Davis’ gain is public education’s loss
 

Davis’ gain is public education’s loss

To the Editor: At the county and state government levels budgets are about choices, and those choices have moral implications,…
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Comment

Giving bears a second chance
 

Giving bears a second chance

To the Editor: The inflexibility of the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC) is alarming. The killing of a three-legged…
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Comment

N.C. Wildlife Commission sets the record straight on euthanization as last resort
 

N.C. Wildlife Commission sets the record straight on euthanization as last resort

To the Editor: A letter was recently circulated regarding the euthanizing of a black bear in the Mountain Aire community…
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Comment

Barack Obama and his debate debacle
 

Barack Obama and his debate debacle

To the Editor: So, here we had it. Live TV for all the world to see. In one corner was…
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Comment

McCrory and our gems from Western Carolina
 

McCrory and our gems from Western Carolina

To the Editor: I am concerned about North Carolina’s unemployment rate of 9.7 percent and the country as a whole.…
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Comment

Make the right choice: Hayden Rogers
 

Make the right choice: Hayden Rogers

To the Editor: We in the mountains are known to be suspicious of outsiders who want to tell us how…
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Comment

Backcountry fees a bad idea
 

Backcountry fees a bad idea

To the Editor: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park plans to begin charging fees for backcountry camping and implement a…
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Comment

HART’s Stage II is a ticket to the future
 

HART’s Stage II is a ticket to the future

I’ve always believed in the adage that success builds success. It’s one of life’s truisms that anyone with eyes wide…
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Comment

Don’t be fooled again by Sen. Jim Davis
 

Don’t be fooled again by Sen. Jim Davis

To the Editor: One of the most important decisions we will have to make on Nov. 6 is who to…
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Comment

Bernanke is killing the working class
 

Bernanke is killing the working class

To the Editor: It is really quite amazing that anybody would believe anything that emanates from the mouth of Federal…
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Comment

This election, let’s make a clean sweep
 

This election, let’s make a clean sweep

To the Editor: During this election the main question seems to be economical. We are a debtor nation. We are…
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Comment

Americans are too easily deceived
 

Americans are too easily deceived

To the Editor: Why are the American people so easily deceived? It seems as if they want to be deceived. …
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Comment

GOP attack on women is real and continuing
 

GOP attack on women is real and continuing

To the Editor: The letter about women’s rights by Margery Abel in last week’s Smoky Mountain News says it very…
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Comment

Independent thinkers are key to future
 

Independent thinkers are key to future

To the Editor: Kurt Vonnegut, a prophetic fiction writer of the 1960s, wrote an amusing, disturbing and satirical short story…
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Comment

Sen. Davis’ comments were insulting
 

Sen. Davis’ comments were insulting

To the Editor: Much has been said this election year on the Republican “War on Women.” Some believe it exists…
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Comment

The tragedy of mass shootings, gun control
 

The tragedy of mass shootings, gun control

Hardly a week goes by without hearing about another tragic shooting, in a movie theater, a grocery store, a Washington,…
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Comment

Support Ghost Town and other local projects
 

Support Ghost Town and other local projects

To the Editor: This is really not an “either-or” situation. Maggie Valley should definitely support Ghost Town as an investment…
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Comment

Invest in nature, not Ghost Town
 

Invest in nature, not Ghost Town

To the Editor: I have no problem with Ghost Town, and I wish them well in their efforts. But I…
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Comment

Neither candidate is going to get the job done
 

Neither candidate is going to get the job done

To the Editor: It appears Mitt Romney has committed the unpardonable sin — he told the truth and now must…
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Comment

A different kind of freedom in the Middle East
 

A different kind of freedom in the Middle East

Could you imagine how different it might feel to be an American today if the ideas of individual freedom and…
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Comment

Life in the GOP fact-free bubble
 

Life in the GOP fact-free bubble

To the Editor: I just don’t get it. Many Republicans think that Obama is a Kenyan socialist out to destroy the…
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Comment

Conservatives take us down the wrong path
 

Conservatives take us down the wrong path

To the Editor: Webster’s dictionary defines the following terms as stated below: • Conservative: “of or relating to a philosophy of…
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Comment

Jim Davis living in Alice in Wonderland world?
 

Jim Davis living in Alice in Wonderland world?

To the Editor: Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is apparently living in a world in where up is down, less is…
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Comment

Don’t legitimize hate and violence
 

Don’t legitimize hate and violence

To the Editor: From U.S. media coverage we get the impression that the Muslim world is burning with anti-Western anger over…
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Comment

Thanks to the GOP communications chair
 

Thanks to the GOP communications chair

To The Editor: In Carol Adams’ reply to my column (“Proud to be an American … sort of,” SMN Sept.…
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Comment

Video archives useful in combatting lies
 

Video archives useful in combatting lies

To the Editor: I noticed that last week some of Mitt Romney’s defenders tried to claim that the video from…
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Comment

Women’s rights, the unfinished struggle
 

Women’s rights, the unfinished struggle

To the Editor: Throughout America’s history courageous women have struggled to achieve social and political freedom and equality. They have…
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Comment

Obama’s record needs closer look
 

Obama’s record needs closer look

To the Editor: Carol Adams in her Letter to the Editor (SMN, Sept. 12) asserts that Obama’s record is “not…
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Comment

History has been altered by victors
 

History has been altered by victors

To the Editor: Mr. McLeod, instead of being upset over a Confederate flag flying in the South, perhaps you should…
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Comment

Is journalism dead or just very biased?
 

Is journalism dead or just very biased?

To the Editor: Mark Twain once said “If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed. If you read the…
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Comment

Proposals could harm bear, deer populations
 

Proposals could harm bear, deer populations

To the Editor: According to David Whitmire’s recent letters sent to the media in WNC, two pending bills for 2013-14…
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Comment

PetSmart will help animal rescue groups
 

PetSmart will help animal rescue groups

To the Editor: PetSmart, which is known for not carrying puppy mill dogs or cats, also holds on-site adoptions for…
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Comment

Get the facts about state education funding
 

Get the facts about state education funding

To the Editor: The Macon County Democrat Headquarters got my attention with their sign. For those that haven’t seen it,…
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Comment

In Democratic convention’s wake, 44 owes 42 – big time
 

In Democratic convention’s wake, 44 owes 42 – big time

By Savannah Bell and Don Livingston In his re-election campaign, President Barack Obama cannot count on the support of many…
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Comment

The end is nigh, but too few will admit it
 

The end is nigh, but too few will admit it

By Kenn Jacobine • Guest Columnist According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, we are about to…
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Comment

The GOP’s message of Social Darwinism
 

The GOP’s message of Social Darwinism

To the Editor: The 2012 campaign illustrates two oft-quoted maxims: that war is a continuation of politics by other means,…
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Comment

Alderman replacement process should be open
 

Alderman replacement process should be open

To the Editor: As a full-time resident of Maggie Valley, I am shocked at the shenanigans taking place in our…
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Comment

Some things should not be on public property
 

Some things should not be on public property

To the Editor: While I support the display of the Confederate flag or the Ten Commandments as a means of individual personal…
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Comment

Columnist misguided in supporting Obama
 

Columnist misguided in supporting Obama

To the Editor:  You printed an interesting, however misguided, guest column in the Sept. 5 issue. John Beckman (“Proud to…
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Comment

We must protect religious freedoms
 

We must protect religious freedoms

To the Editor: Some like to claim that ours is a Christian nation. But this was not the intent of…
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Comment

An open door makes for a great elementary school
 

An open door makes for a great elementary school

A trusted friend surprised me the other day. At his child’s elementary school, it had been decided parents should not…
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Comment

GOP war on women is a real problem
 

GOP war on women is a real problem

To the Editor: Believing in the power of women’s votes, here are some facts that we are facing in November.…
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Comment

Those who make most noise aren’t from here
 

Those who make most noise aren’t from here

To the Editor: I find nothing wrong with your article, “Confederates in the attic” (Aug. 29 edition, www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion) unlike certain…
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Comment

Progressive is just new word for traitor
 

Progressive is just new word for traitor

To the Editor: In regards to your column last week, let me make some points.  You wrote: “If someone gets…
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Comment

Proud to be an American ... sort of
 

Proud to be an American ... sort of

Since I was old enough to talk, I’ve been told that being an American was something special, something I could…
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Comment

I don’t share Romney-Ryan vision
 

I don’t share Romney-Ryan vision

To the Editor: This letter is in defense of the work and research done at the Bent Creek Southeastern Forest…
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Comment

We need a conservative leader at this time
 

We need a conservative leader at this time

To the Editor: I acknowledge Martin Dyckman’s well-written letter in the Aug. 15 issue. He challenged my letter (8/8/12) by…
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Comment

Battle flag display should be allowed
 

Battle flag display should be allowed

To the Editor: For many years, it has been the tradition in Haywood County and other Western North Carolina counties…
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Comment

We need dialogue, not accusations
 

We need dialogue, not accusations

To the Editor: I can’t hardly stand to read the letters to the editor anymore. Civil discourse, the backbone of any…
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Comment

I’ve got Confederates in my attic, but let’s get over it
 

I’ve got Confederates in my attic, but let’s get over it

Even though there’s little room for compromise, I’m going to step into the fray. Haywood County commissioners are trying to…
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Comment

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