Weedeaters teach lesson in overkill
Just a few minutes into weedeating and I feel lobotomized. Perhaps the heady roar of the little engine that can…
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Make Haywood whole in redistricting
To the Editor: On Saturday, April 30, the Republican Party of Haywood County submitted a resolution to the Redistricting Committee…
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Where are the GOP-promised jobs?
To the Editor: Where are the real jobs? During the 2010 election season, an organization named Real Jobs NC targeted…
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Is Great Smoky Mountain Railroad serious?
To the Editor: At first the shakedown to the county was over $817,000 in grants and loans. Then, seeing that…
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Downtown Sylva deserves the support of the town board
We’ve written before about how important the downtown business districts in our mountain towns are to their communities, but it…
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If you need bees shaken out of a tree, here’s your man
The next time you are standing about the yard scratching your head in confusion about which tree climber in Jackson…
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Government-education complex is self-serving
To the Editor: What if you knew that your state senator or state representative knew there were proven ways to…
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Those who protect children deserve thanks
To the Editor: For almost 20 years I have found myself involved in the concern of child abuse either professionally…
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Our representatives forget who is boss
To the Editor: Here we go again. Our two state representatives, both of whom are Democrats, fail to see the…
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With care, many hemlocks can survive
To the Editor: With all due respect to Mr. Ellison — who wrote in his “Back Then” column a few…
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I know the game is rigged, but I’m still all in
The crane games are beautiful beasts, shiny and brightly lit, with a glass belly full of forlorn and lonely stuffed…
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Macon County needs to clean up litter
To the Editor: Circumstances have prevented the organization of the annual county-wide litter pick-up/recycling event to celebrate Earth Day here…
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GOP Medicare plan is totally off-base
To the Editor: The Republican design on Medicare comes straight from that dubious chapter of the Vietnam War in which…
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Will McCoy Bridge become a memory?
Once more the Department of Transpor-tation will come to Macon County, in the name of listening to community input, when…
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Accepting federal rail money a bad idea
To the Editor: In the April 6-12 issue of The Smoky Mountain News, Carole Larivee wrote a letter to the…
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Recession makes McCoy Bridge rehab an even better idea
Governments at all levels and all across the nation are broke. At every county courthouse and state house, money taken…
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A busy person’s guide to growing great salads
Tonight’s menu calls for salad from the garden, which reminded me to jot down a method for growing lettuce that,…
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Military budget is where we should look for cuts
To the Editor: If the Republican Congress were really serious about balancing the budget they would take a long hard…
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Haywood revaluation will kill jobs
To the Editor: The commercial property owners, the merchants who rent property for their small, medium and large businesses, deserve…
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In my dreams, it’s raspberry fields forever
Raspberries, like any fruit we plant, represent an act of faith. As others are doing this time of year, this…
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Finding a creative way out of the real estate dilemma
By Mark Jamison • Guest Columnist A fellow once asked me, about a car I was selling, “What’s the least…
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Haywood Chamber needs visitor center
To the Editor: The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority board has voted to cut funding to the Haywood County Chamber…
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Take N.C. 107 bypass off priority list
To the Editor: Jackson County Commissioners are ranking road improvement projects in the County’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) at their…
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Voter ID bill just a waste of good money
To the Editor: As an advocate for seniors and senior services, I find I am more and more concerned about…
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GOP legislators try to block federal money
To the Editor: The good news is the North Carolina Department of Transportation has received a $461 million federal grant…
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Katahdins proving to be great sheep for these mountains
Maybe I’m just self-absorbed, but I swear that when I’m interested in something, it often seems as if the whole…
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For better or worse, for normal or weird
One of the advantages of getting older is that you learn a few things if you pay attention. For example,…
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Growing the connection between farms and consumers
Friends of mine in the Jackson County farming community have launched a joint CSA, which is short for Community Sustained…
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The attack of the killer jumping worms
It wiggles nicely on a hook at the end of a fishing line. It also has such a large appetite…
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Still no jobs from new GOP leaders
To the Editor: Where are the jobs? The new Republican majority in the North Carolina state legislature promised just that…
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The real costs of energy consumption
To the Editor: Humans need to know that our lives have meaning. Our searches for meaning are labeled religion and…
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GOP takes hypocrisy to a new low
To the Editor: Hypocrisy is defined as the “condition of a person pretending to be something he is not, especially…
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Cutting administrative costs preserves jobs, quality of education
By Linda Seested-Stanford • Guest columnist In last week’s Smoky Mountain News, coverage of the reorganization of Western Carolina University’s…
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Voter ID bill a shopworn GOP idea
To the Editor: What happens when you fix something that ain’t broke? You’re sure to break something else. But the…
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We don’t want motocross track
To the Editor: We turn on our televisions every day and witness to the devastation that neighbors inflict on neighbors.…
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Justice will be painful, but so was Aubrey’s short life
The Jan. 10 death of 15-month-old Aubrey Kina Marie Littlejohn was an unspeakable tragedy, one compounded by the questions surrounding…
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Welcome to the club, and my sincere best wishes
There have been times in my life I could rightly have been described as competitive. When I was in music,…
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We must expand energy exploration
To the Editor: An absence of vision and leadership in Washington is threatening the very existence of our nation. Our…
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WCU could do better with job reductions
To the Editor: I find the stories regarding the downsizing of personnel at WCU deeply disturbing. As an alumnus, be…
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Don’t pass a voter ID requirement
To the Editor: I ask that our newly elected Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, lead the way for the state Republican…
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Books are an end unto themselves
Books are one of the greatest delights of my life. I don’t need many excuses to buy new ones, frankly,…
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Make open government a part of constitution
In this country, the people own the government. It’s ours. End of debate. That’s something we can all be thankful…
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Spring dawns, a time when optimism and reality co-exist
We spend winter anticipating spring. But, when warmer weather arrives, we often rob ourselves of enjoyment in the rush to…
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I apologize for my behavior at meeting
To the Editor: To the taxpayers, business owners and residents of Maggie Valley, I personally apologize to each and everyone…
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Animals don’t deserve bad treatment they get
To the Editor: As a resident of Sylva, a dog lover, and a volunteer for several local rescue groups, I…
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Budget bill will hurt this country
To the Editor: There is a battle going on in the U.S. Congress for the soul of our country. The…
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What happened to all the big, sweeping ideas?
Growing up, I knew America was the country of grand ideas carried out from the moral high ground. We could…
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Volunteers needed at Clingmans Dome
Want to become a volunteer in the Smokies, wear a uniform and help visitors figure out where they are? Great…
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Planting the seeds for sustainability
A few weeks ago, as part of a magazine assignment, I visited Sow True Seed in Asheville. Carol Koury and…
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Neighbor leaves a legacy of kindness
It was not my best day. I had just got home with the kids, who seemed a little grumpy because…
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