Voter ID issue just keeps getting better
To the Editor: The radical Republican regime in Raleigh has a new pretext for the voter ID scheme North Carolina…
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Investing in the region’s creative minds
When the city of Asheville decided that this year’s Bele Chere street festival would be the last it funded, little…
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Chavez did some real good in Venezuela
To the Editor: With the recent death of Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, there has been much speculation in the…
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Voter ID law a waste of time, money
To the Editor: The voter suppression monster has reared its ugly head again in Raleigh. Although details are not known…
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My journey to the center of the Earth, and back
By Stephanie Wampler • Columnist Our Saturday morning cave adventure started out innocently enough. We would need flashlights. Check. I had…
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My cousin the Keynesian and his mistaken ideas
By Kenn Jacobine I have this cousin, let’s call him Giovanni. He is a great guy – industrious, hospitable, great…
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Don’t forget First Amendment as we debate the Second
“The pen is mightier than the sword.” For years I had ascribed those words to Thomas Paine, the fiery British-American…
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Don’t be in a rush to cut courthouse trees
To the Editor: I am concerned that the decision to remove the trees at the courthouse was hasty and ill-judged.…
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Once again, we need to save Needmore
To the Editor: After all the time and effort put forth by the citizens of Macon and Swain counties, the…
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The roots of the U.S. gun culture
To the Editor: In all the current commentary about gun violence in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy…
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A great night of music at the Bardo Center
To the Editor: What a wonderful evening recently at the Bardo Arts Center. Western Carolina University School of Music presented…
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Joining Waynesville right move for Junaluska
To the Editor: From my perspective, much of the discussion of whether or not to allow annexation of Lake Junaluska…
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Give McCrory, GOP a chance before piling on
To the Editor: Ms. Abel’s letter said that the state’s Democratic ideals are fading fast since the last election (“State’s…
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Making tourism sustainable as economic development
By Ken Stahl • Guest Columnist There appears to be controversy concerning the proposed 2 percent occupancy tax increase. This…
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Increasing Medicare coverage could lower healthcare costs
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The United States spends twice as much on health care as most other modern…
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MV Lodging Association opposes TDA tax hike
To the Editor: Contrary to articles recently published in our local papers, there is much opposition to the proposed law…
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State’s democratic ideals are fading fast
To the Editor: Our founding fathers, framing our Constitution, created a representative democracy. They formed a republic, a government where…
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Writer spouted false facts about Obamacare
To the Editor: A recent letter writer makes a number of unsubstantiated and flat out erroneous claims about Obamacare, otherwise…
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Time to be rid of all Cherokee bear zoos
To the Editor: Little has changed in Cherokee since a 1989 Parade Magazine cover story, “Are Our Zoos Humane?” named…
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Not all doom and gloom in Dillsboro
To the Editor: The claim of Frank Parrish and others over the past few years that Dillsboro is a ghost…
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Wouldn’t it be wonderful ... to use local builders
To the Editor: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the building boom of million dollar homes in Jackson County supported this…
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Liberals arts education enriches one’s life
To the Editor: Scott McLeod (Feb. 6 SMN) pays tribute to the value of a liberal arts education. Even though…
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We have to decide which side we’re on
To the Editor: Well over a half century ago, the infringements, abridgments and usurpations of government against our liberties ordained…
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Ball fields bad use of tourism money
To the Editor: Why on earth tap the tourism development funds in Haywood County for a ballpark that won’t result…
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Weakened slope laws could prompt lawsuits
To the Editor: This is an open letter to the Jackson County Planning Board and county commissioners. Things to consider: …
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Beware plastic power strips, and many thanks
To the Editor: It is hard to believe it was a month ago that our little house in Waynesville burned.…
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We need sanity in gun debate
To the Editor: As a gun owner, parent, teacher and American, I believe that there is no legitimate reason for…
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Macon County may need second pay study
To the Editor: I believe Macon County’s commissioners need to closely analyze and thoroughly discuss the results and proposals made…
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Obamacare will drag down health care
To the Editor: Recently, after a serious falling accident, I experienced medical treatment from our local health care system at…
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Downtown Sylva needs some help
To the Editor: Tourism, tourism and tourism are the three most important words to line the struggling businessmen’s pockets and…
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By chance, by sea, bye bye
By John Beckman • Columnist Thirty-five years ago, I moved into my first dorm room and this small-town lad had…
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All Cherokee bear zoos should be shut down
To the Editor: It’s about time that the USDA finally suspended operations at Chief Saunooke’s antiquated concrete pit in Cherokee.…
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Lake J property owners need more information
To the Editor: The article about the upcoming decision regarding possible annexation of Lake Junaluska by Waynesville in the Feb.…
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Gov. McCrory needs to put up or shut up
To the Editor: Thanks for standing up to the governor in your column about our state universities (“Majoring in philosophy?…
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This diplomacy stuff just isn’t that hard
By Stephanie Wampler • Guest Columnist Well, it seems that John Kerry is our new secretary of state, ready to…
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Majoring in philosophy? More power to you
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is trying to temper disparaging remarks he made early last week about the value of a…
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Taking God out of schools was mistake
To the Editor: Just over five weeks ago a mentally disturbed 19-year-old young man went into a school in Connecticut…
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Jackson should not sell out to developers
To the Editor: Thank you for your excellent reporting on the consideration to a change in the development rules in…
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We can’t stop the changes
Some have charged that the true, underlying sentiment among those who support stringent development regulations in Jackson County — and…
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Bush goes south of the border for popularity
By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist Concerned Americans await the concluding acts of the political drama the president and his…
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Life too often revolves around the minutiae
By Stephanie Wampler Stuff. Life is all about the stuff, isn’t it? We have stuff to amuse us, educate us,…
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Waynesville building fits well with downtown
A government building for a mountain town that looks like it belongs in the mountains? Funny how that is going…
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Working triple time in Jackson County
By Nancy Geiger • Guest Columnist My daughter, Brittany, is staying at Western Caroina Univesity this summer. The hotel she…
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Bar fight in the Blue Ridge – the battle for the 11th District
By John Armour You’d think that what happens in Western North Carolina, in the 11th Congressional District, isn’t very important…
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We need to keep track of all firearms
To the Editor: I miss Martin Luther King. His enlightened reason and fervent advocating for equal rights is sorely missed.…
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Timber harvest at Devil’s Courthouse a good idea
To the Editor: Nature abhors a vacuum. Mother Nature assures change. Organisms are constantly adapting, changing, improving, evolving. Understand-ing life…
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Last issue of SMN painted a vivid picture
To the Editor: How incredibly serendipitous that your newspaper of Jan. 23 should headline the flooding and landslides that occurred…
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More than ever, schools need forest service money
By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist When the 1911 Weeks Act was passed, allowing the federal government to purchase land…
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A different perspective on guns and government
To the Editor: As someone who has lived in four different countries and traveled to several others over the last…
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Shame on Jack Debnam and Jackson’s citizens
To the Editor: Friends, they’ve out-waited us. And, motivated by the smell of money, they appear to have outlasted us…
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