Technology can help us beat global warming
 

Technology can help us beat global warming

By Doug Wingier • Guest Columnist We American consumers are richer than most in the world, and as voters more…
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Harrah’s success should prompt state to allow live dealers
 

Harrah’s success should prompt state to allow live dealers

Gambling at the Harrah’s casino in Cherokee is wildly successful. That success — and the state’s own actions — makes…
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A real-life love story – sort of
 

A real-life love story – sort of

It’s an old story, the only one worth telling, really, especially here on Valentine’s Day. It’s a love story, the…
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Jackson leaders take a bold – and wise – step
 

Jackson leaders take a bold – and wise – step

Jackson County took the first step this week to ban new subdivisions until it can write an ordinance to control…
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A better future for the Pigeon
 

A better future for the Pigeon

Few rivers have been the focus of as much controversy over the last century as the Pigeon, a fact that…
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Remembering the spirit of Saide Luck
 

Remembering the spirit of Saide Luck

I grew up thinking that libraries had a lot in common with churches. I guess I need to explain that.
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Filling in the blanks ain’t always easy
 

Filling in the blanks ain’t always easy

When my nephew came walking in with a letter from one of our state’s universities, he handled it like something…
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Making the case for using tax money to buy open spaces
 

Making the case for using tax money to buy open spaces

Sometimes, change is for the good.
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Encountering my own inner goddess
 

Encountering my own inner goddess

By Stephanie Wampler I begin this article with a momentous announcement. This announcement will, I think, bring a general feeling of…
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We’re all special, according to Time
 

We’re all special, according to Time

When I saw that I had been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” the first thing I felt like…
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County must take role in new Jackson EDC
 

County must take role in new Jackson EDC

The business sector in Jackson County will benefit from the renewed efforts to establish a working Economic Development Commission.
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Overcoming a dysfunctional relationship
 

Overcoming a dysfunctional relationship

Haywood Regional Medical Center, the entire medical community and its volunteer board of directors have some work to do. That…
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Suffering through a fever to find the holiday spirit
 

Suffering through a fever to find the holiday spirit

Sometime before daylight on the day before Christmas Eve, Tammy and I were gently nudged out of sleep by a…
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Hopeful thinking for the coming year
 

Hopeful thinking for the coming year

New Year’s resolutions? Don’t believe in most of them, especially those that are akin to a miracle diet or those…
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Abandoned library 06
 

Abandoned library 06

Well I just received a hurriedly written letter from 2006. (It was on a page torn from a Gideon Bible).…
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Reality, outcomes and education spending
 

Reality, outcomes and education spending

This deserves emphasis, given the central role that public education plays in North Carolina political debate: our schools have vastly…
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It is a sad day, indeed
 

It is a sad day, indeed

Thursday night, the Haywood Regional Medical Center Board chose to breach the hospital’s contract with Haywood Emergency Physicians rather than…
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Give the lasting gift of independent media
 

Give the lasting gift of independent media

Several years ago, as Christmas approached, I remember my youngest daughter saying, “I can’t imagine what I want for Christmas;…
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Selling national forest land is just a bad idea
 

Selling national forest land is just a bad idea

The proposed sale of U.S. Forest Service land to find money for counties who have lost revenue from declining timber…
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Temporary high-rise ban a wise move
 

Temporary high-rise ban a wise move

The last thing Macon County — or any of the counties west of Asheville — needs is a high-rise condominium…
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Affordable college is available
 

Affordable college is available

By Bill Rhodarmer I read with interest a recent column in a local news publication concerning the high cost of…
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Reinstating draft could be a good thing
 

Reinstating draft could be a good thing

Jan. 20, 1961. Inauguration Day. The words that stuck in the minds and hearts of all citizens: “Ask not what…
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The joy of jogging was the eating
 

The joy of jogging was the eating

There was a time, about 18 years and 80 pounds ago, that I actually enjoyed jogging. I was never exactly…
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Sylva’s elected leaders should take the lead
 

Sylva’s elected leaders should take the lead

Downtown Sylva Association members are doing all the legwork on discussing the creation of a special downtown taxing district. At…
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Backroom deals should all just go away
 

Backroom deals should all just go away

In the years I’ve been going to Swain County, David Monteith has emerged as a barometer of sorts. One may…
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A Christmas swap shop atop a mountain – now that’s the spirit
 

A Christmas swap shop atop a mountain – now that’s the spirit

Listen! Did you hear that? I’ve been hearing it for weeks now, the faint but steadily growing whisper of something…
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The meaning of this one escapes me
 

The meaning of this one escapes me

When tragedy strikes and someone we know is suddenly gone, we are still compelled to go looking for them in…
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Haywood slope law not as good as it could be
 

Haywood slope law not as good as it could be

Here’s the main problem with the slope development ordinance passed last week by Haywood County commissioners: it wasn’t the ordinance…
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What the system needs now
 

What the system needs now

By Mark Jaben In an earlier column, I discussed whether cutting costs should be the underlying motive for our health…
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A prime time for North Shore debate to end
 

A prime time for North Shore debate to end

It’s time to end this debate.With another pro-settlement county board, the election of Swain Count native and pro-settlement congressman Heath…
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Memories prevent me from celebrating Veterans Day
 

Memories prevent me from celebrating Veterans Day

By Jim Joyce In five hours and twenty minutes it will be midnight and Veterans Day 2006 will be over.…
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Going after the good guys
 

Going after the good guys

The fine line between a cop doing one’s duty or overdoing his duty is once again in the grip of…
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Election procedures could use some fundamental fixing
 

Election procedures could use some fundamental fixing

It’s time to change the voting laws and procedures in North Carolina to reflect today’s reality and to help alleviate…
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Looking for ways to fix the health care system
 

Looking for ways to fix the health care system

By Mark Jaben Last time, we talked about EMTALA (the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act), managed care and…
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The honeymoon ends ... now
 

The honeymoon ends ... now

In the aftermath of last week’s election, we’ve seen a seemingly endless parade of politicians and pundits on both sides…
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Bush tax cuts soaked the rich
 

Bush tax cuts soaked the rich

By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist Every election year there are always claims and counter claims over federal tax policy.…
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The school board, economics and political insight
 

The school board, economics and political insight

By the time we hit the streets with this edition and this column is read, the election that has been…
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The real work begins the day after the election
 

The real work begins the day after the election

By Rob Schofield This year, those who care about preserving and expanding the common good in North Carolina would do…
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What the health care system needs now
 

What the health care system needs now

Do the rules of our health care system work anymore? That is the question posed in this column two weeks…
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Front-row Kid dreams of riding once again
 

Front-row Kid dreams of riding once again

“Riding the range once more Toting my old 44 Where you sleep out every night Where the only law is…
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Backpacking Fifth Avenue style in Hazel Creek
 

Backpacking Fifth Avenue style in Hazel Creek

By Al Smith • Guest Columnist Hazel Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is located in the…
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The horrifying beauty of Halloween made simple
 

The horrifying beauty of Halloween made simple

“Excuse me, miss, but did you happen to see a princess and a small cow come through here a minute…
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The value of endorsements
 

The value of endorsements

Come Nov. 7, voters will choose candidates based on many different factors. In almost all cases, those choices will be…
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Voters need to look closely at the Good Governance Legion
 

Voters need to look closely at the Good Governance Legion

By Lee Shelton As the Nov. 7 election date approaches, the “Good Governance Legion” is, again, “banging their noise makers”…
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Using development to save mountain farms
 

Using development to save mountain farms

Not too long ago there occurred an unlikely meeting of the minds. Sylva developer John Beckman and Whittier farmer William…
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A survival guide for direct-to-consumer ads
 

A survival guide for direct-to-consumer ads

By Mark Jaben In the 1970s, a book written about a doctor’s internship experience, The House of God, reached near…
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Finding ways to help the innocent
 

Finding ways to help the innocent

Over the last two decades, the number of drug-affected infants has been growing. It is estimated that as many as…
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Optimisim reigns at Blue Ridge
 

Optimisim reigns at Blue Ridge

The ups and downs across a graph that tell of a business’ profits and losses may not be very interesting,…
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The debate logjam: Politically calculated, popularly mistaken
 

The debate logjam: Politically calculated, popularly mistaken

Democratic congressional candidate Heath Shuler’s decision to back away from a debate with Rep. Charles Taylor sent shockwaves through the…
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Need negative ad material? We’ve got it
 

Need negative ad material? We’ve got it

Heath Shuler says he will bring integrity and accountability to Washington? Ha! We have here in our satchel 76 examples…
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