A magistrate judge recently recommended that a federal district court judge order the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to provide universal testing and treatment for Hepatitis C, the most deadly infectious disease in the U.S., to all people who are incarcerated in state prisons.

Inside Ingles: Supermarket Vocabulary 

To the Editor:

As I have said on many occasions, anti-gunners like to ignore the very important comma sign in the second Amendment, indicating a completely new part of the text: “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” has nothing to do with the right of a state to have a well regulated militia. Those are two very different statements.  

Furthermore, there is no such thing as an “assault rifle.” Assault is a state of mind, not a type of rifle — another very important thing that anti-gunners deliberately ignore. The “AR” in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifles, the model being Number 15. 

By not owning a gun, anti-gunners open themselves and their family members to violence inflicted upon them, without those family members being allowed to defend themselves. The fact that anti-gun gun grabbers refuse to defend themselves is akin to suicidal tendencies. That’s OK, it’s their own life they want to throw away. 

Still people are interned for less serious health issues of self harm. But denying their family members the constitutional right to defend themselves is nothing less than abuse. Child abuse if they are minors. Not only are they denying them their constitutional rights, you are jeopardizing their lives! I believe that is a crime in itself, endangering the lives of others. At the very least it should be. 

Owning a gun is not seeing more people murdered but preventing people from being murdered, even gun-grabbing anti-gunners. Call it our civic duty to prevent self-harm to anti-gunners! 

To end this letter, the guns ending up in wrong hands are almost never the legally owned guns. Criminals will always find a way to get a gun. 

One more thing, two things actually. Someone who refuses to own a gun but calls himself a gun owner is a liar. Someone who opposes the right of others to own a gun under the Constitution is not a second Amendment supporter but a liar.

Gino De Neef

Franklin

To the Editor:

This is a shoutout for the folks at Haywood County Animal Services.

Last Sunday (Nov. 19) late afternoon, I heard a dog barking up the drainage pipe in the front of my house. I saw him crawl into the pipe, and never saw him come out. I went down and looked up the pipe and could not see him. I talked with Jeff of the Haywood County Animal Services. He suggested I wait a while and call him if the dog was still in the pipe. 

I checked about 8 p.m. and the dog was still barking in the pipe. I called Jeff, and he came to my house. The dog was still somewhere in the pipe. The pipe runs along the road for about 50 yards, so locating the dog was a problem.

Jeff called for reinforcements, and ultimately two more men (including Doyle Teague, the director) and one woman, Samantha, were on the scene. For four hours, we dug holes in the ground up to three feet deep trying to locate the pipe, and cut into it to locate the dog. Shortly after midnight, we finally were able to see the dog, enlarge the hole in the pipe and free a very happy and hungry red tick coonhound.

I was impressed with the people of Animal Services. They showed a strong desire to rescue an animal in distress and they should be proud of the work they did that night, and every day.

Dave Harrington

Clyde

To the Editor:

A recent letter writer said that the Democrats will do almost anything to get rid of Trump. He is probably right, but for the wrong reasons.

The President recently said he would give Saudi Arabia and its leader the benefit of the doubt about the brutal murder and dismemberment of a journalist and resident of the United States.  Our CIA has said with high certainty that they did it, but that was not good enough for President Trump. He said it would cost too much.

He is worried that they might cut off our oil. The U.S. is now self-sufficient in oil. He is concerned that we will lose huge arms sales to the Saudis, but the actual sales are a small fraction of what he claims. He said we need good allies like the Saudis, but their war in Yemen has caused the death of over 80,000 children from starvation. Even his Republican allies in Congress are crying foul on the Saudi mess as a betrayal of American values and moral leadership.

On the home front, President Trump said, Californians should just rake the leaves off the forest floor, like they do in Finland, then there would be no more wild fires. Ninety percent of the forest land in California is under federal governmental control, so he needs Congress to appropriate money for an army of rakers. That should work.

Don McGahn, the recently fired White House attorney, has admitted that President Trump wanted him to instruct the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute James Comey and Hillary Clinton. Since the days of J. Edgar Hoover  and Watergate there has been an impenetrable wall between any administration and law enforcement. But Trump, who is no student of history, believes that the Justice Department is just a tool to go after anyone who disagrees with him.

There are many countries where this is true — China, Russia, North Korea, Turkey, to name just a few. But as Don McGahn told the president, in this democracy, that is an impeachable offence.

This and much more has happened just in the last two weeks. So it is true that Democrats, as part of  a solid majority of voters in this country, will work very hard to end this stain on our presidency.

Louise Vitale

Franklin

Duke Energy is working on its final phase of a solar project at Mount Sterling, removing utility poles and overhead power lines along a 3.5-mile corridor from the park boundary at Mt. Sterling Road to the Mt. Sterling Fire Lookout Tower. Work is expected to be complete Nov. 30. 

A 324-acre property in the Highlands of Roan is now in public ownership thanks to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. 

For the eighth year running, Western Carolina University has been named one of North America’s most environmentally responsible colleges by The Princeton Review. 

The Jackson County Department of Public Health and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Public Health and Human Services are investigating three cases of Legionnaires disease in people who visited Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort during May through November 2018. 

Canned pumpkin is an excellent source of beta carotene (vitamin A) and fiber so if you have extra cans of 100% pumpkin around, don’t let them go to waste and don’t think you just have to use them to make a pie. Here are a few ideas of what you can do with canned pumpkin.

By Will Studenc

To the Editor:

The Second Amendment states: “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.” Please note the first words: “A well regulated Militia ….”

My mother used to ask me if I meant to do something she had forbade me to do. Then she would ask if I meant not to. I am reminded of this when I see more and more people being killed by military style guns. Do we mean for them to be killed? No! Of course not. But, do we mean for them not to be killed? 

As a gun owner and Second Amendment supporter, I mean not to allow more people to be murdered with an assault weapon. That is why I choose not to own one. I would be afraid it would wind up in the hands of someone who killed people. I would then have some sense of guilt over a needless death. By not owning an assault weapon in spite of the fact that I currently have the right to, I hope I am part of preserving “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that our system of government is meant to secure for all people.

Do you own an assault weapon? If so, why? Are you part of a “well regulated Militia”? Do you mean not to see more people murdered? Does America? 

Dave Waldrop

Webster

To the Editor:

In response to the guest column in the November 7 issue regarding immigration, if you live long and travel wide, you might look back on the Irish toilet experience as downright luxurious.  

Try riding the overnight train from Chang Mai to Bangkok. There is a hole in the floor of the train that goes down to the tracks. A curved metal bar to balance your behind on, if you choose to use it. In Japan they squat over a hole in the floor. A lot of toilets have no water in them, and at times you will find a bucket of water with a dipper to wash the toilet.  

Many countries do not flush paper products down the toilets. At the Folkmoot Center, they have waste bins in the toilets for those dancers that visit from those countries.  

In a fancy restaurant on Martinique in the Caribbean, there was a plank with a hole in it (similar to an outhouse) where you could not see the bottom. Tip: take a couple of plastic grocery bags and ball them up and put one in your purse and one in your carry on. They don’t take a lot of room and you will be surprised how often they come in handy.

When you travel, look well dressed. Neat, clean and well groomed. Agents will go out of their way to help you. Smile and have a little humor. Agents take a lot of abuse from the public.

Those who work in the airports around the world develop a sense of people and notice any small thing out of the ordinary. It could have been your husband’s beard, your braid, or your shoes or anything else. Sometimes they will take a passenger out of a certain line for no reason. Ask them if you can do anything to help make their job easier. 

When I return home from a foreign country (and sometimes want to kiss the ground), as our agents from customs and immigration have finished clearing me, I always say “Thank you for the job you do and keeping us Americans safe.” You might just get a smile and make their day. I worked eight years in an airport in Hawaii. Happy traveling, and a warm Aloha.

Jackie Alexander

Waynesville       

To the Editor:

In the November 7 issue of The Smoky Mountain News, Guest Columnist Autumn Woodward related a harrowing story of detainment by Irish immigration officials who actually were performing the duties expected of immigration officials throughout the world. No doubt, however, such an experience is frightening. Woodward admits that their U.S passports held some strength and privilege, which she alludes to as a condition others entering the U.S may not have.

In Woodward’s launch into the history of U.S. immigration, she recounts the vilifying of Irish immigrants who entered the U.S in the 1850s. What she has omitted is that as the Irish assimilated they and other Americans proceeded to vilify and hate the Italians, Greeks and middle Europeans who came to the USA in the early 1900s. Next were the Puerto Ricans and now immigrants from Mexico and the Middle East are in the unfortunate position once held by the Irish, Italians, Greeks and Puerto Ricans. We are even seeing maligning of white people, especially white males. Is all this a good thing? No! Is it a repeat of history? Regrettably, yes.

However, there is a serious difference between many of today’s immigrants and those in the 1850s and early 1900s. Today we have people who seek to enter and do enter the U.S. illegally, which was not the case with earlier legal immigrants. Of course we should stop the thousands who are marching towards and now have reached the United States seeking asylum. True asylum seekers would apply for asylum in the first country encountered. In the case of the present caravan that would be Mexico.

The U.S. conditions of asylum are to be under fear of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or a particular social group. The conditions for asylum are not lack of a job, seeking a better quality of life and desire to uplift the lives of children. 

Perhaps the answer is that couples like the Woodwards and members of charity, church and private funding organizations join the marchers on their way back to their own country and then work with them to improve their lives and well-being there. The marching immigrants are of an age and ability to develop their own country. In the USA, President Trump rightly is improving the lot of our citizens. Unemployment level has tumbled to numbers unknown for decades, the economy is moving again, workers have seen pay raises and taxes are lower. These improvements benefit U.S citizens who should be the number one focus of our federal, state and county governments.

Carol Adams

Glenville

To the Editor:

While I agree with Cecil GOP Precinct Chair Ted Carr’s statement in Cory Vaillancourt’s “Eastbound and down” article (The Smoky Mountain News, Nov. 14 edition, www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/25944) that there is a distinct difference between voters who reside in a farming community and those who live in a town or city, I strongly disagree that farmers are the only ones who “think for themselves.” Also, if Fox News is the primary information source for many of them, that may preclude their independent thinking. 

I found Mr. Carr’s comparison of Waynesville (Democratic) voters to mindless rodents who “follow the leader off a cliff” to be unprofessional and highly offensive.    

As the official representative of his precinct, Mr. Carr should strive to promote civility between our two parties instead of making statements that only serve to polarize.

Furthermore, I encourage Mr. Carr to do a little more research on the lemming. According to what I read in a Nov. 26, 2014, Smithsonian Magazine article, the belief that lemmings throw themselves off cliffs is a popular myth that originated in “faked documentary footage” from the Disney Corporation. 

In closing, I commend Mr. Carr and his wife for all the hard work they did to get their Republican candidates elected on November 6. At the same time, I want to remind him that the Christian faith he so strongly professes to follow teaches winners to be humble and gracious in their victory. 

He needs to rethink his statements and issue an apology to the Democratic voters in Waynesville.

Myrna Campbell, Chair

Haywood County Democratic Party

A group of climate activists based in Asheville is nearly finished a 10-day Thanksgiving fast aimed at bringing attention to climate change issues. 

Alarka Institute in Cowee is now selling seeds from the Franklinia, one of the rarest shrubs in the world.

Tanbark Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed until further notice after pieces of the tunnel’s natural rock ceiling began to come loose. To effectively route visitors away from the tunnel, the Parkway will be closed from milepost 355.3 at N.C. 128 north of Montreat to milepost 375.6 at Ox Creek Road near Weaverville.

A two-year effort to rehabilitate Rainbow Falls Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now complete, and the next Trails Forever project has been announced — Trillium Gap Trail, a 6.6-mile path that intersects with the Rainbow Falls Trail at Mount LeConte. 

The rehabilitation of Trillium Gap Trail will take two years, beginning in May 2019, and will be conducted together with other critical work across the park on trails such as the Deep Creek Trail, Rough Fork Trail, Smokemont Trail and Noah Bud Ogle Trail. Trillium Gap Trail and associated parking areas will be closed from May 6, 2019, through Nov. 14 of that year, from 7 a.m. Mondays through 5:30 p.m. Thursdays. It will be open on federal holidays. Work will resume in 2020. 

An art-focused fundraising event raised more than $40,000 for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation last month, allowing for education and improvements to continue along the 469-mile corridor. 

A weekly fly tying class has started at Outdoor 76 in Franklin, held 6 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday. 

An environmental assessment for a rule that would allow members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to gather sochan in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is out for comment through Thursday, Dec. 13. 

The early spring leaves of sochan, also known as the green-headed coneflower, have traditionally been an important food source for Cherokee people, whose large territory used to encompass the area now covered by the park. The Qualla Boundary currently abuts the park boundary, but gathering any type of plant or plant part is uniformly prohibited in the Smokies. 

LifePoint Health and RCCH HealthCare Partners have completed their merger and will now begin operating as one united company under the LifePoint Health name. 

Sometimes we hear people make statements like, “I don’t eat any processed foods!” …and then open up a Greek yogurt or order hummus with pita bread… and all of those foods are processed. What I think some health gurus are trying to say when they make that sort of pronouncement is in fact, “Avoid or limit foods that have been highly processed and include high amounts of fats, sodium (salt) or sugars.” 

To the Editor:

The first duty of government to its citizens is to safeguard them from acts of violence. Instead, the President suggests that worshiping Jews, Christians, Muslims and school teachers bear the responsibility and costs of hiring private armies to protect our people and our institutions.

I don’t want live in a country where we need armed guards in houses of worship and schools. The President’s offhand solution to the violence in our nation, this time in Pittsburgh, is repugnant. If more guns in schools and churches is the answer, then God help us.

George Soros and the media cannot be blamed for the President’s dereliction of duty. In the meantime, the President is obsessed with sending a militia to turn back thousands of families fleeing from murderous violence in their homelands.

In demonizing “the other,” President Trump incites the acts of hate that he professes to deplore. He can express condemnation of such acts all he wants, but his calls for harsher punishments fail to address remedies that might actually work to prevent hate crimes, such as, stricter screening for buyers of firearms and explosives and a toning down of his divisive rhetoric.

The President wants to turn back the clock to a time when “America was great.” He chooses to ignore that his mythical time of American greatness included a time when the people choose our leaders, not the courts or an outdated electoral process, a time when political discourse was measured by civility, a time when armed guards in schools and churches was an unimaginable necessity.

I have no expectation that the President will change his bellicose, hate-driven rhetoric, but we the people who live in the backdrop of the current political divisiveness can do more. All of us should strive to make a sincere effort to treat those whose political opinions we disagree with respect. And let’s do a better job of practicing what our religious faith and moral compasses teach.

John Barry

Franklin

To the Editor:

Another large rainfall event is visiting our mountains this week, which can lead to flash floods and dangerous driving conditions. I can't help but wonder if some improvement might be attained by simply keeping the drains unclogged that are choked with debris from months of neglect. Call the Division of Street/DOT road crew, etc.? 

I did back before Flo was possibly coming at us. I was told it would be checked out but nothing has been unclogged along Russ Avenue yet. Primarily across from Kmart all going downhill towards Lake Junaluska. I've noticed other roads and areas as well. I'm sure there are different departments whose responsibility this task falls upon, but I think safety and common sense should prevail.  

Mylan Sessions 

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Now that the rest of the nation has seen the reality of the Trump Administration and voted out the GOP House majority, I would like to suggest our local Congressman, Republican Mark “Gerrymander” Meadows,  be nominated for the Chairmanship of the U.S. House Sanitation Committee. Perhaps the Democrats, who now control the House, will see fit to place Meadows, a Floridian and North Carolina pretender, to atop the committee. 

Meadows, a holdout from the dwindling Republican Party, would be an exemplary congressman for overseeing the removal of trash from Capitol Hill. He is a true, proven “garbage-man.” I might suggest his buddy, Californian Rep. Devin Nunes, be nominated for vice chairman of the Sanitation Committee. Both GOP “representatives” have truly been disgraceful for eroding the U.S. Constitution. 

Meadows is not a patriot, as he has continually put party and ideology above America. Meadows, like Trump, is a proponent for the wealthy at the expense of the working class, and, like Trump, he is an incredible “deceiver.” 

I have little hope average voters in WNC will ever grasp the damage they are doing to themselves by re-electing “Gerrymander”  Meadows to the 11th Congressional District. But, as a native Southerner, I’ve dealt with dumb-assess my entire life; it comes with the territory like deviled eggs, fried chicken and coronary stents.

James Budd

Bryson City

To the Editor:

I would like to thank The Chef’s Table and Harrah’s Cherokee Casino for their generosity of inviting all veterans for a fantastic free buffet on Veterans Day. The staff and food were exceptional. I know all veterans were appreciative of the open arm welcome and the acknowledgement of our service by each of the staff.

I think we all owe Harrah’s our gratitude along with all the other businesses that extended their hands to veterans on this special day. I, as a Vietnam veteran, appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you for supporting and remembering veterans of all wars.

Ron Raccioppi

Cullowhee

By Rhonda Cole Schandevel • Guest Columnist

Good day to all who will take the time to read my long and final post as your past candidate for N.C. House District 118. I will not apologize for the length of my remarks. My family and I have sacrificed three years of our lives to gain this seat and to bring back civility to our community through kindness and compassion. Therefore, there are several things that my heart must share.

A Haywood County man has become the second person to be attacked by a black bear in Western North Carolina this year. 

Veteran ranger Kevin Bischof has been named to the superintendent’s post at Mount Mitchell State Park in Yancey County. 

A $905,000 grant from the Buncombe County Tourism Development authority will make it possible for the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville to hold evening events throughout the year. 

Cataloochee Ski Area opened for the first time this season on Sunday, Nov. 11.

Four new wayside signs have appeared at the Jackson County Greenway, East LaPorte Park and South Painter Park, thanks to a grant from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. 

After two years of work, the new and improved Rainbow Falls Trail is open for business following a Nov. 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony.

A federal judge found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Protection Act when it rolled back protections for the world’s only wild population of red wolves. 

The 2014 Farm Bill expired at midnight Sept. 30, and Congress has thus far failed to reauthorize a new five-year bill, spurring concerns as to the lapse’s potential effect on agriculture. 

Susan Brummell Belcher, wife of late Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher, received one of the top honors bestowed by the university, the Distinguished Service Award, and three alumni were recognized for their achievements Nov. 3 as part of Homecoming activities on campus.

On Thursday, Nov. 15, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will make history by holding oral arguments for the first time in Indian Country, at the Cherokee Court on the Qualla Boundary. 

The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), administrator of this year’s Regional Artist Project Grant (RAPG), is pleased to announce grantees selected for the 2018-19 fiscal year. 

The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), serving as a Designated County Partner of the North Carolina Arts Council, is pleased to announce the 2018-19 subgrantees for the Grassroots Arts Program. 

Taste of Local, Ingles in Weaverville. 140 Weaver Blvd. Thursday, November 15 • 3-6 p.m.

By Autumn Woodward • Guest Columnist

The Irish morning was cool. I’d tumbled over a stone wall into the park to go walking. Under two lines of ancient beech trees a peculiar, crooked figure dressed all in black was moving down the path. Overtaking it (it wasn’t moving fast), I peered sideways. The figure stopped.

A 2.9-mile section of the Bote Mountain Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now open to hikers for the first time since Sept. 24. 

Gov. Roy Cooper has signed an executive order directed at “North Carolina’s commitment to fight climate change and lead transition to a clean energy economy.”

Longtime Haywood County farmer and agricultural community leader Bill Yarborough has been recognized with the highest honor the state has to give, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. 

A celebration of the completed Foothills Parkway section known as the “Missing Link” will be held Thursday, Nov. 8, with community members invited to walk the 1.65-mile section before it opens to motorists and cyclists Saturday, Nov. 10.