Knowing the difference: fact versus opinion
To the Editor:
A few weeks ago Smoky Mountain News Editor Scott McLeod wrote an interesting article spelling out the differences between folks who choose to read or listen to media sources that provide facts and those who get their news from media that primarily give opinions. There’s nothing wrong with opinions if they are backed up by facts. Otherwise, they’re just noise.
Moving away from a place of fear
The passion surrounding the 2024 election was monumental, and as I observed my fellow Americans, the overarching emotion that simmered to the surface, no matter the party affiliation, was fear.
Don’t feed us lies during this tragedy
To the Editor:
Donald Trump has been guilty of spewing so many fact-free statements over the years that ‘fact checking’ has become a ritual after every Trump pronouncement. No one, including the people that support him, denies this fact.
WCU human remains detection expert debunks Helene misinformation
Lisa Briggs, director of Western Carolina University’s Human Remains Detection K-9 training program and Emergency Disaster Management program, and Edwin Grant, HRD K-9 program instructor and long-time law enforcement officer, have been deployed with their HRD K-9s since the start of the recovery process for missing persons in Western North Carolina following the devastation left by Hurricane Helene.
‘The Anxious Generation’ — Part 2
Editor’s note: This first part of this review was published in the July 24 edition of The Smoky Mountain News The evidence is clear that social media is not healthy for girls under the age of sixteen.
The ‘Anxious Generation’ – Part 1
A month ago I called my brother-in-law, known to all the family as Uncle Jim, to ask a favor. He readily said yes to the favor, then said he had one for me. He wanted me to read “The Anxious Generation,” the book about the first generation to go through adolescence with smartphones.
Edwards, Reagan trade jabs in N.C.-11 Primary Election debate
A Republican congressional primary debate hosted by the Clay County Republican Party on Jan. 13 revealed clear differences between the two candidates, incumbent Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) and Hayesville businessman Christian Reagan, despite mostly avoiding major hot-button issues and topics important in rural Western North Carolina.
Life without the phone? Simply unimaginable
I hear tell of people, a precious few, who are not permanently tethered to their phones, people who are able to go hours at a time without being accessible or needing to access someone else. People who dare to be unavailable for a period of time, if you can imagine such a thing. Do you know anyone like that?
Taking a stand when it’s good and bad all at once
(Editor’s note: All the characters in this column are fictitious) Guy walks into his local taproom and is gratified to see his favorite spot open.
Blinded by the light: WNC clogger becomes social media sensation
Before March 2022, 28-year-old Zeb Ross didn’t have a social media presence. No Instagram, TikTok or Twitter. He did have a personal Facebook account for a little while, but got rid of it when he was a teenager because, according to Ross, “there’s good and bad with social media, but it can also be a distraction.”