A great country needs a wise immigration policy
By Doug Wingeier • Guest Columnist In a previous letter, I described how devastating to human beings our current immigration system…
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Cowee disaster is a moving story
To the Editor: My appreciation goes to Gary Carden and Dave Waldrop from “The Liar’s Bench;” George Frizzell of the…
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Phone questions not a good business practice
To the Editor: MedWest, the company that has taken over our local hospitals as well as many local medical practices,…
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Teaching people to care about conservation
To the Editor: I would like to share with your readers what I have come to realize are fundamental objectives…
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Hoping Lake J – and its infuence – will be around for 200
The Lake Junaluska Assembly is marking its 100th anniversary this year, and a plethora of activities will take place at…
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A moving ‘Liar’s Bench’ performance
Editor’s note: Marie Cochran attended the production of the “Liar’s Bench” on June 20 at the Mountain Heritage Center on…
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We must pass immigration reform
To the Editor: As Congress wrestles with immigration reform, it appears that folks of all political stripes are convinced that…
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‘Hazelwood haircut’ is a destructive practice
To the Editor: I wanted to reply to the “Did That Used to be a Tree?” article in the June…
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Liberal arts education pays different dividends
To the Editor: Bob Wilson’s recent column in a local publication condemning a liberal arts college education is full of…
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N.C. headed toward Third World status
To the Editor: North Carolina is now a state role model — a model for what will happen when a…
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At 14, we’re no longer a baby in the business
There’s just not much exciting about turning 14, but that’s what The Smoky Mountain News turned a couple of weeks…
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Bush attitude toward global warming is growing stale fast
When the administration of George Bush argued Nov. 29 before the Supreme Court that the EPA did not have the…
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Even in tight times, libraries deserve priority funding
By Doug Woodward • Guest Columnist What entity in our community serves the needs of every one of our citizens, whether…
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Wilderness Society had key role in Hall Mountain
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…
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Pay on, Jackson residents, pay on
To the Editor: It is true I have been accused of being a negative person concerning a few of the…
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GOP ‘progress’ takes this state backwards
To the Editor: Recently I saw Ralph Laughter, chairman of Macon County’s “Me Party.” We talked about his letter to…
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GOP leadership wasting money, time and more
To the Editor: The 2013 legislation coming out of Raleigh is bad enough to cause sleepless nights and worried man…
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Let’s stop the senseless civilian deaths
To the Editor: At this Memorial Day time of year, we not only honor veterans but also mourn the recent tragic loss…
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Rep. Meadows becomes Tea Party poster boy
To the Editor: Rep. Mark Meadows would like us to think of him as a “moderate or centrist Republican” (SMN,…
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Cutting courthouse trees was a disgrace
To the Editor: I have returned to Waynesville for the summer. I drove past the courthouse and could not believe…
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The boys of summer are, after all, just that – boys
It was a great day for a picnic … or a baseball game. The sun hung there above the horizon…
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Legislative moves will harm rural N.C.
To the Editor: We are well into this Legislature’s session. The governor has put forward his budget. The Senate has proposed…
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Spend fund balance and cut property tax rate
To the Editor: Macon County commissioners can re-sponsibly reduce the property tax. The county manager’s proposed 2014 general fund budget…
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Jackson did not spend $50,000 wisely
To the Editor: My first reaction to the county brand “Play On” was that it must be April 1. Quickly…
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Voucher system will hurt public schools
To the Editor: Sponsors of House Bill 944, the school voucher bill, proposed certain changes during the bill’s first committee…
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Macon should use fund balance, cut tax rate
To the Editor: In 2010, the Macon County Board of Commissioners, under the leadership of then Chairman Ronnie Beale, voted…
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GOP-led legislature making huge strides
To the Editor: North Carolinians are fortunate to now have a legislature that is making historic strides towards fiscal responsibility…
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Graduate programs in music are worth saving
To the Editor: The committee at Western Carolina University charged with evaluating academic programs issued its report on May 22.…
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Schoolhouse Earth is a favorite learning place
To the Editor: At a school bus stop north of Franklin, I pick up trash weekdays from kids apparently tossing…
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Room tax issue won’t change much between now and 2015
Alice Aumen, one of the owners of Cataloochee Ranch and a longtime tourism booster in Haywood County and Western North…
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Haywood commissioners win political game with school board
Haywood County commissioners drew a line in the sand. The Haywood County School Board decided not to cross it. In…
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What are they thinking down in Raleigh?
To the Editor: I continue to be mystified by the behavior of Art Pope’s legislature in Raleigh. While ranting against…
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We must leave better world for our children
To the Editor: New York City has been attacked twice in the past decade — first by Al Qaeda and…
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Correction
A letter from Jane Harrison in the May 8 edition of SMN, “Meadows in the wrong on background checks,” was…
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PCs for grads program thanks supporters
To the Editor: A little over a year ago, the concept of annually awarding donated and refurbished PCs to Haywood…
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Predator beetles work for all hemlocks
To the Editor: Congratulations to the National Park Service for getting the word out about the predator beetles being used…
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State GOP decimates public education
To the Editor: North Carolina’s once proud public education system is under siege by the radical Republican gang in control…
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This time I’m sure of it; at least I think so
When I sat down to write a piece for this week’s paper my topic was already chosen. I was going…
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Where do we go when the public square fractures?
The “fractured public square” refers to the loss of the place where a community discusses ideas, politics and values. The…
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Tribal Council vote on bear zoos disappointing
To the Editor: I am extremely disappointed in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Tribal Council (except members Perry Shell, Terri…
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Meadows in the wrong on background checks
To the Editor: This is an open letter to Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., our district’s freshman congressman: Your vote to…
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What will you do about jack booted thugs?
To the Editor: Watching the YouTube videos (since removed) of the “jack booted thugs” trampling on our Third, Fourth, Fifth,…
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Sen. Davis going way too far to the right
To the Editor: Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and his extreme right-wing partisans have no problem wasting taxpayer money as long…
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Despite failure, time will come for gun legislation
The defeat of gun control legislation in the Senate wasn’t as much surprising as it was disappointing. This is one…
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When will Americans learn that ‘blowback’ is real?
In 1953, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, at the urging of the British M16, overthrew democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister…
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MedWest Haywood appreciates volunteers
To the Editor: A smile, a touch, a simple “how are you today?” are some of what I hear and…
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Don’t allow filling in of floodplain
To the Editor: I am a local biologist and an avid outdoorsman and spend a great deal of my time…
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Tell your reps to vote against fracking
To the Editor: Most of us have heard the term fracking by now. In states where this underground energy extraction…
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I will miss my conversations with Roger Ebert
I cannot credit film critic Roger Ebert, who died just a couple of weeks ago after a lengthy battle with…
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Democrats need to unite behind Christopher
To the Editor: I’m deeply troubled to learn that some Haywood Democrats are still disgruntled about the appointment of Greg…
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