To the Editor:

When it comes to health insurance, North Carolina has the sixth largest uninsured population in the nation. One in five Jackson County residents under the age of 65 is uninsured, nearly twice the state average.

Who would benefit directly from Medicaid expansion? People who work one or even two jobs but don’t make enough money to afford health care or qualify for Medicaid under North Carolina’s eligibility rules; or earn too little to purchase coverage plans using subsidies from the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). That would include at least 2,488 people in Jackson County, 2,549 in Haywood, and 833 in Swain. In North Carolina, half a million people!

More than 40 percent of N.C. residents have annual incomes below $17,236 for a single household or $29,435 for a family of three. By expanding Medicaid, our communities could bring health benefits to fast food and restaurant employees, retail workers, cleaning and maintenance workers, production workers, construction laborers, veterans, our friends, our neighbors, ourselves.

 Passing CLEAN Medicaid expansion legislation, a plan currently being considered in Raleigh (HB5 and SB3), would not only help those who are currently uninsured, it would strengthen our communities through better health care. For example, Medicaid expansion would help fight the opioid crisis by expanding and/or maintaining access to addiction treatment. North Carolina had the second highest increase in overdose deaths in the country in 2017. And our rural hospitals would get a financial boost. Five rural hospitals have recently shuttered their doors and eight more are at risk of financial distress.

 New businesses would become more interested in investing in our communities. Estimates tell us that Medicaid expansion could create 305 jobs, bring in $103 million in business activity and $668,000 in new tax revenue for Jackson County. In Haywood it could create 115 jobs, $55 million in new business activity and $767,000 in new tax revenue. In Swain it could create 833 new jobs, $11 million in new business activity and $61,000 in new tax revenue.

 Ninety percent of the funding for expansion would come from taxes we have to pay to the government. The cost of expansion would almost immediately be recouped by the jobs produced, by decreasing uncompensated costs to hospital emergency rooms, and by increased business activity and tax revenue. We could lower costs even more and help more people if we also reduce unnecessary administrative hurdles such as excessive reporting requirements by passing the CLEAN Medicaid Expansion bill.

Join in

Please join DownHome NC of Jackson County and Indivisible Common Ground WNC at a nonpartisan rally to support CLEAN Medicaid Expansion on Febgruary 14 at 4:30 p.m. at 500 Mill St  in Sylva. Additional information may be found at www.ncjustice.org.

Joan Parks

Whittier

To the Editor:

I am opening The American Museum of the House Cat at a new location in April. I want to make this a landmark that will continue to bring the people who like cats to visit Sylva and the surrounding area. Since the museum opened in 2017, more than 12.000 people have visited. I have a person who has asked if I will be open in June. She is coming to the area from Amsterdam. The museum has become a place of interest to the world. 

Together we can make it even better. There is a lot of open space at the new location. I’d like to offer this space to artists who will put something there that relates to the cat. It could be a sculpture, a painting on the outside wall of the museum. Anything that would cause “cat people” and any others who are interested and are driving along U.S. 441 to stop.

Once they visit the museum, we will urge and direct them to other attractions. We could use help inside the museum too. I am enlarging the mock carousel that we have. It carries eight antique carved carousel cats. These will be placed in a circle under a carousel top, which will have eight rounding boards. These are about four feet long and two feet high. Each has a 16-by-20-inch frame in the middle.

I want to put paintings in each that will depict scenery and other attractions in our area. This would include: the courthouse, the Smokey Mountain Railroad, the Blue Ridge Parkway, local waterfalls, and anything else. I want local artists to paint these. I have matching frames. These will inform and attract interest. I could use a carpenter to help me built the carousel itself. There are others needs. Just ask what you can do to help promote northern Jackson County. 

Are you interested? Want to display your art? Contact me by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 828 476 9376. 

Harold Sims

Cullowhee

The Dogwood Alliance released a new video series on wetlands for World Wetlands Day, which was Feb. 2. 

The city of Pigeon Forge is gaining national attention for its work to safeguard the community against wildfires, having recently received the Wildfire Mitigation Award — the highest honor a community can get for outstanding work in wildfire risk reduction. 

Haywood Community College President Dr. Barbara Parker announced her intent to retire, effective Dec. 31, 2019, at the college board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Haywood County Schools officials at Canton Middle School learned that a threatening message (bomb threat) was written on a restroom wall at school.

Haywood Community College President Dr. Barbara Parker announced her intent to retire, effective Dec. 31, 2019, at the college board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

To the Editor:

Safe roads. Safe airports. Safe air travel. Clean water. Clean air. Safe streets. Consumer protection. Safe waste management. Clean, affordable energy. Qualified medical care. Protection from objects flying through space. Safety regarding natural disasters. Military protection from attack. Free/affordable public education for all. Individual rights. Social Security. Medicare.

The above is a partial list of benefits of working together through taxation to provide for all American citizens. Some lament these as a form of socialism. Socialism is defined as: “any of various theories or systems of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of society or the community sharing in the work and the products.” However, most Americans recognize that private enterprise is alive and well in America, co-existing harmoniously with “socialism” for the betterment of us all.

What is currently a threat to our democracy, however, is a form of fascism that is growing much like kudzu. Kudzu grows almost a foot per day in the southeastern United States. In its native Asian environment it hardly grows larger than a sweet potato plant. Fascism is defined as: “a system of government characterized by rigid one party dictatorship, forcible suppression of opposition, private economic enterprise under centralized government control, belligerent nationalism, racism, and militarism, etc.” 

Most Americans have little awareness of a plot by wealthy, prominent Americans to render President Franklin D. Roosevelt helpless while secretly installing a fascist government in America during the early 1930s. For a clear picture of this sinister plot let me recommend a book written by Jules Archer entitled “The Plot to Seize the White House.” After you have studied Archer’s account of events ,decide whether you prefer a democracy with a pinch of socialism like we already have or a fascist regime run by the wealthy and privileged class of people who have been working systematically for years to quietly set up their regime. Fascism and democracy cannot co-exist. 

You might want to ask yourself if you would be on the inside or the outside  of a fascist regime managed by the super- rich. 

Will our democracy survive? Some say freedom is not free. We must pay for it partly by paying attention to the political moves being made around and to us every day by those who want even more money and more power than they currently possess.

Dave Waldrop

Webster

To the Editor:

The “Meadows stands for national security” letter written by Ted Carr clearly linked the word “resist” with Democrats. So, I want to refresh Mr. Carr’s memory about Republican resistance/obstructionism which was, at times, “unprecedented” during Obama’s presidency.

Remember these words in 2010 by then Speaker of the House John Boehner regarding Obama’s agenda: “We’re going to do everything … to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell then followed up with his plan of action by saying, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” 

As for Rep. Mark Meadows … I view him as the face of resistance in the U.S. House. He’s widely recognized as the architect of the 2013 government shutdown and he recently advised Donald Trump “now is the time to fight” for his  border wall funding, which ultimately led to a historic 35 day shutdown. 

To add insult to injury, Meadows told furloughed federal workers that a shutdown comes with the territory — “it’s part of what they signed up for in a public service job,” he said.

On Jan. 30 Meadows led the floor debate to defeat a bill that would prevent future shutdowns. In a recent Washington Post column, the reporter suggests that Meadows’ power role in the new Congress will be “outside agitator” (to Trump), just like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh.

While Mr. Carr urged Meadows and Trump to work to achieve bipartisan solution to the shutdown, Meadows’ doesn’t appear to be headed in that direction. He indicated to the Washington Post reporter that over the past few months he’s been developing a new playbook and his final words regarding his tactics were: “Best done stealthily.”

Stealthily is defined as operating “in a cautious and surreptitious manner, so as not to be seen or heard.” Sorry, Mr. Carr, but it doesn’t sound as though Meadows is going to take your advice. It sounds more like “resistance” to me! 

Myrna Campbell

Waynesville

A trap-and-release effort based in North Carolina is helping to boost wild turkey populations in Texas. 

Three water champions were recognized for their work to improve Haywood County’s rivers, streams and reservoirs during 2018 at Haywood Waterways Association’s annual membership dinner last month.

The federal government shutdown created some delays in getting applications processed for the Agriculture Disaster Relief Program of 2018, but the first two rounds of checks from the $240 million program have now been sent. 

Macon County Commissioners Jim Tate and Ronnie Beale and County Manager Derek Roland recently joined voting delegates from counties throughout the state to determine the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ legislative priorities for the 2019-20 biennium session of the North Carolina General Assembly. 

HCA Healthcare, a leading healthcare provider with 185 hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care in 21 states and the United Kingdom, today announced it has completed the purchase of Mission Health, a six-hospital system in Asheville and Western North Carolina, for approximately $1.5 billion.  

201 Barber Blvd, Waynesville. Thursday, February 7, 3-6 p.m.

To the Editor:

In last week’s guest opinion column, Isaac Herrin invited us to think rationally about the government shutdown and the President’s wall. OK, challenge accepted. And what better things to ponder than the President’s own words. Let’s take a look at those, then come to rational conclusions, shall we?

Regarding Trump’s border wall, Mr. Herrin states “what he is fighting for is exactly what he campaigned on,” yet he doesn’t state exactly what Trump’s campaign promise was. We’ll let candidate Trump speak for himself. From a campaign memo, April 2016, “It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5 to $10 billion.” From a campaign rally, April 2016, Trump: “Who’s going to pay for the wall?” crowd: “Mexico!” Trump: “A hundred percent!”  

Rational conclusion: the President should not be demanding that we and future generations pay billions of dollars for his wall when he repeatedly said during his campaign that Mexico will pay for it.

Mr. Herrin states “Democrats are unwilling to sit down with the President to discuss border security” yet he offers no proof of that. On January 10, Congressional Democrats did indeed sit down with the President for the sole purpose of discussing the shutdown and border security, but the President chose to walk out abruptly. Although there are differing accounts of exactly how the President left the meeting, no one, not even the President, disputes that he did leave on his own accord.  

Trump’s Twitter words about his departure: “I said bye-bye” (the equivalent of a six-year-old taking his ball and going home just because he isn’t winning the game). Rational conclusion: it is not Democrats who are unwilling to sit down and talk about border security.

In his last sentence, Mr. Herrin blames Democrats for the shutdown yet he doesn’t offer even as much as a suggestion as to how he came to that conclusion. In a televised meeting with Congressional Democrats on December 11, the President said “I am proud to shut down the government ... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.” Rational conclusion: the President alone owns the shutdown. 

Although the word “rational” is a part of the word “rationalizing,” the two words can have nearly opposite meanings. Rationalizing can mean using plausible but untrue reasons in an attempt to justify a false conclusion. In that sense of the word, Mr. Herrin did a bang up job of rationalizing, but if he has any real interest in the truly rational, he will start listening to the words that come from the person he seems so desperate to defend.

Bruce Buchanan

Sylva

To the Editor:

Cannot the “Resisters of the Wall” and Democrats who suggest we don’t need a wall because it’s possible to build a tunnel or ladder understand that deterring illegal immigrants at a barrier with good roads to speed interception would allow more patrol and money for drug detection a  ports of entry where allegedly most contraband enters? If Israel can detect tunnels 180-feet deep, so also could the United States. 

I strongly support President Trump and Congressman Mark Meadow during the government shutdown tied to their border security plan for the protection of our citizens country and sovereignty.

If Meadows/Trump started a legitimate fund that would go to a physical barrier, etc., there are multitudes that would donate. I have little confidence in these unknown “go fund me sites.” That along with a little over $5 billion of our taxes would greatly enhance our security.

I also point out that in 2013 Senate Democrats almost unanimously supported a bill that funded 350 miles of border wall. The $5.7 billion only funds about 240 miles. They supported a bill funding 350 miles and now shut the government down over 240. This seems not a display of wisdom but of hateful ignorance. 

Sue Long

Waynesville

To the Editor:

For the last 19 years I’ve been reading (frequently) how semi-trucks are a hazard on Highlands Road between Highlands and Franklin. Like other persistent knotty problems (drug use, drunk driving, various criminal activities and the like), why is everything so complicated? It ain’t rocket science, why is it made to seem so?

The reason these problems exist and persist is there’s insufficient deterrents. And yes, “stricter law enforcement” (as stated in the January 16 Smoky Mountain News article) is the solution to keeping tractor trailers off Highlands Road.

A few signs cannot be that expensive. But of course it helps if they’re the right signs. For example: “Tractor Trailers Prohibited, Fine (first offense) $1,000, (second offense) $5,000 plus 30 days in jail, last available turn-around, 500 feet.”

Write, and enforce, laws similar to these I have suggested and one hazard will be eliminated...

David L. Snell 

Franklin

According to the District Attorney's Office, it’s gotten quieter in the Dutch Cove community near Canton since Matthew Dillon Smathers, 34, was recently sentenced to 86 to 134 months in prison by Judge Alan Thornburg in Haywood County Superior Court. 

The Junaluska Sanitary District experienced a discharge of untreated sewage from a blockage in a manhole due to mop heads, rags and towels.

Diversity and inclusivity are easy goals for a university to set, inclusion educator Aminata Cairo said during her keynote address Wednesday, Jan. 23, as part of the weeklong Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Western Carolina University.

According to the District Attorny's Office, it’s gotten quieter in the Dutch Cove community near Canton since Matthew Dillon Smathers, 34, was recently sentenced to 86 to 134 months in prison by Judge Alan Thornburg in Haywood County Superior Court. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center will host a public service training and emergency response simulation with local law enforcement and emergency services personnel from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30.

There are so many different types of eggs at my Ingles store these days... can you explain what some of the labels mean like ...organic... free-range... pasture-raised... and cage-free?

By Isaac Herrin • Guest Columnist

OK, let’s get the opposing comments out of the way: “Rationally, Trump should open the government and stop being petty,” “The last thing a Trump supporter is allowed to say is we need to be rational,” “If you think this is on the Democrats, you’re just blind.”

To the Editor:

“Government shutdown is not really about a wall.” Correct. It is the Democrat “resist, resist, resist” philosophy. “... functioning governments require negotiations …” Also correct. Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be negotiating instead of taking a luxurious vacation in Puerto Rico or a seven-day junket. 

Congressman Mark Meadows doesn’t favor shutdown. I hope at every opportunity he is advising President Trump that border security is absolutely necessary for this country as we know it to survive. I hope Congressman Meadows is reminding President Trump that President Reagan made the mistake of taking the word of Democrats who promised a wall in exchange for a one-time amnesty but reneged and are now asking for another amnesty (DACA).

In 2009, Sen. Chuck Schumer said strong border security was necessary. He denies that. Watch One America News network for the truth.  Congressman Meadows doesn’t favor the shutdown but he puts our country ahead of illegal immigrants. Schumer and Pelosi put illegal immigrants ahead of our country and 800,000 unpaid workers due to Democrat inaction.

Our national defense is the President’s foremost duty, to which border security is key. I urge Congressman Meadows and President Trump to stay the course to achieve a bipartisan agreement ending shutdown.

Ted Carr

Bethel

To the Editor:

The other night I dreamed I talked with Jesus. That’s right! Jesus! Jesus Christ! The same Jesus that evangelicals claim to worship. I said, Jesus, the book of Matthew (KJV), Chapter 14, verse 19 reads — “And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.” Later in verse 21 he said — “And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.”

Jesus smiled at me. I said, “Jesus, had you made any eligibility determination before you fed those people? Were there some who were just taking advantage of your generosity like the migrants at the United States/Mexico border are today?”

Jesus looked at me intently and said firmly, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Then He walked away. I woke up wondering if I have been merciful enough with my fellow human beings.

Dave Waldrop

Webster

The Southern Highlands Reserve is honoring two mountain residents as its volunteers of the year. 

Haywood Gleaners is looking for a co-field glean coordinator to assist in its efforts to feed the hungry with fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste. 

Despite the ongoing government shutdown, two visitor centers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were open over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend thanks to a donation from Friends of the Smokies. Appropriations from federal recreation fees are also keeping a third visitor center, as well as a variety of restroom facilities, open during the shutdown. 

The committee leading the national search for the next chancellor of Western Carolina University has narrowed the pool of candidates down to 10 contenders who will be invited to participate in off-campus interviews set for Thursday, Jan. 31, through Saturday, Feb. 2.

The Federal Shut-Down is, or soon will be, affecting federal workers, federal and local food assistance deliveries, food-insecure citizens, and many more. 

An ordinance that would have codified a laboriously passed December resolution abolishing the Qualla Housing Authority was tabled during the Cherokee Tribal Council’s Jan. 10 meeting. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center has begun limited visitation at the hospital due to the increased number of positive flu cases in the hospital, physician practices and urgent care locations. 

The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will be starting a monthly documentary series called “DocuWednesday.” 

Friends of the Smokies announced Thursday that it will temporarily fund the reopening of Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tenn., and Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, N.C., from Friday through Monday, Jan. 18-21.

A Jackson County Detention Center inmate is currently at Mission Hospital in Asheville after having been found unresponsive.

To the Editor:

No living human will witness a return to a preindustrial global climate. Humanity’s best efforts in transitioning away from fossil fuels will be a lengthy process and we have only begun. Science tells us that natural means of carbon capture will take many centuries for a return to normal and we’re currently adding CO2 to the atmosphere at a growing pace. Are we doomed? Well, seemingly, yes.

To the Editor:

“I’m gonna build a big, beautiful wall and Mexico is gonna pay for it, I promise you.” 

The CEO of one of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s most important nonprofit partners recently received a prestigious national award. 

A total eclipse of the moon will occur Sunday, Jan. 20, with multiple opportunities to view this Super Blood Wolf Moon event in the company of experts.