Common goal is the same – a thriving downtown
Downtown Sylva is a special place. The events of the last couple of months only reinforce that fact, and so the momentum to create a better, closer and more unified business community should continue.
Tipping one back with Baby
By Carl Iobst
Gee, what’ll they think of next. In Olympia, the capital of Washington state, there’s a state representative that’s proposing that dogs be allowed to drink in bars. Well not exactly drink, although I’m sure that some dog owners might pour a cool one in one of those collapsible doggy bowls for their thirsty purebreds now and then.
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 powerful. Yet as one wave of technological change after another washes over us, we tend to accept each as inevitable and out of control, and feel helpless to prevent the coming catastrophe presaged by Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”
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 Gov. Mike Easley’s resistance to the use of live dealers slightly ridiculous and enormously hypocritical.
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 lengths that we will go to, etcetera.
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 the proliferation of new developments within its borders. By doing so, its county commissioners proved they have a mettle that is too often lost on elected officials who worry too much about re-election and too little about their constituents.
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 makes it worthwhile to also celebrate the victories as the controversy fades away and a whole new era emerges. A major milestone in those efforts — the lifting of the last advisory against eating fish caught downstream of the paper mill in Canton — occurred earlier this month, one that is among the best pieces of news in the river’s recent history.
Just a blip, but meaningful to some
“Who is the girl wearing nothing but a smile
And a towel in the picture on the billboard in the field near the big old highway
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.
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 valuable, a precious jewel, perhaps, or a map that would lead him to a world he suspected was out there but had not yet visited.