Lake Junaluska has received a certificate of approval from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality authorizing construction activity to begin on the restoration of the bridge over the dam.

Thursday, April 26 • 3:30-6:30 p.m. Ingles Markets, 684 N. Broad St., Brevard.

An increase in serious bear encounters in Panthertown Valley has led the U.S. Forest Service to recommend that backcountry campers there use bear-resistant containers and carry bear spray. 

Haywood Community College was recently named a 2017 Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, commemorating this accomplishment by planting a mountain silverbell tree on campus. 

To the Editor:

This letter is director to Julie Fries, news director for Channel 13 WLOS, and to Joe Fishleigh, the general manager of the station which is owned by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. 

To the Editor:

Week after week I read the opinions and dissertations from the left. It seems that those of us on the right never speak up, so I decided to change that. 

The outdoor labyrinth at Lake Junaluska has long been a place where people go to seek spiritual renewal. Recent renovations have improved the appearance and functionality of the labyrinth and ensured that it will endure for generations to come.

The Jackson County Public Schools Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Elliott, Superintendent announced Evelyn Graning as the new principal at Smoky Mountain High School.

Though some organic marketers would like you to believe that organic means “pesticide-free”; organic farmers can use pesticides as long as they meet the specifications for the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP). The NOP primarily allows natural pesticides but some synthetic pesticides are permitted. 

By John deVille • Guest Columnist

Given all the challenges and unwarranted criticism those of us who work in public education must endure, I am hesitant to publicly chastise a fellow educator. But the positions taken by Haywood County Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte in a recent blog post lead me to take exception.

Dr. Nolte’s post outlined his (and by extension, the entire HCS district) positions concerning the national movement of student walkouts, which are motivated by the lack of legislative response to school shootings which have visited so many campuses since 1999. 

Dr. Nolte characterized the walkouts as a “tool being applied to advance a political agenda,” that an unnamed “political organization” is behind the movement.

The walkouts are certainly are an effective awareness-raising tool and, as they are designed to influence changes in legislation, they are inherently political. What’s so wrong about that? 

I’m unclear as to what unnamed “political organization” Dr. Nolte refers. There are the nearly 200,000 students who have been on a school campus since 1999 and who have been terrorized by a school shooting. There are their parents, the teachers, and citizens who are saying “Enough,” and who have come together to demand responsible gun ownership laws. Are they the sinister organization of which Dr. Nolte writes?

Dr. Nolte’s view of the situation is that this unnamed organization’s mission is to “encourage students to walk out of school.” This is perhaps the most distressing part of the post — the dismissive insinuation that students aren’t moral agents in and of themselves. Dr. Nolte seems to believe that students networking with other students is beyond their ability, that they cannot be inspired by the behavior of other students to confront legislators across the country. 

Students can be inspired to do stupid things by other students; and they can be inspired to take a leadership role where adults have largely failed. While students may not have the right to vote, we certainly try to teach students advocacy skills which need not hibernate until they are 18.  

While I understand Dr. Nolte’s desire to minimize conflict on middle and high school campuses which already face so many challenges, his move to stifle student political speech, specifically to quash a mid-day student walkout focused on creating awareness and political pressure leading to reform in gun legislation, is troubling. 

Dr. Nolte categorically stated that Haywood students are “not interested in political agendas.” 

That assertion stands in glaring contrast to Tuscola High junior Grace Feichter who said:

“After I heard about the shooting at Parkland, I was devastated. We had a discussion about the national walkout and if we would be interested in having one at our school, and everybody said absolutely yes.”  

Dr. Nolte’s statement does not comport with Tuscola student McKenzie Yazan who said: 

“I think that it’s definitely not more guns in schools,” she said. “Personally I think that we need to have more reforms and background checks for people wishing to buy a gun.”

Both students’ statements are overtly political as they must be if any meaningful change is to occur. 

Dr. Nolte laments that schools are becoming “political battlefields” and vows to forestall any such efforts in that direction in Haywood County Schools. That is a most puzzling and unfortunate stance.

Schools are, almost by definition in 2018, “political battlefields.” 

Dr. Nolte may recall the spring of 2016 when the Haywood community marched to raise awareness for the sad closing of Central Elementary, due in part to budget cuts by Raleigh. We all marched — parents, teachers, administrators, board members, myself, and yes, students. No, it wasn’t during the school day, but the school was certainly the battlefield. 

What else can our schools be expected to become in a democracy other than a political battlefield when the lack of responsible gun laws have significantly contributed to our schools becoming war zones? 

A simple act of a walkout, whether sanctioned by the administration or not, is a rather measured and reasonable response to the gun violence and terror which has gripped our campuses. Dr. Nolte’s concerns about student safety during a potential walkout must be relegated to the red herring bin as that activity is no more dangerous than administratively-sanctioned activities Haywood County high school students engage in every day. 

The list of tasks which public school educators are called to fulfill is daunting, and I certainly do not envy Dr. Nolte’s tremendous responsibilities. I have the greatest respect for him and for anyone else who has provided a lifetime of service to educating and mentoring young people into adulthood. While it is certainly less messy to go full hamster ball and try to wall the school campus off from the political tides of the day, perhaps it is time to follow the military admonition to “embrace the suck,” to accept what might be unpleasant but what is unavoidable, especially when this particular political debate so directly impacts the students themselves and when they are proving that they are the most eloquent and forceful voices in the debate. 

(John deVille is a former Macon County Teacher of the Year and has taught social studies at Franklin High School since 1996.) 

Often underappreciated, a simple glass of cow’s milk is a nutritional powerhouse. 

Hatchery-supported trout waters will open once more at 7 a.m. Saturday, April 7. 

The success of Cherokee’s 10.5-mile Fire Mountain Trail System has spurred Motion Makers Bicycle Shop to open a new location in Cherokee, expected to be operational by early May.

The Southern Highlands Reserve has launched a digital database to advance its ability to research native plants from its perch atop 4,500-foot Toxaway Mountain. 

This year’s Assault on BlackRock drew 105 runners and brought in more than $4,000 for the Jackson County Shop with a Cop Program.

By Stephen Wall • Guest Columnist

I was disappointed to read Interim Superintendent Bill Nolte's post on the Haywood County School website (www.haywood.k12.nc.us/blog/2018/03/20/schools-and-political-protests/). I think he misunderstands why tens of thousands of young people have raised their voices to protest the carnage inflicted by the 18 school shooting that have occurred so far just this year, over 200 in the past decade.

To the Editor:

In the wake of school shootings and #NeverAgain, school administrators are faced with the issue of how to respond when school walkouts are planned. Some will react by supporting students, while others take a very different tack. 

The town of Canton has hired Robert “Shawn” Gaddis as its new chief of police effective March 31. 

Over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend, local, tribal, state and federal law enforcement agencies conducted an operation that was focused on the exploitation of children and the predators involved. 

Spring is coming to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with many seasonally closed facilities reopening for warmer weather.

More than 100 volunteers congregated at Lake Junaluska for Lake Cleanup Day Saturday, March 10, removing more than 8 tons — 16,000 pounds — of trash from the lake. Trash ranged from tiny pieces of plastic to bulky tires and pipes. 

By Will Studenc

By Norman Hoffman • Guest Columnist

It is truly amusing to see an apparent “conservative” say that liberals are out of touch with reality because they don’t watch Fox News. I tend to watch several networks and frequently have found that what Fox talking heads are saying does not match the facts. Not only do they tend to have a strong bias to saying what conservative want to hear, their “facts” are often wrong or distorted. 

To the Editor:

Article 11, section 2 of the Constitution says “The President shall be the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.” 

The safety and security of the country is his primary responsibility. Since the end of WWII, through the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union and now into the rule of Putin, Russia has been our principal adversary. From the despotic rule of Joseph Stalin to the kleptocracy/oligarchy of today’s Russia, it has always stood for one man rule and against true democracy in any form.

Every intelligence agency of our government has confirmed that Russia has attacked and is still attacking our country. The weapons in this war are cyber bots, Facebook posts, Twitter rants, hacked email accounts and now confirmed attacks on our infrastructure. “The Trump administration accused Russia on Thursday of engineering a series of cyber attacks that targeted American and European nuclear power plants and water and electric systems, and could have sabotaged or shut power plants off at will,” wrote the N.Y. Times in is March 15 issue.

Let’s be clear, there is now a button on Putin’s  desk that can turn off our water, electric and cripple our internet. How long do you think it would take for this country to descend into total chaos if our smart phones were turned off? No need of nuclear bombs, or thousands of tanks and million man armies, just turn off our power. What could the world’s most powerful Navy do to protect us from that?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased its spending on our cyber defense and issued the above statement as a warning. Real progress in this cyber war must come from the Commander in Chief, and so far nothing. When the State Department refused to spend the $80 million to counter Russian propaganda, the President  was pleased. When the Secretary of State strongly criticized the Putin government for using a chemical weapon to attempt to kill a Russian spy, he was fired within 24 hours.

Donald Trump has vaguely criticized the Russian government but he has  never said an unkind word about Vladimir Putin. He fawned over Putin when he put on his Miss America pageant in Moscow. During the campaign, he sent his business associates to try to contact Putin so he could build “Trump Moscow.” He has admired Putin’s strong leadership and his disdain for a free press. He has spoken glowingly about Putin over 80 times from through Feb. 16 2017, and he continues to do so to this day.

The head of the U.S.’s cyber operations recently said the country’s response to Russia’s hacking provocations have “not changed the calculus or the behavior” of the Russians and that “they have not paid a price.” Only the President can give the order to counter this attack, and he has not. Our Commander in Chief cannot defend us in a cyber war when he seems blinded by his fondness for the leader of the enemy forces.

Louis Vitale

Franklin

To the Editor:

The mice in the Old School Antique Mall on 441 South are heading for the hills because on April 1 The American Museum of the House Cat will open for the 2018 season. 

Last year the museum attracted 5,560 visitors from all over the world. Some came because they knew the museum was there, but the majority were just driving along U.S. 441 and saw the signs and the paintings of large cats, had the feline fever, and made a U-turn to visit. 

Had the museum not been there most would have driven on through Dillsboro and might have gone up the hill to Bryson City, Ashville, or Tennessee. The cat museum has become a little net that catches tourists from out of town and gives them a reason to stop in Jackson County. Once they visit the museum most of them visit other things in the area. People are always asking us where to eat or what else is there to do here? 

We hope to attract as many or more visitors than last season. The museum grossed just under $35,000.00 in 2017, but cost for rent, a full-time museum guide, and the cost to set up with improvements the rooms we occupy exceeded income and the year ended with a deficit. All income from admission tickets and sales benefit the Catman2 cats’ only shelter in Cullowhee and its low-to-no cost spay and neuter program for residents of Sylva and some surrounding areas. I take no salary or other form of income. 

In 2017 and so far in 2018, Jackson County has not euthanized a healthy adoptable cat. With help, the Catman2 Shelter and now its Cat Museum can help keep Jackson County a safe haven for cats. 

Please help us with your donations, private or business, to Catman2 Inc., a not-for-profit 501 3 tax exempt corporation that operates the cat shelter and museum. We could also use volunteers at both venues. Helping us will help put Jackson County on the map and in turn help local business.

Harold Sims, Founder and President of Catman2 Inc. Since 1996. Find both the Museum and the Catman2 shelter on Face Book or see us at www.catman2.org. For informaton about visiting the Cat Museum call 828.476.9376 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To the Editor:

This is in response to Nan Smith’s “Liberals have lost touch with reality” in the March 7 edition. On Feb. 2, I read an online article from www.psychologytoday.com entitled “7 Steps to Becoming a Dictator” by Mark van Vugt, Ph.D. Trump has accomplished four of the seven steps. Does this make you happy, Ms. Smith? Perhaps it is YOU and other Trump loyalists who are out of touch with reality. 

I fear we are way down the path to a Trump dictatorship. The signs are staring us in the face. It’s almost too late to do anything about it, so if we’re going to stop a Trump dictatorship, we need to do it NOW.

Janice Workman

Bryson City

The town of Franklin will begin a 90-day trial of a new one block long parking plan for Main Street from town hall to the town square beginning March 26, depending on the weather. 

David and Annie Colquitt of Knoxville, Tennessee, are purchasing The Swag, a popular mountain retreat near Waynesville.

Do you have a Swiss Army Knife or a Multi-purpose tool that serves a variety of functions? There are also foods like that! Here are just a few that I thought of — what are your “Swiss Army Knife” foods?

A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RD or RDN) is a licensed title.

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist

Do politicians read their mail? It depends.

A recent New Yorker article on Christopher Steele, the British espionage expert, scored a direct hit on Lindsey Graham, the senior senator from our neighboring state to the south. Steele, you may recall, put his livelihood and perhaps his life at risk in helping to alert our intelligence agencies to Russia’s covert — and continuing — subversion of our election process. Among other things, Steele wrote the memo that raised the question of whether the Kremlin has seriously compromising information regarding Donald Trump’s personal conduct during a visit to Moscow.

More than $25,000 in scholarships is available for kids interested in attending Youth for Christ Outdoor Mission Camp in Maggie Valley this summer. 

Completion of a solar energy project in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will result in an annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 23 tons and a $14,000 savings in annual fuel costs. 

Rehabilitation work in the Elkmont area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has started up again, with work crews beginning to remove 10 structures March 12. 

Jeremiah “Jerry” Wolfe, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Beloved Man, passed away Monday at the age of 93. 

By Virginia Jicha • Guest Columnist

I was in the process of writing about the need for school nurses when the Parkland school shooting happened on Valentine’s Day. As the President of the North Carolina Parent Teacher Association and an educator, I know that we have too few nurses per students — leaving many schools with a nurse one day a week or less and with teachers and administrators needing to respond to health emergencies and manage the daily needs of our children’s many chronic health needs. Each school nurse in the state serves an average of 1,112 students, serving far more students than the federally recommended ratio of one nurse per 750 students.

To the Editor:

I would like to add some additional comments to Martin Dyckman’s guest column in the Feb. 21 Smoky Mountain News. It is true that the National Rifle Association executives and official “spokespersons” drive the debate on common sense gun regulation.   

However, it is a sad commentary on the quality of leadership of the NRA and the politicians they have “bought” that the most irrational opinions on how to prevent another mass shooting in our schools were made by Wayne LaPierre, NRA president, and other spokespersons for the NRA. 

It should be particularly embarrassing to the 66 percent or so of the rank-and-file members of the NRA that support common sense gun regulations that the most articulate and common sense comments have come from the teenagers who survived the latest incident at Parkland School, and not their organization’s leadership. 

It is clear that the leadership of the NRA speaks for the gun manufacturers and not the majority of sportsmen who make up the rank-and-file membership. It is also clear that our congressional delegation also votes the money and not the wishes of their constituents.

If you believe in the Second Amendment, you believe in sensible gun regulation, just like the Founding Fathers who wrote it did. Here is the full text of Second Amendment as written in our Constitution: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (look it up if you think I am lying). Clearly, the authors of this amendment thought that having regulations did not “infringe” on your right to own guns. Even Justice Antonin Scalia, like the Founding Fathers, believed the “right to bear Arms” was not limitless. 

If you are a hunter of any sort, you also believe in sensible gun regulations. All states have rules that regulate hunting in the interest of public safety, safety for those hunting and for sustainable game numbers so future generations have something to hunt. All states have rules that regulate:

• The time of year, the time of day, the places you can hunt and the daily limit you can have in your possession and the type of license you must have.

• The type of weapon you can use to hunt various game, the number of rounds in the gun and the type of bullets you can use-no military type weapons and exploding bullets.

• How you can use dogs in the hunt, what type “call” can be used to lure game and what if any type of “baiting” can be done.

If you duck hunt for example, you can only use a shotgun with a limit of three shells in the chamber at a time, the pellets in the shell have to be non-toxic and there is a daily limit of six birds in specific combinations. Extended magazines or exploding bullets are not permitted for any game. Has anyone come to take your gun because of these rules?

My question for NRA sportsmen is why are you willing to follow these regulations for things like ducks and deer but you are not willing to give our children the same kinds of protective regulations? Why does LaPierre freak out if anyone mentions regulations on assault style weapons as a violation of the Second Amendment rights but does not say a word about hunting regulations infringing on your Second Amendment rights? 

I know why LaPierre does it. He speaks only for the gun manufacturers’ money, but uses your membership to claim he is speaking for all NRA members. He is usurping your votes to leverage power for the gun makers while turning your NRA organization into a fringe element.

If you are a member of the 66 percent of rank- and-file members supporting common sense gun regulation to protect our children and public safety in general, there are three things you need to do right now to support the latest teenage victims’ call to action.

First, you need to begin today to organize the 66 percent to take back your organization from the executives owned by the gun manufacturers.  Vote anyone supporting manufacturers out of office and elect executives that will take the NRA back to its original mission of promoting responsible gun ownership, gun safety for all, education and responsible shooting sports, many of which are Olympic events. 

Sixty-six percent is a two-thirds majority of the membership, which should be enough to vote the current executives out but you need to speak out and get actively involve. How many more children have to die to move you to action?

Second, you need to be calling your state and federal senators and representatives at least weekly demanding they vote for common sense gun regulations to give your children and grandchildren at least as much protection as ducks and deer. Remind them that you are part of the 66 percent of rank-and-file NRA members who want common sense gun regulations and will only vote for people that support those measures. Tell them to quit going for the money and do their jobs of representing the will of their constituents. Show up at town halls and visit their local offices and tell them the same thing.

Third, you need to follow the voting record of both your state and federal representatives in government. We have known at least since Columbine that our representatives talk a lot and offers prayers and sympathy but they only vote the money. Follow how your representatives vote and ignore what they say. It is how they vote that gets action. All votes have to be recorded and are public record. You can look them up the Senate and House websites. Do the work to be informed about their actions not their newsletters and photo ops and promise to hold them accountable in future elections. Vote your conscience, not your fear, for the safety of all our children. Most of all vote! It is the most powerful thing you can do to protect our children.

Jane Harrison

Haywood County resident and former social studies teacher

To the Editor:

Our state’s senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, have consistently opposed event he most modest form of gun reform. As reported in The Charlotte Observer, Burr received nearly $7 million from the National Rifle Association while Tillis received $4.5 million. Only one other U.S. senator received more from the NRA than Burr. Only three, including Burr, received more than Tillis. Both have A+ ratings on legislation supported by the NRA. These are our guys in the Senate. Bought and paid for.

Robert Michael Jones

Sylva

To the Editor:

In reference to a recent article I read in The Smoky Mountain News, maybe if you took time to listen to Fox News it would educate you some. Common sense, instead of fake news, would help you realize President Trump loves our country, our flag and bringing back companies to America for jobs.

Liberals like yourself must be out of touch with reality. Trump will drain the swamp. It’s a disgrace what has happened to our country that we are so full of hatred to each other. Sad. We are living in a lost world because of Washington, D.C., liberals. Shame on you, too.

Nan Smith

Waynesville

A proposal to add two weeks to the bear-hunting season in North Carolina’s Mountain Bear Management Unit didn’t pass muster during an N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission meeting held Feb. 28 in Raleigh. 

A missing person search along the Blue Ridge Parkway last weekend ended when Jackson County emergency responders found the body of Ralph Brady, 55, of Bryson City, about 30 yards from the Parkway near Waterrock Knob. 

Three area organizations landed a collective $6,000 to support youth environmental education following an online voting contest hosted by Diamond Brand Outdoors, of Asheville, in partnership with Patagonia. 

A new meditation pier that will extend more than 40 feet into the water and seat eight people is under construction at Lake Junaluska on the south end of the Memorial Chapel parking lot. 

In keeping with the long tradition of women within indigenous cultures crafting fermented beverages, Seven Clans Brewing is born. 

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., introduced legislation to supplement counties that have expended local taxes on federal land for services like fire protection, police cooperation, or longer roads to circumnavigate federal property. Counties are not allowed to tax federal lands. 

Cars lined the sides of U.S. 19 in Bryson City Monday night as people tried to find their way inside the small Swain County Board of Elections office to attend a public hearing regarding Sheriff Curtis Cochran’s eligibility for office. 

Regional

Three-term incumbent Congressman Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, has a number of challengers this year, including one from his own party. Buncombe County Republican Chuck Archerd says he’s only running in case Meadows accepts a job in the Trump administration. 

Thursday, March 15th • Ingles Markets, 29 Tunnel Rd., Asheville, 3-6 p.m.