A new trail in the budding Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Trail loop has been completed, getting the system one step closer to its planned 20-mile expanse. 

Incentives aplenty await those who sign on to join The Plunge in support of environmental education 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at the brand-new Canton Pool. 

An upcoming attempt at the 70-mile Georgia Death Race could mean a boost in assistance for Southwestern Community College students who find themselves in need of financial help. 

By Will Studenc

The Jackson County, North Carolina Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) wishes to communicate its position regarding the existence of monuments that glorify the cause of the Confederacy, white supremacy, and the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. 

To the Editor:

I appreciated Cory Vaillancort’s story “Unseating Mark Meadows” describing the candidates running against the now-millionnaire incumbent representing the 11th Congressional District. We need a candidate who knows first hand what the middle class needs to thrive and grow in WNC. Phillip Price is that candidate. 

To the Editor:

Have we lost our sanity? A military parade is an unconscionable waste of national resources, particularly galling as Congress is voting to pass a budget that will greatly increase our national debt. Trying to pass it off as an effort to “honor veterans” reveals a real disconnect about what veterans really need and want: improved benefits and improved health care at VA hospitals.

To the Editor:

When I think about the purpose of industry, it is that our children would have good lives. That it would be of benefit to all our lives. Toxicity from industry is a problem that is increasing, on a huge scale. Weighed in the balance, much industrial production is endangering the lives of children through cancer and nervous system disorders, in exchange for products that may make life more convenient but have little real value. We are trading true benefit for ourselves for material goods. It is naive to believe that industry can continue this way. 

To the Editor:

First, I want to thank Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, for holding this latest town hall meeting. Unfortunately, I left the meeting wondering why even have one if the focus is entirely on the past.

To the Editor:

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, seems to be having a bout of selective amnesia instead of working for the people he represents in the 11th District.

By Todd Vinyard • Special to The Smoky Mountain News

Western Carolina University head basketball coach Larry Hunter’s team had beaten Samford 88-71 on Feb. 3 for a significant Southern Conference victory, and he had become one of only 40 other NCAA men’s basketball coaches with 700 career wins. Despite the milestone, Hunter followed his postgame routine of 46 years in coaching — finish the work of game day and prepare for the next game.

With the sign-up period now underway, candidate are throwing their names in the hat to run for various local and state offices. 

A southern gothic love triangle set in the age of Trump? Or maybe J.D. Vance’s bestseller Hillbilly Elegy as a postpunk concept album? How about a singer/songwriter coming off a ten-year hiatus, provoked from a peaceful period of dadhood into sounding his barbaric yawp over the roofs of rural Appalachia and the rest of “the solid south”?

Taste of Local — Thursday February 22. Ingles Markets, 301 Long Shoals Road, Arden NC. 3-6 p.m.

A trash cleanup on upper Scotts Creek in Sylva Saturday, Jan. 27, yielded more than 3.5 tons of trash hauled to the landfill. 

A North Carolina permit granted to the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline last week — given together with the establishment of a $57.8 million fund for environmental mitigation and clean energy — cleared the last major hurdle for the project to proceed. 

A new conservation easement in Boyd Cove will protect 88 acres adjacent to thousands of already-protected acres in the Newfound Mountains of Sandy Mush in Buncombe County. 

Five “Water Champions” were recognized for their work to protect water quality in Haywood County during Haywood Waterways Association’s annual awards ceremony in December. 

To the Editor:

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, and some of his fellow Republican representatives may just have become a danger to our national security. Their theatrics in attacking the FBI and counter intelligence measures is likely to weaken our ability to protect the nation from Russian and other cyber attacks on our democracy.

Rep. Meadows claims the attack is not political, but the facts point to the opposite. Rather the whole manufactured issue of the “Nunes Memo” appears to be an attempt to protect President Trump and his minions from themselves.

Let’s look at the facts. Having read the “Nunes Memo,” I find it has no real support for the assertion about the supposed connection between the surveillance of Carter Page, who became a Trump advisor, and the so-called dossier. According to reports, Page was of interest to the FBI as early as 2013 due to contacts with known Russian spies. Page also came to the attention of the FBI and counterintelligence based on a tip from an Australian diplomat who reported Page making statements that suggested an improper relationship with Russian agents. 

The initial FISA warrants to monitor Page apparently had nothing to do with the dossier. The Nunes memo is a concocted sham to discredit what the FBI may have on Trump, the Trump family, and the campaign.

If Trump has nothing to hide about his relationships with Russia and Russian oligarchs, why did we see the lying about meetings with Russians? Multiple people involved in the Trump campaign initially lied, or “omitted” from disclosures that they had held meeting with Russians. If you have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, why lie about it. 

We know that according to all reports President Trump was involved in making up a false story about why his son and son-in-law met with Russians in Trump tower. If it was just a typical attempt to get opposition research, why not just say so. The secrecy suggests that more than politics as usual was going on.

Which brings us back to the FBI and counterintelligence. We need these agencies to function independently of politics to protect us from illegal and dangerous outside interference. Trump seems intent on making the FBI leadership loyal only to him and not the country. Rep. Meadows and his fellow Republicans seem intent on helping to accomplish that task. Meadows has sponsored a bill to “investigate the investigators” as stated in his weekly newsletter. Where is the bill to investigate Russian meddling in our elections and Russian cyber trolls? Meadows should be looking after our safety as a nation instead of trying to protect Donald Trump from his own actions. 

Norman Hoffmann

Waynesville

To the Editor:

That was a clever rebuttal (Jan. 24) from Samuel Edwards to my column on why North Carolina should adopt the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact to elect the president instead of relying on the dysfunctional Electoral College. Too clever, I’m afraid.

He would have the electoral votes awarded by congressional district, with the statewide winner getting the two electoral votes that represent the senators. That would be quite convenient for his side, since so many more congressional districts are gerrymandered to favor Republicans than Democrats. If every state did it, the legislatures — which are gerrymandered themselves — would be rigging the presidential elections every time they redistrict.

The people supporting the national popular vote have looked at this, as I suspect Mr. Edwards has also. George W. Bush would have won even more electoral votes in 2000, when he lost the popular vote, and in 2004 when he won it. In both cases, the disparity between the people’s vote and the electors’ votes would have been greater.

Mr. Edwards’ remedy would preserve the main feature that five times has skewed the electoral outcome against the people’s choices. That’s the fact that each state, large or small, gets the same two votes representing its senators. Leave this in place, and candidates would still spend nearly all their time and money on the dozen or so “battleground” states. If anything, this problem would be worse.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is being confronted with a case from our own state that should make it finally able to see and smell political — as opposed to racial — gerrymandering when it is before them. The gerrymandering chieftain in Raleigh boasted that he gave the Democrats three congressional seats because he couldn’t find a way to give them only two. If the court finally cracks down on this noxious practice, Mr. Edwards might want to think more carefully about what he’s wishing for.

Martin A. Dyckman

Asheville

To the Editor:

I read the article by Smoky Mountain News columnist Chris Cox titled, “I can’t stomach the hypocrisy of Trump’s enablers,” which appeared in the Jan. 24 issue.

Well, I can’t stomach the hypocrisy of the president’s detractors, including that of Mr. Cox.

Mr. Cox cites an affair that Mr. Trump supposedly had with a porn star that, in the eyes of Mr. Cox, seems to warrant branding our President as a bad man. However, he doesn’t seem to remember that Bill Clinton, a disgusting satyr, had sex in his office in the White House!

I agree that Barack Obama appeared to have decent morals, but he was a glib-talking “do nothing” President who cost a lot of people in this country a lot of money with his Obamacare plan.

Our economy has been booming since Donald Trump who, thank goodness, is not a politician but a business man, took over leadership. Can Mr. Cox spare a kind word for someone who is not a liberal leftist?

JoAnna Swanson

Hazelwood

To the Editor:

There is an ad posted on Donald Trump’s campaign website and YouTube page. It states that if the Democrats are soft on illegal immigration, then they would have blood on their hands by being “complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.” Let’s not worry right now about whether Democrats are soft on illegal immigration, that is fodder for another letter. Let’s focus instead on the claim of complicity.

In December 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 28 innocent people, including 20 children.  President Obama begged Congress to act by passing common-sense gun control. Congress did nothing. More shootings, more nothing. 

In December 2016, under President Obama, the Social Security Administration issued a rule that stepped up its efforts to pass the names of people who lack the mental capacity to “manage his or her own affairs” to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. This action would prevent an individual who is in this system from legally purchasing a weapon. President Trump and Congress rescinded that rule on the grounds that it was overly broad.

When Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured almost 500 in Las Vegas in October 2017, the Trump administration declined to discuss the issue in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, stating that “it would be premature for us to discuss (gun) policy.” It has been four months and still no discussion. 

Who exactly has “blood on their hands?”

Sandra Leafe

Waynesville

Haywood Pathways Center in Waynesville is the recipient of The John William Pope Foundation’s 2018 Joy W. Pope Memorial Grant in Human Services. 

The Jackson County Board of Education has chosen Kimberly Elliott, Ph.D., to serve as the new Superintendent of Schools.

Taste of Local — Thursday February 22. Ingles Markets, 301 Long Shoals Road, Arden NC. 3-6 p.m.

By Will Studenc

To the Editor:

Have you told your mother? Your sister? Your aunt? Your niece? Simply put, have you explained to all the females you know that we live in a new society?  Yes, indeed! They must be enlightened.

It has now been made very clear by prominent politicians and famous men of financial/social/political position that they have the “right” to grope, molest, seduce and otherwise demean women.

Powerful men used to exercise the “privilege” of prima noche. If you have watched Braveheart you might have noticed that that sexual abuse really angered the hero in the movie. Nowadays, however, men of status seem to be declaring the right to abuse women any time-day or night. 

President Trump may be the poster boy for this new phenomenon. Is this a fad or a trend that our society will tolerate for years to come? Will even more professed Christians who supported Trump find his ruthless words and actions despicable enough to realize that they sold out on Christian principles to a man who has asked for no forgiveness and sought no atonement?

Famous country singer Glen Campbell sang “There oughta be a Hall of Fame for mammas. Creation’s most unique and precious pearl. And heaven help us always to remember that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” 

Trump promised to be the best Christian representative people had seen in a long time. Does anyone else think he missed that mark by a mile?

Let’ get back to honoring our mothers, sisters aunts — well, all women.

Dave Waldrop

Webster

To the Editor:

I want to commend Holly Kays for her great story on “Breaking the Backlog." 

I hope that her multi-dimensional reporting and analysis for this article will be the basis for a lot of discussion and letters about the problems of the national park maintenance backlog. Western North Carolina is so dependent on our national parks. This is what brings visitors into the area. All the other attractions — restaurants, breweries, amusement parks, music venues — are built on top of our natural features.

It is a shame that our congressional Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, doesn\t see this as a priority. The last quote from Meadows on national park funding, “I do see it as something I have to address” makes it seem like it’s an issue he’s just discovered, though he is now in his third tern in office.

Kays continues to bring us relevant stories on our mountains week after week. And for that, I am grateful.

Danny Bernstein

Asheville

To the Editor:

I appreciated your article on third parties. The frustration of the people with the two major parties is often expressed as a desire for new parties, but it is futile.

Americans look at Europe and see multiple parties working so they think, “Why not here, too?” The error here is that European nations have parliamentary systems, while we have our “two-party” system. In a parliamentary systems, if your little party gets 2 percent of the vote, you get 2 percent of the seats in parliament. At least you get to voice your opinions, even if nobody cares.

In our two-party systems, 2 percent gets you a big fat nada.

Parties like the Greens, Libertarians, or whatever, sound like viable options, but they are really just wasted effort.

There is, however, a way for third parties to make a meaningful difference. They can go the caucus route. Just for example, look at the Freedom Caucus or Black Congressional Caucus. They could call themselves little parties and waste their time, but instead they choose to operate within the existing two party-system, and as a result they hold significant power. Maybe someday the Constitution will be altered to allow multiple parties like in Europe, but I doubt it. Until then, if you are unhappy with the Dems and GOP, form a caucus.

Boyd Holliday

Lake Junaluska

To the Editor:

My vote has been stolen. It has been stolen by the Legislature of the State of North Carolina. Let me explain. 

I live and vote in Congressional District 11. Traditionally, the 11th District has been a swing area. A little over one third of the voters are Democrats, a few less Republicans, and almost one third of the voters are registered as non-affiliated. I am one of those latter voters. In the past, we have been represented by both Republicans and Democrats. With the Democrats and Republicans almost evenly divided, it fell to the un-affiliated voters to determine who would represent the district in Congress.

With the 2010 census, Congressional District lines were redrawn by the  Legislature. At that time, two thirds of the City of Asheville and approximately one half of Buncombe County were removed from District 11 and attached to District 10.  As an urban area, the region has had a tendency to vote Democratic, thus balancing the rural Republican vote. By attaching these areas to District 10, which centers out of Gastonia, almost 120 miles away, a “safe” district was created for the Republican Party. 

Thus the power of my vote has been negated and “stolen” from me by the Legislature.  It no longer makes a difference for whom I vote, as my vote has been cancelled by the political design of the district. I would argue that this is unconstitutional, in that it suppresses the validity and power of my vote.

The current federal court has ruled that some congressional districts in the state are unconstitutional and has ordered the state Legislature to draw new district maps that are acceptable to the court. The North Carolina Legislature is contesting this and has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to place this order on hold citing that there is not enough time to accomplish this before the next election.

Since these districts were redrawn in 2010, I have had to vote in three elections (2012, 2014, 2016) where unconstitutional congressional district boundaries have been in use. If the state legislature gets its way, I will be forced again to vote in an unconstitutional election or to forego voting. Since my vote, as a non-affiliated voter, will not matter to the outcome of the election, I believe that my constitutional right to vote and have my vote counted has been violated.

I have written Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and asked that the lower federal court order not be delayed. My right to vote and have that vote count is important to me. It is my participation in the democratic process of government. When my vote no longer has weight or meaning, the system of government is broken, and with that the political and social contracts of the government with the people have also been severed. We no longer will have, as Lincoln stated, a nation “… of the people, by the people, and for the people.” We cannot let this happen.

Luther Jones

Sylva

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw a record number of visitors for the second year in a row, logging 11.34 million visits in 2017.

What are your favorite type of tree nut?  Almonds? Pecans? Walnuts? Macadamia nuts? Hazelnuts? Cashews? Pistachios? With so many nut options it's fun to keep multiple different types of nuts on hand.

Members of the public will have several opportunities to share their opinions on the characteristics they would like to see in Western Carolina University’s next chancellor as the committee leading the search for a successor to Chancellor David O. Belcher has announced a series of open forums for February.

Local business owner Tami Nicholson was indicted Jan. 8 for illegally operating video gaming machines after police raided her Waynesville Plaza business last April, but it hasn’t stopped her from continuing a similar operation in a different location.

Sitting on the porch of the Andrews Brewing Company, co-owner Eric Carlson looks out onto his property. With bluebird skies overhead, bumblebees joyously buzzing in the garden and the majestic peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance, he shakes his head in awe of where his lives and thrives.

A unique mix of modern and ancient, Cherokee is 21st century entertainment played out on a backdrop of time-honored cultural traditions. 

Most of lands surrounding Bryson City are publicly held forest and park land, making the town a staging area of sorts for hikers — the Appalachian Trail runs nearby — cyclists, campers, horseback riders and river rats. 

Franklin is the ideal staging are for exploring the Nantahala Mountains.

Highlands and Cashiers are perched on the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, where the mountains plunge sharply from a high plateau, creating the right ingredients not only for bountiful waterfalls but a temperate rainforest, one of the few in North America. This makes for lush vegetation, plus special designations such as “salamander and lichen capital of the world.”

A charming and delightful village, Dillsboro is home to a community of artists, unique retailers and great restaurants.

Sylva is an eclectic community that’s a blend of a local, tourist and college feel surrounded by towering mountains. 

In the heart of the Smokies lies Maggie Valley, a mountain getaway that rolls out the welcome mat to traveling tourists. 

For true local charm, look no further than Canton and Clyde, the neighboring towns nestled in eastern Haywood County. They are situated around the Evergreen paper mill, which started life as Blue Ridge Paper Products and has been running steadily for more than 100 years. 

Undulating mountains surround the town of Waynesville, a welcoming community that is the perfect combination of nature, tourism and Appalachian culture.

From welcoming, backwoods front porches to raucous downtown stages, the music of Western North Carolina weaves together the rich history, passion and camaraderie of Southern Appalachia and its inhabitants. At the heart of this deep love and appreciation for music are the communities that proudly display their heritage by offering weekly performances for residents and visitors alike. 

It was time for something different.

“We’ve been looking at doing something like this for years,” said Sally Peterkin. “And when we found the right place, we knew it was time to do it.”

The Shelton House, which is home to the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts, opens for its 35th season this summer.