Lower corporate taxes won’t create jobs
To the Editor: In the ongoing debate about job creation, much misinformation is being bandied about in an effort to…
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Legislators need some time in the desert
To the Editor: After recently returning to North Carolina from three years in the Southwest, I am saddened to learn…
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Macon County needs to use landslide maps
To the Editor: The North Carolina Geological Survey landslide hazard map prepared for Macon County is a valuable resource for…
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We don’t need Rep. Phil Haire in office
To the Editor, Rep. Phil Haire’s recnt letter contains the pathetic non sequitur: “to place (the Defense of Marriage Bill)…
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Winter garden success come those who labor
I cut my first fall salad this weekend: baby kale, tatsoi, mizuna, baby mustards and more. Following a summer of…
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A witness to the Cherokee renaissance
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has a resilient, independent spirit. When the U.S. government forced the majority of the…
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Riding the Parkway for a cause
Seconds after I heard the doorbell, my little feet hit the stone floor landing that served to separate the front…
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Horn removal task best done early and well
I have learned, yet again, the virtues of doing something right the first time. My sloppiness was a bloody and…
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CuRvE wants to build on WCU’s strengths
The article about the Western Carolina University Strategic Planning Commission caught the attention of the Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor (CuRvE), a…
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Attacks on Tea Party inaccurate
To the Editor: The gangland-style, fist pounding threat to “take out the sons of b_____s shouted by union leader Jimmy…
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Do we really want leaders like this?
To the Editor: At the Republican presidential debate on Sept. 12, the moderator posed a hypothetical question to Representative Ron…
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Bothwell supports health care for all
To the Editor: Last March, I realized everyone’s worst nightmare when a doctor diagnosed my 44-year-old husband, Ben, with a…
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New Franklin Wal-Mart is a blight on landscape
To the Editor: Last week I had the great misfortune of seeing first-hand the results of wanton destruction of acres…
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Is our region a threat or an opportunity?
To the Editor: It was exciting last week to read of Western Carolina University’s move to re-open its strategic planning…
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Rep. Haire votes against same-sex ban
To the Editor: Recently my office received more than 125 written requests from Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties requesting that…
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WCU’s future important for entire region
Once you hit the Haywood County line after heading west on Interstate 40 out of Asheville, Western Carolina University is…
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Haywood closes in on deal to privatize landfill
Haywood County is inching closer to exiting the landfill business, with plans to hand over the county’s White Oak landfill…
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Farmers are almost always willing to lend a hand
Tammara Talley, while gracious in her acknowledgments during the shower of verbal high-fives raining down upon her at Saturday’s farmers…
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Tea Party wants to restore America
To the Editor: In a Quinnipiac University polling (8/16-8/27), 29 percent of Americans responded that they couldn’t formulate an opinion…
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Let’s send Obama to unemployment line
To the Editor: We need a plan that will help grow jobs in our district. The message to the world…
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Kudos to Haywood for landslide mapping
To the Editor: It’s good to see Haywood County leaders talking sense about landslide hazard mapping instead of stoking the…
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Harrah’s should not have a monopoly
To the Editor: Regarding the editor’s article, “It’s time to approve dealers at Harrah’s casino” (SMN, Sept. 7-13), I agree…
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More media is almost always beneficial
I don’t listen to local radio so much anymore, but the story in last week’s edition about the demise of…
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It’s tough to grow your meat and slaughter it too
I was pleased to see quite a few people selling meat this past Saturday at the local farmers market in…
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Protecting public lands protects quality of life
To the Editor: Last week, North Carolinians joined citizens from all over the nation to celebrate Great Outdoors Week to…
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Third-party certification can help forest owners
To the Editor: The best way to keep private forestlands in forests is to have an economic environment that makes…
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Social Security has been robbed by politicians
To the Editor: For more than 25 years after the 1983 amendments to Social Security, the federal government collected more…
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Time to reduce our dependence on oil
To the Editor: We traveled to Clayton, Ga., last week to attend a presentation featuring “The Transition Movement.” This movement…
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Hell hath no Fury like a guilty conscience
One night last week, when I was watching what must have been the 500th recounting of the Casey Anthony trial,…
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It’s time to approve dealers at Harrah’s casino
Been to the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino? Even if you don’t gamble, I’d encourage a walk through. My bet is you’d…
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Beware of cardboard coyotes
I consider it a good thing when you meet someone new from a very different background that provides a chance…
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That awful smell, yeah, that’s me. Seriously.
There is nothing that smells quite as bad as a male goat in rut. During the mating season, excited billy…
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Eichenbaum’s flip-flops can’t be ignored
To the Editor: In response to Dr. Dan Eichenbaum’s announcement that he is running for Congress again in the 11th…
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Democratic Party opposes rate increase
To the Editor: At the July meeting of the Jackson County Democratic Party Executive Committee, the executive committee voted to…
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Insurance mandate is not unconstitutional
To the editor: If mandatory health insurance is unconstitutional, as the Republicans hope the Supreme Court will rule, what about…
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State GOP leaders following a script
To the Editor: I found it curious that the slew of bills rushed through the first session of our new…
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The wheels of justice got stuck in the mud
I’ve loved rock and roll music all of my life. When I was a teenager, I listened to Fleetwood Mac…
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When it comes to stings, all aren’t created equal
A number of readers have informed me that the agonizing sting I described in last week’s column was the work…
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Lake issue raises complex questions
To the Editor: Thank you for the thoughtful, informative and balanced article on Lake Emory in Franklin. I would like…
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Park proposals add insult to injury
I recently wrote in the Swain County newspaper about a singularly misguided proposal by Great Smoky Mountains National Park leadership…
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Leading by example creates lasting legacies
Many people who lead exceptional lives never break an arm trying to pat themselves on their own back. They just…
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The insect sting that launched a frenzy of pill popping
If I overdose and you have to take me to the emergency room, I told a friend Friday night, please…
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Skateboarders treated unfairly, especially by police
What if we treated all athletes like skateboarders? I ask this question because I am a skateboarder. I grew up…
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SCC does not need this kind of road
To the Editor: After reading a recent article in The Sylva Herald, I feel it is time to further explain…
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Keep N.C. artifacts on N.C. side of the Smokies
To the Editor: For the last two weeks I have been hearing about artifacts donated to the Great Smoky Mountains…
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Restoring earth before the end of the world
I have some good news. But first the bad news. The world is ending. Evangelist Harold Camping has predicted it.…
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One Katahdin ram, two sheep and three really good lessons
Turkeys, I’ve learned, are curious animals. That curiosity was on full display for company this past weekend when Kirk Hardin…
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Free Press in Cherokee? Not now anyway
To the editor: In this recent atmosphere of mudslinging, it’s all too easy to lose focus on what’s important. What…
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New state abortion rules seek to coerce women
To the editor: I am writing to thank NC Representative Phil Haire for his courage and integrity in voting against…
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Life seems so good that nostalgia sets in
“It’s like floating on a cloud,” that’s what the man in the booth said about his nifty adjustable hammocks. We…
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