I’ve been looking at the stars a lot lately. It started several weeks ago. It was 10:18 p.m. on a…
By Albert M. Kopak • Guest Columnist You may have a story about Peter, while someone down the road has…
I think our chihuahua has an eating disorder. He’s a rescue, and since we rescued him, he’s twice the dog…
By the time she was 4-years-old, my daughter was better at making friends than I have ever been. When we…
My wife, Lori, and I recently attended the wedding of my nephew in Fayetteville. While there, we wandered around downtown…
“But for the grace of God, it could have been my child.” News of college and school shootings cut straight…
The thing I miss about teaching is human connection, being part of something bigger than myself. When I was in…
The volunteer board members of the nonprofit Nikwasi Initiative are appreciative of the public’s interest in our mission and role…
By Bob Scott • Guest columnist As mayor of Franklin, my duty and loyalty is to the town. With that…
It’s one of those anniversaries most would rather forget: April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School shooting. Two high school…
By Hannah McLeod • Guest columnist I arrived in Costa Rica at the beginning of February. After floundering for a…
From the outside looking in, the current Nikwasi Mound disagreement in Franklin seems almost contrived. I mean, do serious people…
A little more than two weeks ago I was part of a public radio panel that was discussing the “state…
My son was home from college for spring break. As we ate dinner one night, he described to my wife…
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist Every member of Congress is required to swear loyalty to the Constitution, not to…
By Nina Dove • Guest Columnist When I walked into a Reconciling Ministries meeting at my church (First United Methodist Church…
Whereas the public bodies that administer the legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, and advisory functions of North Carolina and its political…
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-eight dead. Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Thirty-three dead. Stoneman Douglass High School, Parkland,…
By John Hood • Guest Columnist I have written a syndicated column on politics and public policy for North Carolina…
The libertarian in me believes in the “live and let live” mantra, which when it comes to legalizing pot means…
His is the face that provoked untold millions of posts on social media, the teenage boy from Kentucky face-to-face with…
A genuine dilemma, or merely some people grousing? You tell me. We’ve been hearing complaints for months now that the…
When I was in my teens, I was so skinny that people winced when they saw me. The local druggist…
What is a New Year’s resolution anyway? Just a statement we make aloud while toasting friends and family with a…
“Stray from the truth, and whoever corrects you can be dismissed as ‘the other side.’ The strategy runs on a…
By Carl Queen • Guest Columnist As a long-time resident of Sylva — 48 years — I have had a…
“He (Trump) knows very little about the legislative process, hasn’t learned anything, hasn’t surrounded himself with people that can get…
I’ve spent most of my career at small newspapers, and one thing I’ve learned is the value of making connections.…
It sure would be nice for his constituents to hear Rep. Mark Meadows come out with a mea culpa regarding…
By Lorna Sterling • Guest Columnist Like many in the Haywood County community, I am concerned about the transfer of…
There were many winners and losers last week on Election Day, but perhaps the best outcome is that the move…
The sudden resignation of Margaret Spellings as president of the UNC system should be a wake-up call to every North…
As election fatigue sets in, keep this in mind: it’s the local races that will most affect each of us.…
My mom was a librarian and my dad an English teacher so books were always stacked on the dining room…
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist A nonpartisan nominating commission can be the best method of appointing judges. Or it…
As a child, I wanted to grow up and plan a big fancy wedding with a ruffly white dress, then…
I did not go to college with Brett Kavanaugh, but I went to college at about the same time he…
Haywood County GOP leaders last week took the podium at a public meeting and proceeded to act as shills for…
For many years, I thought of myself as one of Flannery O’Connor’s “Christ-haunted” characters, living my life in a kind…
The sounds, the feel of the coming fall is always comforting, like reconnecting with an old and dear friend. It…
Every Labor Day we celebrate the American worker. We wax nostalgic about the bygone days of the great American middle…
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The two most abused and misused words in America are “conservative” and “populist.” Politicians and…
We native-born Americans — most of us, anyway — have no real concept of life under a despot except from…
Over the past few decades, our society has pushed for more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students. Countries like…
“Take the high road.” It’s a simple code for life, but one too few take to heart and even fewer…
As the yoke of political influence grows ever heavier around the neck of the UNC Board of Governors, Western Carolina…
EDISTO ISLAND, SC – For us, the magic of Steamboat Landing Road begins where the pavement ends, where the asphalt…
Though my parents were both teachers and worked second jobs to give my sister and me all we needed, they…
Lori and I have always loved to travel, to go to new places or to get better acquainted with places…
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