Swain Specialty Clinic, the longstanding group of specialty physician practices at Swain Community Hospital, has expanded to a new space in the medical office building on the hospital campus on Hospital Hill.

Consolidated Metco, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of commercial vehicle truck components, will close its Bryson City plant by February 2018.

Question: My doctor advised me to get less sodium because of high blood pressure. I really like canned soups but they all seem like they are full of sodium. How can I reduce the sodium in soup or canned vegetables?

To the Editor:

It is interesting that the U.S. is so outraged over Mexican illegal immigration when Mexico was actually first to bear the brunt of illegal immigration on this border. 

If you are familiar with history you may remember Sam Houston and his followers “immigrating” to Texas, Mexican land at that time. Mexico, unable to curb this unwanted occupation, established a law making it illegal. Ignoring the law, Sam Houston and his allies persisted and began the campaign to annex Mexico to the U.S. 

Mexico, overwhelmed and frustrated by these actions, eventually agreed to annexation. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the new U.S. and Mexico border. When marking boundaries, the U.S. took advantage of Mexico and moved boundaries to positions more favorable to the U.S. 

Annexation put the rights of now former Mexican citizens and their lands into question. We promised to deal fairly and honor their property rights, if documents proving they really owned the land were produced. Sometimes deeds did not exist because the land had been family owned for many generations. The U.S. appropriated much of this property. Ironic isn’t it? 

More is to be learned if we choose to examine this subject more carefully.

Judy Stockinger

Franklin

To the Editor:

In these days of political bickering, I believe that words we use must be precise in order to convey the true meaning of what is being said. As I have stated before, “alternative facts” do not exist. If the facts cannot be empirically proven, then they are either unfounded rumor or outright lies. Therefore I believe it necessary to find a definition of “trump.”

The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language (Claredon Press, Oxford, UK, 1934 edition) has two listings for “ trump.” The first deals with the card game of Whist in which the suit of cards that is “trump” ranks above the other suits in the game. Of course, the “trump” suit changes with each hand of cards and is not permanent. Any particular “trump” suit has only temporary precedence over the others. 

The second listing for “trump” is defined as the “Trumpet blast, as in the last trumpet heralding the end of the world.” This comes from the old French word trompe, meaning a trumpet or horn. This one fits a little better in that it seems to describe how President Trump likes to blow his own horn.

I believe that the next listing on the page is actually more apropos to this discussion though. The word is “trumpery.” The word is defined as “worthless finery, unsound reasoning, things of no real value, tawdry and worthless, fallacious.” This comes from the old French word tromperie, which means deceit. 

We, the American public, are obviously being told untruths by our current president, though he and his supporters refer to these as “alternative facts.” As stated above, I do not believe that “alternative facts” exist. They are either misconceptions or falsehoods. In any case the “trumpery” that we are getting from this administration meets the definition of “… unsound reasoning, things of no real value, tawdry and worthless…” and, above all, “fallacious.” We deserve the facts. We deserve the truth.

Luther Jones

Sylva

To the Editor:

We have made much progress in our long-term protections of air, water and the environment since President Richard Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Agency into law in 1970. 

I was a young adult in the 1970s. One of the big problems then was the depletion of the ozone layer. This layer, above the earth’s atmosphere, was being thinned by chemicals, including CFCs used in refrigerators and aerosol cans, including hairspray. Another problem was acid rain, which includes any type of precipitation that forms and contains toxic chemicals, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, and is very toxic to plants and wildlife.

 I remember there was a dispute over Tennessee acid rain blowing over into the North Carolina mountains and harming our trees and plants. If you remember the haze or smog atmosphere that often hung over the Western North Carolina mountains, blocking out the long-distance view, then you remember acid rain.  

I also remember mercury in fish, not being able to swim in or fish in contaminated beaches, lakes and ponds, the Great Lakes being so depleted of oxygen that they were called dead lakes and could not sustain life, pesticides such as DDT that nearly wiped out our American Bald Eagle, and large oil and chemical spills, leaking drums of toxic byproducts around waterways and in landfills, smoke stacks spewing noxious smog into the air and many other problems caused by an unregulated system with no oversight.  

Therefore, I was very concerned over President Trumps gutting the EPA with an executive order, blocking implementation of grants to states to help with environmental issues such as the coal ash dump by Duke Energy and putting forth an appointee to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, who as attorney general of Oklahoma, is in several lawsuits against the EPA in his state and has proposed to do away with the agency.

We have made such progress in following EPA’s standards that we have forgotten, or maybe you have never experienced, what it was like before. Let’s all reflect on what we may be giving up without the environmental protections we now enjoy before we return to the “blighted landscape” that we are still struggling to overcome.

PJ Coulter

Waynesville

To the Editor:

The right to clean air and clean water seems to have become a partisan issue in our country over the course of the past few years. Why the weather is a political rallying point I do not know. We sing “This land is your land, this land is my land” expecting it to be so because of what we consider to be our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In Washington, D.C., many bills have been sponsored recently making it hard to keep up.

One bill looming on the horizon now concerning our environment is the plan to dismantle the EPA. Others that have been signed allow coal debris to once again be dumped in our waterways along with abolishing regulations concerning the release of methane gas (a greenhouse gas) into our air. 

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, just voted yea on a bill that “would put the oversight of public lands into the hands of the state,” which may sound pretty good at first glance. However, concerns over fracking, the wildfires and the destruction caused by hurricanes to our state might make us want to slow down and think about that.

Public outcry over the recent proposal by the government to sell off 3.3 million acres of public land stopped it in its tracks. We can make a difference.

The air quality in our mountains has suffered in years past because of winds that bring in air from other states. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the border between us and Tennessee. If we as a state adhere to standards we set but our neighbors set their standards lower, what happens when the prevailing winds bring their pollution to us. Do we build a wall?

You would think Americans — given their history — would find it to be their patriotic duty to protect and maintain this land that our forefathers fought so hard to make habitable. Those who grew up in this area who love to hike and hunt with both camera and gun should feel secure that the country itself wants to maintain and protect this haven for both the locals and visitors alike. Our mountains and state are a treasure as are so many other places in our nation.

Pamela Haddock

Sylva  

To the Editor:

Democrats might well consider that you can’t justify your actions based on the idea that, “we are only doing what the Republicans did.” The Republicans were absolutely wrong in refusing to hold hearings and confirm President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. He was qualified, and no one could point to anything that disqualified him. 

It appears this is the same for President Trump’s nominee. Attend the hearings, and unless something in his past disqualifies him, confirm him. The fact he is conservative is not a disqualification any more than one’s being a liberal disqualifies him or her.

Republicans, on the other hand, might well consider abandoning the philosophy of “might makes right.” Neither your party nor anyone else has a monopoly on good ideas. The best ideas come from gathering facts and seeking other views. An open mind produces better ideas than a closed one, and opposite views can disclose weaknesses in anyone’s ideas. Just because one has the power to do what they want doesn’t make what they do right. Otherwise, we would seek a dictatorship and not democracy.

Remember it was a child who stated the obvious, “The Emperor has no clothes,” when everyone else ignored the obvious. Both parties put forth periodic bad ideas. Speak up, act like you can think, show some courage, and don't hide behind the cloak of the party.

Finally, examples of bad ideas from both sides of the aisle are easily illustrated. Our poor and lower class is expanding. That is bad for the country. Many Democratic Party government social programs have not achieved what they set out to accomplish. So don’t just throw more money at them. 

For Republicans, the poor haven’t chosen their lot. Poor people aren’t lazy, they need assistance — the question becomes what will “assist” (not rescue) them the most. As Lyndon Johnson once said, “You can’t chain a man for 100 years, and then lead him to the starting line of a race expecting him to compete with everyone else.”

Every snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty. I need to change the two square feet I occupy, both in thought and action. I need to remember I can make a difference.

Steven E. Philo

Franklin

To the Editor:

For the last decade, I have questioned my party allegiance, as well as the allegiance of others to their party. Though I have always voted Democrat, many issues and candidates have tested that loyalty. However, despite these differences, I have found the Democrats to be closer to issues that are most compassionate and, though I am not religious, most Christian.

It all comes down to this, doesn’t it? Most of us repeatedly vote for one party, despite the candidates, because that party has come to stand for issues we value. My major issues are:

• Money in politics — Though there has always been money in politics, the Supreme Court ruling equating corporations to people unleashed the lobbyists to turn many of our politicians into millionaires.

• Social issues — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the best public education possible for all children, along with programs that attempt to eliminate poverty and inequity. 

• An end to war and the many negatives that enable it. One of those negatives is that many young men and women, largely our enlisted fighting force, enter the military solely because their education has limited their possibilities.

So write down three issues that repeatedly make you vote Republican or Democrat; and if you had to argue them, could you defend them, as I must, with actual evidence? We should all look forward to that peaceful discussion.

Ruth Ballard

Hayesville

To the Editor:

The article ”Unfair collection practices in tax collector’s office?” (Feb. 25 edition) wisely includes a question mark because the article has not a shred of evidence pointing to malfeasance by elected tax collector Mike Matthews’ alleged bias to benefit Republican activists.  

What The Smoky Mountain News wrote is a hit piece; the verbs make this clear as in paragraph 3,”  Hanson ‘seems to be catching a break’” (no proof) and near the end “delinquent accounts ‘don’t appear’ to have been properly pursued.”

The article is missing the following information: How many total delinquent accounts are there, how much money is involved, what is the average length of delay, and of what party are these delinquents, unaffiliated, or independent, not just Republican and Democrat officeholders. What fines were collected from these accounts? How many years delay are there in other accounts?

 Nor does the journalist cite any reasons for delinquency. Tax law recognizes problems for businesses such as the present unseasonably warm weather affecting Maggie Valley’s ski venues, hospital bills, accidents, divorces and expense for aged parents. In 2009, economists predicted that Appalachia would not recover from the Great Recession until 2015, surely an important factor. 

An important reason voters elect a tax collector is to prevent political people forcing an employee to go after a citizen through taxes. If Matthews has done the opposite, that is favor one party’s representatives, there is no verification. Sadly we have become so inured to fake news we no long recognize it. It has been going on for years. 

This article should be called an editorial and titled: “We don’t like the tax collector and here’s why.” Now there’s an honest headline that’s real news.

Ted Carr    

Bethel

A human-caused fire estimated at 132 acres is burning in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area about 20 miles south of Waynesville. It is within the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest in the headwaters of Crawford Creek.

The Waynesville Police Department responded to the report of a robbery on Feb. 17 at Entegra Bank located at 2045 South Main Street in Waynesville.

A dilapidated segregation-era high school in Canton purchased by a former student will become a $5 million community center by 2019 if the Reynolds High School Community Foundation meets its fundraising goals. 

The Smoky Mountain News asked Lyle Baskin, the scenic artist for Haywood Regional Arts Theatre, to share the secrets of his stage magic. We discovered a few life lessons along the way that we should all take to HART.

Though exact details are unknown, BCNC Investments in Bryson City has announced the purchase of the building that formerly held the Evolution Wine Kitchen on Main Street in Sylva.

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center, in partnership with One Dozen Who Care, will host a display on the cultural history and musical traditions of the region’s African-American community that will later be presented in neighboring towns as a traveling exhibit.

Heritage arts instructors Susan Coe and Ed McIlvaine, along with Kari McIlvaine (Ed’s wife and a heritage arts student), recently had their pottery chosen for the Artist Count exhibit at the NC Welcome Center along I-26 West north of Asheville.

Ingles Markets 1865 Hendersonville Rd. (Skyland) Thursday, February 23, 3-6 p.m. Meet local farmers, food entrepreneurs, cider makers and brewers and sample their products. Here are a few of our local suppliers you’ll see:

Western Carolina University’s 2016 original radio-style production of “Blackbeard’s Ghost and the Queen Anne’s Revenge” has won a “best of festival” award from the national Broadcast Education Association.

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist

The press must be the keyboard on which the government can play.

— Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister, March 15, 1933

Donald Trump’s tantrums when he’s criticized or doesn’t get his way betray an emotional maturity that did not get beyond the “Terrible Twos.” Unfortunately, there is no one and no way to send the man-child in the White House to time out. To the contrary, grownups around him and in Congress are encouraging and enabling his behavior because it serves their own dark purposes.

To the Editor:

Thank you Smoky Mountain News and Becky Johnson for writing an article bringing to a close the chapter on the proposed annexation of Lake Junaluska with Waynesville.  Your coverage was excellent and served all parties with factual information. 

A lesson all can learn from this experience is that relationships are more important than our personal opinions. Another is to make the best of any situation.

The improvements made to the Conference and Retreat Center and to the Department of Public Works are a reflection of the attributes of Jack Ewing and Jack Carlisle. Their dedication to the Lake Junaluska Mission Statement plus their leadership through and beyond controversy is greatly appreciated. Both will leave huge shoes to fill sometime in the future.

Ron Clauser

Lake Junaluska

To the Editor:

It’s gotten to the point that I’m hesitant to listen to or read the news. President Trump’s most recent series of denigrating tweets and pronouncements are more suited to a petulant 4-year-old than the president of the United States. His sophomoric behavior and rants remind me of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s “red scare” of the 1950s.

Trump’s erratic behavior, outright falsehoods, and bizzare outbursts have thrown the world into chaos. What we as a country need in our chief executive is leadership, not attacks on anyone who happens to disagree with him. What this world needs is stability, not disarray. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I’m deeply concerned at our president’s incredibly thoughtless demeanor. Even the most ardent of Trump supporters have to be wondering what’s going on.

The president has revealed what I and the majority of Americans who didn’t vote for him feared ... that this individual is totally unsuited to the office to which he was elected. The president may have gotten away with his autocratic, bullying tactics as a businessman, but it just doesn’t cut it when it comes to being the leader of the free world. Even members of the Republican-dominated Congress are finally coming to the reality that this “leader” is seriously flawed. This is not the behavior of a normal person. Bad ... really bad. God help us all.

Kurt J. Volker

Otto

The next meeting of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, inside the Historic Courtroom of the Haywood County Courthouse, in Waynesville.

Joshua Daniel Calhoun, 22, of Cherokee, was sentenced Feb. 14 in Swain County Superior Court to a maximum of 38 years and five months in prison for his role in the 2013 murder of Calup “Joe” Caston.

A Haywood County jury recently convicted Dewey George Gidcumb, 52, of Haywood County of felony voter fraud for voting twice in the 2016 Primary Elections in North Carolina.

Swain County commissioners are accepting applications from community members to serve on a newly formed Broadband Advisory Committee.

Richard Reeves has been awarded the N.C. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service and the Elaine Kuhl Volunteer Service Award for his work to provide firewood to underprivileged individuals in Haywood County.

A team of fire experts is assembling at Great Smoky Mountains National Park to conduct a review of the 2016 Chimney Tops 2 fire that started in the park on Nov. 23.

Haywood’s biggest water champions of 2016 have been recognized by the Haywood Waterways Association, highlighting accomplishments from youth education to picking trash out of streams.

More than 340 acres in Jackson and Cherokee counties have been conserved, thanks to conservation easements through Mainspring Conservation Trust.

Many thanks to The Smoky Mountain News for the recent article by Becky Johnson (www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/19193) to update the citizens of Haywood County about the library system survey many will receive in early February. The feedback from that survey is important to shape the development of the library system strategic plan. If you receive one of the 4,500 surveys in the mail, please take a few moments to fill out the two-sided form and then place it in the postage-paid envelope and return in the mail.  The Public Policy Institute of Western Carolina University will tabulate the results of your feedback and present them to the library task force in mid-March. The draft strategic plan should be completed in time to inform the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) of citizen interests this spring.

Why is this library survey important?  The key stakeholders  — the Haywood County leadership (including the county board, county manager, library director and appointed, volunteer board of trustees) and the nonprofit library support organizations (Friends of the Library and Library Foundation) have agreed to share resources to fund this county-wide, broad-sample survey so that we have the most current ideas to work with to complete the multi-year library system strategic plan.

Haywood County citizens have much to be proud of from the talented library team led by Sharon Woodrow. In 2016, the Haywood County Public Library won a state award (from among our 100 counties) for one innovative program and a second national level award for a separate initiative called “plug in and read” to inspire preschoolers. The library team wants to provide even better service to the citizens and needs your feedback on how to best meet that goal.     

The Friends of the Library provide both extensive volunteer hours and significant nonprofit resources to ensure maximum, quality programs are made available to citizens across all ages and interests. The Library Foundation, another nonprofit organization, provides infrastructure support across the library system. Both nonprofits rely on citizen donations to meet those needs and initiatives.

Thanks for your interest in helping to even better “connect the community” by completing the library survey and returning your feedback!   

David E McCracken

President

Haywood County Library Foundation

Kevin P. Murphy,

President

Friends of the Library Foundation 

To the Editor:

Unfortunately, anti-abortion supporters named themselves pro-life, thereby labeling pro-choice supporters pro-death. This serves to demonize the pro-choice movement, increase division, promote intolerance, and incite violence, as in the bombing of Planned Parenthood clinics and murder of their clinicians who provide low-cost healthcare for women and access to contraception, which results in fewer abortions. 

The point of contention between these two groups lies in definitions of when life begins. It is at conception for the anti-abortionists, and for pro-choice supporters it is either when an embryo becomes a fetus (occurring the earliest at the end of the first trimester) or when capable of sustaining life independently, at about 24 weeks. 

The pro-choice movement maintains that these beliefs and choices are personal decisions not to be decided for them by any government entity or any group or individual. They support the right of women in the anti-abortion movement to their own beliefs. 

Some members of the pro-choice movement personally do not favor abortion but concede that every woman has a right to choose for herself whenever it concerns her own body. 

Judy Stockinger

Franklin

To the Editor:

Our fathers and grandfathers fought in World War II to save the world from Nazi domination. Over 60 million people died in that war. There had been a European war about every 30 years for the last couple of centuries. After WWII, American leaders decided to make sure it would never happen again. The key to preventing another World War was NATO.

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was formed as a military alliance of European and North American democracies to serve as a counter-balance to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. Today NATO is just as important as it was in 1945.

 Gen. James Mattis, the new Secretary of Defense, said at his confirmation hearing, “If we did not have NATO today, we would need to create it.” It was clear in 1945 and it is clear today that Russia is our main adversary in the fight to create a world governed by democratic principles and the rule of law. Gen. Mattis called Russia “the principle threat” to the United States and he said, “I have very modest expectations about areas of cooperation with Mr. [Vladimir] Putin.” Russia sees NATO as the chief obstacle to its divide and conquer method of expansion.  

 Today, Russia is on the march to recreate the old Soviet Union. In March of 2014 they took by military force Crimea, the territory in Ukraine. This was the first time since the end of the WWII that a border in Europe had been changed by military force. Sanctions were imposed on Russia for this act of war. Through the use of cyber warfare, propaganda and social media, Russia has been attempting to destabilize every country in Europe. It is not clear if the Russian interference made any difference in our election, but it is clear they tried.

 Since WWII, we have been the world leader in opposing the forces of tyranny and oppression. The relative peace and prosperity we have enjoyed in the last 70 years is a direct result of the unity and power of NATO and similar alliances. Now, with a casual tweet calling NATO obsolete, our world leadership is in question.

Louis Vitale

Franklin

To the Editor:

The Constitution guarantees the right to assembly, and Americans continue to exercise that right throughout history. In the 1900s, we marched for women’s suffrage; in the 1930s, we marched for workers’ rights; in the 1960s, we marched for civil rights; in the 1970s, we marched for peace. Never before in the history of American non-violent protest were these marches joined by people from all around the world. 

The Women’s March the day after the inauguratio was a worldwide phenomenon of epic proportions. In hundreds of cities around the world, thousands participated, totaling millions of people worldwide. While these events were organized by women, the point of the marches was not limited to issues affecting women. The march was a show of solidary and an affirmation of human rights. It was a coming together to gather strength and inspiration from one another.

 I, for one, am grateful that I live in a country where the transfer of power shifts without bloodletting. That said, it is important to remember that, while the electoral college handed us a new president, the result was not the will of the majority. The elections of 2016 and 2000 are the only times in modern history when the American public was forced to accept a president not elected by the majority of its people. But government is not perfect and we live with the consequences. It is not too early to begin to think about the elections of 2018 and 2020.

 Over the next four years, no doubt, American institutions will be dismantled. We face the dissolution of Social Security, a program that has helped Americans for the better part of a century. We face the erosion of Medicare, an insurance program that provides care to seniors. We face the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and a return to people paying into a system when they are healthy, only to find their insurance denied when they need it most. We face the return to an environment where clean water and clean air are no longer priorities. We face the loss of a minuscule amount of the federal budget that supports community programming under the NEA, NEH and PBS.

Still, we should take heart. Never before in history, have people from all around the world joined America to affirm our concerns and to support our democracy.

Anna Fariello

Cullowhee

The board of directors of the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre (HART) in Waynesville held its annual meeting recently in the newly opened Daniel and Belle Fangmeyer Theatre. 

Sherry and Gary Patterson vacationed in Bryson City for the first time about 20 years ago and now they can’t get enough of it.

Affinity Living Group held a groundbreaking ceremony recently for its new assisted living community, Bryson Senior Living. Pictured moving the ceremonial first shovelfuls of earth are Denis Rainey, Affinity Vice President of Operations; (from left) Swain County Commissioners David Monteith, Ben Bushyhead, Philip Carson, Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran and Adult Services Supervisor Carol Manley.

What type of fat does Ingles use in the Bakery for frying donuts, and why isn’t beef fat/lard or coconut oil used?

Is sugar “as addictive as cocaine?” These are both things you may have seen floating around the internet.

To the Editor:

I am writing to express my concern about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” The dismantling of this important health care program has already begun by the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate and by President Trump through executive orders signed his first day in office.

I am a senior citizen, currently enrolled in Medicare. According to a report by CNN, repeal of the ACA will cause Medicare premiums to increase and costs for prescription drugs will also increase. Perhaps more importantly, the currently free preventative care services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, would no longer be provided. 

President Trump promised to leave Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security alone, but I have no faith this will be possible as the dismantling of the ACA is so complicated and confusing. Why the rush, wreaking this kind of havoc before having a replacement ready? President Trump recently tweeted “insurance for everybody,” which, quite frankly, has a very hollow ring.

What if there is no way to adequately replace the ACA and we’re headed toward a major health care crisis in this country? As it is, the United States ranks 37th in the World Health Organization’s ranking of world health systems. In my opinion, we can do a great deal better.

Nancy Bullock

Canton

To the Editor:

Regarding Scott McLeod’s piece last week about the availability of internet service (www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/19234), it is a big problem.

My husband and I moved to Maggie Valley from Colorado after he retired. The man who sold us his house had DSL. There is a DSL line coming to the house. After we moved in, we were told that AT&T would not give us DSL service because they were “capped out.” 

First they told us that they would contact us. Then we were told that we needed to call them in the winter when they would have lines available. They told us everything except that Santa would give us a DSL line.  

If we had known about not having internet we would not have bought this house. I have warned my friends and family across the country about the internet problem when buying a home. I don’t think we’ll be able to get what we paid for if we sell our home because everything now depends on internet.

We are on a fixed income. I am paying $130 per month for 40 gigs with Sprint. That’s the best I can do. If I go over that, it's $50 per gig. I know because one month we had company and used 52 gigs. That's $600 in overage charges. Luckily, my husband called Sprint and they gave us one month of “forgiveness.” It is absolutely frightening.  

I feel like I am living in the 1800s and I don’t feel like anyone cares.

Carol Rooney

Maggie Valley

“Ignorance and misinformation, if allowed to prevail in foreign policy, handicaps the country’s security. In a world of complex and continuing problems, in a world full of frustrations and irritations, America’s leadership must be guided by the lights of learning and reason or else those who confuse rhetoric with reality and the plausible with the possible, will gain the ascendency with their swift and seemingly simple solutions to every world problem.”

— John Fitzgerald Kennedy, November 22, 1963 

To the Editor,

With the advent of the current executive administration in Washington, I believe that this is a quotation that should be resurrected and remembered. We, as a people, are frustrated with world and domestic events. But we should not, we cannot, allow these frustrations to overrule our reason, logic, and learning to allow “ignorance and misinformation” to become paramount in both our foreign and domestic policy. 

There is no room for “alternative facts” in our political system. We must rely on the truth, the true facts, as proven by evidence, not as accepted by belief only. I realize that people with differing views may interpret the proven facts in far different ways, but that is a difference of opinion, not a difference of the facts.  

If a fact cannot be vetted as true by evidence and empirical examination, then it is either an unfounded rumor or an outright falsehood (let’s define that as a lie). In either case, if not vetted as truth, then it does not belong in governmental policy or in tweets from the Oval Office.  

Mr. Trump, please refrain from lying to the American people and expecting us to accept and believe the lies. Many of us may be smarter than you think.

Luther Jones

Sylva

To the Editor:

The very first section of President Donald Trump’s order banning immigrants from seven nations refers to the plane attacks in 2001 that wreaked havoc in New York City, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. He writes: “... several of the 19 foreign nationals who went on to murder nearly 3,000 Americans ....” weren't properly vetted by the State Department.

Guess what? Of those 19 terrorists, not one came from the seven countries Trump must have picked out of a hat. No, they came from three of our major “allies” — Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates and Egypt, along with one or more from Lebanon. Ask our President why those three major allies got a pass. Is it because they buy our jets and we buy their oil? George Bush, Barack Obama and now Trump have all refused to even sanction those three nations.

Who are we, as a nation, being executive ordered to become? You and I are far more at risk of harm from a family member or friend. Yet we are told to reject oppressed refugees, most of whom are women and children, for what valid reason? Our actions in doing so put even more pressure on nations vastly poorer than ours to open their arms and hearts, or just let people die.

Worse yet is the wrapping of Christianity into this cake of hatred and bigotry. The facts counter Trump's lie that Christians were severely denied entry while Muslims were waved through into this country. I can picture Jesus extending his hand to greet displaced women, children and men who have fled their countries in order to survive. I just don't see Him holding a sign telling “those people” to go back to their temporary tents and shacks.

Bob Clark  

Waynesville

A week of rainy weather put drought on the retreat, with the classification of extreme drought absent from North Carolina for the first time since Oct. 11, 2016. 

A $20,000 Google Field Trip Days grant will help the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont give more kids and school groups access to its immersive environmental education programs.