My critics just can’t get enough of me
 

My critics just can’t get enough of me

I’m sitting here writing this column in the company of Suki, a 13-year-old Golden Retriever mix. Suki is not actually…
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Comment

Alternating between joy and gloom, grasshopper and ant
 

Alternating between joy and gloom, grasshopper and ant

Spring weather like we’ve been experiencing makes clear that we live in a world essentially comprised of two kinds of…
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Comment

Psychos don’t know park boundaries
 

Psychos don’t know park boundaries

To the Editor: There seems to be a bent in this publication about taking away the gun rights of decent…
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Stronger rules needed  to regulate puppy mills
 

Stronger rules needed to regulate puppy mills

To the Editor: For the sixth time since the end of the 2011 legislative session in North Carolina, the state…
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Comment

Motorcycles are asset  to tourism economy
 

Motorcycles are asset to tourism economy

To the Editor, It is not my norm in life to write letters to a newspaper. However, I feel that…
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Comment

Squeezing a little basketball into my life of madness
 

Squeezing a little basketball into my life of madness

While I can appreciate that many citizens get caught up in this so-called “March Madness” every year, I no longer…
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Comment

From Drags to Riches: Harrah’s host drag show
 

From Drags to Riches: Harrah’s host drag show

Harrah's Hotel and Casino will host three of the country's top Drag Queen entertainers in DRAGS TO RICHE$, a new drag…
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Comment

Grace Noon Concerts to begin 4th year
 

Grace Noon Concerts to begin 4th year

The fourth season of Grace Noon Concerts will kick off at noon on March 15 at Grace Church Episcopal in…
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Comment

WCU professor’s book about ‘H.D.’ published
 

WCU professor’s book about ‘H.D.’ published

The University of Iowa Press recently released "The American H.D.," a book by Annette Debo, a Western Carolina University associate…
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Comment

Robin Whitley to perform songs and stories
 

Robin Whitley to perform songs and stories

Musician Robin Whitley will offer a program called "Songs and Stories of Life" at the Jackson County Public Library in…
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Comment

Dora May featured in OICA Gallery
 

Dora May featured in OICA Gallery

The gallery at the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts will feature an exhibition of work by artist Dora May during…
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Comment

Edible book contest at Waynesville library
 

Edible book contest at Waynesville library

Craft an edible creation inspired by a book. Whether your favorite recent read is The Lorax or Lord of the…
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Comment

Theatre presents the musical, Lamb of God
 

Theatre presents the musical, Lamb of God

The Overlook Theatre Company will present the musical, "Lamb of God," March 22-25, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the…
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Comment

Groovy Movie Club presents “The Double”
 

Groovy Movie Club presents “The Double”

The Groovy Movie Club will show the film "The Double" on Friday, March 16. The event will begin with a…
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Comment

Balsam Mountain Roller Girls host retro Prom-O-Rama fundraiser
 

Balsam Mountain Roller Girls host retro Prom-O-Rama fundraiser

Haywood County's first female flat track roller derby team, Balsam Mountain Roller Girls, is hosting a retro prom at the…
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Comment

Stellar Chapman to lead Songwriters event
 

Stellar Chapman to lead Songwriters event

Stellar "Tall Girl" Marshall Chapman will head the next Songwriters-in-the-Round event on March 17 at Balsam Mountain Inn. Chapman is…
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Comment

Renowned Christian artists to perform
 

Renowned Christian artists to perform

Four legendary artists — Steve Green, Twila Paris, Wayne Watson and Michael Card — will unite together for their Christian…
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Comment

Singers earn places in honor choir
 

Singers earn places in honor choir

Four members of Voices in the Laurel were selected to sing in the American Choral Directors Association Southern Division Children's…
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Comment

Story of dramatic mountain rescue to be centerpiece of Liars Bench show
 

Story of dramatic mountain rescue to be centerpiece of Liars Bench show

The Liars Bench will perform the first in a series of stories called "Balsam Chronicles" at 7 p.m. on March…
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Comment

Another broken promise about national park
 

Another broken promise about national park

To the Editor The National Park Service says we need to charge for backcountry camping. After hundreds of letters and…
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Comment

State GOP leaders did cut education
 

State GOP leaders did cut education

To the Editor: The Republican state legislators have repeatedly said that the $428 million in cuts to the public education…
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Comment

Support of bike rallies not a good idea
 

Support of bike rallies not a good idea

To the Editor: I was amused to read recently that Scott Cochran, the promoter for the town's upcoming Rumble in…
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Comment

Police presence should be a blessing
 

Police presence should be a blessing

To the Editor: Complaints about the significant police presence in Maggie Valley, I think, are highly exaggerated. In the 10-plus…
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Comment

Pressley deserves everyone's support
 

Pressley deserves everyone's support

To the Editor: All of Haywood County — and especially Maggie Valley —should be standing on their heads in support…
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Comment

Maggie Valley police presence appreciated
 

Maggie Valley police presence appreciated

To the Editor: With regard to your news story "Are cops making a pest of themselves in Maggie Valley?" (Feb. 29…
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Comment

Letter a sad example of misinformation
 

Letter a sad example of misinformation

To the Editor: Since Obama took office Jan. 20, 2009, the DOW has risen 48 percent, the S&P 500 is…
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Comment

Hitting the trail not so easy in Jackson – at least not yet
 

Hitting the trail not so easy in Jackson – at least not yet

Thanks to work obligations that have put me in Franklin several days at a time these last few weeks, I've…
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Comment

Celebrating a society built on open government
 

Celebrating a society built on open government

We — this country, its leaders and all of us — are imperfect. We're human, and that means we get…
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WCU’s literary festival promises raft of talented wordsmiths
 

WCU’s literary festival promises raft of talented wordsmiths

From written word to silver screen, Western Carolina University's Spring Literary Festival will celebrate its 10th year by featuring two…
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Comment

The gorilla on the state’s back is getting heavy
 

The gorilla on the state’s back is getting heavy

Government at all levels needs to spend money judiciously. It is, after all, our money. I’m not convinced either major…
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Comment

Pleasantly unearthing a few long-dormant memories
 

Pleasantly unearthing a few long-dormant memories

I unpacked my *euphonium recently — my first love was music; writing was a fallback position — and started fooling…
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Comment

Lottery funds are a boost for Haywood schools
 

Lottery funds are a boost for Haywood schools

To the Editor: A headline on a Feb. 29 article in The Smoky Mountain News creates a misleading impression of…
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Comment

Brigman story needed a second opinion
 

Brigman story needed a second opinion

To the Editor: It is interesting that The Smoky Mountain News in its reporting on superintendent of Macon County Schools…
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Comment

Headline showed SMN’s political bias
 

Headline showed SMN’s political bias

To the Editor: Somewhere during my school years I was taught about slanted journalism. One of the best examples of…
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Comment

Time to send Barack down the road
 

Time to send Barack down the road

To the Editor: Over the weekend we heard from our 44-year-old niece. She was fretting over her 401k. She is…
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Comment

Critics off mark in planning board attacks
 

Critics off mark in planning board attacks

To the Editor: Back in the 1990s, I was privileged to serve several years on the Macon County Planning Board,…
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Comment

We should provide health care to all
 

We should provide health care to all

To the Editor: As of 2010, 50 million people in the U.S. had no health insurance (no doubt more now).…
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Comment

Lest we forget: Whitney was a criminal
 

Lest we forget: Whitney was a criminal

Pardon my insensitivity. Whitney Houston was a great singing talent, indeed. That was a gift of nature. She was also…
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Comment

Ordinance revisions deserve public scrutiny
 

Ordinance revisions deserve public scrutiny

To the Editor: The Jackson County Planning Department is methodically revising sections of the subdivision ordinance. In the fall, the…
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Comment

Justice delayed is justice denied
 

Justice delayed is justice denied

To the Editor: For centuries, the citizens of our state have extolled the virtues of a fair and judicious court…
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Comment

Racial Justice Act should remain intact
 

Racial Justice Act should remain intact

To the Editor: It is painful and, frankly, disgusting to witness North Carolina’s prosecutors and their allies in the General…
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Comment

When it’s all about the writing, I’m all in
 

When it’s all about the writing, I’m all in

Even after laboring for some two decades at various news publications I can’t say that I ever particularly considered myself…
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Comment

The secret life of Quintin Ellison
 

The secret life of Quintin Ellison

In a time-wasting exercise, I was giving thought recently about my earliest memory, which is of getting my knee stuck…
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Comment

Taxpayers deserve easier access to voting
 

Taxpayers deserve easier access to voting

To the Editor: My name is John Herrin and I am a registered voter in Swain County, and I wrote…
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Comment

Swain needs to keep one-stop voting site
 

Swain needs to keep one-stop voting site

To the Editor: Ms. Sallie Smith Bradley will celebrate her 98th birthday on Saturday, March 3, at her residence in…
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Comment

My go-to source for a shot of inspiration
 

My go-to source for a shot of inspiration

Do you have a muse? At different times in my life that role has been filled by different entities. As…
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Comment

Safer, smarter and nostalgic about a more reckless past
 

Safer, smarter and nostalgic about a more reckless past

In the 1960s and 70s, everybody smoked, everybody but my mother, who didn’t smoke, drink, or do anything that Ann…
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Comment

Alzheimer’s letter draws needed attention
 

Alzheimer’s letter draws needed attention

To the Editor: My heartfelt gratitude to John Corkran of Black Mountain for his letter (Asheville Citizen-Times, Feb. 6) titled…
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Comment

LTLT strives to be non-partisan, helpful
 

LTLT strives to be non-partisan, helpful

To the Editor: A letter appearing in The Smoky Mountain News two weeks ago incorrectly characterized the mission, work, and…
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Comment

Cherokee bear zoos need to be shut down
 

Cherokee bear zoos need to be shut down

To the Editor: How many times do the roadside zoos in Cherokee have to be cited for violations of federal…
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Comment

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