Soaking in the sun: Solar energy movement comes to WNC
Solar power is on the rise across the U.S., and a campaign recently launched in Western North Carolina is urging mountain folk to join the trend.
“You can only do what you can afford to do, and now that it’s affordable, people are taking advantage of it and getting involved,” said Avram Friedman, executive director of The Canary Coalition, one of the two groups collaborating on the Solarize WNC campaign. “I think we’ve sort of reached that critical mass when things are turning around.”
Pseudo police force would lead to bigger problems
Nothing would reflect better on this country than to have a rational, reasoned debate on gun violence and what steps could be taken to curb it while still adhering to the Second Amendment. One look at the statistics shows how badly this needs to take place.
But we aren’t getting close. In face, a recent law introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly would be a step in the wrong direction.
Possum Drop returns to Raleigh
For the third year in a row, opossums are making their way to the political scene in the N.C. General Assembly.
The bill — of which Rep. Roger West, R-Marble, is a primary sponsor — would suspend all state wildlife laws related to possums between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2 each year. It’s currently awaiting hearing in the House Committee on Wildlife Resources.
Fracking rules go into effect
The way is now open for oil and gas companies to start drilling in North Carolina, but no wells are going to pop up any time soon. Besides the time lag automatically built into the permitting process, low natural gas prices will likely discourage development and a pending lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the very commission that wrote the rules could invalidate them.
Bring on the bikes: Mountains to coast bike ride to kick off from Waynesville
The plans are set: Waynesville’s getting invaded this fall, and the army will be 1,000 strong.
Semi trucks will haul luggage and portable showers, tents will dominate the lawn of the Waynesville Recreation Center and, most importantly, the soldiers, adventurous souls who have signed up to pedal nearly 500 miles across the state in Cycle North Carolina’s Mountains to Coast Tour, will show up with two-wheeled mounts in tow.
All information is not created equally
Google is a wonderful thing, but it sometimes makes things harder for journalists. That’s why a new emphasis on transparency among newspapers and news sites may be one of the measures that helps save real journalism and differentiates it from all that other stuff out there on the web.
“In the digital world, where information is infinite and infinitely replicable, being transparent … helps distinguish journalism from other content on the web,” writes Martin Moore, the executive director of the Media Standards Trust, in a blog post that listed the arguments in favor of transparency.
New bill heads to Raleigh to join Lake J with Waynesville
The Lake Junaluska community will make a renewed bid to merge with the town of Waynesville this year, this time with the added measure of a formal vote.
Welcome to the better side of the Smokies
The new Smokies superintendent got his introduction to the North Carolina side of the park amid plates of snacks and the homey trappings of a bed and breakfast in Bryson City last week.
N.C. GOP leadership likes to bully opposition
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist
Whether they strut across schoolyards or along the polished halls of a state capital, all bullies are alike. They have to be the boss of everything. They can’t stand anyone who talks back. But they can be beaten.
For now, though, the bullies are on a roll in North Carolina.
State won’t help Maggie Valley ‘decipher’ its own ridge law
Maggie Valley is in limbo over a proposed mountaintop cross after learning last week the state won’t help sort out how high the cross could legally be under the North Carolina ridge law.