To the Editor

The U.S. Supreme Court met March 26 to hear arguments on redistricting in three states, including North Carolina. Their decision could have significant impact on you no matter what your party affiliation. 

Both parties in North Carolina have a long history of drawing district lines to win elections. Call it stacking the deck or cheating, it’s wrong and it does nothing to serve the greater good. If you take no action you are approving the politicians choosing their voters instead of voters choosing their politicians.

The North Carolina legislature is considering two bills on redistricting, House Bills H69 and H140. This letter is intended to make you aware of them and encourage you to call your representatives. Get their position on these bills and why. 

The bills differ in several ways — size and party composition of the redistricting commission; number of votes required to approve the new redistricting maps; and if a change to the Constitution is required.

Most importantly, both bills would go far to ensuring a non-partisan process that results in fair and representative elections of our state legislators and members of Congress.

Understand what’s going on. Call your legislators. Rep. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) supports these bills; it appears Sen. Jim Davis (R- District 50) will not support it should the bill get to the Senate. Ask both why they support or oppose these bills.

This is in no way about party politics. The majority party today may not be the majority party in the future. This is about ensuring a level playing field now.

Dave Kukor

Highlands

Center for Domestic Peace (CDP) is hosting an open house from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, at 26 Ridgeway Street, Sylva. Speakers will begin at 4 p.m. 

Haywood Community College registration for summer and fall semesters is open now through April 26 for both new and continuing students. 

A 385-acre tract of productive, scenic farmland in Haywood County has now been permanently protected thanks to efforts from the Rogers family and the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. 

Nodding Trillium Garden, the Pittillo Family Nature Preserve, will hold a grand opening of its wildflower garden trail on Wednesday, April 17, in Cullowhee. 

Paul Wolf, who heads up Southwestern Community College’s outdoor leadership program, received recognition at the 2019 Southeast Regional Conference of the Association for Experiential Education. 

To the Editor:

President Trump abruptly announced that he supports the court’s efforts to eliminate Obama Care. This would fulfill one half of the thus far unrealized Republican promise to repeal and replace. That is, the courts would repeal Obama Care without a plan to replace it. For those who think there’s no way that could happen, think again. Despite the promises and years of rhetoric, Republicans are not even close to a transition plan, let alone a replacement.   

 If the courts prevail, it would eliminate health care for tens of millions. Collateral damage would include: removing no charge preventive services and increase drug costs for people on Medicare; void Medicaid expansion — opioid treatment, children’s programs and all; remove protections for preexisting conditions, the single most popular provision; allow private insurers to eliminate or reduce payment for almost anything, for example maternity care or mental health treatment. A huge chunk of the insurance industry would go away with nothing to fill the void. The health care payment system could just implode.    

 We all know that Obama Care has problems, not the least of which are premium costs, high deductibles, and limited choice especially in rural areas like ours. Democrats in the House of Representatives are now hard at work creating legislation to fix Obama Care. The legislation aims to close loopholes, mitigate current weaknesses, and bring costs down to a level where health insurance is affordable for every day Americans. 

 No matter how many times the refrain “The Republicans are the party of health care” is repeated, it just isn’t true. They’re just empty words. If you believe like I do — that quality, affordable health care is the right of every citizen, not a privilege reserved for those fortunate enough to have it — take a look at the evidence and remember who is really working to make health care a universal right for all. We can make it happen with your support. 

 Elaine Slocumb

Bryson City

On Tuesday, April 16, the lecture series “Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture” at Cowee School Heritage Center, will present a program by Dr. Ben Steere on the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin, an important Cherokee cultural site. 

Wheels Through Time, “The Museum That Runs,” has announced that they are updating their name in honor and recognition of museum founder and curator, Dale Walksler. The new name will be, “Dale’s Wheels Through Time Museum.” Coinciding with the name change will be a new logo and branding as well as new and updated merchandise.

The Nantahala Health Foundation, a newly formed, public nonprofit, recently announced its board of directors, as well as the launch of its website.   

I recently saw people interviewed at the CPAC meeting stating how pleased they were with Trump’s accomplishments. That got me to thinking that maybe Trump’s most impressive accomplishment is gaslighting people into thinking that his pronouncements of achievements are real. Let’s take a look at the actual accomplishments.

The 2019 season of events at the Cradle of Forestry in America will kick off Saturday, April 6, with the living history event Opening Day Appalachian Folkways Celebration. 

Seasonal road openings are beginning on the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

A new solar project is now complete at Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel in Murphy following a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, March 27.

The Haywood Community College timbersports team claimed first place at the Mid-Atlantic States Intercollegiate Woodsmen’s Meet held at the Haywood County Fairgrounds this past weekend. 

HCC student Darby Hand took first place in the STIHL Timbersports Collegiate Series Mid-Atlantic Qualifier. As a result, he will compete in the U.S. Collegiate Championships in Milwaukee in late July. Following HCC, Penn State Mont Alto came in second place and Montgomery Community College came in third.    

As you walk through your local Ingles Market, why do you buy certain products and not others? Do you have a list in your hand, on your phone or just in your mind… or do you look for inspiration as you walk through the aisles? Do you look for certain labels? Do you check prices or ingredients? 

Super Holiday Tours has organized a special six-night package Nov. 23-29 in New York City to see Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band participate in the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, Nov. 28. 

Lately there seems to be a lot of name calling when it comes to food. Your friends or neighbors may claim they are trying to "eat clean" or say that they pick foods with "clean ingredients."

By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist

Five years ago, as mayor, I was placed in the position of defending the Town of Franklin against undue criticism of the town’s stewardship of the Nikwasi Mound. I am again in that position as the recently formed 501 C(3) Nikwasi Initiative has asked the Town to deed the Mound to the Initiative to “give the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians joint ownership with us and ensure that, in perpetuity, they share equally with us in its care and preservation.” (I am not sure whether the ‘us’ is the town or the Initiative).

To the Editor:

More than one million North Carolinians have no health insurance. Many fall in what is known as the “Medicaid coverage gap” — they cannot afford to buy health insurance without fear of bankruptcy. The majority are working adults, between 18 and 64 years of age, without dependent children. Most live paycheck to paycheck. Many hold two or more part-time jobs. All of us have a family member or neighbor who lives in the gap, playing Russian roulette with their health. Expanding Medicaid will help close the coverage gap, can save lives and preserve the health of working families across Western North Carolina. 

 The Medicaid coverage gap hits rural areas like our mountain home especially hard. Medicaid expansion can bring billions of federal dollars to the state. We are one of 14 states that has rejected Medicaid expansion. Here’s how it works. The federal government pays 90 percent of the costs of expansion while N.C. would pay just 10 percent of the tab. Right now, our citizens pay federal taxes but the state does not receive the 90 percent subsidy back. Basically, we are giving away our hard-earned tax dollars to the 36 states that have expanded Medicaid. It makes no sense to give all that money away. 

Medicaid expansion would bring increased medical care to people with chronic conditions like diabetes or kidney disease. This would not only saves lives but result in fewer health crises, ER visits and hospital days. This saves money for all N.C. citizens. Treatment options for people with mental health issues is critical. Medicaid expansion is exactly what is needed to combat our growing opioid crisis. Out of desperation, people with untreated medical/mental health issues often self-medicate with alcohol, illegal or illicit drugs. In addition to improved health outcomes, Medicaid expansion will help to keep our rural hospitals open. This will bring jobs and with it, a boost to the local economy. 

Please contact your N.C. Senate and House representatives to support Medicaid expansion. It makes sense. It brings money to our state. It saves lives and livelihoods. It brings jobs. We can do better.

Elaine Slocumb

Bryson City

To the Editor:

In the news story “Constituents of color: Meadows defense of Trump angers many,” published in the SMN edition March 13, the title says it all. The animosity expressed in the article against Rep. Mark Meadows has everything to do with his support of President Donald Trump. 

When asked what he (Meadows) “could do better and what can he do in the future to mend fences,”  the answer from one of those interviewed was, “I think he could have done it better by not coming to the defense of the President.” 

It seems in case after case criticism of any Trump supporter is based on just that, their support for Donald Trump. Beyond the anti-Trump accusations, nothing else is credible.

Further on in the article, after denouncing Meadows for his role in the Michael Cohen Congressional hearing and his support of President Trump, interviewees and the writer question Meadows’ ability to represent constituents of color. I assume this opinion is because he is white, as is his Congressional district — the other side of the racist coin.  

That claim is expanded because Meadows’ district is described as gerrymandered in his favor. It is remarkable that Democrats are so anti-gerrymandering now that they are out of power in the N.C. legislature after 100 years of control where they did the very same type of gerrymandering. 

Rep. Meadows congressional record shows no support for any legislation that can be construed as against his constituency … unless of course the support of President Donald Trump’s agenda is interpreted as anti-constituency. That Trump agenda has achieved lowest unemployment numbers for workers — including minorities — a historic tax cut that put more earnings in paychecks, a booming economy, better trade deals favorable to the United States, U.S. energy independence, fewer Americans on food stamps, foreign policy that has reduced ISIS to little threat, halting North Korean missile firings and national protection with increased border patrols and illegal migrant control by vowing to finish the wall. Thank you Rep. Meadows for supporting President Trump and his agenda. Hating Trump and his supporters is tedious, trite, erroneous and way overplayed.

Carol Adams

Glenville

To the Editor:

A recent columnist claimed that their church embraces LGBTQ members. Well, my church welcomes LGBTQ as well. But rather than celebrate what is broken, we pray the LGBTQ, and all the broken, will seek reconciliation and healing. 

It breaks my heart to see people desperately clinging to that which the Bible very clearly says will separate them from God. As it relates to homosexuals, nowhere in the Bible does it speak of homosexual acts in a positive or acceptable light. But nowhere in the Bible does it say any of our acts are right with God. Each one of us is born broken, and our best are like dirty rags to God (Isaiah 34). Our brokenness separates us from God and prevents us from living the life He would have us live. The only person to ever be whole was Jesus Christ, our only hope for reconciliation with God. 

God’s love for us does not change our need to obey his commands. God calls us to give ourselves and all our brokenness to Him — our idolatry, selfishness, greed, gluttony and sexual immorality (including adultery, lust and homosexual acts). We are all born with these to some level. It is who we are. We must give them over to God who loves us so much, He died for us even while we were separated. He loves us so much, He made a way for us to be reconciled (John 3). 

And since we are all broken, we are all in the same situation. None of us can think of ourselves as better than anyone else. It should be our life’s goal to lead everyone we can to Jesus, our only hope of reconciliation. There is no room for hate ... of anyone. God created each of us in His image, so we all deserve the same respect as humans and the same hope as broken people. 

Jesus thought so. That is why He came to earth and showed love to everyone. But as with the woman at the well and the woman accused of adultery (John 4 and 8), He expected them to change from what they were to what He called them to be — whole and holy. 

So let’s show dignity and respect to all humans. But also, let’s not embrace our brokenness but embrace the healing that God so desperately wants us all to have. He loves us too much to do anything else. 

David Onder

Waynesville

A recently conserved 50-acre property is the third conservation easement that George Rector and Joan Byrd have donated to Mainspring Conservation Trust in the past five years. 

Western Carolina University’s Police Department needs help identifying a person who may have been involved in discharging a firearm near the South Baseball Lot on campus around 9 p.m. Monday, March 25.

It’s never too early for parents to begin planning for the summer and deciding which summer camp they want their children to attend. Western North Carolina offers a vast variety of summer camps with a focus on outdoor activities, personal growth, fine arts, sports and more.

From early June through early August, the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center offers residents and visitors of all ages an opportunity to find community and make memories with free or nominally priced activities such as outdoor movie nights, crafts, workshops, game days, yoga, bonfires, moonlight boat rides and more. 

In addition to the year-round fun art spaces and activities for youth, The Bascom, A Center for the Visual Arts in Highlands offers a number of summer camp opportunities.

Most families in Western North Carolina haven’t even taken their spring break yet but already parents are clamoring to secure a spot for their kids at an area summer camp.

A new sign along Old Cullowhee Road now welcomes visitors and residents alike to Cullowhee’s historic center, thanks to efforts from the Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor, also known as CuRvE.

At the opening of the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre’s current studio production “Venus in Fur,” the Waynesville theatre took the opportunity to honor long-time HART supporter, Mieko Thomson, as its “Volunteer of the Year.” 

To the Editor:

The town of Waynesville has passed an ordinance making defecation and urination on the ground a public health issue. 

Does anyone on the town board realize what is going on in our drinking water supply watershed? Birdwatchers, hikers, ramp diggers, maintenance personnel, school children and uncounted others have entered the Waynesville Watershed since a timber cutting easement was passed Oct. 12, 2004. Do any of the people on these outings have portable toilets?

Haywood County contains thousands of acres of federally owned land. Most of these people could use these areas instead of tromping around in our drinking water supply and leaving human waste. 

Waynesville Town Manager Rob Hite informed me anyone visiting the watershed could use the restroom at the Water Treatment Plant. Maybe Mr. Hite should time himself walking from the upper end of the Quinland Town bottoms and see how long it takes to get to this toilet. 

Charles Miller

Waynesville

To the Editor:

The hate trump crowd that includes the media ringleaders keeps trying to denigrate President Donald Trump any way they can. In the March 13 edition of The Smoky Mountain News, the article “Constituents of Color” uses Rep. Mark Meadow’s exchange during the Michael Cohen, convicted felon, congressional hearing to do harm to the President. Rep. Meadows — in a sincere attempt to refute Cohen’s claim that Donald Trump is racist — used logic for his argument. The SMN article turns Meadows remarks into racism mainly to support the claim that Trump is a racist. This was just another attempt among many to use any means to denounce Donald Trump.

The chosen interviewees, biased against Trump since the 2016 election, speak of hate in their comments while proceeding to vilify Meadows in this astonishing hit job published by the SMN. In their racist comments the writer and interviewees mock a black Trump employee who willingly attended and subsequently defended her appearance at the hearing. They ridicule Meadows who rightly took offense to racist accusations by a member of the committee. They scoff at Meadows reference to his bi-racial family while one interviewee lauds her own bi-racial family. 

Meadows declaration about his 300 private meetings with the President where there was never any racist comments or indications by the president is brushed aside as some kind of joke by another interviewee.

The article then goes on to claim concerns that Rep. Meadows cannot represent constituents of color in a gerrymandered district that favors him. There are no facts to support the claim because it is false. In the end an interviewee sums up the whole purpose of the article by stating, “ I think he could have done it better by not trying to come to the defense of the President.” Once again we see the purpose here is to harm President Trump. Will the hate-Trumpers ever get over the fact that their preferred candidate lost the election in 2016?

Shirley Slaughter 

Cashiers

To the Editor:

Last week both our Senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, had two opportunities to demonstrate that they understood their jobs as described in the Constitution and the oath of office they took to defend that Constitution and not any individual person.

The first chance was a vote to end unauthorized U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia in support of their war in Yemen. The second chance was to support the resolution to cancel Trump’s National Emergency Declaration to take funds authorized for something else to build his wasteful and ineffective wall to fix a situation that doesn’t exist. 

Burr at least had the good sense not to say anything about his vote until after he ignored his duty to defend the congressional power of the purse as assigned by Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution and voted to support Trump in his illegal power grab.  

Sen. Tillis, on the other hand, had written an op-ed in the Washington Post on Feb. 25 saying, “As a U. S.  Senator, I cannot justify providing the executive with more ways to bypass Congress.”  Yet when it was time to vote, he voted no and gave Trump “more ways to bypass Congress” in violation of his oath to defend the Constitution.

Tillis, in a response to me, goes on to say he is working with the VP and senior White House staff to amend the National Emergencies Act so Democrats can’t do what Trump does. If your oath of office is to defend the Constitution, it shouldn’t matter whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican. The Constitution applies to any President.  Just another example of Tillis supporting one set of rules for Republicans but wanting different rules for Democrats, especially if power is involved.  

Jane Harrison

Waynesville

I think you may be referring to gluten-free products and people avoiding bread either because of gluten or because they are on some sort of weight loss diet.I think you may be referring to gluten-free products and people avoiding bread either because of gluten or because they are on some sort of weight loss diet.

These days there’s so much information about our health easily available to us. We can click on our smart phones or type searches into our browser and find articles and information in seconds. But we can also get overloaded and overwhelmed by information and not know what sites or resources to trust. 

To the Editor: 

If you haven’t researched or assisted a foreigner in easing through the maze of the Immigration and Naturalization Service regulations, you missed a portion of your life that you should cherish. My contacts have been sparse after assisting a Korean in obtaining his Green Card (resident and work status approval) in the early ‘80s. These were the good old days when each alien not qualified for specific work had to have a sponsor (me) to guarantee his/her self-sufficiency by putting up my own assets. 

To the Editor:

Willie is a graduate of WCU and has a degree in sociology. He was told by his instructors he had wonderful opportunities ahead of him. Sure enough the only job he could find paid $7.50 an hour. Gradually he has increased his income as he changed jobs. Willie had several beers upon graduation and was pulled and charged with DWI. He lost his car and was ordered to pay a fine and do community service. Willie could not pay the fines due to low income and the fines grew. 

To the Editor:

In America today we are experiencing tremendous growing pains and challenges to the way things have been, coupled with certainty that the future will not be like the past. 

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory requested by a recent executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper has now been released by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. 

Western Carolina University once more has an outdoors store on campus following the closure of Blackrock Outdoor Company. 

According to recently released statistics from the National Park Service, the Blue Ridge Parkway logged its lowest visitation since 2014, when it recorded 13.9 million visitors compared to the 14.7 million it welcomed in 2018.