Politicians would be wise to read the Tea leaves
By Bruce Gardner • Guest Columnist The Tea Party movement is sweeping the nation and has found its way through…
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How we found the Wondermutt
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a news story about how animal rescue organizations are being inundated with unwanted…
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Evergreen’s fate is important to WNC
Mix a strong environmental ethos, economic realism and strong community pride all together in the same brain (mine, in this…
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‘Judge not,’ or so my mom always taught me
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and…
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Watching sleazy 80s movies late at night
“Don’t do it, Dan.” Michael Douglas is Dan Gallagher, and he is sitting across the table from Alex Forrest, played…
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Making sure Swain County gets its due
The cash settlement now signed and sealed for Swain County in lieu of building the North Shore Road is a…
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‘Accidental note’ starts teen’s healing process
By Buffy Queen • Guest Columnist As the middle school girls trailed out of the classroom one morning last spring,…
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Rich Cove may be a portent of things to come
Writing about the weather is usually about as exciting as a yawn. For 12 months, though, we in the mountains…
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Fur clumps, scratches and other musings on store cat Kea
By Chris Cooper Kea was a filthy, grease-covered little miscreant when she was found by In Your Ear Music Emporium…
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A cold winter’s hike reminds me of the value of wild places
Back in early January, I found myself waking early to pack for a day-long excursion into the backwoods of Chunky…
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It’s a bum deal ... I resent the hell out of it
By Joe Cowan • Guest Columnist Editor’s note: Jackson County Commissioner Joe Cowan made the following comments following a vote…
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If you reform a reform, is it still reform?
Michael Watson, assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, contends the state’s overhaul of its behavioral health…
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National Guard soldiers deserve better
The Smoky Mountain News cover story last week about the troubles faced by returning National Guard soldiers after deployments in…
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Finding a WNC solution for ‘aging in place’
With so many unknowns ahead, it’s comforting there are proven solutions to one big challenge — the aging of the…
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Striking a balance between religion and religous freedom
Religion and its place in local government have once again arisen as issues in North Carolina. This means that many…
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What to take from 2009? How about some positive signs for the year ahead
What to say about 2009? How about this: it ended on a high note for the overall economy, and that…
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My year-end list obsessions won’t go away
I have an irresistible urge to make a list. Apparently, it is what people must do at year’s end, especially…
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We need good journalism; for now that means newspapers
By Mark Jamison • Guest Columnist I’ve spent most of my life minding my own business. I was raised by…
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Yeah right, sure it’s gonna snow
“Winter Storm Warning, Haywood County.” That’s what it said on television Thursday night, up in the top right corner of…
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Fix the flaws, stay the course
Waynesville’s land-use plan is an ambitious set of ideas adopted during a booming economic era and thus full of the…
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Round and round we go, where it ends, nobody knows
In the news business, the interplay between the Internet, mobile devices, television and print is at a precipitous crossroads where…
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Christmas gifts from the heart
According to the government standards defining poverty in the 1950’s, I was poor. My father did not hold a regular…
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Casino one step away from the total package
Let’s just say it’s about time. A state special deputy attorney general said in a Nov. 25 letter that alcohol…
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Tiger hurts himself with silence
Poor Tiger Woods. He is not only the greatest golfer of all time, but also perhaps the world’s most popular…
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Satire hits hard, but it works
Satire is one of language’s most powerful weapons, and when used effectively, it can foster meaningful dialogue on important topics.…
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Shuler collects baggage, but he’ll likely survive this one
Now that it’s clear that Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, did indeed mislead everyone about his involvement in a land deal…
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Flirting with my own mortality
I felt something clutch, almost seize up, and then a shooting pain in my chest, and my first thought was,…
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You may hear a Blue Dog howl
By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist Conservative victories and liberal angst – often repressed — characterized last week’s elections in…
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A gift from the grave on Veteran’s Day
By Karen Dill • Guest Columnist “Mom,” my daughter Anna began on her phone call from Washington, D.C., “wasn’t Grandpa…
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Ugly public discourse and the future of truth
More and more these days, it seems those who follow the news have strong opinions on the tone of public…
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Irritating public comment must be tolerated
Haywood County elected officials may sometimes get fed up dealing with the incessant public record requests and the three-hour meetings…
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Is this the change you waited for?
By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist In the election of 2008 many Americans aspired for hope and change when Barack…
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Corridor K brings anywhere America right here to WNC
By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist When President John F. Kennedy formed a federal-state committee in 1963 known as the…
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Obama haters showing their true colors
His harshest critics delight in daring you to characterize their frothing hatred — and there is no other word for…
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Citizen groups from all 50 states call for swift action on climate change
By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist With the long August recess now behind them, Senators have returned to Washington, D.C.,…
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It’s time to go, but the cord won’t cut so easily
I have lived in a lot of places in my life — countless apartments, dorm rooms, and houses, some of…
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‘John Muir’ makes a return visit to WNC
By Thomas Crowe “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is…
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Hard drive connects, but some data is lost
By Jon Beckman • Guest ColumnistThe human brain must have been the first computer, capable of capturing and storing data…
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Family time before deployment a mix of emotions
I do not much like having my photograph taken, but there is one picture of me I have always liked.…
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If not now, then health care reform may never pass
This country must pass health care reform that accomplishes two major objectives: providing coverage for everyone and controlling skyrocketing costs.…
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Florida’s loss likely means our gain – and challenge
It’s always a little embarrassing to look on another’s misfortune and discover that you may be the beneficiary of their…
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Settling on North Shore dollar figure just isn’t going to be easy
To the Editor: We’ll start with the 1943 North Shore Road Agreement since that’s what is supposedly being settled. A…
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The art of storytelling (in the style of an 8-year-old)
My daughter is 8 years old, which is one of the greatest ages a person will ever be. She has…
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Schools vs. prisons is an easy choice
Haywood County’s 1930’s-era minimum-security prison was kept open for another year by our ever-diligent legislative delegation in Raleigh. They saved…
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If not wind, then what?
To the Editor: Well, I am at a disadvantage in this discussion on wind energy development in North Carolina. My…
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Funding cut for after school program is a mistake
“I can see test scores going down and higher dropout rates in high school,” he said. “These kids are struggling.…
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Jackson County’s mosaic is still being painted
Although I sometimes wish that the maps of my Jackson County had a more beguiling shape — perhaps a bear…
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The pains of summer vacation
There, swirling miserably in the bottom of my morning coffee mug, are the dregs of summer. I had such plans…
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Workers will come if we create jobs, great lifestyle
When Macon County economic development officials met last week and decided the aging workforce was among the county’s most pressing…
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A few moments – and 10 days – to celebrate cultural understanding
The end of this year’s Folkmoot USA, some of the acquaintances I made during the festival, and my own ongoing…
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