Biologists will get a boost in monitoring Smokies elk populations, thanks to a $13,720 grant Friends of the Smokies received from Charter Communications, Inc. The grant money purchased 15 radio collars and two receivers to track and monitor the large mammals. 

A horse exhibition hosted by Friends of Panthertown from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 28, will raise money for conservation and trail maintenance in Panthertown Valley, a national forest recreation area near Cashiers.

Visitors are invited to check on the progress of the American chestnut restoration effort at Cataloochee Ranch in Haywood County with self-guided and guided tours this summer.

Franklin has a hall-of-famer following the induction of Rev. Rufus Morgan into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame earlier this month. 

To the Editor:

We continually hear the myth about how the rich are greedy, but what we don’t hear is how greedy a high school dropout can be or the union workers who want more money or even those on welfare who want more benefits. In reality, they are all driven by greed.

Our rich buy and build all those things that provide jobs. The rich invest their money, which allows industry and manufacturing to grow. Confiscate more money from the rich and it goes into a government hopper where it inevitably disappears in wasteful and massive government bureaucracies. Government does not create jobs, only a free market does.

And the rich don’t keep their money under a mattress; they invest it to help our country grow.

Borrowing from an article by Michael Shermer in Scientific American who makes the point, confirmed by the federal government and economists, that the pie we all take a portion from is actually a much larger pie, so the relative size of our portion has actually grown.

For example, a report by the Federal Reserve showed that during 2013 the net worth of American households actually grew 14 percent with an increase of $10 trillion to an astounding $80.7 trillion; one huge pie indeed.

President Obama’s comments about lack of economic mobility were incorrect because in fact during the period between 1987 and 2005 almost half of the public moved into a higher income tax bracket.  However, of those in the top income tax brackets, almost 60 percent moved into a lower tax bracket.

We are faced with a number of other myths and one is that the rich are extremely rich, but when this myth was examined it was found that while most believed the rich had annual incomes of $2 million, it was found that the rich have incomes of only $169,000.

All in all, the American dream is still alive and we are doing quite well thank you, regardless of the envy we hear from people who quit high school and blame the rich. While we do have our share of poverty and we certainly need to help those who cannot help themselves, the vast majority of those so-called poverty-stricken people still manage to own a huge flat screen television and expensive cell phones.

In final analysis, the liberal view of taking from the rich to give to the poor only results in destroying the work ethic of many who then become dependent, while those with political connections just get fatter off the backs of the workers. Remember when Hillary Clinton complained that they were flat broke when Bill left office, having only $12 million income?

The people who we really need to be worrying about now are the retired folks who built this country and worked hard to put money away for their retirement but now see their savings wiped out by inflation. With every minimum wage increase, we have another round of inflation.

Bob Wilson

Franklin

To the Editor:

Thank you for Holly Kays’ excellent article covering the recent shooting of a bear in Maggie Valley, leaving behind three orphaned cubs.

This was a needless tragedy, and I fear that others may feel emboldened to take things into their own hands and kill bears that they consider to be problematic instead of taking the proper steps to prevent such problems.

Bears are intelligent wild animals. They live to eat, and they won’t pass up a free meal if people provide one. Such meals come in the form of garbage, birdfeeders (including suet and hummingbird feeders), grills, pet food, etc.

The man in this story had a birdfeeder that had brought the bear onto his porch twice during the night before he killed her. If he had only removed the feeder, it may have ended right there, but he didn’t. That is beyond irresponsible. It is reckless and selfish.

He is not the only one — I’ve heard plenty of other people say something to the effect that “I love my birds, so don’t tell me to put away my birdfeeder.” One couple that disregarded such advice ended up with the bear invading their house on two separate occasions, doing considerable damage to the kitchen. Had they been home, they might have shot the bear like the man in this story did. So whose fault is it?

I’m sorry that this man won’t be prosecuted, as he deliberately left a bear attractant out in a potentially dangerous situation. 

A bear is just going to be a bear. As our members tell many people, it is up to us humans to change our behavior in order to peacefully coexist with the bears and other wild animals with whom we share our mountains. I hope people will follow the advice included in Holly’s article in order to prevent similar problems and tragedies in the future.

Cynthia Strain

Highlands

Chairwoman of the B.E.A.R. (Bear Education and Resources) Task Force

To the Editor:

Having lived in North Carolina for a year, I’ve noticed that low teacher salaries are a hot topic. (For the record, I teach in a private school where we earn even less than the public sector). But I follow the debate with interest because the rhetoric is flung around thickly.

Here’s a quote that was highlighted in an article in the June 18 issue of The Smoky Mountain News: 

“If given the choice, would you enroll your child in a state that is 48th in per pupil spending?”

What is implied by that question (Which is actually NOT a question but an assertion masquerading as a question)?

You have to spend a lot of money to educate a child well? Money is the number one predictor of good education? 

What don’t we know?

• Whether all 50 states actually spend close to the same. What if N.C. truly is 48th in spending but the variance among state budgets is pretty narrow?

• Whether the quality of students graduating from secondary schools and universities is a problem.

• What the end product (i.e., students) is like in states that spend the most.

• What the difference in dollars goes to in states that spend more.

• What ‘per pupil spending’ actually includes. What goes into that figure? Does more money go directly to teacher salaries? And if so, is there a correlation between better-paid teachers and quality education as measured again by the end product?

Here are some facts to consider:

• The city of Washington, D.C., spent an average of $29,349 per student in 2010-11, and 81 percent were not proficient in either reading nor math.

• North Carolina spent $8,433 per pupil during the 2012-2013 school year.

• The average among all 50 states was $11,068 for the same 2012-2013 window.

Here’s what I would ask those making the case that we are in trouble in N.C.:

• What does the average home-schooling family spend per pupil?

• How much is the average private school tuition?

• What about online schools that are growing in both accessibility and quality?

Here’s the bottom line for any issue: You can’t have a useful discussion without taking time to flesh out hidden assumptions and facts!

Thanks for your paper. We read it each week and enjoy keeping up with local issues.

Maria Cochrane

Balsam

The nonprofit community group known as the Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor (CuRvE) has been awarded an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant from the Southwest Commission to fund ongoing efforts for improved recreational amenities along the Tuckaseegee River where it passes through the Cullowhee community.  

CuRvE’s projects focus on a 3.5-mile portion of the river from the Lena Davis Landing upstream to the newly constructed Locust Creek River Access Area close to N.C. 107.

The grant will provide funds for CuRvE to hire a river consultant to create a plan for in-stream water activities and a landscape architect to create a series of drawings to help visualize the possibilities for a riverpark and completed greenway. The organization has also been working closely with N.C. DOT on an improved design for the new bridge that will constructed over the Tuckaseegee River this fall.

CuRvE is currently finishing up work on a previous grant from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.

A tribal elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians delivered the opening prayer in the Cherokee language at the N.C. Senate session June 19. Jerry Wolfe, was a natural choice to deliver the prayer.

Widely recognized for his service to the Eastern Band, Wolfe is a Navy veteran who was aboard a ship both during the D-Day invasion at Normandy and the Japanese surrender that ended World War II. The 89-year-old is also a fluent speaker of the Cherokee language and a tribal traditionalist steeped in the knowledge of tribal history and culture.

Wolfe was named a Beloved Man by the tribal council in April 2013, an honor which has not been bestowed by the Eastern Band in more than 200 years. He has received numerous honors over the years for his cultural knowledge including the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 2003 and the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award from the North Carolina Folklore Society in 2010.

“Jerry Wolfe is a well-respected and tremendous leader for our people, which he has demonstrated through his life’s work,” commented Michell Hicks, principal chief of the Eastern Band. “It is a great honor for him, and for our tribe, to open a session of the North Carolina Senate in the Cherokee language.”

Swain County Hospital offers Senior Life Solutions, a program that facilitates intensive outpatient psychiatric care for adults and seniors with Medicare. The program, which is located inside Swain County Hospital, is available to individuals through physician or self referral. 

Patients experiencing symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, suicidal thoughts, social withdrawal, disorientation, hallucinations, feelings of worthlessness, interpersonal conflicts, deterioration of daily living skills, and other psychiatric symptoms that disrupt daily life could benefit from participating in the program. 

Individuals in the program have access to psychiatric appointments with licensed clinical social workers as well as monthly appointments with psychiatrist Dr. James Greene, who also serves as medical director of the program. 

“This program is truly a resource for the community that cannot be found elsewhere,” said Lacy Webster, RN, program director. 

The program begins with three-hour treatment sessions up to three days per week, with treatment time lessening as symptoms improve. Follow-up care is provided. Free transportation is also available to program participants dependent upon location and appointment times. 

828.488.4044.

Kelly Donaldson, 42, of Cullowhee, began work June 9 as the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center new assistant director.

Donaldson’s addition is a part of a restructuring plan by the Jackson chamber ‘s board of directors to plot a fresh new path for future growth in the area.

“Kelly will bring a new skill set and level of professionalism that our merchants, citizens and visitors will adore,” said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Julie Spiro. “We’re excited about the potential for growth within our chamber and community. Kelly will provide an invigorating level of staff support, event planning, growth of commerce, and visitor and community service to the chamber.”

Donaldson comes from serving seven years as editor at the Crossroads Chronicle in Cashiers. Previously, he worked seven years as a sports editor in Gainesville, Ga., Morganton, and Brevard. He also has experience in marketing, public relations, photography, fundraising and graphic design. 

Donaldson has been a member of the board of directors for the Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce, (2010-12); the Greater Cashiers Area Merchants Association (2012-present); the Fishes and Loaves Food Pantry (2012-present); the Cashiers Preservation Foundation (2011-12); and several others, including Relay for Life and Make-A-Wish. 

“We as a board decided to make an aggressive and proactive move to increase our value and presence in the community,” said Jackson Chamber Board President Thom Brooks, of Southwestern Community College. “We are proud to have one of the best Chamber Executive Directors in the state in Julie Spiro. Kelly will give her the assistance and support she needs to fully execute the goals of the chamber, our citizens and our visitors. This is a move to propel ourselves into the future with a level of stability and vision unlike anything we’ve planned before.”

An initiative to educate first-time, low-income mothers in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties on how to raise healthy, school-ready children with a focus on the critical first two years of the child’s life is being launched by the Southwestern Child Development Commission.

The Nurse Family Partnership will employ four nurses with B.S. degrees, one Masters level nursing supervisor and administrative support staff.  Each nurse will provide home visits to approximately 25 mothers throughout pregnancy and through their child’s second birthday.  

The new initiative is being funded by a $150,000 grant from the Community Foundation from WNC. The Brown Family Fund, the Wasson-Stowe Charitable Fund and the MAC Mountain Fund partnered with CFWNC to fund this grant.  Significant funding is also being provided by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, The Evergreen Foundation and the NC Department of Health and Human Services.

Jeanette White, coordinator of Southwestern Community College’s Civil Engineering Technology program, keeps getting calls from employers looking for graduates who are ready to work. There’s just one issue: all of White’s graduates already have jobs or are continuing their education at a four-year school.

“Our program still has a 100-percent employment rate,” White said. “We are very fortunate that a lot of employers are looking for us to produce more graduates. It’s a wonderful field with a wide range of employment possibilities. We just need more students.”

White’s graduates are currently employed with the North Carolina Department of Transportation as well as private civil engineering, surveying and construction firms throughout the area. According to U.S. Labor Department figures, Civil engineering technicians’ median annual wage was $47,560 in May 2012.

In SCC’s program, students become proficient in surveying technology using the latest surveying instrumentations, including the use of a robotic total station. 

828.339.4427.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Pow Wow will be held July 4-6 at the Acquoni Expo Center.

There will be a handful of youth arts programs held throughout July as part of the Cullowhee Mountain ARTS summer series. Held in the School of Art and Design on the Western Carolina University Campus, these camps allow young artists to explore a multitude of media and techniques while working toward an overall goal.

The Haywood County Arts Council recently hired Jodi John Pippin as their new part-time executive director as of June 2014. 

The Singing In The Smokies Independence Weekend Festival will run from July 3-5 at Inspiration Park in Bryson City. 

By Chris Cooper

Silly, psychedelic and monstrously musical, the teaming of Keller Williams with Larry and Jenny Keel on Grass is sure to produce something that’s out there, to say the least. As well, it’s an opportunity to hear Williams in a much simpler format without the loops and percussion and one-man-band shtick.

The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism

Haynes Johnson’s 2005 book isn’t frightening, but it should at least make thinking people think about some fundamental issues facing Americans. How, he asks, can we “safeguard the nation’s security without jeopardizing its liberties.” The parallels between the Red scare of the 1950s and now are a “... terrible, and terribly familiar, story: how fear can produce abuses that damage individuals and dishonor America in the name of making both safer.” The majority of the book — more than 400 of its 600 pages — are dedicated to a re-telling of McCarthy’s quick rise and fall and how he mastered the politics of scare tactics, secrecy and outright deception to get what he wanted.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

History books and literature long have recounted and regaled the Civil War, examined its long-lasting effects in determining who “we” are as a great and unified South, and how “we” are not yet ready to lay down arms between victor and vanquished.

Author, storyteller and playwright Gary Carden of Sylva has been awarded the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award presented by the North Carolina Folklore Society.

By Michael Beadle

The North Carolina Education Lottery might be seen by state officials as a boon for public education, but it’s already becoming a frustration for some school officials in Western North Carolina.

According to provisions in the state’s lottery law, about a third of the money raised in the lottery (35 percent) would go toward education programs — an estimated $425 million, according to state figures. Half of this money will go to pay for more classroom teachers in early elementary grades and pre-kindergarten programs. Of the remaining portion, 40 percent would go toward school construction projects and 10 percent would go to college scholarships based on a student’s financial need.

By Michael Beadle

As the opening date approaches for the North Carolina Education Lottery, local retailers in Western North Carolina are gearing up to sell the first batch of tickets.

At the Cullasaja Exxon outside of Franklin, owner Ronnie Setzer is ready.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Macon County Planning Board members will continue their first discussion of a draft subdivision ordinance set to potentially include steep slope development regulations at a meeting held at 5 p.m. today (Wednesday, March 29) at the Environmental Resource Center.

By Sarah Kucharski * Staff Writer

Is there enough affordable housing in Sylva? Do you feel safe in your neighborhood? Are you satisfied with street repair? How often do you go to Poteet Park?

Town leaders are looking for answers to these questions and others in a new citizen satisfaction survey designed to solicit public opinion from homeowners about the town’s current services and future improvements.

There’s no more pressing issue in this region than enacting ordinances to control steep slope development. If we snooze on this one, then everyone from town dwellers to those living in the rural countryside will suffer the consequences for years to come.

By Stephanie Wampler

I didn’t know her. I never met her. I haven’t even read that much about her. I saw lots of pictures of her husband, but not so many of her. The pictures of her were always with her husband. She apparently had a career of her own and was both a singer and an actress.

But that’s not why I know about her.

By Sarah Kucharski

Standing in the shallows of the Tuckasegee River between Webster and Dillsboro, cold water flowing around the ankles of his waders, longtime fisherman Steve Henson asked fly-fishing guide Roger Lowe what they could expect from the day’s upcoming fishing trip.

For the first time in more than 30 years, fishermen in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be allowed to catch and keep brook trout under new experimental Park fishing regulations starting April 15.

It’s past time to keep rehashing the same old arguments about whether having a state lottery is a good idea. It’s on the books and operating now, and it’s impossible to imagine ever going backward.

A new breed of predator beetles that could help fight the hemlock wooly adelgid were released in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park two weeks ago.

The hemlock wooly adelgid is a bug from Asia that has invaded the Southern Appalachian Mountains and is rapidly infesting hemlock trees. Without action, the region could lose nearly all of its hemlock trees within five to 10 years, leaving a gaping hole in the forest ecosystem and the landscape.

By Ed Kelley

Tiptoeing quickly across the Toxaway River, my ankle gaiters did the job and kept the cold water out of my boots. With higher water, fording the river could be dicey. I had chosen the Auger Hole trail in Gorges State Park because I thought it would give me a nice overview of the park and get me deep into the gorges. The trail is a well-maintained road that is driven regularly by Park Rangers.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials say they have been erroneously blamed by some residents for introducing large, black and orange ladybeetles that congregate en masse in residential areas.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

There are two things Arthel Watson fans are sure to mention when asked about the folk musician — his voice and his character.

They say his voice channels everything that is true Americana. They say his character is one bearing a great sense of honesty and professionalism.

As part of an innovative fundraising effort called “Doctors for Doc,” Haywood County physicians affiliated with Haywood Regional Medical Center are helping fund an upcoming concert featuring Grammy Award-winning musicians Doc Watson and David Holt.

By Chris Cooper

The name Radney Foster takes me back to the earlier days of home satellite dishes and music television. It was still a novelty to have access to so many things to watch, and in an effort not to be totally biased musically, I perused the music channels regardless of “stylistic format.”

National Poetry Month

April may have been “the cruelest month” for poet T.S. Eliot, but for me it is truly a gift, a time of budding flowers and warming weather. April is also National Poetry Month, a time to honor what Percy Shelley once called “the best and happiest moments by the happiest and best minds.”

North Carolina is blessed with some wonderful poets — Fred Chappell, Jim Applewhite, Robert Morgan, Reynolds Price, Betty Adcock, Gerald Barrax, Ron Rash (just to name a few) — so if you’re interested in some fine new poetry collections, I strongly suggest Kay Byer’s Coming to Rest, Michael McFee’s Shinemaster and Mark Smith-Soto’s Any Second Now. (Check your local independent bookstore for these treasures and many others.)

In Kay Byer’s Coming to Rest, the North Carolina Poet Laureate is a master of verse crafting complex forms such as the sestina, villanelle and ghazal — even the paradelle (a parody of the villanelle). Byer speaks of travels all over the United States and the world, the journeys we take through a daunting emotional landscape, the still moments we capture in the viewfinder of our mind’s eye. Byer sends the reader lyrical postcards of the American West (“Zuni”), poignant perspectives as a mother (“Pneumonia”), a tribute to her college days at UNC-Greensboro (“The Exotics”), and clues into her new role as laureate — “I’ve already answered my e-mail, my voice / mail, my snail mail. My real work? To take hold.” I love the way she’s able to weave a reference from Edith Piaf in with Wal-Mart sunglasses. There’s a balance between the sublime and the mundane, a reverence for languages of different cultures, an insatiable curiosity wherever she goes, a vulnerability that she wrestles with and embraces.

Michael McFee, an Asheville native and professor of English at UNC-Chapel Hill, has worked as a poet and anthologizer, compiling North Carolina poets and short story writers in wonderful collections. McFee’s latest poetry book, Shinemaster, is a tribute to bygone days, childhood memories of baseball and Bible School, recollections of going to the old gas station, swimming at Lake Junaluska, and going through the cafeteria line at the S & W in downtown Asheville. But McFee does not intend to squeeze a sentimental tear out of every page. On the contrary, he uses his playful gift of language to wax on the subjects of belching, spitting, sneezing, making spitwads, kissing and having sex. There are odes to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and meteor showers, a lost Valentine’s Day balloon and a fascinating history lesson on sweet potatoes. McFee is a delight to read, graceful, witty and wise.

Finally, there’s Mark Smith-Soto’s new collection, Any Second Now. Smith-Soto is a professor of Romance languages and director of the Center for Creative Writing in the Arts at UNC-Greensboro. As a Costa Rican-American, Smith-Soto carries the lush landscape of Central America into breathtaking imagery. Many of the poems in Any Second Now are sonnets, but he takes the form and softens the rhymes so you may not at first recognize these poems as sonnets. In a modern world full of paradox and bizarre juxtaposition, Smith-Soto is able to capture beauty in seemingly insignificant moments of everyday life — channel-surfing, grocery shopping, someone taking off a sweater in a café. In “Ambulance,” he writes, “I’ve just cut the mower off, and now / a siren uncoils in the still air ... The wail deepens, and I am then afraid / as if I could be hurt / without knowing it. ...And still I stand in my yard, watching / color pool into the orange tulips, thinking: / nothing is wrong, not here, not now.” Particularly appealing are his political poems — “President In My Heart” (a satirical twist on a fairy tale and a smart bomb war), “See It On Video” (a tribute to Rodney King) and “Manhattan Buddha” (a tribute to 9/11).

Enjoy National Poetry Month this year by curling up with some of “the happiest and best minds” this earth has to offer.

— By Michael Beadle

April may have been “the cruelest month” for poet T.S. Eliot, but for me it is truly a gift, a time of budding flowers and warming weather. April is also National Poetry Month, a time to honor what Percy Shelley once called “the best and happiest moments by the happiest and best minds.”

By Chris Cooper

What do the words “music career” mean to you? For many it’s big fancy studios, nice cars and whopping cash advances from a record label. Maybe a house in Malibu with a gold plated toilet. Worldwide superstardom and scads of shiny awards? Yeah, right.

Drive-By Truckers: A Blessing and a Curse

I first saw the Truckers eight or nine years ago in a little dive in Asheville called the Basement. There might have been 20 people there, including the staff and guests of the band, but even then it was clear they were onto something beyond their “gimmick” — Lynyrd Skynyrd reincarnated as an alternative rock band — it was equally clear that these guys were in it for the long haul.

By Michael Beadle

It’s Thursday morning and Cherokee High School junior Brandi Oocumma is preparing to read a news story on the radio about the risks and benefits of caesarian deliveries. She wants to become a pediatrician one day, so she likes reading articles about children’s issues.

What began as a request to translate “The Star-Spangled Banner” into Cherokee evolved instead into a new song, the “United Cherokee Nations Anthem,” which was recorded in a studio for the first time at Western Carolina University. The anthem opens with a translation of “O say can you see,” but then takes its own course into messages of strength and the desire for peace.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Voters in Jackson County will elect predominately Democratic county commissioners in this May’s primary elections, regardless of voter turnout.

Twelve of 13 candidates in the county’s unusually large commissioners campaign pool — fueled partly by incumbents choosing not to seek re-election — are running on the Democratic ticket, with three of the four district seats unchallenged by the Republican party.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Michael Morgan sits at a table near the back of Malaprop’s Bookstore Café in Asheville eating from an unlabeled can of applesauce, his 6-foot plus lanky frame casually folded, one leg across the other. He’s dressed in khaki pants and a natural colored striped polo shirt, a short necklace peeking out from its open collar and a small diamond stud earring in his left lobe.

The words still ring in my ears, coming as they did from a teacher who had spent years playing by the book: “I’ve got to spend the money by the end of the school year or it’s gone, so I’m gonna spend it on something.”

By Michael Beadle

Some people bike for the fun of it. Some people bike to race. For Franklin’s Owen Simpson, it’s a bit of both.

Over the past three years, Simpson — who also goes by O.J. — has been pedaling with the Smoky Mountain Racing Team, a Franklin-based organization that promotes cycling for men and women of all skill levels throughout Western North Carolina. Simpson, 30, has a hectic schedule through spring and summer, racing nearly every weekend from now until August. These races have taken him to Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Western North Carolina sites like Tsali in Graham County.

The recent revelations about Rep. Charles Taylor’s ties to a lobbyist who has confessed to federal bribery charges is a serious problem for this region’s Congressman, a controversy that calls into question his ethics and reveals close ties to the sleazy world of politics and money that encircle so many who make a career of politics.

By Jason Kimenker • Guest Columnist

What makes Sylva great? The people of rural Sylva, North Carolina are as unique as this area is beautiful. This small mountain town is so loved by tens of thousands of visitors year-round. With a population of just over 2,500, the incorporated town of Sylva and her residents share an incredibly rich history with their surrounding mountain communities.

New research on slime molds at the University of Georgia has generated hope for the millions of Americans affected by Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases that a cure could one day be possible.

Western Carolina University students are filming the last scenes from the Theatre in Education Company’s performance of “Young Cherokee,” concluding a year-long theatre initiative that has captured attention at national conferences and connected university students with the Cherokee people.