We need to know who is pulling the strings
To the Editor: In reply to Shirley Slaughter’s letter of Oct. 19 in The Smoky Mountain News (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/5374), I don’t…
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Tricks, not literature, impress 6-year-olds
By all accounts, my wife’s trip to Riverbend Elementary School to talk to Mrs. Gidcumb’s first-grade class about her career…
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Don’t cut Postal Service jobs prematurely
Editor’s note: Rep. Health Shuler wrote this letter to U.S. Postmaster Pat Donahoe to express his concern for potential job…
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Cashiers Leaf Festival was huge success
To the Editor On behalf of the Greater Cashiers Area Merchants Association we would like to thank everyone who contributed…
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Let Duke know rate hike request is too much
To the Editor: Duke Energy has applied to the N.C. Utilities Commission for yet another rate increase in an attempt…
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SMN needs to practice balanced journalism
To the Editor: I was born and raised in Cashiers and have always disliked the phrase “country come to town.”…
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The killer is among us, and she is Tuppence
When I moved to Sylva from Bryson City, two dogs stayed and three cats came with me. These are Edgar…
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Optimism in the public sphere is always refreshing
The Occupy Wall Street movement is leaderless, somewhat vague and lacking vision. Still, people are joining in growing numbers around…
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Box of spring bulbs will light the way through winter
A box of bulbs arrived Saturday, containing within the cardboard confines all the promises of fall work, winter waiting and…
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Student housing would benefit Forest Hills
To the Editor: In response to the article written by Quintin Ellison published Oct. 5 regarding the developer request to…
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Cutting food aid right now is deplorable
To the Editor: An elderly widow on a fixed-income already cannot afford a healthy diet and her medications, and now…
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Waynesville town board needs Mary Ann Enloe
To the Editor: One of America’s greatest statesmen, Thomas Paine, wrote a book called Common Sense. Unfortunately, this trait is…
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General Assembly puts burden on locals
To the Editor: It has become evident that the principle guideline being used by Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and the…
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Pope is pulling the strings in state politics
The news media in this country is abuzz with talk about North Carolina. Unfortunately, it’s not flattering. What they’re saying…
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When is Frontier DSL arriving in outlying areas?
To the Editor: While the good folks at Frontier (Everett, Wash., customer service call center) offered as a good faith…
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In my dreams, I am organized and efficient
I am a great admirer of efficient people. In my enthusiasm for them I sometimes mistake myself for one of…
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Haire should support the people’s vote
To the Editor: I’d like to address the letter three weeks ago by my representative to the General Assembly, The…
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Rep. Phil Haire wrong on gay marriage bill
To the Editor: I found Rep. Phil Haire’s recent letter outlining and justifying his opposition to SB 514, the Defense…
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Some questions for progressives to answer
To the Editor: These questions are directed to progressives, liberals or left-thinking people. • Why do you think it’s OK…
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Go ahead and do the Macon revaluation
To the Editor: If property revaluation is postponed until 2015, the Macon County Commissioners are again gambling that property values…
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It is time to move beyond gay marriage debate
When will we say, “It is enough”? On Sept. 19, a 14-year-old boy named Jamey Rodemeyer from Buffalo, N.Y., committed…
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Slope rules could help protect Macon
To the Editor: Wildflower is back, and a lot of people are worried, especially here in the northern part of…
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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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