By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

In the 10 years since the opening of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in November 1997, a remarkable transformation has occurred among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The casino has brought a surge of unprecedented economic growth to this once-depressed community.

The Christmas Curmudgeon is available at: Barnes &Noble.com, the Western Carolina Internet Café in Dillsboro, or directly from the author at James Cox, P. O. Box 272, Whittier, NC, 28789. Send check ($14.95 plus postage) and your name and address.

Hark! Do you hear it? It is the faint drum rolls of “The Little Drummer Boy.” Rumma-Tum-Tum, and it is growing nearer every day. Yes, the “Holiday Season” is coming. In another week, the malls will be packed, the traffic will gridlock and our TVs will resound with hearty enticements to max out our credit cards.

Things are changing in Canton. That in itself is somewhat newsworthy.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

With a new town board, a new town manager, and a growing influx of young Asheville commuters looking for affordable housing, the town of Canton is setting itself up for some major changes — and students from Western Carolina University want to help.

By Adam Bigelow • Guest Columnist

The morning chill had lifted, mist had risen into the air, and as I walked towards the waiting group I had no idea what to expect from this day. We were all here for the same purpose, and my apprehension had not dissolved with the mist. I was running late this morning and afraid that I had missed the event, but out of the corner of my eye I saw the guest of honor. Tied to a swing set. Awaiting his fate.

By Michael Beadle

Terry Painter and his wife Anita love collecting ornaments for their Christmas tree each year, but they found that fewer and fewer ornaments bore any connection to the actual holiday.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Up in the mountains along Caney Fork Road in Jackson County lies an important prehistoric artifact to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Judaculla Rock, a large soapstone boulder located approximately three miles off of U.S. 107, is covered with numerous petroglyphs that some say contain the secrets to the universe.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Developers in Swain County eyeing a quick, easy connection to Bryson City’s sewer system for their newly built properties are out of luck — at least for now. Bryson’s town board is currently denying sewer services to anyone that lives outside of the immediate town limits.

By David Curtis

Trees are making the news again in Haywood County as two commissioners are debating the sugar maples in front of the historical courthouse. To cut or not to cut is the question, but, as usual, the answer is not always black or white, chainsaw or shovel, tree hugger or developer.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Dealing with stray dogs and cats has been a problem for Macon County officials for some time now, Sheriff Robbie Holland said.

An ornately decorated tree in the foyer of the Women’s Care Center at Haywood Regional Medical Center will help families who have lost children at, or shortly after, birth because of birth defects.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Tommy Calhoun of Whittier stares at a web page on his white Mac notebook’s screen. He is checking his email at Bubacz’s Underground, a coffee shop in downtown Sylva. Connecting to the Underground’s wireless Internet service is much more convenient for Calhoun than connecting to the Internet at his mountain home, where he has dial-up service.

Flight Of The Conchords on DVD

Two discs of complete silliness from Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, New Zealand’s “not quite best but pretty good” digi-folk satire band, Flight Of The Conchords. It’s an oddball blend of sitcom and musical theater, with whole sections of dialogue morphing into twisted tunes that deal with subjects like the relative hotness of one’s girlfriend in relation to any other women within the general vicinity of room, street or block.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Nearly 200 people packed a Swain County public hearing on Dec. 10 to voice their opposition to the county’s first-ever development regulations — a subdivision ordinance dictating road widths and grades.

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino quietly marked its 10th anniversary in November, but it’s impossible to ignore exactly what it has meant to the Eastern Band of Cherokee and its members. It has been the catalyst for a proud people to turn around their economic plight, and in doing so use the gaming revenues to preserve a culture and history that is part of the story of all the Americas and this county.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

This Christmas season, Laura Ammons has scoured for presents for her loved ones, checking off her list as she scoops up the perfect item. Rather than encountering a mad frenzy of crowds, however, Ammons sits quietly and peacefully (to the envy of many harried shoppers) while she does her Christmas shopping — online.

By Brent Martin

We see it everywhere we look in Western North Carolina — land advertised and marketed for its proximity to the national forests. One advertisement that I saw recently for such land perhaps said it best: going, going, gone. A recent report by the U.S. Forest Service titled National Forests On The Edge (October, 2007) listed North Carolina’s National Forests fourth in the nation for the most threatened due to development pressure around their boundaries.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

As mayor of Canton, Pat Smathers has overcome his fair share of obstacles — most notably the floods that devastated this Haywood County community in 2004. Now, Smathers is gearing up to face perhaps the biggest challenge of his career — attempting to become the first Western North Carolinian in more than three decades to win a high-level state office.

By Chris Cooper

Before getting started, let me say that I completely missed Grace Potter’s performance at the Christmas Jam. Heard she was fantastic. Didn’t see Jackson Browne either — heard he was a little depressing. In fact, once I arrived at the Asheville Civic Center (and by the time we’d succumbed to defeat in finding anything resembling “convenient” parking, found a lot at street level and climbed that massive hill to the front entrance) my nose was frozen, my fingers were numb and Bruce Hornsby was finishing up “End Of The Innocence.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

As captain of the Maggie Valley police department, Jason Moody normally keeps his emotions in check. Today, though, as he leads a tour around the police department’s new building, he’s beaming.

Looking for a Christmas present? Western North Carolina is home to many outdoors organizations, conservation groups, outing clubs, nature societies and environmental non-profits in need of charitable contributions.

After a successful five-month run at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the “Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee and British Delegations,” will return to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and reopen on Jan. 3.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Officials at Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority are waiting for the go-ahead from the state to increase sewer treatment plant capacity, which could end the current moratorium on sewer hook-ups.

It marked the end of an era for North Shore Road supporters and Blue Ridge Paper Products, and ushered a new wave of progressives into office. Counties tackled tough development questions, voters said no to taxes that would have funded schools, and whispers of election fraud were heard in Swain County and Cherokee. All in all, 2007 was one for the books.

For those of us who have been beating the drum about the need for mountain communities to get serious about land-use planning, it’s been an eventful year. Not only was a lot of real progress made in 2007, but signs point to an even brighter future as many progressive candidates won seats on county and town boards throughout the region.

By Chris Cooper

Years ago I read an article in one of the many music and entertainment publications out there in which Elvis Costello laid out his ideal playlist for a 12-hour day. It was enlightening; reading the list of musical selections the bespectacled one chose for the time allotted — much of which not being what one would expect.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Sylva Town Board members are brainstorming for ways to manage Pinnacle Park, 1,100 acres of land located at the northern part of town that is widely used by locals for hiking and camping.

By David Curtis

“Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new born King.”

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

After 64 years, it looks like the battle over the North Shore Road in Swain County may have finally reached a resolution.

There are two ways to hike to Pinnacle Peak, which is renowned for its 360-degree views from the Plott Balsams.

By John Armour

We have two cats: Weasel, a grey female calico, and Orion, a male orange and white tabby. Orion is a big, lump of a cat, twenty pounds if he’s an ounce. He’s taught me a lesson for years that I finally realized today. He teaches by example.

Western Carolina University’s board of trustees unanimously approved proposed tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year, including increases to support operational costs for a new indoor recreation center currently under construction and to begin meeting student requests for enhanced campus health services.

A Franklin-based mining company has filed an appeal against the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources decision denying a permit to operate a rock quarry in the Tuckasegee community in Jackson County.

Christmas Eve dinner

Not the particular food, per se, but the tradition. In our home it’s Lori’s homemade lasagna, and one pan probably weighs 10 pounds because it has so much cheese, meat and pasta. My pasta-loving children get all up in the mix helping her make it and devouring a good portion of the extra — purposely included in the preparations as the eating during cooking is part of the tradition — during the process. It hits the oven when we leave for Mass, and it’s ready when we return. Lots of bread dipped in oil, perhaps a salad, and it’s a feast. My wife is carrying on her mother’s tradition, and it’s a good one. Nothing like warmed over lasagna for lunch after the Christmas morning rush to the presents.

Raking

Everyone else is done, and their leaf blowers are neatly packed away. I’ve still got a quarter of my yard to go, but I’ll take my time. Here’s one tradition I’ll keep, that of pulling out the rake and getting rid of the yard litter. Yeah, it takes forever. Yeah, I could be done by now. But I like the time outdoors, like using the retro rake, and I absolutely despise the noise of leaf blowers. I’ll be finished sometime before the daffodils start blooming.

The rush of post-holiday fitness freaks

OK, my gym is already getting crowded. That’s the pre-holiday fitness folks who are preparing for the food that seems to keep pouring in from every direction. After Jan. 1 the influx really gets huge. It’s fun to see new people at the fitness center, in the cardio area, the gym, the weight room. It’s like a party for a while. Then it ends. The one-month trial membership limps to a close. Come on, hang around this year. Here’s to hoping we’ll still be seeing each other in June.

— Scott McLeod

By Tom Jensen • Guest Columnist

John Edwards and Mike Huckabee are the most popular Presidential candidates in their own parties in Western North Carolina, according to recent surveys conducted by Raleigh’s Public Policy Polling. But Rudy Giuliani is the most popular candidate with the public at large in WNC.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

On June 1, 2007, A.J. Rowell left Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and began pedaling a bicycle across North America. Just before 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 19), the Jackson County native pulled into Sylva, seven months and nearly 10,000 miles later.

A ridgeline tract adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooking Waynesville has been saved from development, thanks to the acquisition of the property by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Frank Singleton, the spokesman for the 4,500-acre proposed Cataloochee Wilderness Resort in Haywood County, stopped by The Smoky Mountain News office to answer some questions about the planned development. Singleton said the ball is definitely rolling on the project, with announcements about retail operations set to come in the next few weeks and a public presentation planned for the end of January. He addressed public opposition to the project, the developers’ appearance at a county commissioners meeting on Dec. 17, and the involvement of Dean Moses, a Haywood County businessman notorious for questionable business dealings he made here six years ago.

By Stephanie Wampler

A thick, green sheet of moss is growing across my roof. When I first noticed it the other day, driving home, I grimaced. I thought, “Somebody’s going to have to get up there and spray it off. We’ll get rid of it, but it won’t be gone forever. Oh, no. It’ll come back, next year and the year after and the year after that.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

For more than 60 years, students have been learning at Cowee Elementary School. But with the rise in Macon County’s student population, county leaders are looking to build a new school to accommodate the county’s sudden influx of pupils.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Landfills in North Carolina should become a lot emptier due to a new law requiring nearly 8,000 restaurants to start recycling alcoholic beverage containers.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Students at Smokey Mountain Elementary and Cherokee Indian Reservation schools will be learning an important lesson about land development.

Walter Kulash, a private traffic engineer, has been advising the Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance on and off for four years on issues pertaining to the Southern Loop. Kulash specializes in “livable traffic” design and has worked as a consultant on projects all over the country. Kulash will be speaking at a presentation on Jan. 10 hosted by Smart Roads. We asked him for his take whether there’s a fix for N.C. 107 that doesn’t involve the Southern Loop.

Kinky Boots

Start the year off on the right foot with this 2005 Brit flick starring Joel Edgerton as Charlie Price, the hapless inheritor of a shoe factory, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola, the charming drag queen who sets Charlie’s world on fire with the idea for a new niche market of sexy boots. Life allows us to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, if only to learn more about our own insecurities and hidden abilities. In this case, these shoes come in the form of “two-and-a-half feet of tubular sex.” The film’s soundtrack ain’t too shabby either with soulful hits from David Bowie, Nina Simone, and James Brown. My favorite is the sassy salsa number “In These Shoes” by Kirsty MacColl.

Exercise Calendar & Stickers

While you’re making those New Year’s resolutions, try charting your progress on a calendar. Better yet, each day you work out at the gym, run, swim, bike, aerobicize or get some form of exercise, mark it with a sticker — like the ones you used to get for good work in kindergarten. It may seem silly, but it works as a motivator. Keep the calendar somewhere in the house where you’ll see it every day. I keep mine on the bathroom mirror. I like using a colorful assortment of thumbnail-sized stickers with pictures of googly-eyed bugs, butterflies, flowers and fruit. Add a little fun to your exercise goals in ‘08.

Bad President

Count down the last days of Dubya’s lame duck presidency with this handy page-a-day desk calendar featuring head-shaking Bush quotes, fun facts on countless White House blunders, lies from Cabinet lackeys, and quips from your favorite comedians about the Commander of Misspeak. Take another walk through the hall of shame that leads to the Oval Office. The trillion-dollar disaster in Iraq. How we went to war on phony and misleading evidence. Underestimating the subsequent Iraqi insurgency and civil war. Billions in military contracts missing or unaccounted for. Warrantless wiretapping that began seven months before 9/11. Denials of torture and secret prisons only to be proven true. The underfunded, ill-advised, high-stakes testing farce known as No Child Left Behind. The Katrina fiasco. Lax environmental protection. Tax breaks for the rich. Poverty rates that have risen steadily since Bush took office. A ballooning deficit ($9.1 trillion and counting). But you can bet, ol’ George is grateful for his time in the saddle as Leader of the (sort-of) Free World. In his own words back in 2004, he challenged us to hope: “I’m honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein.”

— Michael Beadle

By Chris Cooper

Looking back on the albums and/or shows (be they local, regional or major label offerings) I’ve had the opportunity to write about over the last year, two things struck me: 1) that I was lucky enough to hear all this music in the first place, sometimes even for free, and 2) that I wouldn’t have heard any of it on the “radio.” I know, that’s a pretty easy target these days. The real challenge might be finding anybody that doesn’t hate mainstream radio.

By Michael Beadle

A lawyer battling personal demons returns to a small town near Pittsburgh where a sensational crime forces him to face up to following the letter of the law — even if that means letting a dangerous criminal go free.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

“Overall, it’s been a really tough year for farming,” said Jackson County farmer William Shelton as he reflected back on 2007.

“It’s one for the history books,” agreed Bill Skelton, director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Haywood County.

The best news about the proposed Cataloochee Wilderness Resort is that it appears that from here on out, there will be at least some public disclosure on whatever progress is made. At least that is what representatives of the development group are saying, and there’s no doubt that media scrutiny will be very high.

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

After investigating the actions of the Macon County School Board for the past two months, officials at the North Carolina State Board of Elections have determined that the school district violated two campaign finance statutes.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

The crowning achievement of Haywood County’s bicentennial celebration is a 600-page, hardcover book that will be the first definitive account of the county’s 200-year history.