Men can no longer just look the other way
The list of allegations is dizzying and depressing. Every day, it seems, there are new reports of predatory behavior by…
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Partnering with Asheville can only help Haywood
Asheville is red hot in more ways than I can list here. Pick up a travel magazine, visit an outdoor…
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Time to remove Trump from office
To the Editor: By whatever authority you use one thing is clear: Donald Trump’s presidency is unraveling and accelerating faster…
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Chamber director helping Haywood
To the Editor: Bravo to CeCe Hipps! As a former Haywood County Chamber of Commerce employee years ago, I have…
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Phillip Price has common sense
To the Editor: If you elect Phillip Price to Congress, he will work toward some moderate, common-sense policy shifts that…
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Libraries are economic engines
To the Editor: As I read this week’s (November 1-7) Smoky Mountain News and the article entitled “Swain library project…
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Away with the rose-colored glasses
Over the past couple years, this column has been a sounding board for me. I’ve written about everything from coping…
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Welcome to a rising tide of young candidates
Local politics in Western North Carolina have long been dominated by the good ole boys. But like they say about…
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Kneeling in protest is a proper protest
To the Editor: Will Americans allow the symbol of “liberty and justice for all” to be more highly regarded than…
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They’ve been dancing the whole time
The first time I met my stepfather I threatened to beat him up. My brother and I were both in…
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Do you write stories to dispel rumors?
“A lie can run around the world before the truth has its boots on.” That’s one of the few quotes…
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If truth doesn’t matter, we are doomed
By Norman Hoffman • Guest Columnist Some time ago a cartoon had Donald Trump’s press secretary and Kelly Ann Conway…
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Embracing the wicked vibe of Halloween
In less than a week, I’ll spend Tuesday evening traipsing the streets of Waynesville watching two little boys knock on…
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An alternative to opiates for pain relief
Like placing a bandage over a deep wound and hoping it will just go away, opiate painkillers are prescribed to…
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Gun debate a microcosm of a deeper challenge
By William Everett • Guest Columnist Garret Woodward’s Opinion piece “After tragedy in Vegas, where to from here?” (Oct. 4-10) leads…
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The NRA and waiting periods
To the Editor: I agree 100 percent with Andy Borowitz that there should be a mandatory three-day waiting period whenever…
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Planting garlic means it’s fall, y’all
As if the changing colors, cooler temps and falling leaves weren’t reminders enough, there’s also those walnuts dropping like cluster…
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My son’s a ham, while I was Houdini
There are very few decent photographs of me as a child. When I die, I feel sorry for the poor…
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Save your crude posts for other websites, please
Something newspaper editors never say: “I wish that fewer people responded to that piece in last week’s paper.” Well, thanks…
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Tweet shows that Trump is unfit
To the Editor: After reading that this is Newspaper Week in the U.S., I happened to see an article about…
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Planned Parenthood kills, not the NRA
To the Editor: When a deranged person like Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas shooter, randomly kills and wounds hundreds of …
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Tax reform plan won’t help middle class
To the Editor: Now that the drama over the ACA is done, it’s time to move on to tax reform.…
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If I had a purple crayon…
Last night I read Harold and the Purple Crayon to my 5-year-old. He sat wide-eyed with an expression of intrigue…
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After tragedy in Vegas, where to from here?
I’ve never shot a gun. Nope. Not once. I come from a family of gun owners. I’ve held plenty of…
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Air Force Academy general deserves praise
To the Editor: All men and women who have served in the armed forces can hold their heads high when…
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Children’s healthcare must be supported
To the Editor: Last week the US Congress failed to reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Plan — CHIP — known…
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We can survive the Trump era
To the Editor: President Trump never ceases to amaze me on his downward spiral to be the worst president in…
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A part of my generation’s soundtrack
We were pretty full of ourselves, I guess. Barely 19, barely finished with our freshman year in college, having left…
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Hand on heart or on bended knee — Americans all
This is what it means to be an American. I’m talking about NFL players and coaches and owners uniting to…
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Park’s fire response was woefully inadequate
To the Editor: Regarding the Chimney Tops 2 wildfire review article, my stomach clenched as I read quotes from the…
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Immigrants need to assimilate
To the Editor: A common sense response is necessary to the foolish arguments in a letter printed in a recent…
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‘Stranger Things” and DACA truth
To the Editor: With all the news of DACA and how the changes will affect many people including some family,…
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Learning to let my emotions breathe
I’ve always been prone to bouts of melancholy. I’m not sure if it’s a writer thing or a woman thing…
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The numbers don’t lie, it’s a brave new world
Some things we know, but when someone lays out the numbers and reveals in specific numbers how the big picture…
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Climate change aided Harvey’s wrath
To the Editor: I have seen very little in the corporate media connecting Hurricane Harvey with human-caused climate change. Wonder…
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Trump is unfit to remain in office
To the Editor: Following is the letter former Sen. Gordon Humphrey (R-N.H., 1978-1990) sent to both New Hampshire U.S. senators…
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Taking exception to reporter’s assessment
To the Editor: I read reporter Cory Vaillancourt’s account of the Mike Clampitt Town Hall on Sept. 8 with astonishment.…
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Oh, the stories they could tell!
The treehouse that we had built in our backyard when we bought our house eight years ago sits vacant on…
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When you come up blank, remember those who are suffering
The computer stares back, unblinking. Deadline is approaching and I’m fighting to hone in on a topic for my column.…
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Planes, trains and automobiles
Reuniting with my big sister never seems to be an easy jaunt. Whether she’s traveling to North Carolina or I’m…
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Trump just plain wrong on DACA decision
Few presidential decisions have been as unjust, unwise and cruel as Donald Trump's threat to deport nearly 700,000 young Americans…
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Questioning the relevance of Confederate statues
By the faculty of Western Carolina University’s Department of Anthropology and Sociology Recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, demonstrate the inability…
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Reflections on a divided America
As President Trump’s administration continues to descend further into chaos with each passing week, there are a few truths that…
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Fear of immigrants will hurt this country
To the Editor: I was glad to read intelligent responses with a different opinion than that of a recent letter…
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Reasonable benchmarks make for better debate
To the Editor: I’m writing in response to a letter by Tom Enterline in the Aug. 30-Sept. 5 issue. He…
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Illegal signs are a continuing problem
By JoAnna Swanson • Guest Columnist There are all kinds of signs — signs of the times; signs of the…
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Disparaging terms are divisive
To the Editor: I am growing increasingly weary of hearing and reading the far right’s use of disparaging terms to…
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Rep. Meadows is hung up on the wall
To the Editor: Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, does a disservice to all Americans, but particularly to legal immigrants, by fanning…
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Help needed in Mission-BCBS fight
To the Editor: The ugly fight between Blue Cross and Mission Hospital has no winners. Thousands of Western North Carolina…
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