Eateries in Western North Carolina have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and its work in supporting the parkway.

Plates for the Parkway will include three restaurants in the area that have signed up to contribute to the cause.

Patrons can eat dinner at Guadalupe Café in Sylva on June 11 and have 20 percent of their tab go to the foundation. On June 12, City Lights Café in Sylva will donate the same percentage for the dinner hour, and Panacea Coffeehouse, Cafe & Roastery will be contributing 20 percent of its proceeds throughout the day.

Last year, 32 restaurants participated. But this year, the field was opened up to include restaurants in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Hickory, Gastonia and Greensboro, bringing that number to nearly 70. The event provides valuable funds for the parkway and gives residents a delectable way to support the cause.

Last year, the foundation provided a record $745,000 to the parkway and its programs.

Mountain visitors and residents can learn more about their black bear neighbors at an upcoming seminar.

A program called “Understanding Our Black Bears” and a dinner will be held Monday, June 1, at the Sapphire Valley Resort’s Community Center. The program is free, but the meal, available from 5 to 6:45 p.m., is $10 for adults and $6 for children. The program will follow. Reservations are recommended but not required. 

The program is sponsored by Mountain Wildlife Days, along with the Sapphire Valley Master Association, to educate folks about living safely with black bears. The event is open to all residents and visitors. 

Russ Regnery, president of the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society will open the evening focusing on black bears and backyard bird feeders as a source of food. Wendy Henkel, a local black bear advocate, will share information to help the general public develop a deeper appreciation of black bears. In addition, she will distribute literature with tips on co-existing with black bears.

828.743.7663.

Get ready for live talons, Waynesville.

Doris Mager, better known as “The Eagle Lady,” will appear with her birds of prey at 10:30 a.m. June 12 at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Library. Mager’s program about raptors is for adults and children.

Mager travels around the country putting on such programs and has visited the libraries in Haywood County for about the past eight years. In all, the 87-year-old Mager has been rehabilitating and advocating for birds of prey for more than 50 years.

This year, the performance will not feature Mager’s star bird, Cara, the Caracara, a southern predator bird in the falcon family. Cara died last year at the age of 36. However, the show will include other birds that travel with Mager in her van across the country.

Seating for the show is limited, and participants are asked to arrive early. Large groups are asked to make reservations. Mager will return Aug. 7 for another show at the Waynesville library. 

A new book has been published detailing the story of the grand, four-legged keepers of the Great Smoky Mountains Park: the elk.

The Macon County Master Gardener Association is hosting an open house from 1 until 4 p.m. June 15 at the county’s Environmental Resource Center.

The Great Smoky Mountains Association has turned 60 years old, and although it has changed during the years, its mission has remained the same.

To the Editor:

I have returned to Waynesville for the summer. I drove past the courthouse and could not believe the destruction of those magnificent trees! Shame on the person or persons who ordered this, and shame, shame on the citizens of this community that allowed this to happen. 

If they were diseased, treat them; if they were disrupting water, electricity or sewer lines, move the lines.

You have destroyed a treasure, and I wonder what will be next? Wake up.

Jean King

Waynesville and Juno Beach, Fla.

To the Editor:

Rep. Mark Meadows would like us to think of him as a “moderate or centrist Republican” (SMN, June 5, 2013) in spite of voting 97 percent of the time with his extremist party in the U.S. House. I am a “recovering Republican” and know “centrist or moderate Republicans,” and he ain’t one. More accurately, he is the poster boy of the Tea Party. Let’s face, in this day and time moderate Republicans are as extinct as the dodo.

Mike Jones

To the Editor: 

At this Memorial Day time of year, we not only honor veterans but also mourn the recent tragic loss of life on American soil — at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Boston Marathon, the Texas plant explosion, the Oklahoma tornado. Our hearts go out to families of any innocents who die violent deaths, whether killed by other humans or by the severe storms that are hitting us harder and more frequently as climate change intensifies.

But consider this as well. For the past 12 years, our government has conducted military operations in Muslim countries, killing thousands and displacing millions of people, many of them women and children. As we mourn the loss of U.S. lives, we must ask what the loss of Muslim lives means to us. Should we expect Yeminis, Pakistanis, Iraqis, and Afghanis to passively accept loss of life in their countries as a result of attacks ostensibly carried out to keep us safe? Can these military operations continue without leading to repercussions for the “collateral damage” of their loved ones’ deaths? How many are simmering with rage over the deaths of innocent people caused by U.S. bombs, missiles and drones? Can we expect them not to retaliate? How can we call for an end to gun violence here, while at the same time supporting kill lists and the assassination of alleged terrorists and their families with drones? How can we expect to end violence at home while using war as the primary instrument of our foreign policy? We cannot rely on violence to end violence.

Just as the cities of Newtown and Boston need support and time to heal from their ordeals of terror, so do communities in Yemen and Pakistan feel great pain and sorrow due to the killing, maiming and suffering they have experienced. Human life is as precious there as here. The grief we all feel is the same. More killing will not end the suffering. It will only bring new pain, new anger and the urge for more violence.  We need a new approach to foreign policy that does not rely on destruction and death, but on building communities, respecting all life, and promoting diplomacy and negotiation as alternatives to war and retribution.

The billions of our tax dollars spent on war would be better used for development, education and promotion of human rights. They could be invested in healthcare, education, and job creation, and to build bridges between peoples. The cycles of violence and death will only end when we realize that killing begets more killing, while only dialogue and restorative justice can break those cycles. Gandhi warned us that “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”

Doug Wingeier

Waynesville

To the Editor:

The 2013 legislation coming out of Raleigh is bad enough to cause sleepless nights and worried man blues over the future of fair elections in North Carolina.

Starting in 2016, we will be required in defense of “ballot security” to show a valid, government-issued photo ID when we vote. In North Carolina, over 600,000 registered voters do not have a driver’s license or comparable documentation.

Apparently, many of our legislators are concerned about voter fraud, as when somebody claims to be voting in your name. Voter impersonation is largely a myth and practically non-existent in the U.S. In North Carolina elections from 2004-2010, less than 5 votes per 1 million involved fraud that could be prevented by using a photo ID. 

Yet our state is willing to waste millions of tax dollars to implement public outreach, print new IDs, and create a new state agency with the board of elections to “fix” a problem that barely exists. In fact, voter fraud is much more likely to occur in absentee voting, but these voters will not need to submit an ID when voting — they need only submit a birth date, the last four digits of their social security number, and sign an attestation under penalty of a felony to cast a ballot. So why can’t in-person voters be treated equally?

It’s not just about voting rights. Here’s a few of the pending 2013 bills: deny Medicaid for the poor (SB-4); cut unemployment benefits in half (HB 4); and deny state employees the ability to have union dues taken from their paychecks but allow chamber of commerce dues to be deducted (HB-667).

My own personal “favorite” bad bill is the “Equalize Voter Rights” Senate Bill 667, introduced by Sen. Bill Cook, a Republican, who won the 2012 election by 21 votes. This bill penalizes parents of dependents (e.g. students) who choose to vote at an address other than that of the parent or legal guardian. These parents will lose their North Carolina state tax exemption of $2,000 for claiming a dependent if that person uses a college residency. In the courageous words of Sen. Cook:

“Tax reduction will require courage and fortitude in the face of all the shortsighted special interest groups clamoring for money from state funds …”

If you’ve had enough and don’t have time to travel to Raleigh for a “Moral Monday” protest, you might consider joining local voters in the streets of Waynesville at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, June 24, to protest what is happening in Raleigh. For more information contact Janie Benson at 828.456.4942.

Roger Turner

Sylva

To the Editor:

Recently I saw Ralph Laughter, chairman of Macon County’s “Me Party.” We talked about his letter to the editor in several newspapers praising the work of North Carolina’s GOP legislators.

“I heard their legislation is rather draconian,” I explained to Ralph. 

“Not at all,” he replied. “The legislation will incentivize people back to work, get everyone paying taxes rather than making us pay for everything, and give our citizens the freedom bought by gun manufacturers to have guns for peacefully settling disputes.  

“We want to let the free enterprise system bypass regulations to create jobs fracking in the piedmont, drilling off the Outer Banks and privatizing schools,” he explained. 

I pulled from my pocket a list of proposed bills reported by Democracy North Carolina (They give this Legislature “F” on their report card). Here they are:

• S-4 denies Medicaid for the poor.

• H-4 cuts in half benefits for those who have lost jobs.

• H-82 removes tax breaks for our low- income neighbors. The budget proposes sales taxes on services such as haircuts, groceries and medication.

• H-101 gives estate tax breaks for the rich.

• H-589 creates voting barriers to elderly, minority and low-income citizens by requiring hard to obtain photo IDs.

• H-935 cuts the number of low-income children attending pre-K. The budget proposes cutting teachers’ aides and funding for public schools.

• H-937 permits concealed guns in bars, parks, restaurants and college campuses! Really Ralph???

• H-677 denies state employees having union dues taken out of their checks but allows chamber of commerce dues to be deducted.

• H-730 allows employers to deny women contraception health care.

• H-1011 replaces health care and environmental experts with political appointments on state boards.

• S-489 allows high interest lenders back into the state.

“North Carolina appears to be one of the Republican dominated states subjected to the neo-conservative agenda created by ALEC, the Koch brothers and Art Pope, owner of discounts department stores,” I observed. 

“The success of this legislation will demonstrate the power of our wise and wealthy 1 percent to take our state back to the good old days of 1950s,” Ralph explained. “They paid a lot of money to win the last election and know what is best,” he continued.

I thanked Ralph for clarifying things and invited him to explain to people meeting every Monday afternoon at the state capitol. It is called Moral Monday. Everyone is invited. Come share your love with Ralph!

Ron Robinson

Macon County

To the Editor:

It is true I have been accused of being a negative person concerning a few of the letters I have written to the editor. I don’t think pointing out the obvious is being negative, but what can I say. Today, I’ll try to be very positive. 

I don’t understand what all the fuss is about concerning the $50,000 spent by Jackson County for the branding slogan “Pay On.” I mean after all Jackson County has plenty of tax money paid by the “peons.” The peons are perfectly content to sit back and allow our leaders to spend and spend even more to attract the tourist who will spend and spend their hard earned dollars. We must embrace the wisdom of our leaders and “Pay On”. “Pay On,” Jackson County peons, “Pay On,” and remember to smile.

Frank Parrish

Sylva

To the Editor:

Thank you for your coverage of the historic return of Hall Mountain to the Cherokees (www.smokymountainnews.com/outdoors/item/10467). While the story was good and provided valuable perspectives on the event, it nonetheless failed to mention the role of The Wilderness Society in insuring that the transaction occurred. TWS identified the funding source, assisted in grant writing, and shepherded the grant through a myriad of Washington, D.C., bureaucratic hurdles. It was a great partnership between all of us and what I hope is the first of many. You had to be there!

Brent Martin

Macon County resident

Southern Appalachian Regional Director

The Wilderness Society

Jackson County commissioners will discuss two sets of proposed planning regulations at an upcoming workshop at 2 p.m. on June 17 in the county’s Justice and Administration Building.

One of the items being considered is a new ordinance that was written addressing groundwater recharge in the county. 

Regulations previously existed as part of a larger ordinance but have been separated out into their own draft ordinance. The recharge ordinance addresses issues like requiring impervious surfaces for development to ensure precipitation can be re-absorbed by the ground.

The other item on the agenda is a set of proposed changes to a section of the county’s subdivision ordinance that dictates how much of a development must be left in open space. The proposed changes are generally less stringent than what the county currently has on the books.

Although the changes have been approved by the county’s planning board, any changes to the laws must be passed by commissioners. The drafts of these ordinances were completed last fall, but commissioners have not taken them up until now. A public hearing on the proposed changes could be held as early as the commission’s second meeting in July and voted on that same day. 

Western Carolina Dog Fanciers Association, an area AKC Kennel Club, will host an American Kennel Club all breed dog show from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 15-16 at the Haywood County Agriculture and Activities Center in Waynesville.

A panel discussion will present recent discoveries and observations relating to legendary Western North Carolina figure Horace Kephart at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, in the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University.

WCU’s Mae Claxton and George Frizzell will join writer and historian George Ellison during the program “Horace Kephart Revisited.” Kephart was a 42-year-old librarian looking to make a fresh start in the mountain wilderness when he came to WNC in the summer of 1904. Over the next 27 years, the numerous articles and books he wrote captured a disappearing culture and provided practical advice for outdoor enthusiasts. Kephart also was a major force in the movement to establish Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

The panel discussion is being presented in conjunction with the Mountain Heritage Center exhibit “Horace Kephart in the Great Smoky Mountains,” which will be on display through September.

The panel discussion is free and open to the public.

828.227.7129.

A BBQ & Brews Dinner Train will depart at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad depot in Bryson City.

The dinner features slow-cooked barbeque and beer tastings, showcasing Nantahala and Heinzelmannchen breweries. Each brewery will sponsor trains and provide tastes of their craft beer. Nantahala brewery will be featured June 22 and July 6, with Heinzelmannchen brewery June 29 and July 13. The train travels to the Fontana Trestle and arrives around sunset for a spectacular view.

The event is ages 21 and older. Tickets start at $69. Additional beer will be available for purchase onboard the train. Admission to the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum is included with ticket purchase.

800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.

The 38th annual Cherokee Pow Wow Festival is June 14-16 at the Acqouni Expo Center (Old Cherokee High School).

Kim Richey, Irene Kelley and Thomm Jutz will bring an adventurous musical spirit to the Songwriters in the Round series from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at the Balsam Mountain Inn.

The Cherokee Bluegrass Festival will run from June 13-15 at the Happy Holiday RV Village in Cherokee.

Storyteller/singer-songwriter Dusk Weaver performs at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 16, at the Waynesville Public Library.

Weaver is an upbeat entertainer and multi-instrumentalist. Before he began a professional music career, he worked for decades in training Percheron draft horses, framing houses and servicing chimneys. The lyrics of his songs sometimes land squarely in the vernacular of everyday people. Through his lifelong love of song and performances, Weaver befriended songwriting legends Townes Van Zandt, Billy Joe Shaver, and Mickey Newbury, who served as a role model and mentor to Weaver. 

Put on by the Haywood County Arts Council, the Sunday Concert Series is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. The local arts council receives support from the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

www.haywoodarts.org.

The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership has announced an award of $10,000 to the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center in Robbinsville for a mobile website, enhancements to a backstage green room and new exhibits for visitors.

The center offers a summer music series, “An Appalachian Evening,” along with year-round programming in music, craft and foodways. This project is designed to further promote the center’s music programs through the creation of a new mobile website that will host videos of live performances, interviews with musicians and audience reviews.  

Funded by federal dollars, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership helps support diverse initiatives across the North Carolina mountains and foothills, focusing on craft, music, natural heritage, Cherokee traditions and the region’s legacy in agriculture. These five facets of the region’s heritage earned the 25 counties of Western North Carolina a Congressional designation as the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in 2003. This program is an effort by the North Carolina Arts Council and Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership to enhance many aspects of the traditional music industry in the region, and in so doing strengthen its economic impact on communities region-wide.

The Jackson County commissioners should move forward with their temporary subdivision moratorium, notwithstanding all the concerns that have been raised about this proposal.

By Carl Iobst

Well if this don’t beat all. Over in eastern Germany where lederhosen, apple strudel, and skinheads are tourist attractions, Karl Szmolinsky is fixin’ to feed the world’s hungry. Maybe not the whole world, but you’ve got to start somewhere. And what better place than North Korea, where thousands are starving to death every day!

About two dozen diesel vehicles used by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the North Carolina side of the park will soon be fueling up with B-50 biodiesel.

A cattle farm in Cherokee County known as Ridgefield Farm has been preserved for future generations thanks to a conservation agreement between the Whitmire family and the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.

By Michael Beadle

Paul Carlson has plenty of maps to show you.

There are maps with stars. Color-coded maps of riverfront properties. Aerial photography maps. Maps of the past and maps of the future.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park conducted a prescribed burn on a 530-acre tract of forest in the Cataloochee Valley area last weekend.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Christine Tyndall’s voice hits a high note as she reads from the Maurice Sendak classic Where the Wild Things Are, pleading on behalf of the monsters for storybook hero Max not to give up being their king.

It’s the tambourine that gives it away. Those insistent eighth notes from the piano during the chorus, the sparkly harmonies — yeah, these guys are fans of “power pop,” all right. The good stuff too, like Joe Jackson (no, not Michael’s dad) and Alex Chilton, George Harrison’s earlier solo work and all that other stuff that manages to sound like a blindingly sunny day while somehow still breaking your heart.

For years, county leaders have been lobbying law makers in Raleigh to stop packing off a portion of Medicaid costs on counties. They hope this year might finally be the year.

As Western North Carolina wrestles with growth issues, a project is under way to track where and how large mountain tracts are being carved up into smaller lots.

Western Carolina University Chancellor John W. Bardo has officially launched the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s 118-year history, a drive to raise at least $40 million in private support to help meet a renewed emphasis on academic quality.

In 1992 Mary Chapin Carpenter released Come On, Come On, and though it’s a little hazy as to how I wound up with a copy, the album has since remained one of my favorite collections of songs and performances.

Battlestar Galactica

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a Battlestar fanatic. A few weekends ago, my wife and I glued ourselves to the couch and watched about 10 hours of episodes from the first and second seasons. We’re almost caught up to the most recent episodes. The sci-fi series that ran back in the late-‘70s and starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict has been upgraded with new characters, a complex storyline, and unobtrusive special effects. In a galaxy far, far away, 40,000-plus refuges are all that’s left of the human race after a nuclear attack by robotic Cylons. But is the human race worth saving? Fighter pilots, soldiers, civilians and the fleet’s leaders struggle to overcome political and social differences while defending against the constant threat of Cylon attacks and Cylon infiltration (for some of these robots now look like humans). As with Star Wars and Star Trek, there’s a whole vocabulary that goes along with the show — knuckledraggers (deck crew), dradis (radar), cubits (currency) and frak (everybody’s favorite curse word). There are no easily defined good guys and bad guys here, and they are constantly being forced to make difficult decisions. Their hope is to find a faraway planet called Earth. I just love being along for the ride.

Yoga

If you enjoy playing sports and don’t want to succumb to those eventual aches and pains that come with age, I strongly suggest signing up for a yoga class. This winter, I’ve been taking a class in Waynesville, and the stretches and meditation have not only given me more focus and better flexibility. I know now that consistent stretching before and after workouts will keep me healthy and injury-free for years to come. Try to let go of that yoga image of super-limber human pretzels twisting into abnormal positions. Think of yoga as a natural way to reduce stress and maintain balance. Find out for yourself.

ACC Tournament

It’s almost here. The early March Madness squeezed into four days. The legendary match-ups. The game-winning shots. The heartaches and the fist-pumping triumphs. The pride and glory of college basketball’s most celebrated conference will be up for grabs once again March 8-11 in Tampa, Fla. Each year, no matter where I happen to be, I make sure I’m near a TV or radio to savor the games I have come to love more and more since growing up a Carolina fan on Tobacco Road. Back in elementary school, I remember my teacher would stop class after lunch. She’d roll in the TV, and we’d all watch the games until school was over. No child was left behind the non-stop action of rim-rattling dunks and sweet-arching jumpshots. We’d hurry home to catch the rest of the games that evening. My Heels are among the favorites to win this season, and it’s been a few years since Carolina Blue took home the crown (1998). But whoever your favorite team happens to be, enjoy the games with fellow ACC fans.

— By Michael Beadle

By Michael Beadle

The annual foot-stompin’, hand-clappin’, kick-up-your-heels music-and-dance show known as the Summit Country and Western Show at Tuscola High School will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend.

The six libraries in Macon, Jackson and Swain counties are part of the Fontana Regional Library system, headquartered at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. The system has deep roots in the region, dating its beginnings to 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored a regional bookmobile for residents.

Gov. Mike Easley’s proposed budget would decrease the portion of lottery proceeds going to education — before legislators have a chance to fix an already unfair funding formula that shorts the western part of the state — a gamble that citizens throughout the state just shouldn’t support.

By Susan Ervin • Guest Columnist

The recent tax revaluations in Macon County have many people worried — not just about their own tax bill, which is plenty to worry about when your property value suddenly increases three-fold — but also about the impact such evaluation will have on the future of our lands and environment.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

A forest fire burned nearly 40 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Wednesday (Feb. 28), threatening the Purchase Knob research station.

By Kathleen Lamont

There are lots of examples today of what a few determined and focused people can do. They can build low-income housing, rebuild devastated cities, and save disappearing farmland. That last one is shooting to the top of many a list these days and hooray for that.

By Michael Beadle

Running can be a lonely sport. It’s hard finding someone who has a similar pace, someone who runs when you do, someone who can get you through those tough, uphill climbs.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Balsam Range, a newly formed group of all-star pickers, will play a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 16 at Haywood Community College.

By Michael Beadle

Come March 24, sink your teeth into blueberry truffles, fudge cookies, and mocha cheesecake.

By Michael Beadle

Call it a Kiss. A sweet treat. A bonbon. A decadent delight.

What exactly do you say about these guys?

There’s certainly something nostalgic in just how painfully arty what they’re doing is — like the old Sylvian and Gabriel stuff. But then there’s that slick, ultramodern sheen to the music, the lush backdrops of synth against the “water drops in a cavern” digital rhythms.

Lucinda Williams, West

If you don’t already know her, go back to the beginning and catch up, because you’ve missed out on one of the premier singer-songwriters of the past 20 years, that rare artist who sings ‘em as well as she writes ‘em — and vice versa.

If you want to keep bees, the best thing you can do is join a local beekeeping club. Here you’ll find expert advice and support, and perhaps a personal mentor to explain the intricacies of beekeeping.