By Deborah Miles • Guest Columnist

As the Director of the Center for Diversity Education, I and other educators have been hosting “Festivals of Light” for some 5,000 students each year across WNC since 1995. Now that the election is over, I am writing to share the truth about my visit to Bethel Middle School in December 2013.

Every time someone from CDE presents, we walk the fine line between educating about religion rather than advocating for a particular religion. Rather than proselytizing, we share artifacts, discuss geography, economics, immigration, and sample a food. 

To the Editor:

First, let me say that I greatly respect Dr. Sam Miller and the administration at Western Carolina University, having gotten to know them over the years I was a student there. Miller has more WCU spirit than an entire class of graduates. However, I am disappointed in the decision to require sophomores to live on campus.

During my four years, I stayed in Walker Hall my freshman year then lived off campus for the rest of my time as a student with no regrets. Dorm life was extremely difficult for me for a number of reasons, including roommate issues and simply missing my pets. I also have special dietary needs, and when I was a freshman, Campus Dining Services did not provide the extra late-night hours and dining choices they do today. I suffered from blood sugar crashes on a regular basis. I spent many weekends driving a six-hour round trip home because I missed my privacy and the space of a real home. 

Now, yes, I made a strong group of friends who I still talk with regularly today, but we never participated in the on-campus activities that Miller quoted in the article published in The Smoky Mountain News on Nov. 5. We were content to hang out on the fifth floor of Walker and continued to hang out at each other’s homes off campus throughout the years.

Once I moved off campus, my health improved, I brought my cat to live with me, and I stayed home on the weekends. I participated in campus activities like games of ultimate Frisbee and put more time into my volunteer work, because I was actually there in Cullowhee. My love and support as a WCU student also skyrocketed. By my senior year, I rented a small trailer in Sylva, and I considered myself a permanent resident, not a renter moving through. I became a resident of Jackson County and fell in love with the area when I was able to get away from the university. I wanted to stay for good, however, had to regrettably move away for a job.

I hope that some sort of compromise can be reached. Maybe sophomore students can petition to move off campus if they have a certain GPA or have legitimate reasons as to why they believe their college experience would improve to not live in a dorm. Or, really, I’d love to see the requirement dismissed, because, if I had been required to live on campus for another year, I would have been highly tempted to transfer.

Lex Menz

WCU Class of ‘09

Morganton

To the Editor:

Your opinion piece a few months back, “Changing mind  now won’t undo the damage,” left out a more common solution to the annexation of the 775 homes in Lake Junaluska with its woefully and poorly maintained Lake Junaluska sanitation infrastructure.

Really, why should the homeowners of Waynesville pay for the seemingly intentional lack of proper maintenance that occurred over 30 to 40 years? This gave them a reduced cost on utilities during that time.

Now, with a clear road to annexation, their failure will be paid for by Waynesville homeowners with just a portion of the cost going to the Lake Junaluska folks. Is this really fair?

So annex them. It is good for them and ultimately good for Waynesville. But for 15 years put them in a special sanitation sub-district so that they can pay for their lack of oversight, diligence, etc. Have them pay for at least 75 percent of their mess before the current Waynesville homeowners and business owners have to take on their debts.  

Did Waynesville homeowners vote to accept the infrastructure debts of Lake Junaluska? Lake Junaluska homeowners voted to have Waynesville homeowners take on Lake Junaluska debts. Where is the reverse? This is a pig in a poke that will cost an estimated $10 million over about five years.

Make it more fair, then proceed. Neither Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, or Rep. Michelle Presnell, R-Burnsville, or any public officer has developed a fair solution before annexation.

Annexation without fair apportionment of infrastructure debts harms the majority of Waynesville taxpayers and rewards the Lake Junaluska homeowners. Lake Junaluska management shirked their responsibility in order to keep utility costs abnormally low.

Let’s be fair to all and annex Lake Junaluska but put them in a special sub-sanitation district for more than 10 years.

Rick Helfers

Waynesville

Safe driving program “VIP for a VIP” impacts students in partnership with EMS and local law enforcement.

Harris Regional Hospital, which provides Emergency Medical Services for Jackson County, recently participated in a safe driving program for students at Smoky Mountain High School in Sylva. 

The program, called Vehicle Injury Prevention for a Very Important Person — or, “VIP for a VIP” — is targeted toward young adults. It involves local law enforcement, fire departments, and rescue organizations, including Harris Regional Hospital EMS, to present an informative program to young drivers in an effort to promote motor vehicle safety and prevent fatal accidents.

The program stresses the hazards of driving while texting or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Students are encouraged to consider all risks associated with unsafe driving habits and are presented with facts and figures directly related to fatalities of young drivers in North Carolina during the last several years.

The program also included a dramatic, real-time reenactment of a vehicle accident involving a teenage. The reenactment gave students a look into the perspective of all those who would be involved, including a nearby pedestrian, first responders, law enforcement, highway patrol, emergency medical care workers, and the driver’s parents and friends.

EMS Director Steven Rice participated in the reenactment as an Emergency Medical Technician arriving on the scene of the wreck.

“As those involved in emergency situations involving vehicles on a daily basis, we want to do everything possible to educate our community, especially young people, about the hazards and consequences of unsafe driving habits,” Rice said. “While we are dedicated to being there as quickly as possible when something happens, our greatest desire is that we don’t get the call in the first place. Programs like “VIP for a VIP” help to ensure that.”

Following the program, students were asked to complete and sign two contracts, one committing to a zero-tolerance for drugs and alcohol, and one entitled “VIP contract for the life of a VIP”, with which, by signing, students promised to abide by certain safety measures to ensure welfare while operating a vehicle.

“Our Emergency Medical Services team is highly trained to respond to motor vehicle accidents and work quickly to provide care for those involved, but it is our hope that accidents are prevented at all costs,” said Anetra Jones, Harris Regional Hospital and Swain County Hospital Chief Nurse Executive. “We were honored to participate in this program and to play a role in the prevention of potential accidents.

The Town of Canton Recreation Commission is leading a volunteer effort to make safety improvements to the playground at Recreation Park, a popular destination.  The project will include slide repairs, mulching, painting and construction of a wooden border and perimeter fence system.  

According to Canton Alderman Zeb Smathers, the project fulfills a shared goal of the town’s governing board.

“As a Board, we are committed to harnessing the power of recreation to sustain and grow our community,” Smathers said.

Jake Robinson, chair of the Recreation Commission and chief operating officer of Champion Credit Union, agrees. He acknowledged the important support role the commission must play in the effort.  

“This effort represents a renewed energy from the Recreation Commission,” Robinson said. “We are taking a more active role in enhancing the town’s park system.  Our new mantra is ‘let’s get things done.’”

The Commission is seeking $10,000 in donations to cover the cost of materials and supplies. Eight hundred dollars of the funding will be “crowdfunded ”— a new community fundraising model that uses an online donation platform. Additional crowdfunding challenges may be established once the first goal is reached.  

There are four sponsorship levels available, but any donation amount is welcome. All donors will be recognized on a plaque, which will be installed at the playground.

The renovation will take place in early spring during a series of planned workdays for which the public will be invited to participate.  To donate to the project or sign up to volunteer, visit www.citizinvestor.com/project/canton-rec-tunnel-slide or call 828.648.2363.

Thanks to community generosity, many of Haywood County’s neediest families will eat a hot turkey dinner this Thanksgiving. The Maggie Valley Area Lodging Association is once again seeking donations to help provide food baskets to those who may not otherwise enjoy this long standing American tradition. 

The key to economic and community development in Western North Carolina is for leaders of the public, private and nonprofit sectors to reach beyond town limits and county lines to embrace a more regional approach, steeped in a spirit of cooperation and partnership.

That was the message heard again and again Wednesday, Nov. 12, from speakers and participants at LEAD:WNC, a one-day summit convened by WCU to discuss solutions leading to sustainable economic and community development.

The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is looking for the best images of the people, places and pursuits that characterize the Southern Appalachians. Sporting a variety of categories and offering more than $4,000 in cash and prizes, the contest is open through 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21. 

Open to amateur and professional photographers 13 and older. Submit online at www.appmtnphotocomp.org.

With a new forest management plan now in the works for the Pisgah and Nantahala national forest, Brent Martin, regional director of The Wilderness Society, will speak on the subject 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Macon County Public Library.

The talk, sponsored by the Southern Appalachian Plant Society, is titled “How Can We Protect the Future of our Plant Communities?”

The new national forest plan will govern the management of more than 1 million acres of national forest in Western North Carolina for decades to come. The task of balancing preservation of plants, animals and their varying environments with demands of recreation, logging and other uses is not an easy one and has drawn heated opinion. See page 16 for the latest updates on the Forest Management Plan. 

A new version of Our Southern Highlanders by Horace Kephart is out, and it includes eight Kephart articles not included in any earlier editions.

Astronomers at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute are reminding the public of the annual Leonid Meteor Shower in November.

Motion Makers Bicycle Shop has reopened in its new location at 36 Allen St. after an August fire in downtown Sylva resulted in extensive water, smoke and soot damage. 

As fall colors fade from the landscape, the bright yellows and oranges become a vivid memory marking the peak of the autumn season. As winter approaches, now is the time for the rich reds, burnt yellows and russet colors donned by the last of the deciduous trees to drop their foliage: the oaks. Always the last to leave the party in the fall and the most hesitant to sprout their leaves in the spring, the dominance of oaks in our forest cannot be denied.  

Bryson City earned the top honor in Blue Ridge Outdoors’ list of top outdoor towns of 2014, which appeared in November’s issue.

To the Editor:

Journalists like Scott McLeod, SMN Editor, usually follow a code of ethics that includes fairness and impartiality during the acquisition and reporting of news articles to the public. Unbiased reporting is an integral part of journalistic ethics, but historians have found that publishers have often served the interest of powerful social groups. Even the most conscientiously objective journalists cannot avoid accusations of bias, but there are times when a journalist’s bias is obviously more important to him than any code of journalistic ethics. 

When your reporting of public meetings and issues so obviously lack fairness and impartiality, and read more like your flowery but misguided editorials, you will likely have a tough time even giving your publication away, much less having anyone take you seriously.  

Mike Clark

Cullowhee

To the Editor:

I have read the opinions going back and forth regarding the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin and am aware there are serious disagreements and difficulties on both sides.  So I would like to present an idea of the future of the mound that would make everyone a winner.  The picture above is of the Indian Temple Mound Museum in the center of downtown Fort Walton, Fla. Imagine what such a stone structure surrounding the Nikwasi Mound could mean to the residents of and visitors to Franklin.   

It would be a statement of the significance of the mound in Franklin’s history and would honor the Cherokee heritage. 

Imagine also how such a beautiful structure would enhance the town and east Main Street. Perhaps an outdoor interpretative exhibit could be included, and a history/heritage trail could be established from the Franklin Historical Museum to the Scottish Tartan Museum to the Nikwasi Mound and on to the greenway.  

I hope the parties involved can move past the differences and come together to do something even bigger and better than before. Everyone would benefit and everyone would be a winner. 

Marcia Lindstrom

Franklin

To the Editor:

Regarding Bob Wilson’s latest letter on negative campaign rhetoric, Wilson exemplified the hate-filled distorted rhetoric that he criticizes.

First off, Wilson didn’t give a single example of the “lies” and “distortions” that he complains about. Instead he blames liberals for just about every ill of society. For Wilson, liberals are clearly the problem and the enemy in this country. His thinking can lead to dangerous actions.

His characterization of liberals is grossly dishonest. It is apparent that Wilson is passing along the hatred and lies he consumes from the media he chooses. 

A recent study by Pew Research shows that liberals have three to four varied sources for their political news, while most conservatives just have one — Fox. Analysis by PolitiFact showed that only 18 percent of recent statements on Fox News are true — by far the lowest among Fox, MSNBC and CNN. 

Combined, these statistics illustrate the dangers of trusting a single source of information, especially one so overtly partisan and biased as Fox.

At the end of his diatribe, Wilson asks “Can opposing parties ever sit down at a table and discuss our real problems in a sane and honorable way?” The obvious answer is no, not when you are too busy stereotyping and insulting the other side.

 A word of advice, Bob. Turn down your partisan ideology a few hundred decibels and join the rest of humanity as we try to find a way forward. We need to focus on our common ground and work on that, rather than the obstruction that’s been ongoing in D.C. We don’t need a class war. We don’t need a civil war. Bloodshed would make things infinitely worse for all of us, as shown in Ukraine and across the Middle East. But we do need change.

Dan Kowal

Franklin

By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist

In a letter to the editor published in the Nov. 5 edition of  The Smoky Mountain News, Rachel Truesdell wrote that as mayor, I “have a lot of explaining to do because most of the arguments in the media from the Town of Franklin are horribly invalid and definitely culturally insensitive.” She was speaking of the Nikwasi Mound.

A national fiber exhibition, EXCITE, will be on display through Dec. 6 at Haywood Community College in Clyde.

The exhibition includes 15 artists, some of which are HCC Professional Crafts Fiber graduates and current students. The theme of the exhibition is contemporary fiber work inspired or reflective of the design ideals set forth by Anni Albers at Black Mountain College. The work must include some material or resource obtained within a 100-mile radius of the artwork’s origination. 

Rachel Meginnes, juror of EXCITE, will provide an in depth look at the exhibit and her own work at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at HCC. She is a current resident artist at Penland School of Crafts. Meginnes received a Bachelor’s degree from Earlham College in 1999 and then traveled to northern Japan to study the traditional crafts of ikat and indigo dyeing. She then received a Master’s degree in Fibers from the University of Washington in 2005. She believes that there is infinite possibility in the most basic of methods. 

The Meginnes event is free

828.565.4240.

Pam Meister, interim director and curator of Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center, was honored Oct. 22 with the James R. Short Award from the Southeastern Museums Conference.

A nonprofit organization committed to supporting and connecting museum professionals in 12 states, SEMC presents the award to individuals who have given a lifetime of service to the profession with a significant portion in the Southeast.

Country sensation Scott McCreery hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.

Since coming into the national spotlight in 2011, McCreery quickly emerged as country music’s most successful new artist. His first studio album, Clear As Day, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts, making him the youngest man in history to open at the top of the all-genre chart with a debut release.  

McCreery won New Artist of the Year at both the 2011 American Country Awards and the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards. McCreery was ranked No. 1 on Billboard’s list of Top New Country Artists for 2011 and also earned the No. 4 spot on Billboard’s 2012 List of the Top 21 Under 21. Scotty spent most of 2012 opening for Brad Paisley’s Virtual Reality Tour.

Danielle Bradbery will open, with acclaimed Western North Carolina country act My Highway playing the Essence Lounge immediately following the concert.

Tickets start at $37. 

800.745.3000 or www.harrahscherokee.com.

The Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet will present its fall concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the Coulter Building at Western Carolina University.

Members of the SMBQ, the quintet-in-residence at WCU, are P. Bradley Ulrich, trumpet; David Ginn, trumpet; Travis Bennett, horn; Mike Schallock, tuba; and Zsolt Szabo, trombone. The program will consist of “Street Song” by Michael Tilson Thomas, “Blues for Brass” by Richard Roblee, “Adagio” by Samuel Barber, “Animal Ditties” by Anthony Plog, “Blue Skies” by Irving Berlin and “Recruiting Songs” by Hungarian composer Antal Farkas.

A special presentation of Appalachian stories of the “unusual” with Gregg Clark will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Rickman Store in Cowee.

A local resident of Macon County, Clark is constantly seeking the unexplained. He took a job at the historic and haunted Balsam Mountain Inn in Waynesville. While there, Clark led the “Weird Travels” television show around the inn. Clark became star of the BMI episode, becoming the go-to employee and most filmed. Clark, thrilled with the experience of being asked to blend his knowledge of history and ghosts on the popular television show, began collecting and writing ghost stories. 

A madrigal dinner evoking the elaborate and festive flare of the Renaissance will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Waynesville by the premier youth choral ensemble Voices in the Laurel.

The show, “A Knight to Remember,” will feature heraldry, pageantry, comedy, minstrels and song. A madrigal dinner show is a re-enactment of a Renaissance feast, where the audience is actively engaged as part of the show.

Tonight (Nov. 10) at 7 p.m., the N.C. Department of Transportation will close the westbound on-ramp to Interstate 40 at Exit 37 (Wiggins Road/East Canton Exit). The ramp is expected to reopen at 6 a.m.  Tuesday morning.

An expedition to Worley’s Cave in Bluff City, Temm., on Nov. 22 will give people of all experience levels a taste of the underground.

The caving expedition will take in stalagmites, columns, flowstone and more cave features, but it’s not for the faint of heart. The adventures will involve crawling, climbing, bending and getting wet, so participants must be in good physical condition and in the eighth grade or older. 

Offered through Jackson County Parks and Recreation for an all-inclusive fee of $60. Space is limited. Register by Nov. 19 at the Cullowhee or Cashiers/Glenville recreation center, 828.293.3053 or 828.631.2020 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Public input gathered at a series of statewide hearings on fracking rules was supposed to be presented in a report to the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission last week, but the meeting was delayed to give hearing officers more time to finish the report.

A new five-year strategic plan from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy will guide management of the Appalachian Trail over the coming years with an emphasis on reaching younger and more diverse populations, engaging partners and AT clubs and communities and keeping the organization’s finances healthy. 

Nantahala Area SORBA, the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association, will hold an end-of-year celebration 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at Innovation Brewery in Sylva to recognize their contribution to the mountain biking climate in the far west.

Waynesville Middle School seventh graders got to explore the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s Purchase Knob Education Center last week.

Prescribed burns are planned in the Nantahala Ranger District of Nantahala National Forest and areas of Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the next few weeks. 

Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley had its third earliest opening day in history when a winter storm and chilly temperatures allowed for lifts to open at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 2. 

To the Editor:

It was very sad to witness all the hateful rhetoric tossed around during elections this year. I don’t think I’ve seen such a display of lies and distortions, and we have sunken to a new depth of slime. The scary part is that we may never dig ourselves out. Will we ever be able to bring honesty and decency back to the political arena? I just don’t know, and based on what I recently observed, we may not. Reason and logic have given way to hatred of any opposing ideas using any means to defeat an opponent. 

People that I look to for leadership joined in and immersed themselves in the slime and were a great disappointment to me as human beings.

Politics should not resort to the fights that fans get into after a football or soccer game and should rise above all the fracas. But, sadly, it doesn’t.  

I understand the liberal ideology where anything goes and spare none to win, but it brings humanity down to a new level. In short, take no prisoners.  

I also understand the liberal view that people are simply cattle and need to be herded around by those who consider themselves superior to them. Were they to have their way, we would be a dictatorship and all opposing parties would be outlawed as they did in Communist Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and other countries where one party rules. Keep the lower classes supplied with food stamps and cell phones to keep them happy while the political elite run amok, getting rich off the backs of others.

The conservatives fell into much of the same trap and failed to make their case, spending their time defending themselves or poking at their opponent.  That left little time for them to explain the real problems the country faces and what they expect to accomplish.

Perhaps the liberals intended to prevent the sane logical and reasoning politicians from getting their point across and it was all part of the plan to keep the opposition preoccupied defending their ideas.

As a member of humanity, I’ve always felt an obligation to help pull my fellow man up to something better, but the liberals just see humans as so many cattle to be led by those so-called intellectuals who would rule them.

Problem is, under their system too many people pay the price. Some 40 million retirees are being wiped out by liberal economic programs we simply can’t afford. Our young grow up looking for some charismatic elite rulers to take care of them rather than bringing innovation and creativity to the nation.  

Can we ever bring sanity and honesty to political campaigns, or must we always resort to lies and distortions? Can opposing parties ever sit down at a table and discuss our real problems in a sane and honorable way? Can we ever solve problems? I just dunno, but perhaps I’m just disappointed in political campaigns that have sunk to new lows.”

Bob Wilson

Franklin

To the Editor:

Your opinion piece from the summer titled "Changing mind now won't undo the damage" left out a more common solution to the annexation of the 775 homes in Lake Junaluska with its woefully and poorly maintained Lake Junaluska sanitation infrastructure.

Really, why should the homeowners of Waynesville pay for the seemingly intentional lack of proper maintenance that occurred over 30 to 40 years? This gave them a reduced cost on utilities during that time. Now, with a clear road to annexation, their failure will be paid for by Waynesville homeowners with just a portion of the cost going to the Lake Junaluska folks. Is this really fair?

So annex them. It is good for them and ultimately good for Waynesville. But for 15 years put them in a special sanitation sub-district so that they can pay for their lack of oversight, diligence, etc. Have them pay for at least 75 percent of their mess before the current

Waynesville homeowners and business owners have to take on their debts. 

Did Waynesville homeowners vote to accept the infrastructure debts of Lake Junaluska? Lake Junaluska homeowners voted to have Waynesville homeowners take on Lake Junaluska debts. Where is the reverse? This is a pig in a poke that will cost an estimated $10 million over about five years.

Make it more fair, then proceed. Neither Rep. Joe Sam Queen nor Rep Michelle Presnell nor any public officer has developed a fair solution before annexation. Annexation without fair apportionment of infrastructure debts harms the majority of Waynesville taxpayers and rewards the Lake Junaluska homeowners. Lake Junaluska management shirked its responsibility in order to keep utility costs abnormally low.

Let's be fair to all and annex Lake Junaluska but put them in a special sub-sanitation district for more than 10 years.

Rick Helfers

Waynesville

To the Editor:

A recent letter to the editor states a moral equivalence between ISIS weird beards who behead journalists, crucify Christians, drive crosses into the throats of children in front of their parents, and turn young girls into sex slaves with the horrible unintended consequences of war and the mismanagement and gross negligence of some of this administration’s officials. One must wonder if people who think like this are not living happily in the land of OZ.

Tom Davis

Webster

To the Editor:

I am writing in regards to the Nikwasi Indian Mound. I am concerned for the community of Franklin and the image it is giving off to the rest of this country. Franklin has a lot of part-time residents that live elsewhere and a lot of others who are keeping up on the goings-on that are deciding whether to retire or visit here.

First off, I cannot believe that the Town of Franklin has missed the mark concerning the return of the mound to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). This is an opportunity to close some wounds, restore a church to a culture that has thousands of years’ history to the land, and to demonstrate understanding and goodwill. Folks, when I ask people what religion they feel Franklin is, they say “there are a lot of Christians.” 

However, the Town of Franklin doesn’t uphold that image. Here is why. They are hypocrites not loving their neighbor as themselves. If they would look at this issue from a cultural standpoint, they would understand they are withholding a church from a people that lost it because they were forced by Christians that coveted their land, some stole it, murdered them for it and waged war against the Cherokee all because of gold. Christians were hostile against them back then and that is still continuing today because it is obvious they are not culturally sensitive people. 

The mound has looked horrible since it was desecrated with herbicide. Indians consider that like burning a church. If you understood culture, the Town of Franklin would have never done that to the mound. They altered it, which was also against the instructions from the Macon County Historical Society when the deed was transferred to the Town of Franklin. 

I had to go research a bit at the library to maybe find some answers why Franklin refuses to return the Nikwasi Mound. They claim it’s rightly owned by people that bought it. They claim that EBCI is a sovereign nation and what would happen if they owned a piece of land in the middle of Franklin. They claim that the complications from it being privately owned interfere with them returning it.

Those arguments are invalid. First, EBCI owns two other mounds and they are not going to alter, remove, or put a casino on it or use it to take over land. If you were culturally educated you would understand this is not something that is allowed in Indian culture to do to sacred sites. The deed being in EBCI’s name is no different if I put a piece of land that I owned in the name of the EBCI. All we are looking at is a real estate transaction. 

Here’s the interesting piece of information I came across in Barbara McRae’s book called Franklin’s Ancient Mound, Teresita press, 1993. The Siler family oversaw the matters with the Indian Removal process (Jacob Siler was the man that served in the legislature in 1839-40 when issues concerning matters of the Cherokee Indians were discussed). It was also Jesse and Harriet Siler that acquired the Nikwasi Mound in the 1800s and built a gazebo on it. The mayor of Franklin, Bob Scott, married a Siler descendant. 

Now I couldn’t help but to wonder if this is why it is so difficult to return the mound is because Mayor Bob Scott has personal family history against the Cherokee Indians and he is still enforcing cultural insensitivity. I really would like to know because that is sure what it looks like after reading the history about the mound and watching the behaviors of a culturally inept council.

The other argument is why didn’t the Indians purchase the mound back in 1949 to get it back? I can tell you why … they were poor, still struggling to survive from what happened to them after the removal. They couldn’t afford it folks. Again, cultural ignorance shines right through because some refuse to learn about others to understand it from their point of view.

I think the Town of Franklin needs to re-think its decision of just allowing the EBCI to take on the expense of maintaining the mound but not own it. You are killing the Town of Franklin’s chance to heal wounds, to perhaps let the EBCI build the community by building a museum next to the mound to attract visitors here. You are missing an opportunity to show what Christianity is really about and not look like hypocrites to the rest of the world like some of the white ancestors were. There is no room for racism, not loving your neighbor and treating others like outsiders in the Christian religion.

After gaining some knowledge on the history of the mound, Bob Scott, you have a lot of explaining to do because most of the arguments in the media from the Town of Franklin are horribly invalid and definitely culturally insensitive. I would suggest returning the mound before we end up on national news with Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson making your political life difficult  and ruining Franklin’s reputation.

Rachel Truesdell

Franklin

Every attentive person knows there is a revolution occurring in language, and much of what was once communicated by words is now communicated by images. Texting is quicker than calling, snap chatting quicker than texting, and emoticons quicker than either. My students, for whom emoticons are second nature, are smart, and they have a thorough understanding of icons and symbols. Formal research and informal observations for the last decade tell us these students learn differently than previous generations. Their learning responds directly to their environment’s demands. They learn interactively. They learn through images. They learn through sound. Very few students learn primarily through the written word. And yet the state test they must pass for English IV is a variety of excerpts from literary works and historical documents, followed by multiple-choice questions. 

Smart money had the contest for the Swain commissioners race locked down in the primary. The board’s chairman, Phil Carson, had held on to his seat and the top four Democrats would assumably come out on top in the general election.

Rep. Michele Presnell , R-Yancey, retained her seat for the N.C House, narrowly defeating fellow Yancey resident Dean Hicks in the 118th District, which includes part of Haywood County and all of Madison and Yancey.

After winning re-election in the N.C. House District 119 race, Rep. Joe Sam Queen sounded more glum than one might expect. 

“It’s a mixed night for me,” Queen said.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, pulled out a sizeable win over Democratic challenger Jane Hipps.

Davis has represented the mountains in Raleigh for four years, an historic era of newfound Republican control.

Haywood Community College was recently awarded a Tennessee Valley Authority Ag & Forestry Fund Grant through the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The grant, Improving Technological Innovation of Forest Management Students, will fund $13,800 of hardware and software to facilitate learning experiences and employability opportunities for the college’s Forest Management Technology students. 

With four new hand-held GPS units, the forestry students will keep current with advances in forest inventory and geospatial technology and further their knowledge base. Through this state-of-the-art forest inventory technology, students will use these skills throughout their time at HCC and rely on it to complete their final capstone project of preparing an entire forest management plan. 

HCC is working with ForesTech Resource Solutions, LLC for the equipment. According to its website, the company provides technical products and services for forestry and natural resource management through the use of the latest technology, a well-developed network of strategic partners and a wealth of applied knowledge in natural resources management.  

“In order for students to be properly prepared to enter the workforce, it is very important for them to be trained on technology they will be using in the field,” explains Terry Porter, President of ForesTech.

“HCC Forestry students will have access to new and emerging technologies that are being utilized by the forest industry, state and federal agencies,” says Blair Bishop, HCC Forest Management Technology Lead Instructor. “As a result, the use of this technology will have a long-term impact on the future foresters.”  

According to Porter, “When these students are ready to enter the workforce, employers are looking for people who have been utilizing this technology. They are looking for people who are well versed and will be able to hit the ground running.” 

HCC is the only technical college in Western North Carolina to offer a two-year Forest Management degree and the only Forest Management Technology Program in the state accredited by The Society of American Foresters. 

828.627.4566.

A native of Iran who is a former Rotary Peace Fellow and past editor of publications now banned or shut down by the Iranian government will present the keynote address for International Education Week at Western Carolina University on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Ali Eshraghi, Iran project manager for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, will deliver a talk tentatively titled “U.S.-Iran: Reconfiguring the Middle East” in the theater of A.K. Hinds University Center at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Eshraghi’s journalism career spans more than 15 years, and he has published hundreds of articles and op-ed pieces in Persian, Arabic and English media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Guardian, PBS Frontline, the New Republic and Al Jazeera.

The nonprofit institute for which Eshraghi works is committed to supporting citizen journalism and media institutions to help people in parts of the world faced with conflict and crisis have the information they need to drive positive changes in their lives. 

In Iran, dozens of journalists have served time in prison or been sentenced to lashings after being charged with offenses such as “anti-government publicity” and “meeting and conspiring against the Islamic Republic,” according to information from the nonprofit organization Reporters Without Borders.

John Whitmire, associate professor and head of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, said Eshraghi’s experience has given him an invaluable expertise and perspective of peace, war and conflict resolution as well as U.S. and Iranian relations.

“He is someone whose life has been committed to speaking truth to power in the interests of reforming his own community and world,” said Whitmire. “In his various vocational lives, he’s been a real exemplar of journalistic and citizen advocacy directed towards changing his own society for the better, which you can’t do unless you really uncover the ways that it is currently falling short. In his case, this has entailed a lot of risk.”

Eshraghi also serves as the chair for the Civic Institute for Advocacy and Networking and a teaching fellow in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He is an alumnus of the Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution and was a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Journalism and the Institute of International Studies. Eshraghi also was a research fellow at the Religion, Politics and Globalization Program at U.C. Berkeley. He studied political science and Islamic studies at Imam Sadiq University in Tehran. 

In addition to delivering the keynote address for International Education Week at WCU, Eshraghi will speak to a philosophy and religion class about his experience of religion inside and outside of Iran; an English class that has read Persepolis about life in Iran; and to journalism students about his career and what it takes to succeed.

WCU’s Office of International Programs and Services partnered with the Department of Philosophy and Religion to make Eshraghi’s visit and address at WCU possible.

A dedication ceremony last week, held by the N.C. Department of Transportation, officially named a bridge at the intersection of U.S. 74 and Alarka Road in Swain County to honor Dock T. “Dockie” Brendle, a Swain County native who earned three Purple Hearts in the Vietnam War. 

He fought in many battles, including the 1968 Tet Offensive, and his last and most severe injury left him blind in his right eye and paralyzed on his left side. Despite his physical limitaions, Brendle has been instrumental in promoting veterans and other humanitarian efforts in his community. He’s a lifetime member of Vietnam Veterans of American Chapter 994 in Franklin and a past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9281. 

His community felt the bridge should be named after him, but the request was at first denied by the DOT on the grounds that, as a rule, it doesn’t name roads and bridges after Purple Heart winners, on Medal of Valor winners. The people of Swain County had to show the DOT that Brendle was indeed a community figure worthy of the recognition and did so in grand fashion by holding Dockie Brendle Day in April, as well as compiling letters of support and signatures on a petition. 

Derrell Maxwell, the Oct. 29 ceremony’s emcee, formed the original committee to name the bridge after Brendle. Speakers at the ceremony included Transportation Secretary Tony Tata; Richard Norton, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 994; Phil Carson, chairman of the Swain County Board of Commissioners; N.C. Senator Jim Davis and Congressman Mark Meadows. 

Construction along N.C. 209 — locally called Crabtree Road — near its exchange with U.S. 74 will cause the state road to close for three consecutive weekends between Old Clyde Road and Carley Road as a new sewer line is installed there. 

The closures will be from 7 p.m. Nov. 7 to 7 a.m. Nov 10; 7 p.m. Nov. 14 to 7 a.m. Nov. 17 and 7 p.m. Nov. 21 to 7 a.m. Nov. 24. Signs will direct traffic along the detour from N.C. 209 to U.S. 74 to Interstate 40 West and then back onto N.C. 209 via Exit 24. 

Detour signage will be in place directing traffic from N.C. 209 to take U.S. 74 to Interstate 40 west, and then to Exit 24 on I-40 West. Traffic will then return to N.C. 209.

The $18.9 million project aims to improve safety and traffic flow along N.C. 209 and its interchange with U.S. 74. Construction began in late July, and all work save reforestation should be complete by August 2017.

A copper hammering workshop with William Rogers will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Art After Dark continues from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, in downtown Waynesville.

Enjoy a stroll through working studios and galleries on Main Street and Depot Street. Festive Art After Dark flags denote participating galleries.

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian has received a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council for $56,905 for the year beginning July 1, 2014 through June 2015. The Arts Council has designated the museum a State Arts Resource organization because of its role in perpetuating Cherokee traditions.