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A snapshot of other incubators across the state offer models of how the incubator in Waynesville could be revamped.

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By Lee Shelton

The town limits of Maggie Valley encompass only 1.8 square miles, and there is only one commercial strip, which also serves as the sole access road for many of the residents in the area. It is also a U.S. highway. Even with adding in the Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) together with the incorporated limits, 83 percent of what is identified as Maggie Valley falls outside that area. Thus, there are a lot of folks affected by actions taking place in the very small incorporated area of Maggie Valley.

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By Michael Beadle

Once again Cataloochee Ski Area will be hosting a series of once-a-week skiing and snowboarding classes this season designed exclusively for women. It’s called Women on Wednesdays, or WOW, and it targets women of all ages and abilities who are interested in learning to ski or snowboard or who want to improve their skills on the slopes.

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By Sarah Kucharski

John Nickerson is a very exacting man. Tall and solidly built, he moves with efficiency, his speech measured and pointed as he explains how he came into being a glassblower.

“I don’t do this to make tons of money. I do this because I can’t stand working for anybody else,” he said.

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“Firefly”

As a proud member of the Star Wars generation, I enjoy a healthy dose of otherworldly sci-fi plots and special effects. Enter the world of “Firefly.” Five centuries into the future, the totalitarian Alliance regime rules an outer space colonized by humans from Earth.

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By Joe Hooten

When it seems like you’ve heard all there is to hear from our Carolina troubadour Mr. Ryan Adams, he follows through with his promise and comes out with his third release in one year. The album 29 is a relatively short nine-track disc that symbolically recounts a year of his life during his 20’s.

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By Sarah Kucharski

Students at Fairview Elementary School in Sylva have a unique opportunity to experience the benefits of reading through three signature programs that encourage literacy development.

The Rockin’ Readers program offers students in grades Kindergarten through second grade a chance to partner up with an adult volunteer who will read to them for 15 minutes each week. Readers meet with their assigned child in the school’s lobby where two sets of double rocking chairs are located.

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It’s 11 a.m. on Friday at the Haywood County Public Library in Waynesville, and that means Story Time, a regular date for parents and their children to have some fun reading.

The children, who range in age from 2 to 5 years old, sit on carpet mats in a corner just outside the children’s library area and settle around Youth Services Librarian Jennifer Prince. Prince has a collection of colorful books to read, but before reading, she invites parents and kids to join in a brief sing-along.

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By Michael Beadle

Remember when Mom or Dad read you your favorite bedtime story? Maybe it was a book like “Where the Wild Things Are” or “Guess How Much I Love You”? Even if you knew the ending of the story, each book became a magical journey before a new night of dreams.

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• Read with your child everyday. Make it part of the daily routine.

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By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

In his first month as the newly elected mayor of Highlands, Don Mullen has already earned a reputation as a service-oriented, civic-minded, friend of the environment.

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Macon County officials have contested the legality of a moratorium Highlands enacted on commercial building within the town’s extra-territorial jurisdictions this November.

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Controversy over proposed changes to the mission of the National Park Service has landed at the doorstep of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Approximately 70 families are in limbo as Jean’s Kids Palace, a daycare in Whittier, faces possible closure.

The privately run daycare is located in the Old Whittier School near the Jackson-Swain county line and services children ages birth to 12 years old. The building was owned by Doug Revis of Revis Hardware in Whittier and has been for sale for several years. However, the $500,000 price tag — more than $160,000 over tax value — was too expensive for daycare director Jean Cochran to purchase.

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By Michael Beadle

Darfur may seem a world away from Bryson City, but a group of Swain County High School students is raising awareness about the horrific refugee crisis going on in the east African country of Sudan.

The Save Darfur Student Coalition, a group of about 15 Swain County High School students, will be raising money for the hundreds of thousands of refugees starving and at risk of disease in west Sudan in what world aid agencies are calling an overwhelming humanitarian crisis.

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The proposal to hold a referendum on whether alcohol could be sold at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino was withdrawn before it got a formal hearing at a recent tribal council meeting. This is a potentially earth-moving change for the Eastern Bandof Cherokee, and it deserves careful consideration and a thorough, open debate before it is put before voters.

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By Stephanie Wampler

One day last year, I had high hopes for a glorious time at the library. I envisioned smiling children listening attentively to the librarian, singing the innocent songs of childhood, learning all about the world around them. A whole morning would pass so sweetly by. My reality, however, was quite different. There were smiling children with glowing faces and sweet voices, and there was a librarian with a stack of engaging books. But when those children raised their voices in song, my son was not among them. He was curled in a fetal position on the floor, crying.

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(Editor’s note: Haywood County Manager Jack Horton tendered his resignation to the board of commissioners on Jan. 3. The three commissioners who wrote this letter supported his resignation.)

This letter to the citizens of Haywood County sets forth our views of events that led to the resignation of former county manager Jack Horton.

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By Chris Cooper

When the bio sheet for a band arrives with the greeting “Dear Pop Revivalists,” I feel a mixture of curiosity and dread. Good pop or bad pop? Classic pop, schlock pop, punk pop (ugh) or what? For Pete’s sake, Beethoven was the “pop” music of his era; so exactly what kind of pop am I reviving here?

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By Michael Beadle

In gathering the performers who would help make the Sounds of Jackson County a reality, organizers invited 40 different local musical groups to donate their time and talents to record an album and play a concert that would serve as a fund-raising event for the construction of a new Jackson County library.

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By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Backstage at Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center, the rehearsal room buzzed with activity as musicians tuned guitars, rosined their bows and warmed up their voices in preparation for last Tuesday’s (Jan. 10) Sounds of Jackson County concert.

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fr hospitalsA visiting team from LifePoint Hospital network made the rounds to their newly acquired hospitals in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties over the past week. They pledged to roll up their sleeves and get to work fulfilling the promises made when courting the community hospitals here to join their national hospital network with a growing presence in North Carolina.

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The Western Carolina University community is making preparations to welcome what is expected to be a record number of students for the start of fall semester classes on Monday, Aug. 18.

“Indicators are pointing to another all-time high in student enrollment, and we should exceed last year’s record enrollment of 10,107. Also, we anticipate that we will surpass last year’s first-year student enrollment of 1,614, and we could even see an entering class of 1,700 or more,” said Phil Cauley, WCU’s director of student recruitment and transitions.

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U.S. Senator Kay Hagan visited the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation Aug. 6, meeting with Chief Michell Hicks, Vice Chief Larry Blythe and members of the Tribal Council to receive an update on the reservation and discuss her advocacy on behalf of Western North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.

“I am so honored to have the opportunity to visit Cherokee today, a place so deeply tied into the history and fabric of our state. Cherokee continues to be a vital part of our tourism economy in North Carolina,” Hagan said. “Every year, people from all over come to visit the unique cultural and historic sites of the western North Carolina mountains, whose beauty is unmatched anywhere in the world.” 

Hagan, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Children & Families, also toured the Birdtown Recreation Center and visited with local children. Hagan is cosponsoring legislation to address the unique challenges faced by Native American children. The Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act would establish a commission within the Office of Tribal Justice of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The bill would require the commission to conduct a comprehensive study of federal, state, local and tribal programs that serve Native children, identify models of successful initiatives and make recommendations on federal policy to improve the current system by building on the strengths of Native communities.

“We can and must do better for our kids,” Hagan said, explaining that the Commission on Native Children would conduct an intensive study into the issues facing  children and actions needed to ensure children have a shot at academic and economic success.

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The cell phone tower proposed for the Whiteside Cove area is off the table for now. Verizon has “indefinitely suspended” plans to locate a tower in the area after requests from Jackson County planning officials that various issues be addressed in the company’s application, chiefly that the design incorporate a camouflage-style tower instead of the originally-proposed mono-pole design.

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A Winston-Salem man is hoping to set a record for a good cause with his plan to run the entire Blue Ridge Parkway in nine days. Ned Erickson started his 469-mile run Aug. 9 in Cherokee and plans to finish in Waynesboro, Virginia, by Aug. 17. 

Along the way, Erickson is raising support and awareness for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Carolina Point, a Young Life camp in Brevard that’s looking to make improvements to accommodate children with special needs. 

www.nederickson.com/werunforthem.html

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A popular trail access area and jumping off point for the Shining Rock Wilderness area at Balsam Road will be closed from Sept. 2 through early October for a resurfacing project. 

Balsam Road, located off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Haywood County, is a high-traffic trailhead for the Sam’s Knob area and balds of Shining Rock.

“We’ve received a number of complaints regarding the condition of the road. This project will address the numerous potholes and greatly improve visitor experience,” said Derek Ibarguen, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service Pisgah Ranger District. “To avoid the highest use times and to be able to meet the requirement of resurfacing the road during warm weather, we are implementing the project just after the Labor Day weekend and before the leaf season.”

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out tomatoesThis year’s Taste of the Market celebration at Jackson County Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 16 in downtown Sylva,will feature a tomato tasting contest right next door to the 100th anniversary festivities for Jackson County Cooperative Extension. 

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A $25,000 Pigeon River Fund grant will help the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department purchase kayaking supplies to add paddling to the offerings of Base Camp Waynesville, a department program dedicated to helping town residents enjoy the outdoors. 

“This program will give us the opportunity to offer kayaking classes in our pool, in our local flat-water lakes and various local rivers,” said Tim Petrea, outdoor programming director for the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. “We will also offer two-hour kayak and paddle board sessions on local lakes and half-day, full-day, and overnight kayak/paddle board trips.”

The resources will also be used in kids day camp programs offered during summer and other school breaks. 

Using the grant, the department bought 13 single kayaks, five tandem kayaks, 10 sit-on-top paddle boards and paddles, flotation devices and other accessories. 

The goal, Petrea said, is to encourage stronger stewardship of local waterways. By putting people in closer contact with those waterways, he hopes to accomplish that aim.

828.456.2030 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

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The historical documentary film Cataloochee will be shown at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Cullowhee at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 21.  

The documentary tells the story of the Cataloochee Valley, the settlers who lived there for a hundred years, and the movement to form the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that includes this special place. The beginning of the film includes a section on the Cherokee relationship to the land prior to white settlement. The Cataloochee settlers themselves tell the story of their time in the valley with humor and poignant memories, reflecting on how their feelings toward the national park have either changed over time to embrace the public space or remained embittered. The narrative repeats the universal themes of migration, settlement and loss of community.

Historians involved in producing the film will elaborate on the film and answer questions. The documentary was a thesis project of WCU film student Katherine Bartel. 

828.743.0585.​

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out farmersmarketkidThe watermelons will take over Aug. 16 at the Original Waynesville Tailgate Market’s August Kids Corner Market.

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out dupontA Save the Trails ride and run through DuPont State Forest will be held Aug. 23 to help Pisgah Area Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association raise money to maintain trails that mountain bikers use. The event will feature four long-distance fun races — no timekeeping involved — with volunteers also needed to make everything go off smoothly. 

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out trailinternsA handful of teachers, high school and college students recently completed a program designed to teach them about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through six weeks of hands-on engagement.

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out telethonFriends of the Smokies will take to the silver screen from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, for the 20th annual Friends Across the Mountains Telethon to benefit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Over the last two decades the broadcast has raised more than $2.9 million. 

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To the Editor:

The Johnny-come-lately public hearing on fracking scheduled by the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) at Western Carolina University on Sept. 12 appears to be nothing more than a public relations move to appease those Western Carolina residents whose opposition to the practice has finally been acknowledged in Raleigh.  

This hearing, like numerous other after-the-fact gambits by politicians, will essentially do nothing to reverse state law on fracking which was enacted by the Raleigh crowd without a millisecond of public input. While some local jurisdictions, including town boards, are standing up to Raleigh by passing anti-fracking resolutions for environmental reasons, these are merely symbolic gestures trumped by state law. Bottom line: the state legislature has basically emasculated local governments. 

MEC chairman Jim Womack said recently that the Western Carolina hearing was scheduled “to give voice to the people of the west.” How noble of the MEC to allow citizens of the region to voice their concerns over fracking when, in the end, it will make little or no difference. In fairness, the hearings may have some small impact on the draft oil and gas rulebook now in place thanks to Raleigh, but a little tweaking here and there doesn’t change the basic game. 

Mr. Womack went on to state that local concerns, while “meaningful” are still only “symbolic” and that passage of anti-fracking resolutions is “probably not a good thing” because it might offend the industry, heaven forbid. Apparently, it doesn’t matter if the industry is offensive to the people. Amazingly, he then suggested that voters should note those local public officials objecting to the fracking and “go the ballot box armed with that information.”

So, let me try to understand this conundrum. Mr. Womack wants voters to possibly punish elected local officials who oppose fracking, but it is perfectly fine for the state legislature to ram through this legislation with no prior public input. In other words, the state has spoken (Big Brother), and any local yokels who oppose Big Brother can be voted out. Here’s a suggestion. Have people go to the ballot box armed with the knowledge that their state representative(s) supported and passed fracking legislation in record time without public input. What about that scenario, Mr. Womack? 

Perhaps the public comments next month at WCU will have a positive impact on how fracking is rolled out in North Carolina. After all, the three-minute comments will be recorded by the MEC. Let’s just hope the recording isn’t erased once it’s played in the sequestered back rooms of the state legislature.

Gerald Soud

Rabun Gap, Ga.

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To the Editor:

First, kudos to Gerald Green and the Jackson County Planning Council for requiring Verizon to use cell tower designs that do not ruin our beautiful views. I applaud their continued work to ensure Verizon conforms to permit application requirements. Yes, we can have technology and beauty!

Second, I am appalled that our legislature passed a bill allowing fracking and then Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law while most of us didn’t even know it was under consideration. The bill was sponsored and strongly supported by Rep. Jim Davis, R-Franklin.

And the chairman of the Jackson County Commissioners doesn’t think fracking will go any further than drilling some test wells and that makes the law OK? Excuse me? Oh, yes, and it’s now illegal to publish the names of the chemicals used in the fracking mix. Is that suspicious or what? 

And last, the state says it’s illegal for any “county, town, or local entity to prohibit fracking.” Are you kidding me? Let’s take that one to court. And I implore the Jackson County Commissioners to join with Swain (and hopefully other WNC counties) and come out against fracking.

Third, a developer is considering putting food trucks in the vacant lot in Cashiers by the second traffic light. If you haven’t seen the sample, go by and look. I for one do not want that look (multiplied by 3? 4? 5?) in our quaint town, not to mention the impact on the restaurants who serve food here every summer and live in the area.

 Marti Senterfit

Cashiers

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op frBy Doug Wingeier • Columnist

Based on actual events, the movie “The Railway Man” tells the story of how British soldiers captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore in 1942 were taken in boxcars four days north through Malaya and Thailand and forced to work under inhuman conditions on a railway line along the River Kwai in Burma. The film contains graphic scenes of beatings and torture, including the infamous technique of waterboarding. Although the film ends with a moving scene of forgiveness and reconciliation between the British lieutenant and his erstwhile Japanese torturer, it still leaves the viewer pondering the question, “What possesses human beings to dehumanize and torture one another in such brutal ways?”

The sad fact is that throughout human history torture has been an all-too-common practice in war, criminal justice and relations between ethnic and even religious groups. It is practiced as a means of demonstrating power, vengeance, intimidation or coercion. It is used to break the spirit in order to extract submission, confession and information — even though these are often false and unreliable, uttered simply to stop the excruciating suffering.

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art beerfaireThe Waynesville Craft Beer Faire will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at the American Legion Post 47 in Waynesville.

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The 40th annual Mountain Heritage Day will be held Saturday, Sept. 27, at Western Carolina University. 

The event will once again feature the traditional foods competition A Gathering In, where baked goods, canned and dried foods and — this year — sweet potato recipes will vie for ribbons. The Best in the West Sweet Potato Recipe will highlight the importance of sweet potatoes in the Western North Carolina region. 

The weeks ahead provide plenty of time to prepare preserved entries and plan winning recipes. Food entries will be accepted at the Mountain Heritage Center at specific times leading up to the festival.

Canned goods and heritage foods may be dropped off at the Cordelia Camp Building on campus between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24; baked goods and the Best in the West Sweet Potato dishes (along with their respective recipes) from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26.

828.586.4009 or 828.227.7129, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.mountainheritageday.com.

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art illusionThe Masters of Illusion’s Believe The Impossible professional magic showcase will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at Harrah’s Cherokee.

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Western Carolina University’s 125th anniversary Big Birthday Bash will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26, at the A.K. Hinds University Center lawn in Cullowhee.

All alumni, friends, students, faculty, staff and members of the surrounding community are invited to take part in the festivities, including a picnic on the lawn featuring barbecue, hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, watermelon, funnel cakes, deep-fried goodies, lemonade, tea and birthday cake.

Also on tap will be a variety of old-fashioned games and photo opportunities with props representative of 125 years of WCU history. The tentative schedule includes musical entertainment provided by the Dirty Guv’nahs, and partygoers will be eligible to win a variety of door prizes. Student hosts will be giving guided tours of a walking trail featuring university landmarks and points of historical interest as part of a project by a WCU history class.

The university’s Cat-Tran shuttle service will be available to assist in transporting off-campus guests from designated parking areas to the site of the bash. No pets are allowed, although service animals are welcome.

The final quasquicentennial event is set for Friday, Dec. 5, in the Ramsey Center, with music from the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band (which will have just returned from its appearance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade), refreshments, remarks from the chancellor and special recognition for those who will graduate during the December 2014 commencement (the last graduating class of WCU’s 125th year).

828.227.3033 or www.celebrate125.wcu.edu.

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art haywoodfairThe 2014 Haywood County Fair will be held Aug. 19-24 at the Haywood County Fairgrounds in Lake Junaluska.

Bingo will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, in the Apple Orchard Building. Just a few of the door prizes include restaurant and automotive gift certificates, pottery, jewelry, crafts, and silk flower arrangements. All proceeds raised will go back into the Haywood County Fairgrounds maintenance and upkeep. 828.712.3458.

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By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Members of the Cashiers area are organizing a new civic association to direct the community’s future.

The formation of the association is an outgrowth of a planning project a group of Louisiana State University students undertook last year. The students, led by LSU landscape architecture professor and part-time Cashiers resident V. Frank Chaffin, studied the area in terms of demographics, land use and projected growth. Their semester-long study resulted in the recommendation of aesthetic-yet-functional element such as the creation of a public park and preserving in-town wetlands.

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By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

As residents in the Cashiers area pull together to address their community’s needs through the creation of a civic association, members of some of the region’s established grassroots groups weighed in on what makes such an organization successful.

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There are many worthwhile upshots from The Sounds of Jackson County recording project, but two stand out among them: one, that something special can indeed happen when a community comes together; and two, the support for a new Sylva library is strong, and county commissioners need to sharpen their pencils in the upcoming budget year and find a way to find a way to pay for it.

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By Michael Beadle

Freezing temperatures may keep some people bundled up indoors, but not Adam Fox.

When the temperatures dip into the teens and 20s, it’s prime time for scaling the sides of mountains for an ice climbing adventure.

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By Eugene Shuler

Winter is a great time to go fishing. Don’t believe me? Just look at what you don’t see this time of year, and that’s other people on the water fishing your favorite spot.

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By Chris Cooper

Beautiful and alarmingly odd, Andrew Bird makes music that ambles pretty far outside description or categorization. “Chamber pop” perhaps? And what the heck is he talking about half the time? How did he find so many things that rhyme with formaldehyde in the song “Fake Palindromes”?

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By Michael Beadle

For Victor Raul Moraloza, each day is a gift.

From being a high school wrestling champion to surviving a grenade explosion in the Vietnam War to treasure diving off the coast of Colombia to creating award-winning metal sculptures that are sold all over the United States, Moraloza has always been willing to take that gift and do what he could with it.

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TV

Yeah, fine: burn your television, TV is bad. It’s mind numbing and makes us lazy. Blah blah blah. But if you’ve been without it for three years like I’ve been, getting the “basic cable package” is quite a joyous experience. The season premiere of “24” was awesome, “American Idol” is just as silly and pointless (and entertaining) as ever, and even getting to watch the news is nice. Heck, we tuned in to CBS for a while, and that almost never happens. Sorry Dave.

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