter season in full swing, dressing appropriately to prevent cold injuries is often overlooked, especially in regions where temperatures don’t drop far below 20 degrees.