To the Editor:

The political season has kicked in full bore, and what we are about to witness is politics of the anglerfish. Anglerfish have a lighted lure above their heads to attract smaller fish. But it’s a fake, nothing to do with the true purpose of the anglerfish. The hidden agenda is its large mouth. When the small fish approaches the lure, it’s a gonner. That’s nature’s ultimate bait-and-switch.

Some politicians are good at this trick, too. They say one thing to distract your attention, maybe get you outraged into supporting some issue, then — wham — you vote for them, then they go off to work their own agendas. Sometimes, that agenda is simply just to improve their electability or power … but it does nothing to move the country forward.

There are tons of examples, old and new. Remember Richard Nixon? They didn’t call him “Tricky Dick” for nothing. Seems that he demonized just about everyone who ran against him, as a communist or pinko. (His term.) Decency and reality were tossed out the window. Now, we’ve got Donald Trump, labeling people from Mexico as “… rapists and murderers.” His words.  

In both cases, do the accusations of these politicians move the country forward? Not an inch. 

There are two words that tell when a politician is pulling his anglerfish stunt: Hate and fear. When a politician spews hate and fear, he’s trying to divert your attention away from his real purpose, which you can bet has nothing to do with building roads or schools or otherwise advancing the nation’s interest.

Demand reality of candidates — including me. Inflammatory words get us nothing, except a disillusioned electorate when they realize that they’ve been fooled again.

Rick Bryson

Bryson City

Democratic candidate for N.C. 11th Congressional District 

To the Editor:

The Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century brought about real positive change: the end of legalized segregation in education, jobs, housing, public facilities, and private businesses. Further, equal opportunity in voting was enshrined in the Voting Rights Act.

These changes did not come easily, as they were won with blood. Good people bled and died. Good people were brutalized, arrested, and imprisoned.

Today, we see the rollback of many of these rights, especially in voting rights and education. The Supreme Court recently nullified a section of the Voting Rights Act, and immediately our state legislature created impediments to voting. In public education, we’ve seen the steady decline of per student spending by the state government, as well as drastic cuts in textbook funds and teacher assistants. 

Meanwhile, the state is taking our tax dollars away from accountable public schools and giving them to unaccountable for-profit charter schools, including religious schools. The largest recipient of our state tax dollars is a Christian school, the second largest is a Muslim school. 

As the need has arisen, so has the NAACP. While it was founded to fight for the rights of African Americans, it has since expanded its scope to include all those who face injustice whether they be black, white, and beyond.

It is time, again, to stand up to injustice, hatred, fear, indifference, greed and corruption. We The People need to stand together and demand that our state and our nation be returned to us.

With you we can stand together, sing together, march together, write together, eat together, dance together and win together. We need you, and all people of good heart, to come together and make history. This is our time.

Join us at 3 p.m. this Monday, Jan. 18, in Sylva as we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We will meet at Bridge Park on the back street of downtown Sylva, or for bad weather, check our website at jacksonncnaacp.org

We will share a meal, sing, and speak. Join us to make this a better community.

Dan Kowal

Communications Chair

Jackson County NAACP

A state ban on poultry sales and shows in place since August was lifted a week earlier than anticipated, as 2015 closed without the avian flu spreading to North Carolina. 

Outbreak of the disease in the Midwest killed nearly 50 million birds, and state officials had worried that the flu would spread to North Carolina with fall migration. The ban was instated, and small flock owners were required to register their birds with the state in order to help with response in case of a flu outbreak. Both the ban and the registration requirement have now been dropped. 

New information will be posted at www.ncagr.gov/avianflu.

Haywood County dairy farmers may soon be required to give a portion of their proceeds for dairy-related education, research and industry promotion if an upcoming referendum vote gets a two-thirds majority from Grade A producers in the state. 

The referendum vote will be the first of its kind for dairy farmers, conducted in all North Carolina counties conaining Grade A dairy operations. If passed it would require a contribution of 2 cents per 100 pounds of milk sold, effective for three years starting March 1. 

Voting will take place Jan. 20 at N.C. Cooperative Extension Service offices in 46 counties with Grade A dairy herds. Absentee ballots are available at extension offices now. 919.545.1237.

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee started off the new year with a new name, officially launching its new identity as Mainspring Conservation Trust.

The new name reflects the organization’s growing scope of work, which has spread its land conservation work beyond the Little Tennessee River watershed. Mainspring’s footprint includes the watersheds of the Hiawassee and Tuckasegee rivers and even across the state line in Rabun County, Georgia. The organization’s mission has broadened as well, expanding to include water research projects and educational programming in addition to land conservation.It has a new website, too, www.mainspringconserves.org.

Work has started on new trails and signs along the Chattooga River aimed at improving access for paddlers.

People wanting to get in on the stand up paddleboard craze will have a chance to learn the basics at the indoor pool at the Waynesville Recreation Center, with practice sessions from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. every other Wednesday beginning Jan. 20.

The production of the Nora Ephron play “Love Loss and What I Wore” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15-16 and 3 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

The sudden announcement this week that Central Elementary School in Waynesville could be closed in Haywood County has prompted a swirling litany of questions for both parents and the public at large.

SEE ALSO:
• Parents shocked over Central Elementary closing
• Closing Central Elementary emotional for school officials
• Cuts widespread as Haywood faces $2.4 million shortfall

Since 1940, the Federal Government has provided Impact Aid Funding to assist school districts that have lost a portion of their local tax base because of Federal ownership of property. 

This week I got a call from a customer curious about an ingredient and wondering what it was and what it is used for.

To the Editor:

Two happenings in the past 12 months led me to some end-of-the-year musings. The happenings were related, though one was personal and the other one plays out in the public arena. In the end my participation in both coalesced into a stronger belief in the great idea of wilderness because I had experienced wilderness up-close and personal in one and in the other I participated in the Forest Service Plan Revision for the Nantahala National Forest.   

Beginning in early February on a cold morning, I joined three friends on a hike in the Ellicott Rock Wilderness. I had signed up for The Wilderness Society’s Dirty Dozen Hike Challenge which required hiking at least 10 miles in 12 different wilderness areas. I signed up as a lark, aware that I was an unlikely candidate to accomplish such an adventure given my age and physique, among other reasons. The opportunity of hiking so many new trails and the fun I knew we would share as the Wild Bunch was too enticing to pass up. So that day I crossed the Chattooga River in icy water halfway up my thighs, an utterly absurd and crazy thing for someone who hates the cold. 

I was hooked. I completed my 12th hike at the end of September, some easy, some extremely difficult, each one memorable and each one increasing my love for the wild places in our world. I share this personal experience not to win admiration, but to affirm that going into the wilderness is within reach of most of us if we have the desire to be part of untrammeled nature and are willing to prepare to do so.

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Section 2, reached a few yards from a Blue Ridge Parkway parking spot, best embodied for me the marvels and magnificence of wilderness. This trail would be rated as “easy” with some short “moderate” sections by most hiking guides. 

I have followed closely the Forest Service Plan Revision process. At meetings and through the media, I have become keenly aware of the misconceptions about wilderness that are held by so many people and of the demands by various groups to open up wilderness areas for their particular interests (some harmless and already allowed, some highly destructive and benefiting just a few).

I have come to realize that so many of our trails and public lands would diminish little by little without the protection of wilderness designation. I also have been surprised at the contrast of those who advocate for less wilderness and those who support it. The opposition strongly and unabashedly expresses its opinions and gains widespread support. The wilderness supporters, in general, are reticent to express their love for the wild lands because of our society’s misguided views of human progress. 

Well, I am starting my New Year’s resolutions early. From hereon I will express my support for wilderness and share my new-found guiding principle: Wilderness for all, all ways, always!

Olga Pader

Franklin

Dear Friends: It’s New Years Eve and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all that you contribute to Folkmoot’s mission of building cultural understanding. Whether you are a volunteer, a seasonal worker, a financial contributor, a board member, a grantor or sponsor, staff person or ticket buyer, we share in the success of Folkmoot.

Acclaimed rapper Waka Flocka Flame will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14, in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center at Western Carolina University.

A new trail guide covering the Balsams section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is out, meaning that the trail’s route through Western North Carolina is now completely covered by the guide series released by Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

The 61-mile Balsams section, which includes the area from Waterrock Knob to Pisgah Inn, is one of the most rugged and least accessible sections of the MST. The new guide contains a breakdown of landmarks along the trail and information for finding maps and amenities. 

The MST is a still-evolving trail, so even with the map done it’s important to check for updates before setting out. The trail stretches 1,000 miles and will ultimately link Clingman’s Dome with Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the coast. About two-thirds of the route is currently complete. 

www.ncmst.org/the-trail/trailguide.

A sports development league aiming to teach preschoolers the skills they’ll need to succeed in the world of athletics is looking for takers to sign up by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. 

The Smart Start Sports Development program, held at the Waynesville Recreation Center and administered by the National Alliance for Youth Sports, is open to children aged 4 or 5 as of Feb. 1. The six-week program will involve weekly sessions held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday nights beginning Feb. 9, with a parent meeting held in the same time slot Feb. 2.

Children will learn skills such as dribbling, shooting, hitting, passing, catching and running using a kit containing a ball and bat set, glove, tension soccer ball, boingo ball and two koosh balls.

Equipment is included with the $65 registration fee. Space is limited. Sign up with Donald Hummel, 828.456.2030 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Vehicles are getting greener, according to a pair of reports recently released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

In model year 2014, the reports said, manufacturers surpassed the more stringent 2014 standards for greenhouse gas emissions and kept steady the record high fuel economy of the previous year. 

“For the third year in a row, manufacturers have exceeded the GHG emissions standards by a wide margin,” said EPA’s director of the Office of Air Quality and Transportation, Christopher Grundler. “It’s clear that our standards are working, spurring technology and innovation, and we are on track to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions.”

According to the Greenhouse Gas Manufacturer Performance Report, manufacturers exceeded greenhouse gas requirements by 13 grams of CO2 per mile. A separate report looking at fuel economy trends from 1975 to 2015 found that the fleet-wide model year fuel economy stayed at 24.3 miles per gallon, while the truck fuel economy improved by 0.6 miles per gallon — the second largest increase in 30 years — to 20.4 miles per gallon. However, the improved truck fuel economy was offset by a 5 percent increase in truck market share. 

Over the past 10 years, overall fuel economy has improved by 5 miles per gallon, or 26 percent. In 2012, the EPA and U.S. Department of Transportation implemented standards aiming to double fuel economy by 2025 and cut greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles in half. 

http://epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm. 

With more than 400 acres of land conserved through purchase and conservation easements in 2015, the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust is celebrating a record year of land protection.

Two Haywood County men have been apprehended while one woman is still at large in connection with the stabbing of a 33-year-old Clyde man on Jan. 3.

As of Nov. 1, 2015, Macon County Public Health took on the additional responsibility of overseeing animal services in Macon County, including animal control services, the animal shelter and rabies control programs.

Each year I like to predict how food fads and taste trends will show up on the shelves at Ingles. Here are my predictions for 2016. 

To the Editor:

Kudos to Bob Scott, mayor of Franklin, for his decision to take his oath of office on the U.S. Constitution rather than the Bible. I applaud a man manifesting the courage to “do what is right, not popular,” by taking an action, both symbolic and significant, to stand for the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.

His statement, “Our government should not favor one group of people over another, and that is what you do when you allow religion into government,” puts Mayor Scott in exceedingly good company. Witness:

• “If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure ... no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.” George Washington, 1789.

• “In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced ....” Samuel Adams, 1771.

• “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.” Thomas Paine, 1791.

• “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people [which] built a wall of separation between Church and State.” Thomas Jefferson, 1802.

• “Christian establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.” James Madison, 1774.

• “During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.” James Madison, 1785. 

Those who contend that the United States was founded as a strictly Christian country do not know their history. Our forefathers cited above knew firsthand the perils and “mischief” (oppression and persecution) that a merger of two powerful institutions, uninhibited by legal and constitutional restraints, could inflict on religious minorities. As a wise person has said, “Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it.”

Mayor Bob Scott not only knows his history, but by his actions is in line with the best of our history, stands with others as a bulwark protecting our constitutional rights and freedoms. The people of Franklin are in good hands.

Doug Wingeier, 

Waynesville

A federal fund that supports parks and open spaces across the nation has been spared, but was reduced to half its former funding level.

The 50-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund lapsed when Congress failed to reauthorize it by Sept. 30, but it was reinstated as part of the federal spending bill earlier this month — albeit at half its former funding level.

The fund sets aside $900 million a year to fund projects such as trails, playgrounds and recreation centers. However, opponents said a greater portion should go to state and local projects and to maintain existing park infrastructure rather than to purchase more land, which they argued takes away from the local tax base.

Supporters of the bill celebrated its resuscitation as a victory for natural resources and cultural heritage. 

“The Congress has reaffirmed America’s commitment to conservation and our outdoor recreation heritage,” said Bob Brown, vice chairman of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.  

However, supporters of the fund say there is still more work to do, as the spending bill gave the program only a three-year reprieve and funds it at only half of the original funding level. 

A map of projects funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund — including many in Western North Carolina, is available at www.wilderness.org/mapping-land-and-water-conservation-fund-lwcf.

North Carolina has a new U.S. Forest Service forest supervisor in Allen Nicholas, who currently works as forest supervisor for the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. Nicholas will be the fourth forest supervisor North Carolina has seen in 10 years. 

“North Carolina’s national forests are home to some of the most pristine and picturesque tracts of public land available, and it’s a great honor to join this amazing team of talented individuals that manage these treasured resources,” said Nicholas.”I look forward to building on the collaborative efforts already underway between the staff in North Carolina and our regional leaders as we continue to work toward new and innovative ways to engage the communities we serve.”

In his new role, Nicholas will oversee more than 1.25 million acres of public land in the state’s four national forests. His career thus far has spanned more than 30 years and included stops in the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Francis Marion and Sumter national forests and the Eastern Regional Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with titles ranging from deputy manager to acting director before his most recent role as forest supervisor in Illinois. 

Nicholas will begin work in February. 

Sales of license plates supporting the Friends of the Smokies were strong in 2015, with sales in North Carolina and Tennessee generating $805,000 this year. Since the program launched in 1999, specialty plates have raised more than $12.5 million to support America’s most-visited national park.

The number of Appalachian Trail hikers passing through the trail’s “psychological midpoint” in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, hit an all-time high this year.

In 2008, Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA), a Western North Carolina not-for-profit 501c3 organization, began recording “Stories of Mountain Folk,” a radio program that aired weekly on local radio station WRGC. When WRGC closed in September 2011, the organization teamed up with Hunter Library to preserve the recorded material. The “Stories of Mountain Folk” collection was Hunter Library’s first all-sound oral history collection. 

WRGC Radio came back on the air in April 2012, and once again, CSA’s program became a feature on the radio. At the end of 2015, within the 378 programs produced were 1156 interviews, plus 276 storytelling segments — all which capture “local memory” detailing traditions, events, and the life stories of mountain people. A wide range of interviewees include down-home gardeners, herbalists and farmers, as well as musicians, artists, local writers and more.

“Each program stands alone, each story is unique, for everyone is creative and worthy,” says Amy Ammons Garza, cofounder of CSA. “Each of us is the product of our heritage. It is through realizing the value of who came before that we realize the true importance of who we are today — for we are the individuals who link, bridge and fulfill destiny of all the ages.”

As of January 2016, although no longer heard on WRGC radio, CSA will continue “Stories of Mountain Folk” as an online podcast with a new format, highlighting one interview per release, with one interviewer and a longer version per interview (30 minutes to one hour). The program posted on the website www.storiesofmountainfolk.com is available to all who come to the site or call it up on their cell phone. Those listeners who sign up at the website to receive the postings via an RSS feed, a format for delivering regularly changing web content, will receive notification of each new posting automatically.

Supported by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Jackson County Arts Council, WRGC Radio and Mountain Manor Nursing Home, “Stories of Mountain Folk” could not have been possible without the hard work of a team of dedicated professionals and volunteers. Producer/editor Neal Hearn, a professional radio personality, worked with CSA’s cofounders, Amy Ammons Garza and Doreyl Ammons Cain, to produce each program, keeping to the time constraints of a radio program format. Along with the core team, the project benefited from the volunteer efforts of all interviewers, including the Ammons sisters, Judy Rhodes, Joe Rhinehart, Robert Jumper, Shawn Crowe, Victoria A. Casey McDonald (deceased) and Mary Sue Casey. 

Catch the Spirit of Appalachian continues to work with Hunter Library to archive its programs on their site, www.wcu.edu/hunter-library/collections/digital-collections.asp.

A New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party will be held from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, at The Imperial Restaurant in Canton.

An open call is currently underway for artists, crafters, environmental groups and food vendors for the 19th annual Greening Up the Mountains Festival in downtown Sylva.

Renowned bluegrass/gospel group Balsam Range will kick off the sixth annual “Winter Concert Series” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 2, at the Colonial Theatre in Canton.

At Ingles we work with many community groups throughout the year. Fund raisers, special events, food collections... here are some of our community partners that make a difference in Western North Carolina especially in food and nutrition issues.

To the Editor:

Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, is the only poet or musician that has a worldwide celebration. It is on or near his birthday, January 25. He is also known as the Ploughman’s Poet.

Burns was a farmer, but not a very productive one. His poems and songs were noted for preserving the Gaelic language and the passion he had for the everyday beauty and life of the common folk. He overturned a field mouse’s home one day. He was so effected by this, that he wrote,“To a Mouse.” Burns tolerated all creatures and was touched by ordinary events.

From intimate groups gathered in a pub to larger more formal celebrations, toasts are raised to Robert Burns. A Burns Night dinner has become a tradition here in Franklin. This year Burns Night will be held at Tartan Hall, first Presbyterian Church, on Saturday, January 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. Celebrations around the world have several common features:  calling of the clans, presentation of the haggis, recitation of “ Ode to the Haggis,” poetry and songs of Robert Burns, entertainment, Scottish county dancing., and singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” Our dinner is a catered five-course dinner.

Our entertainment this year will be the Jacobites, a group from Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida, with local ties to Franklin. If you have never heard “Auld Lang Syne” the way Robert Burns wrote it, this is your chance. Our piper is Michael Waters. The Scottish country dancing will be led by Marshall and Anne McLaughlin. At 69, if I can give it a go, anybody can try. After all, this night is celebrating a person, a poet, a musician who lived life to its fullest.

Advance tickets are now on sale at the Scottish Tartans Museum and Heritage Center and the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. Please feel free to join us for a rollicking good time. This dinner is sponsored by the Friends of the Scottish Tartans Museum and Heritage Center.

Merrilee Bordeaux

President of the Friends of the Scottish Tartan Museum and Heritage Center 

Franklin

To the Editor:

I vehemently oppose designating more wilderness areas within the Pisgah and Nantahala Forests. These lands are already protected under the Department of Agriculture as national forestland and set aside to be managed for multiple uses: timber, water, wildlife, recreation and range.  

These objectives are not mutually exclusive, but can exist simultaneously through well-planned and carefully designed timber harvests. A good forest plan wisely maps out road infrastructure, balanced with forest health and diversity as clear goals. To let our renewable wood resources grow and die without human intervention is wasteful and not at all the intent of these lands being conserved in the first place. To conserve something is to use it and use it wisely. To preserve a resource is the lock it up and throw away the key, which is why I strongly disagree with any wilderness designations.

Our forests are under tremendous threats from invasive species, oak decline, hemlock wooly adelgid, emerald ash borer, pine beetle, dogwood anthracnose, and the list continues. We need to leave all management options on our public table for accessing these forestlands for treatment. We must proactively manage these lands, not place them into a wilderness category, which greatly restricts and limits the options available.

One thing for certain in nature is change — as change is constant. We can replicate natural disturbances through science-based forest management and benefit the forestlands, wildlife and create a mosaic of varying age classes of forests to provide a myriad of products for man infinitely and sustainably.

In the birthplace of forestry, North Carolina is well positioned to celebrate our renewable wood resources with common sense. As our state toast lauds the “land of the long leaf pine.” I urge our forest land managers to heed our heritage of wisely using the abundant resources available to us — please do not lock these lands up in wilderness. Forever is indeed a long time.

Susan Fletcher

Candler

To the Editor:

I have been a proud employee of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR) for nine years and an active member of this community for 20 years. I have had first-hand opportunity to witness GSMR’s phenomenal growth in the Bryson City community and I have watched and enjoyed the growth of Bryson City businesses and tourism in Swain County and beyond as well. Surely there can be no doubt that GSMR has played a major role in this growth, attracting over 200,000 visitors to the area year after year. It also goes without saying GSMR adds significantly to the economic impact of Bryson City as a major employer in this community.

I know first hand of some of GSMR’s lesser-known activities, too, including the many charities and other nonprofit groups who have only to ask for GSMR’s help in their fundraising activities.

With all this said, I would like to speak to the article published by the Smoky Mountain Times that touted the “failure” of the trial effort by GSMR to demonstrate how closing Fry Street would be beneficial. It would seem a major factor in this situation has to be the town in launching a street project at the Mitchell and Everett streets intersection and on down Bryson Street just as the busy fall color season in October began and continuing on into The Polar Express and Christmas shopping season. The street work made access to the Bryson Street entrance of the parking lot set up by GSMR for access to the Fry Street businesses difficult and on some days, impossible. Bad weather also played a role, delaying the town’s completion of the Bryson Street project as well as affecting shoppers being out and about.

It would seem that those claiming to be losing business due to the closing of Fry Street are being a bit disingenuous given these factors. I would also wonder how the town leadership would be able to make a definitive statement about GSMR being “bad neighbors” and deciding even before the Polar season is over that closing Fry Street is a failure. It makes for great headlines, but it is not helpful to the image of this beautiful town for the town board to be blocking efforts to make Fry Street a more attractive and practical community space as well as making it safer for everyone. In fact, safety is the prime factor that generated the ideas leading to the closing of the street in the first place. 

Three of my years as a GSMR employee were spent as a ticket agent in the depot. The number of times I and other staff witnessed pedestrians walking on Fry Street being endangered by traffic is too many to tell.

I would urge the town board to pledge to set aside former prejudices and emotions and look at this issue from an objective and informed position.

Gail Findlay

Bryson City

A project aiming to help Western North Carolina communities consider health needs when doing long-term planning revealed that issues such as farmland preservation and alternative transportation are high health priorities for WNC residents and earned MountainWise, the organization that did the work, statewide recognition. 

The American Planning Association’s North Carolina chapter presented MountainWise with the Marvin Collins Planning Award in the Special Theme Awards/Multidisciplinary Project category, which honors projects that use collaboration as the primary means for success. 

“Collaborative partnerships are the cornerstone of public health practice, but that can be easier said than done,” said Jim Bruckner, MSHS, Health Director for Macon County. "MountainElements successfully connected land-use planning, community design and public health practice and policy to build healthier communities in Western North Carolina.”

MountainElements Health Impact Assessment was a first-of-its-kind look at how the comprehensive plans in North Carolina’s eight westernmost counties impact health. The evaluation process involved the health departments of each county, their respective economic development and planning departments and the Southwestern Commission. 

The project revealed that the region as a whole supports improved food systems planning. That includes farmland preservation, improved land use, transportation networks and economic development.  

“This recognition will further help us to advance the regional conversation about the importance of health and how it can be facilitated through effective planning,” said Sarah Tennyson, Regional Coordinator for MountainWise.

MountainWise is funded through the North Carolina’s Community Transformation Grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve opportunities for healthy living in the eight western counties of North Carolina.

www.mountainwise.org

A Macon County man was presented the 2015 Governor’s Award for Excellence, the highest honor a state employee can receive, for providing hunting opportunities to children with special needs and disabled veterans.

The Pisgah National Forest will see the addition of 178 acres in the Mills River area of Henderson County thanks to a deal worked out by the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy.

A new conservation agreement on a 318-acre farm in Madison County through the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy will help the family farm continue its legacy on the land for generations to come.

Atop all the festivities surrounding the holidays, the students of North Canton Elementary School each received one more gift “under the tree.” 

A glass artist at the Jackson County Green Energy Park in Dillsboro and recent Western Carolina University graduate, Cole Johnson was recently awarded a two-year scholarship beginning in January at The JamFactory, a prestigious, international art school near Adelaide, South Australia. While there, he will have the opportunity to work with master glass artists from around the globe.

Following the recent closure of Nick & Nate’s pizzeria in downtown Waynesville, Apple Creek Café will take over the Main Street space.

“As for Apple Creek Cafe’s vision, we’ve created perhaps one of the best lunch locations in Haywood County. We have also served a family-style dinner in the last four months [at our previous location],” said company spokesman Brandon Anderson. “We will not continue with family-style at the new location, but the entree choices we offered for dinner will be available.”

Originally right off of North Main Street heading out of Waynesville, the new restaurant will include specialty sandwiches, soup, salads, desserts, appetizers, and full-course steak, chicken, pasta, and fish entrees. They will be open seven days of week alongside a full bar with craft beer, wine and liquor.  

“What sets Apple Creek Café apart is our food,” Anderson said. “Our new location will be a warm and inviting atmosphere that is sure to be everyone’s favorite spot.”

Though they aim for a Feb. 1 opening, there will be interviews held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 30 and Jan. 6 at the Main Street business. Anyone with experience is encouraged to apply, especially those who worked at Nick & Nate’s before it closed. 

Join us for “TASTE of LOCAL” at Ingles Markets on Champion Drive in Canton Thursday, December 17th 3:30-6 p.m.

A referendum vote asking whether tobacco growers wanted to keep giving a portion of their sales to tobacco research and education had no trouble finding support this fall. 

As of Nov. 20, 67 of the 83 North Carolina counties affected had reported their results, yielding a passing rate of 95.1 percent. 

Since 1991, the tobacco research checkoff program has allocated about $300,000 annually to tobacco-related research and extension projects at N.C. State University. Growers pay 10 cents per 100 pounds of flue-cured and burley tobacco sold. 

State law requires a referendum on whether to continue the assessment be held every six years. The assessment requires a two-thirds majority to pass, which this vote seems to have achieved. The decision will be effective through December 2021.

People wanting to explore DuPont State Forest now have three new tools at their disposal to navigate through the forest’s most beautiful trails. 

Through a partnership with National Geograpic/Trails Illustrated, Friends of DuPont Forest has released an updated trails and topography map, a section pointing out the forest’s most popular trails and an app that keeps all that information stored on a smartphone. 

“We think these are the best maps ever of the forest we love,” said Retta Allred, of Friends of DuPont. “Our partnership with National Geographic/Trails Illustrated has brought to the table a level of expertise that just isn’t available locally.”

The maps are waterproof and tear-resistant, produced with input from local trail experts and review by National Geographic. Proceeds will go toward forest improvements, trails maintenance and educational programs. Visitation at DuPont State Recreational Forest is expected to reach 650,000 next year, a four-fold increase over 2011.

Check for maps at local stores or order online at www.dupontforest.com/visit/maps/#waterproof.

An exhibit using mechanics to show how real animals work is open through Jan. 3 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville.

The Appalachian Farm School at Southwestern Community College will return for a second year starting Jan. 12, thanks to a $5,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

A collection of environmental and recreation-oriented groups has come out with a recommendation for two new recreations areas to be included the U.S. Forest Service forest management plan that’s currently being developed for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

A state plan to comply with federal rules for controlling carbon emissions is now out for public comment, but the proposed rules leave out key points the feds had asked states to address.