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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.…
Read More
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…
Read More
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,…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.,…
Read More
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…
Read More
‘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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.…
Read More
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.…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
Waynesville’s South Main presents a vexing problem
Sounds like Waynesville’s leaders heard just what they expected last week regarding South Main Street — many people feel many…
Read More
Can Duke supporters sleep at night?
By Carl Iobst • Guest Columnist Over the past few weeks several individuals and one media outlet have provided Jackson…
Read More
Jackson Paper proud of its successes
By Tim Campbell • Guest Columnist Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company has been a proud part of Sylva and Jackson County…
Read More
A door opens and the light shines for Irene
Irene has been in this country for only four years. When she came, she could not speak a word of…
Read More
Sanford affair is either high school drama or Greek tragedy
There is only so much you can do to help a child recover from a broken heart, especially the first…
Read More
Ode to the Sylva Coffee Shop
Most small southern towns have a place like The Coffee Shop in Sylva — a cafe that has become a…
Read More
Lawmakers veer way off path
By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist North Carolina Legislators have declared war on tube roses. Tube roses are little roses…
Read More
No we aren’t becoming socialists
Don’t you just love how words and labels take on a life of their own in the ideological debate that…
Read More
Education cuts deal harsh blow to public schools
By John Sanderson • Guest Columnist It was great to learn recently about the effort the Haywood County Schools Foundation…
Read More
Time to go all in at Harrah’s
It’s time for Harrah’s Cherokee Casino to offer alcohol to patrons, especially since the Tribe is counting on receipts from…
Read More
You can’t stash true wealth in a bank
By John Beckman • Guest Columnist The concept of wealth has been sideswiped over the last few decades. It seems…
Read More
A funeral story of necessity and pragmatism
By Dawn Gilchrist-Young This is an Appalachian story because it is about resourceful people taking care of their own with…
Read More
The many rewards of home improvement
Lately, the days whiz by faster than usual. Now that we have finally decided to put our house up for…
Read More
The new frugality is an old idea
There’s talk all over about America’s newfound love affair with frugality. What Time magazine has dubbed the Great Recession is…
Read More
Miss California takes on gay marriage
I cannot remember the last time I watched a minute of a beauty pageant. I never had much of an…
Read More
