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January is Radon Education Month and the Jackson County Center of N.C. Cooperative Extension is offering free testing kits for homeowners to assess the level of radon in their homes. Homeowners may pick up free kits at the Cooperative Extension Office in Suite 205 of the Community Service Center in Sylva.
Should a home have elevated levels of radon, the problem can be fixed by qualified contractors for a cost similar to that of many other home repairs.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is invisible, odorless, and tasteless. Radon is released harmlessly from the ground into outdoor air, but it can accumulate and reach harmful levels when trapped in buildings.
For more information on radon and to receive your free radon test kit, contact your Cooperative Extension Office at 828.586.4009.
Mountain BizWorks will offer Foundations, an eight-week business planning course, starting Jan. 24 at its offices in Sylva.
During the course, students study how to craft a solid business plan: developing a mission statement, estimating start-up and overhead costs, setting profit goals, cash flow, marketing, licensing, and record keeping. The course also covers managing personal finances and the requirements of entrepreneurship, while providing direct and supportive feedback on participants’ business plans.
The class will meet for eight consecutive Mondays from 6-9 p.m. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call 828.631.0292 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register. Mountain BizWorks is located at 200 Marsh Lily Drive in Dillsboro Court.
The Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the First Methodist Church in Waynesville.
Following the business meeting, member Steve Torda will present a program entitled, “With old time remedies the cure was sometimes worse than the disease.”
Torda said the program will “explore how our ancestors and their physicians treated afflictions and disease prior to the development of modern medicine and acceptable safe medical treatment.”
Torda will discuss remedies that claimed to “cure hysteria and all diseases of the brain” such as Uncle John’s Pure Sassafras Brain Tonic, which claimed that there was no danger in its use.
Torda is a pharmacist at K-Mart in Waynesville.
For more information call Mary Harrah at 828.627.9828 and leave a message. Your call will be returned if requested.
Tired of being indoors this winter? Take your mind off winters chill and warm up with the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce Fire & Ice Winterfest from 3-7:30 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 15, at the Waynesville Inn Golf Resort.
Whether you are looking for a relaxing mountain retreat, a girlfriend getaway or an escape from cabin fever, the Fire & Ice Winterfest has plenty to offer. Weekend highlights include an ice sculpting competition, live musical entertainment by local band Orange Krush, SegWay tours, horse and carriage Rides and more. There will also be a Fire & Ice Spring Preview Fashion Show.
Waynesville’s own microbreweries, Frog Level and Headwaters Brewing Co., will be on hand to offer samples of their frothy creations; and local restaurants and B&B’s will showcase their culinary talent in the first ever Star Chef Competition complete with locally produced ingredients.
For the pet centric, Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation will host a Cardboard Dog Sled Race. Visit www.sargeandfirends.org for additional information and a registration form. All proceeds from the Dog Sled race will support the initiatives of the Sarge’s organization. This one day event is sure to cure your winter blues.
Tickets may be pre-purchased at a reduced rate of $10 for adults and $5 for children (under 17) or purchased at the door for $12.50 for adults and $5 for children (under 17). Kids Stay Free Promotion: One child (under the age of 17) free with a paying adult. Visit www.fireandicefest.com for a complete list of events and additional information.
Fund for Haywood County has released $28,335 in recent grants to local nonprofit organizations supporting important community initiatives. The grants include:
• Habitat for Humanity — $25,000 to support start-up costs for a ReStore to sell usable donated building materials and home furnishings to support the building of additional homes for low-income Haywood County residents. After two years, the ReStore is projected to support building of at least one additional home and to provide affordable building materials and furnishings to improve another 1,000 homes.
• Good Samaritan Clinic of Haywood County — $1,335 to purchase e-prescribing software for medical records at the two medical clinics serving Haywood County, greatly improving patient safety and the quality of overall care for uninsured and Medicaid patients who receive primary care at the clinics.
• ARC of Haywood County — $2,000 toward a match for the University Participation Program at WCU for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This pilot program provides up to two years of on-campus living and learning experience for students as they transition from secondary school to adult life.
The Fund for Haywood County, an affiliate of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, was established in 1994 by a group of local residents as a permanent endowment and resource for charitable efforts that benefit Haywood County. The local volunteer board of directors works to raise awareness of The Fund for Haywood County and to build assets for the future. These board members are: Louise W. Baker and Peggy C. Melville, Co-Chairs; William C. Allsbrook Jr., S. Brandon Anderson, Kimberly Dionne Ghaussy, George Ivey, Rolf Kaufman, John W. Keith, Bruce A. Kingshill, Ron Leatherwood, William Owen, Jeremy Phillips, Phyllis Prevost, Asa “Buck” Williams and Kenneth F. Wilson.
Area nonprofit organizations and public institutions may apply to The Fund for Haywood County for support through The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The next opportunity to apply is the upcoming Opportunity Grant cycle with a Feb. 1 deadline. Application instructions are available at www.cfwnc.org. Funding decisions will be announced in May.
For more information about The Fund for Haywood County, contact Co-Chairs Louise Baker at 828.452.2227 or Peggy Melville at 828.734.6791. To make a tax-deductible donation to The Fund for Haywood County, donate on-line at www.cfwnc.org or by mail to The Fund for Haywood County, P.O. Box 627, Waynesville, N.C., 28786. Contributions of any size are welcome, are tax-deductible, and make a real difference.
A one-day workshop called “Does Your Forest Talk Money?” will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center in Graham County. It’s geared for landowners, farmers, wild crafters and food entrepreneurs.
The course will explore products that can be propagated and harvested in a woodland setting, such as ramps and ginseng. Learn how to propagate and harvest woodland crops as well as regulations and certifications that may apply. The course will also cover processing woodland crops into food products and marketing.
Speakers include forest products and woodland crop specialists as well three landowners engaged in harvesting woodland products. The programs is sponsored by the Smoky Mountain Native Plants Association and the NCSU Cooperative Extension Service.
The event will conclude with a roundtable discussion and an overview that includes referrals and resources for participants. Register at www.smnpa.org or call 828.479.8788. Cost is $30 and includes lunch.
A talk called “Forest Majesty: Bringing back the American chestnut tree” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, at Posana Restaurant in downtown Asheville as part of the Green Drinks series, a monthly get together to discuss environmental issues.
The speaker is Sarah Spooner of The American Chestnut Foundation, a national organization headquartered in Asheville that’s dedicated to restoring this missing tree back to the ecosystem.
Chestnut blight in the early 20th century and the resulting disappearance of the tree was a huge blow to the Southern Appalachian forest ecosystem. The disappearance also had huge cultural and economic effects. Now, after more than 25 years of scientific research, The American Chestnut Foundation has begun test planting trees that are almost genetically identical to the former American chestnut, but which carry the genes that provide resistance to the chestnut blight.
The return of the chestnut tree would have a huge positive impact on the mountain forest and all of its inhabitants. The technical scientific work of reintroducing this tree is still in the testing stages and reintroduction will require a massive effort.
Socializing starts at 6:30 p.m. www.acf.org or 828.713.9547.
Cyclists aiming to stay fit during winter or those looking for a change of pace in their workout should check out the new spin classes at the Waynesville Recreation Center.
Spin classes make exercise on a stationary bike more exciting, as the instructor talks participants through a virtual bike ride complete with hill climbing fast stretches and cruising. Videos depicting scenery from real bike rides will compliment the class.
The class will meet each Monday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Free for members, or $23 a month. 828.456.2030 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center, the Jackson County Recreation Center and the Franklin Fitness Center also offer spin classes.
Cataloochee Ski Area is offering after-school programs for elementary, middle and high school kids to learn to ski or snowboard this winter.
The five-week course includes a two-hour clinic once a week from 5 to 7 p.m. Elementary school kids can chose from either Wednesday or Friday, with middle school offered on Thursdays.
When it turns cold, it’s tough getting the kids outside to get the exercise they need, but the after-school skiing program helps kids learn new physical and mental skills, get fit, and socialize safely in a controlled environment. The program is designed specifically for young people, who learn differently than adults.
A special learn-to-ski program is now being offered for parents whose kids are in the after-school program.
The cost is $99 for the five-week course and includes instruction and equipment. Cost is less for season pass holders with their own equipment. The ski area has scholarships for low-income families.
For the schedule of dates, www.cataloochee.com/school/after_school.php Contact Sue Reitze, After School Program Coordinator Cataloochee Ski and Snowboard School, at 828.926.0285.
The quest to protect the 8,000-acre Headwaters tract in Transylvania County — one of the last undeveloped tracts of its size in the Southern Appalachians — is celebrating its first milestone.
A donation from Fred and Alice Stanback — conservation champions who have saved thousands of acres of mountain land from development with their large donations — allowed The Conservation Trust purchase a 786-acre portion of the Headwaters tract for $5.5 million. The N.C. Clean Water Management Trust fund contributed $1 million of the total.
Preserving this property is the first phase of what conservation advocates hope will be a multi-year, multi-phase effort to protect the whole tract, which is privately owned. Owners of the tract are willing to sell at less than market value to see the tract protected.
But success is contingent on funding from state and federal conservation agencies, which have pledged a philosophical but not a concrete commitment to the project.
The tract selected for this first phase includes a last unprotected leg of the 70-mile Foothills Trail and a nine-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge crest.
“The completion of this initial Headwater acquisition is an exciting first step that conserves some of the most significant features of the larger tract,” said Kieran Roe, executive director of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy.
Special license plates sporting a black bear have proliferated across WNC, raising $356,000 in 2010 for Friends of the Smokies, which funds projects in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Some of the projects made possible by the license plate revenues last year include:
• Exhibits for the new Oconaluftee Visitor Center being built at the N.C. entrance to the park.
• Fieldtrips and classroom visits from parks rangers for North Carolinian schoolchildren.
• Elk reintroduction in Cataloochee.
• Black bear conservation.
• Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center at Purchase Knob outside Maggie Valley.
“We have another ambitious list of significant projects that will help the park in 2011, and we hope North Carolinians will continue to help us preserve and protect the park through their support of the plate program,” said John Dickson, founding member of Friends of the Smokies and retired Asheville Savings Bank President.
To get a specialty license plate, stop in at your local tag office. The specialty tag costs an extra $30. Of that, $20 goes to Friends of the Smokies to support projects and programs on the North Carolina side of the park.
www.friendsofthesmokies.org or 828.452.0720.
Fly-fishing wannabes can learn the basics and try their hand at casting a line this winter thanks to an ongoing series of beginner fly-fishing classes offer by the Tuckaseigee Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Sylva.
The program includes two classroom sessions held the first and second Thursday of the month from 6 to 8 p.m., plus a half-day outing on a local stream. The classes cover all the basics of mountain trout fishing and are taught by experienced local trout fishermen who are members of Tuck chapter of Trout Unlimited.
The series will be repeated the months of February, March and April. The class is held at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Jackson Street downtown. A donation of $50 covers expenses and support a youth fly fishing camp in the summer. No experience necessary.
Call or email Milt Wofford at 828.631.2613 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Though most people think the music jams at the Bryson City library are just a summertime thing, they carry on year round — the first and third Thursday of every month from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Anyone with a guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dulcimer — anything unplugged — is invited to join. Singers are also welcom to join in. Or, you can just stop by and listen.
The jam is facilitated by Larry Barnett of Grampa’s Music store in Bryson City. Normally Larry starts by calling out a tune and its key signature, and the group plays it together. Then everyone in the circle gets a chance to choose a song for the group. The community jams offer a chance for musicians of all ages and levels of ability to share music they have learned over the years or learn old-time mountain songs.
This gets support from the North Carolina Arts Council and the National Endowment of the Arts. 828.488.3030.
A free ARTSaturday program for elementary school-aged children and their families will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Jan. 8, at the Macon County library.
The Macon County Arts Council will provide all materials and instruction for several make-and-take projects, including personalized 2011 calendars, cotton batting snowman collages, soap flake snowmen and pine cone bird feeders.
ARTSaturday always features live music by keyboardist Lionel Caynon and coloring projects. Children should wear play clothes and come for any part of the session.
The monthly ARTSaturday series is produced by the Arts Council of Macon County and is supported by the Grassroots Arts Program of the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
Registration is not necessary, just show up. Adults must stay with their children. 828.524.7683 or www.artscouncilofmacon.org.
The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will open its 2011 winter Studio Theater Season with a bit of backstage humor and some twists for the audience when “A Life in the Theatre” debuts on Jan. 7.
The comedy by David Mamet will feature HART Executive Director Steve Lloyd and Asheville actor Casey Morris in the play’s two roles under the direction of Julie Kinter. Mamet, one of modern theatre’s most celebrated playwrights, is known for his salty language which is toned down in this play, but audiences should be aware that the show still contains some adult language.
“A Life” follows two actors, a seasoned veteran and a new rising star in a resident company as they prepare and perform in a number of scenes Mamet has created to poke gentle fun at some of theatre’s sacred cows. There is a Chekov scene, showcasing the tedious Russian dramatic style, a lifeboat scene, an operating room scene, a Civil War scene, and a French Revolution scene that is obviously taking a jab at “Les Miserables.” On stage and off things break down and the two actors grow together then apart. For “A Life in the Theatre” audiences should expect some surprises. The first when they enter the performance space.
The HART Studio Season features six plays in just 12 weeks and is one of the highlights of the winter arts scene. Productions regularly sell out and runs are often extended. The Feichter Studio is HART’s second performance space, seating only 60 people and reservations are recommended to insure patrons get a seat.
Make a reservation by calling the HART Box Office and leaving a message. Calls are not returned unless no tickets are available. The show will run Friday and Saturday, Jan. 7-8, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8 for all adults and $5 for students, general admission. To make reservations call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322. All performances are in the Feichter Studio Theatre, 250 Pigeon Street, Waynesville.
The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce will host a Western Carolina chef’s competition during the second annual Fire & Ice Winterfest on Jan. 15 at the Waynesville Inn Golf Resort.
The competition, which will be held from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., will be a single elimination culinary skills recipe and preparation contest.
Area chefs or restaurants are encouraged to submit recipes using North Carolina grown ingredients and the star ingredient, “Sweet Potatoes.” Entrants may submit an entrée, appetizer, salad or dessert and must feature the Star Ingredient in the preparation. Recipes will be reviewed by a panel of professional chefs and food critics. The top eight and an alternate will be invited to the Waynesville Inn to prepare and present their culinary masterpiece.
The final eight will be given one hour to complete their entry during the Fire & Ice Winterfest in front of a live audience. The top two finalists will be selected by a judging panel of culinary experts and will go head to head in a 45 minute cook off. Each finalist will be given a mystery box of ingredients to prepare their best interpretation of the “Stars of the NC Farms”. The winning chef or restaurant will be awarded the “Top Chef Award” complete with prize money and trophy.
All recipes must be submitted to the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce by no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7. The final eight will be notified by phone by Jan. 10. Visit www.fireandicefest.com for additional information or contact the Chamber at 828.456.3021 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a complete list of rules, regulations, and event information.
Moonshine will take center stage at the next Liars Bench, a variety show series paying hommage to aspects of Southern Appalachian culture, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.
“This show is definitely going to be a unique cultural event and an opportunity for the audience to learn about our southern mountain history,” said Dave Waldrop, The Liars Bench host. “There also will be an exciting surprise for all the participants.”
Gary Carden, a noted local folklorist and storyteller, will give a special introduction to a short film on moonshining in the mountains. Marion Jones and Jack Parris will demonstrate with an authentic still how the old timers made “white liquor.” Steve Brady will relate, in story and song, the strong ties between the moonshining industry and the beginnings of NASCAR. Musicians Barbara Duncan and Paul Iarussi will also perform at the “white lightning” show.
The Liars Bench was started last summer by Appalachian storyteller and folk artist Gary Carden to promote Southern Appalachian storytelling, music, poetry, drama, and folk arts. It’s proved to be a crowd pleaser.
“From the very first, The Liars Bench has been on the cutting edge blending authentic traditional Southern Appalachian culture with entertainment for children and adults — no matter where they come from,” Carden said. “The Liars Bench strives, and succeeds, in giving an accurate view of the people and their culture here in the southern mountains.”
Regular cast members include Gary Carden, Lloyd Arneach, Paul Iarussi, Barbara Duncan, Dave Waldrop, Steve Brady, and the show’s mascot Bodine. The group recognizes established artists and performers but encourages new talent, also. Admission is free.
The cooking star Paula Deen will bring her flare for Southern cooking to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino with a live cooking demonstration at 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22.
Paula Deen, widely known as the Queen of Southern home-style cooking, is a popular chef on The Food Network, a restaurateur and best-selling cookbook author.
“During the show, Paula Deen will get up-close-and-personal with the audience, sharing stories and anecdotes from her life and road to success, as well as preparing two Valentine’s Day dishes during the cooking demonstration portion of the show,” said Human Resources and Community Relations Vice President Jo Blaylock.
The show will coincide with the grand opening for the new Paula Deen’s Kitchen, a 404-seat restaurant to be located in the lobby of the new Creek Tower Hotel at Harrah’s. The new food outlet features the décor and ambiance of Paula Deen’s legendary home and kitchen in Savannah. Adjacent to the restaurant is an 1,800-square-foot Paula Deen retail shop, offering cookbooks, spices, food items, cookware, logo-wear and gifts.
Proceeds from Paula Deen’s show will benefit the Cherokee Indian Hospital’s Digital Mammography Unit.
“We hope the community will enjoy getting to know Paula Deen and support the hospital at the same time,” Blaylock said.
The show will be held in the new 3,000-seat concert venue at Harrah’s. The giant stage is framed by two 32-foot high-definition screens, giving every ticket-holder in the room a bird’s-eye view of the show.
Show tickets range from $15 to $40. www.ticketmaster.com or call 800.745.3000.
The concert venue and Paula Deen’s Kitchen restaurant are part of a massive expansion at Harrah’s Cherokee, which is slated to be complete in 2012. Other additions includes a VIP lounge, a spa, a digital poker room, Asian gaming room and various other restaurant and retail outlets. The property also is renovating current casino gaming facilities and doubling the size of its casino floor.
To the Editor:
As a Macon County native who learned to drive in these mountains more than 40 years ago, I have driven in all kinds of weather, with and without four-wheel drive. That was not usually by choice, but because I was scheduled to be at work.
Living just off U.S. 64 between Highlands and Cashiers (less than a mile from the N.C. Department of Transportation maintenance shed), I now travel that stretch of road to town nearly every day — a route that takes me past Highlands-Cashiers Hospital.
On a recent morning, shortly before 9 a.m., I was on my way to work in Highlands. There was a very thin sheet of ice on the highway, which is always especially dangerous in the area between our house and the town limits. Although I was driving cautiously, and my Subaru has new tires and all-wheel drive, I slid several times between our house and Highlands-Cashiers Hospital. I finally came to a stop in a long line of traffic, which not only blocked the road into town but more importantly blocked the only entrance to the hospital. Clearly, N.C. Department of Transportation crews had made no attempt to chat the road.
Eventually, a DOT truck arrived, and the line of traffic proceeded slowly towards town. By then, I was late for work and I suspect others were as well. However, this letter is not about getting to work on time, but about saving lives. Because it provides the only access to the hospital, this part of U.S. 64 is a critical stretch of road. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Similar situations occurred numerous times last winter despite a promise by DOT to county commissioners to give this stretch of road priority during bad weather.
On a recent Wednesday morning on my way to work, I turned onto Highway 64 towards Highlands. As soon as I got onto the highway, a vehicle coming towards me flashed its headlights. I slowed down, rounded the curve, and saw a vehicle flipped on its side. The driver had apparently hit a patch of ice. A fire truck and ambulance were at the scene. Once again, DOT failed to address the dangerous road conditions.
What will it take before our DOT realizes that this particular stretch of road is usually icy, even when other areas are not? What will it take before they realize that most of us who travel that road are on our way to work early in the morning? What will it take before they realize that, if traffic is blocking the entrance to Highlands-Cashiers Hospital, essential personnel and emergency vehicles cannot get through?
What will it take—a life-threatening emergency or a fatal accident on the highway? I hope not.
Mary Ann Sloan
Highlands
To the Editor:
I read in the newspaper an article called “Faith Leaders support the Dream Act.”
What reality do these faith leaders live in? They care so much for the children of illegal aliens. Where is there compassion for the millions of Americans who are desperately looking for jobs, young Americans graduating from college, unable to find decent jobs? It seems these “leaders” would rather see illegals gaining these jobs after taxpayers subsidize their college tuition.
Of course, they will accept much lower pay than real Americans. And to top it off, they will become citizens and bring all their families and relatives to the USA. Of course, most of these family members won’t speak English, will get taxpayer funded healthcare and welfare, and sit back and laugh at the stupid gringos trying to support their families
Have these leaders watched the news and seen the rioting in European countries over tuition costs being raised and benefits reduced? Do you think that American workers, who swallow their pride and accept charity at the food banks and have lost their homes, are just going to sit back and take this? Instead of finding decent jobs, they will see the children of lawbreakers taking these jobs away. They have no money to send their own children to college, but the doors are wide open for those who break our laws.
I’m afraid we could see “race” riots in our streets, and not by just desperate white workers but also African-American workers who are the hardest hit in this unemployment crisis. Obama will stop at nothing to turn this country into a banana republic and all Americans will be serfs begging for crumbs from the elites who will laugh at what they consider inferior human beings. Do you think it will only be white people subjugated? If they get the power, they won’t care what color or nationality you are. They look down their noses at the common folk and use the minorities to further their plans for total power.
Arlene Hemm
Canton
To the Editor:
We live in the greatest country in the world, but we have serious challenges — challenges that threaten our future and need to be addressed. Unfortunately, our elected leaders, in many cases, look at these challenges as opportunities for them personally or as a party to score political points. Many of us are frustrated and concerned about the tone of our elected officials and the hyper-partisanship that makes “compromise” a dirty word.
In December, a new group — No Labels — was launched with the goal of encouraging our elected officials to work together and put the good of the country before their party labels. This isn’t a third party. It is for Democrats, Republicans and Independents who believe that we may disagree and be passionate about our beliefs, but we can be civil and respectful towards one other — that demonizing and vilifying others with different opinions is unnecessary and counterproductive.
Our first goal is to organize local groups in every congressional district so that we may monitor and track our members of Congress to ensure they are not playing hyper-partisan games. We want to provide support to them when they put aside their labels and work with others across party lines. Everyone interested is invited to our first meeting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 13 in Waynesville. For additional information, contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information about No Labels, visit nolabels.org.
Terri McGovern
Waynesville
To the Editor:
Scott McLeod writes accurately and with emotion about the Dream Act (“Hagen, senate wrong on Dream Act,” Dec. 22, Smoky Mountain News). Its passage would not have weakened our borders.
The immigrant youth affected by the “no” vote are likely to continue living here; many could understandably become sullen and resentful of opportunity denied. They might have enriched us with their energy and their friendships. This must be an especial discouragement to the high school teachers who nourish their development.
Bill Sullivan
Raleigh
The Small Business Center of Haywood Community College will offer a free seminar entitled, “Organizing your Work and Life - a Great Way to Start the Year!"from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 6, on campus in the Student Center, first floor.
This workshop will be an entertaining and useful way to start your year, get organized and finally understand the best way to set and achieve your goals. The presenter is Sarah Kirkish, owner of WorkLife Organization. Kirkish has over 18 years of project management experience in corporate America.
For more information or to preregister for this free seminar, call the Small Business Center at 828.627.4512.
Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation’s annual meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Haywood County Library on South Haywood Street in Waynesville.
Speakers featured at the meeting will be Katherine McGowan Shenar, Interim President/CEO, and Jennifer Brehler, director of operations of the Asheville Humane Society.
McGowan-Shenar moved to Asheville and joined AHS in January 2008 after working for The Humane Society of the United States. Brehler came to AHS in July 2008 from the Durham Animal Protection Society. She has over 11 years experience working in open admission shelters.
All volunteers and anyone interested in the work Sarge’s does for animals is invited.
“In 2009, due to the dedicated efforts of Sarge’s volunteers and shelter staff, over half of the dogs and cats that entered the shelter were rescued,” said Steve Hewitt, president of the Sarge’s Board of Directors. “That is a first. Sarge’s volunteers saved over 900 animals last year and is on track for the same number in 2010.”
For more information regarding the Annual Meeting or Sarge’s in general, visit the website at www.sargeandfriends.org or call 828.246.9050. Sarge’s can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
By Colby Dunn and Quintin Ellison • Staff Writers
Although retail businesses might have found some relief toward the latter part of the year, homebuilders and real estate agents found fewer reasons for joy in 2010.
For homebuilders, the outlook was pretty bleak, according to Dawson Spano, president of the Haywood Home Builders’ Association. The bleeding in the industry, he said, has slowed but hasn’t altogether stopped, and many contractors around the region are still calling it quits — or at least still feeling the heat of the recession.
“Builders are getting out of the business, but not at the fast rate that it was last year,” Spano said.
The best way to characterize the situation, he said, is that things aren’t yet getting better, but at least they’re not getting worse.
The business they’re seeing now is different than what has long characterized the home building industry in Western North Carolina, with large developments of second and luxury homes on the decline or stopped altogether. And Spano said he’s not certain that kind of construction and housing market will ever return to the area.
“We’re going back to the way it used to be, where you have builders building one, two houses a year,” Spano said. “I think the big developments are dead for a long time. The Balsam Mountain Preserves, the Sanctuaries, those big places — I don’t see people dropping 300 to 400 thousand for a piece of property.”
Homebuilders, though, are seeing a trend towards remodeling, and Spano thinks this may be where the market is going when the country finally drags itself out of the economic slump. Wherever it’s headed, he has no doubt that it will be scaled back.
Phyllis Osborn, executive officer for Haywood’s Home Builder’s Association, said that the numbers bear this out. What they’re hearing from contractors around the region is that work is there, but it’s smaller in scope and opportunities are still sparse, as evidenced by the drop in contractors still in the game.
“We are 136 in our membership and at the end of last year it was 148, so we’re continually dropping,” said Osborn. “And I know in years prior it’s been up almost to 200.”
Spano’s predictions that small building will lead the way out of the recession and beyond are echoed by the National Association of Home Builders, who released a study at the end of December proving that very trend. The NAHB found that 65 percent of builders that are still in business pull in less than $1 million annually.
“We are seeing market conditions returning to normal in many parts of the country after a long, hard downturn, and these companies have the agility to move quickly and start leading the economy forward,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones in a December statement.
In the real estate market, the general sentiment seems to be much the same – that things are still languishing, but the sales dips are not quite as deep as they were last year.
Bob Holt, who teaches about real estate for Southwestern Community College, said there are fewer agents than during the pre-recession boom years. The ones that have stuck with it, however, are staying relatively busy, he said.
“It is still slow, but things are turning around,” said Holt, a Franklin resident. “The prices are low, the interest rates are low — it is a good time to buy stuff.”
Holt said the situation would not improve significantly for another year or so, “until we clear out all the foreclosures” and the job situation improves.
In Haywood County, the Board of Realtors is looking to a merger with Asheville as a possible force to help mitigate the loss if the economic hits keep coming. For homebuilders, 2007 was the banner year, and for Western North Carolina’s real estate world, the benchmark for booming business was 2005. But as one real estate agent put it at a recent board meeting, 2005 probably isn’t coming back, so the future may be found in a new business model, not a return to pre-recession growth.
“If the real-estate market doesn’t improve, then neither will my membership,” said Lisa Brown, association executive for the Haywood Board of Realtors. The math is simple, and after taking a hit of more than 25 percent last year, the area’s agents are looking for a better 2011.
But John Keith, a Waynesville real estate agent in his second year in the county, remains optimistic. People are still buying, even if the pace is much slower. People still want to move here, even if they can’t make it happen until their current house sells.
“The market is still depressed, but I’m optimistic,” said Keith. “We still know that this is one of the best retirement relocation areas in the country, and there’s still a lot of people that are trying to get here.”
For his part, Spano takes a more poetic view of what’s coming in 2011.
“We’re in the valley of the shadow of death,” Spano said. “We’re there, except now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
By Colby Dunn and Quintin Ellison • Staff writers
Despite a sour economy, many businesses in Western North Carolina are not only surviving — they are thriving.
Take Krismart Fashions on East Main Street in Sylva.
While many stores have seen sales decline and continue experiencing downward economic spirals, Krismart Fashions in October enjoyed its best sales month ever in the store’s 40-year history. December, too, showed promise: sales were up 20 percent.
Libby Hall, who owns the store with business partner and sister Jeannie Kelley, credits a diversified inventory featuring quality clothing at reasonable prices, a willingness to work hard, and — most importantly — the loyal support of clientele who make purchases here because they want to see Krismart remain open and do well.
“We are in a niche that hits all income brackets,” Hall said between ringing up purchases from customers eager to take advantage of a sale on New Year’s Day, when Krismart’s and a restaurant or two were practically the only small businesses open in town.
The customers that day reflected the store’s product diversification. Mostly women, in this slice of time ranging in age from 30-something to, perhaps, their late 70s. A sales staff was on hand to offer fashion suggestions and keep everything moving briskly at the cash registers.
It wouldn’t be accurate or fair to paint the economic situation as an all-is-absolutely-rosy picture if only business owners work hard enough, or to ignore the reality that many astute small-business owners have seen their stores go under despite Herculean efforts to prevent just that. But it’s also true many mom and pop stores such as Krismart are doing just fine.
SEE ALSO: Situation still bleak for builders in the region
Just ask Rob Willey, owner of High Country Style in downtown Waynesville.
He won’t say everything is peachy; 2010 was still a hard year for the upscale women’s boutique. But still, they’re making it. They even opened a new store in Asheville and started offering online sales to serve the large portion of their client base that spend part of their year living away from the stores’ mountain locations.
Willey said 2010 was actually better than 2009, especially the Christmas season.
“For us, business was better as far as overall sales,” said Willey. “People seem a little more willing to spend money this year.”
The last quarter, he said, was promising, and he’s cautiously optimistic that next year will continue to improve. Still, he’s not resting on his laurels; they’re focusing on online sales and improving brand image and customer service to stay relevant and profitable in what are still very tough economic times. But Willey said he feels like those efforts have served him well, and he’s confident that they’ll continue to do so.
“Overall, you know, it was a good year,” he said of 2010. “Not a great year, but still a good one.”
Across the street, Tammy Moseley, manager at Laughter Jewelry, is wishing that the bad economy would stop getting so much airtime. She realizes, of course, that not everyone is having an easy time of it, she said, but churning up fear in customers isn’t going to make them come back.
“It’s just fear, and I don’t know if confidence will be back today or this year or next year,” Moseley said. “Hopefully it’ll be back this year.”
Moseley and her store are 17-year veterans of the Waynesville retail scene. As for 2010, she said it wasn’t the banner year that 2009 was for her store — she, too, was unimpressed by Christmas sales — but in the grand scheme of the store’s history, it was still decent, still profitable.
“You always hope for the greatest year ever, every year,” Moseley said, but it was still a good sales year, and her outlook for 2011 is cautiously optimistic.
And, despite all the dreary financial news, startup businesses also abound. The entrepreneurial dream lives on in WNC.
Getting a handle on what’s happening
Linda Harbuck, executive director of the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce, has seen the chamber’s net membership, year-over-year, decline by 33. Despite the drop, Harbuck, along with many other business experts in the region, felt the situation began to improve in the latter part of 2010.
“The year ended better than it began,” said Harbuck, citing business startups and expansions.
The Buzz Bus in Cullowhee, a cab service of sorts that ferries Western Carolina University students back and forth from Cullowhee to the bars and restaurants in Sylva, started making runs in October. Franklin resident Tim Crabtree, who owns the business with brother Sam, believes they’ll survive and make their dream of small-business ownership come true.
“Right now, we are just covering costs, but we are picking up business,” said Tim Crabtree, who added that the holidays have put a crimp in the new venture, because his student-customer base hasn’t been on campus for much of the time the service has been offered.
Chris Wilcox is also a new business owner, though he bought a beloved community mainstay with a built-in clientele when he took over City Lights Bookstore on East Jackson Street in Sylva from founder Joyce Moore. Wilcox bought the store about a year ago.
Monday, with the help of a group of volunteers, staff and Wilcox’s mother, Margot, the store closed its doors to customers so that a physical inventory of the 5,000 or so books could take place.
Margot Wilcox does the bookkeeping for her son. His first year has been promising, she said, and the financial future of City Lights Bookstore seems sound. Her son agreed, crediting Moore’s work to build the store as a foundation he can work from.
“Incremental changes,” Wilcox said, is what he’s looking at. Such as offering Google eBooks, so that his customers can shop locally for digital media. City Lights Bookstore has offered ebooks through its website for several years, but Google eBooks, Wilcox said, expands what the store can provide — and helps him compete against corporate-owned bookstores and websites.
Interestingly, another independent bookstore with a different business model is also finding a strong, loyal customer base. The two-year-old Millie and Eve’s Used Bookstore in Franklin, located on U.S. 441 a few miles south of the town, is defying conventional business wisdom and finding it can compete with the big boys.
Eve Boatright and business partner Millie Griffin have a simple financial formula.
“If there’s no money at the end of the week, we don’t get paid,” said Boatright, a transplant from Britain, just outside London.
But they are making it financially, and doing it by offering 62,000 used books through trade (plus offerings by local authors). Additionally, to help drive traffic into the store, the women accept payments for Verizon and Duke Power. There is a Civil War section, classics section, children’s section as well as more conventional offerings such as mysteries and romances.
In neighboring Swain County, several new stores have sprung up and are making a go of the gifts market in Bryson City.
Robert Hoyle is the proprietor of one such establishment. He and his wife decided to open up Nannie’s Country Store on Fry Street in downtown Bryson City, which they bill as “a slice of country life.”
Hoyle and his wife moved to Bryson City from the Atlanta area after their kids were grown and gone, and have started the store as something of a retirement business venture.
The shop sells local gifts and crafts along with novelties and a few other odds and ends, and while Hoyle said he hauled in less this Christmas than he’d hoped, he’s still optimistic about next year’s outlook.
“It was difficult, with all the opening expenses, but it was successful at the same time,” Hoyle said as he looked back at 2010. “In this climate, people are not spending money, they’re just not. But I’m hoping that we do very, very well [in 2011]. We have a lot of new business ideas, some of the business ideas no one in Bryson City has. Hopefully, this next year will be great.”
Just around the corner on Everett Street, Lance Holland is also finishing his inaugural year in the retail business with his gourmet food and gifts shop, Appalachian Mercantile. Holland, too, was disappointed in the Christmas season, but has decided that, overall, 2010 was profitable enough to warrant another year on the lease.
He’s no stranger to the retail industry – his wife is in charge of retail operations at nearby Fontana Village – so he started the venture on a one-year trial basis. And while he said it couldn’t be called a banner year for sales, it’s been decent enough, especially considering that he opened in the grip of an economic slump.
“This is a brand new undertaking for me, and I’ll have to say that I’m kind of enjoying it,” said Holland. “It seems like the economy’s kind of finally turning around a little bit, and if I didn’t think it was going to be a little better, I wouldn’t be continuing.”
He said he’s hoping, too, that once word gets out about his gourmet offerings — which include a range of items from sauces to sweets — that it will become a bigger draw, possibly boosting his Christmas sales next year.
Not all newcomers are finding it so easy, though. In Canton, Johnetta Heil, who owns the Plaid Sheep Yarn Shop, said she too was disappointed with Christmas, but the rest of the year was a pretty mixed bag for her new business as well.
“It’s been up and down,” she said of the year overall, but she’s hoping that 2011 will give her the increased exposure she said her store needs to boost sales.
“People just don’t know I’m here,” said Heil. But she, like Willey at High Country, has been changing her business strategy to fit the economy and draw in more customers. She’s adding new classes monthly and is planning a camp this summer to get local kids interested in fiber arts.
David Huskins, head of the seven-county regional tourism group Smoky Mountain Host, headquartered outside Franklin, said the tourism industry has faced serious challenges beginning in 2008 and continuing through 2010. But not all is gloomy for this important leg of WNC’s economic chair.
“Our members have shared anecdotal information — they don’t like to give out their numbers, but will give a general impression — that verifies that at best the region has been flat in the tourism economic sector in 2010 compared to 2009 and 2008, which is actually a positive,” Huskins said.
Two vitally important regional businesses, The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and Nantahala Outdoor Center, are reporting revenues increased year over year. The railroad, Huskins said, is upwards of 15 to 18 percent, though ridership is relatively flat.
“The revenues are up because of some creative repackaging they did this year with their first-class ticket sales and some creative online marketing they implemented to promote the first-class ticket,” he said. “NOC is reporting great success with its new retail outpost in Gatlinburg, which opened early last spring.”
Like Harbuck, the head of Smoky Mountain Hosts said he believes the economic situation began improving toward the end of the year.
“While we don’t have figures for 2010, our members have indicated generally ‘flat’ numbers compared to 2009,” Huskins said. “There is evidence of an upward trend in numbers and revenue this year in October and continuing through the first two weeks of November, which most of our members have indicated was perhaps the best since 2007.
“Going forward, we are optimistic that 2011 will see improved numbers in the region’s tourism economic sector, albeit only slight improvement. We will trend as the entire state does and the nation does. Our concern is with reports that gas prices will approach the $4.50 to $5 per gallon range by late spring-early summer 2011. We are a drive market and if that happens, it will be significant.”
Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, Americans throw away 25 percent more trash than any other time of the year, which amounts to 25 million tons of trash. Following are some tips on how to reduce waste and consider energy efficiency this holiday season:
• Recycle your live Christmas trees. The Haywood County Materials Recovery Facility will accept one Christmas tree per household free of charge. Please make sure all lights, tinsel and decorations are removed. Trees from commercial businesses must be disposed of at White Oak Landfill for a fee.
• Rechargeable batteries and a battery charger are great ways to cut down on battery consumption. If you don’t use rechargeable batteries, remember you can recycle old batteries at any Haywood County Convenience Center.
• If you get new TVs or other electronics for Christmas, don’t toss out your old ones. They’re recyclable at the Haywood County Materials Recovery Facility.
• If every family in the United States reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the world.
• Gift boxes, gift catalogs, corrugated cardboard boxes, non-metallic wrapping paper, non-metallic greeting cards and newspapers filled with advertising inserts can all be recycled.
• Remove your name from mailing lists of most catalogs you no longer wish to receive. Eliminate unwanted credit offers by calling 1.888.5OptOut (1.888.567.8688) or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com .
• If you received packages that contain foam peanuts, return them to local packaging stores. Most will accept them, but call ahead to make sure.
To find out more about recycling in Haywood County, and for links to other great information on recycling and sustainability, visit the county website, www.haywoodnc.net, or contact the Haywood County Solid Waste Department at 828.627.8042.
The Aquatics Department of Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center will begin the 2011 group swim lesson lineup with the winter session, Jan. 14 and 15, through March 4 and 5.
Group swimming lessons are available for children of all ages and ability levels. Participants may choose to sign up for either the Friday evening rotation or the Saturday morning rotation. All swimming lessons conducted at the fitness center are taught by certified water safety instructors, maintaining a strict adherence to the American Red Cross’ standard of instruction.
Although centrally focused on the mechanics of swimming, the program also incorporates an extensive lineup of tips, hints and demonstrations on how to stay safe in and around the water. On its lighter side, the program’s games and activities reinforce the concepts introduced, while creating more fun for young participants.
Sign-ups will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis at the front desk of Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center. The cost of this program is $30 for members, $50 for non-members. For more information on the program, or which class is best-suited for your child, call 828.452.8056.
The North Carolina BioNetwork BioBusiness Center in Candler will host the first annual North Carolina Conference on Sustainable Viticulture on Feb. 23.
The conference will feature speakers from throughout the U.S. who will share information on how to grow grapes organically and still make a profit, which grapes are best for our steep mountain slopes and climate conditions, how to develop vineyards on steep slopes with hard-pan clay soils, practical aspects of pest management and treatment alternatives, end-product differentiation for organic and/or biodynamic wines, and value added products like neutraceuticals.
“Because of the need for a crop to replace tobacco, and the desire of landowners, farmers, and growers to find a sustainable market so that they can keep their land, there’s a lot of interest in alternative crops here in the mountains,” according to David Kendall, Madison County Extension agent.
By necessity, sustainable means growing grapes naturally, organically, biodynamically and being able to make a bottom-line profit. This conference is designed to be a practical approach to growing grapes. Farmers and growers who want to seriously consider growing grapes in the mountains should attend.
The workshop will feature several speakers, each with a broad range of experience in the field of sustainable viticulture. Our specialist presenters will include Charlie Caldwell, owner of Black Squirrel Vineyard (an organic vineyard in Iowa); Chuck Blethen, co-owner of Jewel of the Blue Ridge Vineyard (a biodynamically grown, cold-hardy Muscadine steep-slope vineyard); Rudy Mullis, manager of the Muscadine Group at Hinnant Family Vineyard & Winery (a major processor of neutraceuticals from grape pommace); and Hannah Burrack, assistant professor and extension specialist for N.C. State University Department of Entomology.
There is a $30 charge for the workshop, which includes lunch on site at the Enka campus Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Registration for the conference will be available on-line starting Jan. 11, 2011. E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the registration link.
Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center is waiving the usual initiation fee on six-month memberships as a holiday gift to the community. The special is valid through Jan. 7. For more information call 828.452.8080.
A highly trained member of the rehabilitation staff of MedWest-Haywood will offer free knee screenings from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 4 at the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center, by appointment only. Call to register for the screening.
Free spine screenings will be offered by the rehabilitation staff of MedWest-Haywood from noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 10 at Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center. Call to register.
The next Book Ends book discussion group will be held at the Jackson County Public Library on Thursday, Jan.13. The book selection is Time and Again by Jack Finney.
Time and Again is told in the first person by Simon Morley, a 28-year-old artist working in a 1970s Manhattan advertising agency who is approached to join a covert government operation exploring the possibility of time travel. Recruited as having the right stuff, Si begins to learn about the project and its goals.
Initially recruited to explore San Francisco prior to the 1906 earthquake, Si manages to convince his superiors to allow him to investigate 1880s New York. Simon’s motive for choosing New York is to witness the mailing of an envelope. An event Simon hopes may explain a family mystery of his girlfriend Kate.
There will be extra copies of Time and Again available at the library for patrons to read prior to the discussion. Call the library at 828.586.2016 for more information. This program is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library.
By Mark Jamison • Guest Columnist
During the recent election for county commissioner in Jackson County, both sides made reference to property taxes. The challengers — who ended up sweeping out the incumbents — claimed, to some derision, that Jackson had seen a tax increase even though the marginal rate had fallen. Supporters for the incumbents made frequent reference to the fact that the county had the third lowest marginal tax rate in the state. Both sides were correct in their assertions and both were also somewhat misleading.
The issues surrounding revaluation and marginal tax rates are somewhat confusing and easy to distort for political purposes. The fact that this area of public policy is prone to confusion and misunderstanding is unfortunate because it is an essential issue that has a direct impact on not only every property owner but virtually every resident of the county.
Setting values
North Carolina mandates that counties determine the value of property within their jurisdiction at least once every eight years. Beyond that, the frequency of the process, known as revaluation is up to the board of commissioners. Statute mandates that values reflect the market value of a property, i.e., the amount a property would sell for in an arm’s-length transaction.
The state allows counties to select among several methods for determining market value. The tax assessor may visit every property. This yields perhaps the most accurate valuation since it presumes that a specific visit will fully account for particular defects or attributes of the property which may affect market value.
This is also time consuming, expensive and may be subject to the art of personal judgment.
The other methods available rely on various statistical modeling techniques and may result in as few as 10 percent of the properties in a jurisdiction actually being visited. In all the methods there are choices in schedules of values that can be applied which might yield differing results. The governing body has some discretion in these choices and makes them based on technical factors which are analyzed and presented by the tax assessor.
The process is more difficult in a developing areas like Jackson and other mountain counties. It is further complicated when the area has market pressures resulting from second home or resort development. Mountain land may be even further difficult to value because the costs of development vary greatly. The presence and complexity of local land use ordinances may impact the value of land, especially steep land that costs more to develop in an environmentally responsible manner.
The process of evaluation is also complicated when large tracts of undeveloped land are part of the market, or when many lots are in the inventory of undeveloped land. One of the most compelling reasons for a subdivision ordinance is the fact that it standardizes the process for platting of lots and therefore provides some order and basis of comparison to the market.
Revenue neutral declaration
After a revaluation, North Carolina mandates (through GS 159 - 11(e)) that a taxing jurisdiction state a “revenue neutral” tax rate in its budget. The Local Government Commission gives a specified method for making this calculation. Essentially, one takes the total value of property within the county after the revaluation and determines what tax rate, when applied to that value, would yield the same amount of revenue as prior to the revaluation.
For example, after the 2008 revaluation it was determined that in order to raise the same amount of revenue as prior to the revaluation, Jackson County would need to charge a rate of 26 cents. The previous tax rate was 36 cents but the total value of property in the county was now valued higher, meaning that a lower rate would bring in the same revenue.
Twenty-six cents is not, however, the “revenue neutral” rate. The LGC calculations recognize that each year properties are added or improved thereby increasing the tax base. The “revenue neutral” rate therefore allows for the application of a growth-rate factor.
In the case of the 2008 revaluation that calculation yielded a “revenue neutral” rate of 27.05 cents. In other words, for every $1,000 of assessed valuation the property owner would pay 27.05 cents or $270.50 on a $100,000 property. Under the concept of revenue neutral, that means that if the value of the property had increased exactly at the same average rate as all of the property in the county that the owner would pay the same taxes as before the revaluation.
Of course, a county is made up of thousands of pieces of property. Not all can be expected to increase in value at exactly the same rate so the actual tax an owner may be assessed after revaluation depends on both the average increase in values for the entire county but also on how that particular property compares.
My friend saw her property in Frady Cove increase in value from about $300,000 to more than $900,000. Her property was valued significantly higher than the average increase, consequently she paid significantly more in taxes. My house in Webster saw an increase in value of about 30 percent, much less than the average. My taxes went down.
So who was right?
So, were the challengers right in claiming there had been a tax increase? Well, technically they were since the new rate set by the commissioners was 28 cents, which was higher than the revenue neutral rate of 27.05 cents. Those who argued that there was actually a decrease because the rate went from 36 cents to 28 cents were wrong — they didn’t understand the concept of revaluation and revenue neutral.
But those who argued there was a tax increase in terms that made it seem immense were perhaps stretching a point. The increase was about $9.50 per $100,000 of assessed value, or $95 on a million dollar property — not nothing, but not a political point scored either.
And what of the incumbents, who pointed with great pride to the “third lowest marginal tax rate in the state.” Well, if you’ve followed the discussion so far you may have noticed that marginal rates might not mean much in an area with a very hot real estate market. Since 2000 there have been three revaluations in Jackson County resulting in property values increasing by about 200 percent on average.
Mega increases avoidable
Of all the things the commissioners who lost in the last election could be criticized for, the most serious error is the one no one talks about. The 2008 revaluation came at the height of a sizzling real estate market. It was apparent that because of some of the gated developments and very high lot and land prices that the revaluation was going to reflect some astronomical increases.
Contributing to that problem was the use of a statistical method in the process that had the potential for allowing some of the prices in places like Balsam Mountain Preserve to leak out and impact other areas — something that generally should not happen if the process is to be equitable and truly reflect market value.
One didn’t have to be especially prescient or have a crystal ball to see that we were on the cusp of a real estate bubble. I wrote about that potential in 2006. By 2008, when we were on the cusp of the bubble bursting, it was evident that there were serious problems in the market.
Jackson County had done a revaluation in 2004. The increases in that cycle were alarming. Jackson County had been on an eight-year cycle prior to 2000 and had justifiably shifted to a shorter cycle to minimize the impacts of the hot market. The idea was to reduce sticker shock and made good sense. The downside was that short cycles can lock in huge increases in market values right on the edge of a slowdown. The ordinance process the county engaged in may have exacerbated this, although certainly not in the way the alarmists in the Cashiers market claimed.
It was reasonably predictable that the ordinance process would at least pause the market while developers adjusted to the new regulations. That was a good thing, but it was also something that needed to be accounted for in the revaluation process — both in the methods chosen and in the schedule of values.
By mid-2008 when the revaluation was completed it was clear that the market was seriously challenged. By accepting the 2008 revaluation, higher land values were locked in and the distribution of the increases was clearly troubling. Valuing steep land in larger tracts at $16,000 an acre or more was not sustainable.
The problems were foreseeable and predictable. Going ahead with the 2008 revaluation was a serious mistake, and we’re about to see the consequences. We are scheduled for a revaluation in 2012. The complete collapse of the real estate market will have some serious consequences for that revaluation. It will be difficult to find “comps” — comparable values — needed to establish a shape to the market. How do you determine market value when there is no market?
Currently, much of the land that was slated for development in 2008, land in the former Legasus developments for example, is now virtually worthless. Lots that may have been worth $400,000 may now be in foreclosure. Land that was slated for gated development and relied on developers for community wide infrastructure may now only be saleable as lots or tracts having substantially less value and potential.
Who’s going to pay?
The county may have a current dilemma collecting revenues from some of these lots. That could have an immediate impact on budgets and require tax increases, but even worse consequences occur if a revaluation shows the true current value of some of the land previously targeted for development. It is possible that a huge slice of tax base has virtually disappeared, meaning that the next revenue neutral calculation would result in the marginal rate going up significantly to 35 or 50 cents.
I want to make perfectly clear that this discussion in no way endorses development. It isn’t about how we develop or preserve land or what we may want our communities to look like. It is solely about state mandates and current processes that have tremendous impacts and consequences.
The immediate solution may be deferring the 2012 revaluation. That does nothing to remediate the values locked in from 2008, but it may allow the market to recover and mitigate some of the foreseeable problems. Over the long run though we must rationalize the property tax system in a way that accounts for these systemic problems. The state must recognize that a system that works for stable developed areas like the Triangle has hugely negative consequences on rural areas.
Some will say that given the current state budget crisis that now is not the time to address these issues. I would argue that now is the best time to address these issues. I would like to see the rural counties of the state through both boards of commissioners and the representatives in Raleigh convene a planning group and design some specific changes in state law and policy that give local jurisdictions the tools they need to raise revenues in an effective and fair manner.
(Mark Jamison lives in Webster and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
The next Second Sunday Contra Dance will be held at the Barkers Creek Community Building from 3-5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 9.
Contra dancing will begin at 3 p.m. There will also be a potluck dinner following the contra dance, starting at 6 p.m. Please bring a covered dish, plate, cup, cutlery and a water bottle.
The dance is free. Participants are encouraged to make a contribution toward the cost of renting the hall.
No previous experience with contra dancing is required and all dances will be taught and walked through before dancing. There will also be a short beginners’ workshop at the start of the dance. No partner is required.
Local musicians will play music for all the dances. Local musicians are invited to sit in with the band, to jam and learn how to play music for dancing.
The Barkers Creek Community Center is located at milepost 79 on U.S. 441 three miles north of Dillsboro. Coming from Sylva, make a U-turn just past milepost 79 to get in the southbound lanes.
Information about the dance is available from Ron Arps by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Elderly Brothers will perform on New Year’s Eve at American Legion Post 47 in Waynesville.
The Elderly Brothers have been playing together for more than 40 years.
“Our group originally started playing together over 40 years ago,” said band leader Ken Beck.
Shortly after forming the group back then, band members went their separate ways and performed alone or with other groups. However, over the years they remained the best of friends.
Around 2005, the musicians reunited as the now-fabulous Elderly Brothers. The musicians in the group have opened shows for such well known artists as The Drifters, The Coasters, The Byrds, The Diamonds, Lou Christy, and many others.
The Elderly Brothers are made up of Ken Beck (guitar), Mike Holt (guitar), Charles Queen (acoustic guitar), Chuck Russell (drums) and Skip Allman (bass).
For more information, call 828.456.8691.
The Friends of the Marianna Black Library will host the 4th Annual Chocolate Cook-Off from 2-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Bryson City Presbyterian Church.
The Friends are looking for the best chocolate dessert in Western North Carolina and are willing to pay for it. Compete to win cash prizes and help raise money for the Marianna Black Library.
Entries due Feb. 4, and applications are available at the Marianna Black Library at 33 Fryemont Street or call Elise Delfield for more details at 828.488.0580.
Storyteller and author Gary Carden will present a program titled “Old Christmas Traditions” at 7 p.m. on Jan. 4 at the Jackson County Library.
During the program Carden will regale the audience with stories of bygone traditions such as serenading (nothing to do with music); superstitions during the Christmas season; first footers (the first people to set foot in someone’s house on New Year’s Day); dumb suppers (common on Christmas Eve); animals discussing events of the year on Christmas Eve; and the Yule log (back log of the fireplace saved until next year.)
Carden is well known as a storyteller. He has taught the Foxfire Christmas Series for the past 35 years and has emphasized the pagan aspects of Christmas.
Carden, a Jackson County native, was raised by grandparents during the 1940s in the isolated Rhodes Cove community. During his formative years he listened to his great-grandmother tell stories, and, as Carden says, “acquiring the dialect and traditions of a Southern highlander.”
After a few years away Carden came back to his grandparents’ house where he embraced his native culture as a teacher, storyteller, novelist, historian, playwright and screenwriter. The body of work he has produced since then includes the book Mason Jars in the Flood and Other Stories, the Appalachian Writers Association 2001 “Book of the Year”; his storytelling video “Blow the Tannery Whistle,” which has been shown numerous times on public television across North Carolina; and a play, “The Raindrop Waltz,” which has been staged more than 300 times.
Novelist Lee Smith called Carden “a national treasure, an Appalachian Garrison Keillor.”
This Old Christmas Traditions program is free to the public and is part of the library’s Community Outreach Series. Call 828.586.2016 for more information. This program is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library.
Phyllis Jarvinen of Sylva will demonstrate and teach a mini-workshop on book arts and book binding at the Art League of the Smokies meeting at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 6, in the lobby of Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.
Participants will follow the step-by-step process to make a slim hardbound book during this free program. Participants can bring old maps, pretty papers or photos to use for endsheets or covers if desired.
Jarvinen’s artistic focus is two-dimensional work and includes book arts, pinhole photographs, drawing, painting, printmaking and mixed media. She is inspired by landscape and natural, organic forms and enjoys working from the figure. She also finds inspiration by experimenting with process and materials. To view artwork by Jarvinen, go to her website at www.phyllisjarvinen.com.
Jarvinen has lived in Western North Carolina since 1978. After studying psychology at Western Carolina University, she stayed in the area. She worked at NOC for 10 years in many capacities, including whitewater raft guide and canoeing instructor. With a master’s degree in clinical psychology, she practiced as a child psychologist in her “day job” for over 15 years.
Since deciding at age 49 to pursue her dream of becoming an artist, she earned her master of fine arts degree from WCU while continuing to work part-time as a therapist. Jarvinen has won recognition for her water studies and has exhibited throughout WNC including WCU and Swain County Center for the Arts. She now works as an adjunct professor of art, art history and psychology at WCU and Southwestern Community College.
Call 828.488-7843 for information.
Nearly 400 members of Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band will travel to Pasadena, Calif., to march in the internationally televised 2011 Rose Parade.
The band is scheduled to appear at the 49th position in the parade, which begins at 11 a.m. on Jan. 1.
“The Rose Parade is seen by millions of people from around the world, and the Pride of the Mountains will be serving as marching musical ambassadors for Western Carolina,” said Bob Buckner, director of the WCU Pride of the Mountains Marching Band. “It’s a role we accept as a high honor, and we are ready to take on the challenges — both logistical and financial — of transporting our students, their instruments and other equipment to California.”
Three trucks will carry the band’s instruments, uniforms, equipment and even band member’s luggage to California in order to save about $40,000 in checked baggage fees. Students loaded the trucks Monday, Dec. 20, and will fly to California starting Dec. 28.
At the Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Thursday, Dec. 30, which friends, family and fans can watch online via a webcast available for $8.50, the band will perform its halftime show “Rock U.”
During the Rose Parade, the band will perform the song “You” by California ska band Suburban Legends, a local favorite in Orange County. Matt Henley, assistant director of the WCU marching band, said the music selection came about as he was thinking about the parade’s theme, “Building Dreams, Friendships and Memories,” and remembered a story about Suburban Legends.
After a member of the group, trombone player Dallas Cook, died in a traffic accident, Suburban Legends held a memorial concert and directed proceeds to Cook’s high school marching band in Huntington Beach, Calif. Cook had credited his experience in high school band for much of his passion for music.
Moved, Henley contacted Suburban Legends about the possibility of playing the group’s song in the parade and building a friendship.
“We love Suburban Legends’ music, and we are excited to play their song ‘You’ in Dallas’ memory and send the message that, like him, we love band too,” said Henley. “We arranged the song for marching band, and that is what we will play on TV as we go around the corner in the parade. Part of our goal was to build a friendship from East Coast to West Coast, and we hope to get the chance to meet members of Suburban Legends while we are there.”
Band members have said they are both excited and nervous to perform in front of so many people. More than 700,000 are expected to attend the parade, and more than 51 million people are expected to watch the internationally televised event on TV.
“I’m actually marching in the Rose Bowl (which will be) watched by a billion people. That is a lot of stress. A lot of eyes would be on me if I fall or trip,” said Candace Rhodes, a freshman music education major from Georgia, in a video she submitted in a WCU video contest, before willing it not to go wrong. “It won’t happen. It won’t happen. It won’t happen.”
When Jeffrey Throop, president of the Tournament of Roses Association, visited WCU’s band in September, he predicted the Pride of the Mountains would be a hit in California.
“I can already tell, you are going to blow everybody away. It’s just so exciting to see you and to see your style. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Throop, who has observed more than his fair share of marching bands during his affiliation of 36 years with the Rose Parade. “I can’t wait to show you off to everyone, to the world.”
Follow the Pride as they travel to Pasadena at roseparade.wcu.edu.
Editor’s note: Here is The Smoky Mountain News’ annual Year in Review, but ours comes with a nod and a wink — and an award. News is serious and sometimes tragic, but in hindsight we can at least try to find a little humor in what the newsmakers endured and we all read about in 2010.
The Sisyphus award
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is sentenced for eternity to roll a rock up a mountain, only to have it roll back down every time he reaches the top.
The mountain gods showed a similar attitude toward human inhabitants this year, showing a particular inclination to shut down major thoroughfares. At one point, the three primary routes through the southern mountains into Tennessee were blocked with rock slides: Interstate 40 in Haywood County, U.S. 64 between Murphy and Chattanooga, and U.S. 129 running from Robbinsville to Maryville, Tenn.
The only passage was U.S. 441 over Newfound Gap through the Smokies, and even that route was temporarily reduced to one lane following a rock slide of its own.
Mountains have been running amok on the residential side as well. The biggest and most high profile was in Maggie Valley below Ghost Town amusement park, but there were also slides in the Water Dance development in Jackson County and the Wildflower development in Macon County that destabilized road grades and took out lots, as well as a slide in Macon County that led to a man’s home being condemned.
Popeye award
The construction crew restoring the historic Jackson County Courthouse could have used more spinach before tackling the structure’s crowning cupola. The domed top had to be taken down for restoration in June. But when a crowd of onlookers gathered at the bottom of courthouse hill to watch the day it was scheduled to come off, repeated attempts failed. Crews ultimately had to bring in a stronger crane the following week.
The $7 million restoration of the historic courthouse and construction of a new library adjacent to it was supposed to be finished by year’s end, but has been pushed back.
Pork award
When the U.S. Small Business Administration announced $1.4 million in loans for businesses hurt by the I-40 rock slide in Haywood County, business owners far and wide began hungrily licking their chops.
The October 2009 slide shut down the Interstate Haywood County for six months, choking off tourism traffic and commerce. Gas stations and hotels had to cut hours and even lay off workers as business dried up.
But of the 15 businesses that landed federal SBA loans, few were located in Haywood County. Among the more puzzling recipients: the Fun Depot in Asheville, an indoor kid’s amusement center; and an excavating company in Sevierville, Tenn., a business that hardly seems contingent on passersby on the interstate.
One local loan recipient was a bar in downtown Waynesville — a standard that would seemingly qualify every restaurant in the entire county.
Full House award
Despite a recession, Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel and Casino barreled ahead with a $630 million expansion. The casino rolled out a major addition to the gaming floor, debuted a 3,000-seat concert venue and topped off a 21-story hotel tower. A 16,000-square-foot spa in the works is a testimony to Harrah’s mission to transform itself beyond a casino to a full-service resort.
The casino’s two existing hotel towers are consistently full.
The casino hit another milestone this year when it began serving alcohol for the first time in its on-site restaurants and at a new bona fide bar and lounge on the gaming floor.
The expansion began in 2009 and is slated for final completion in 2012. A 400-seat Paula Deen Kitchen restaurant also opened at the casino this year.
Best Power Struggle award
Solar panels. That’s what Haywood Community College and the Haywood County commissioners spent the better part of a year at loggerheads over.
HCC wanted to include green features, from rainwater collection to solar hot water in the design of a new $10.2 million creative arts building that will house its famed craft programs like woodcarving, pottery and jewelry making. But Haywood County commissioners accused the eco-efforts of driving up the cost of the building, and as a result threatened to veto the project. The college spent months trying to convince commissioners the building as designed was both frugal and necessary, while commissioner played hardball in an attempt to send the college back to the drawing board. The biggest sticking point were proposed solar panels on the building, which the college claimed would pay for themselves while commissioners remained skeptical.
In the end, the college won its quest to build a sustainable flagship creative arts building.
Last Laugh Award
To Sylva business owner Dodie Allen, who fought back against being ticketed for parking a van outside her downtown auction under the town’s new law designed to free-up prime parking real estate for visitors and shoppers.
Allen protested the citation — and the $50 fine it carried — for 45 minutes at a town board meeting, saying it infringed on her rights and hampered her ability to make a living. Allen argued she was simply loading and unloading at her auction house on Main Street.
Ultimately, Allen won her battle when it was discovered a key paragraph, the one specifying business owners and their employees can’t park on Main and Mill streets, wasn’t included in the ordinance passed. The town was forced to hold another public hearing and vote again on the town law, this time with the correct language intact.
Extreme Makeover award
Haywood County social workers will soon enjoy new digs. They are trading in a decrepit former hospital dating back decades for an abandoned Wal-Mart store being retrofitted for offices. Their new stripmall-esque working quarters will be a vast improvement over their current accommodations: a four-story brick building that’s cramped and crumbling, with makeshift offices in storage closets, perpetual leaks and rusted window jambs.
The Wal-Mart makeover project will cost the county $12.5 million — about half that to purchase the building and the other half to convert it into an office complex. Critics decried the move as an unnecessary cost in bad times. But county commissioners said the poor state of the DSS building could no longer be ignored, and scoring a bargain price for the old Wal-Mart made it the most attractive solution.
In addition to the Department of Social Services, the renovated building will also house the county health department and the planning department.
Initial construction bids came in higher than expected, so the county trimmed elements of the project to get costs down and then went back out to bid.
Most Creative Accounting
When the public learned Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe was funneling money seized in drug busts to youth sports teams — and as it happened to teams his own kids played on — he claimed it was all for a good cause.
Drug bust money by law must go toward drug crime prevention and enforcement, and Ashe argued that supporting wholesome diversions for kids keeps them off drugs.
The justification gets a little hazier though when it came to other uses for narcotics money by Ashe, like $20,000 to replace carpet in the sheriff’s office or $400 to get himself listed on a national “Who’s Who” list.
Ashe enjoyed an unsupervised, free rein of how to spend the narcotics fund. He failed to get approval from the county on the expenditures, violating state statutes governing fiscal controls for local government. The state Local Government Commission made Ashe comply with new accounting procedures after media reports brought the issue to light.
Janet Jackson award
Haywood County nearly had its own version of the infamous wardrobe malfunction when a river rafter protesting pollution by the Canton paper mill threatened to pull down his pants and bare his buttocks during a public hearing. He was one of several Tennessee river guides at the hearing who claimed to have sores and skin cancers from being in contact with the Pigeon River tainted by chemicals from the mill, and was willing to prove it until the hearing moderator advised him against such public displays.
Evergreen Packaging is seeking a new water pollution permit for the Pigeon River. The state was forced to ratchet down pollution levels in the proposed permit following objections by the EPA. But it wasn’t enough to abate environmentalists, who have filed a lawsuit to impose even tougher limits.
Evergreen is also facing a class action lawsuit by a group of Haywood County landowners. Downstream landowners in Tennessee have won similar class action suits against the mill.
The paper mill sucks roughly 29 million gallons a day out of the river and uses it in myriad aspects of the paper making process — from cooling coal-fired boilers to flushing chemicals through wood pulp — and then dumps it back in the river again.
Survivor Award
It was a dismal election year for Democrats, but U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, managed to hang on to his seat despite his conservative-leaning mountain district. He handily smashed Republican challenger Jeff Miller and advanced to the next round where he took on none other than House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. He went into the challenge with the intention of losing — or at least knowing he’d lose — because the loss gave him incredible national exposure.
What’s next for the former football player from Swain County? He’s not saying, but former communications director Andrew Whalen left a coveted job as executive director of the N.C. Democratic Party to rejoin Shuler’s staff. Something’s afoot with this fiscally-conservative Blue Dog Republican Democrat, that’s for dang sure.
The Mother of all Irony Award
To the Village of Forest Hills, which incorporated in 1997 for the express and unabashed purpose of keeping rowdy, drunken Western Carolina University students from taking over this residential community, is now considering annexing land at Chancellor John Bardo’s behest so that some unknown developer can build a town so students will keep going to Western Carolina University (there’s a little retention problem) because, finally, they won’t have to drive to Sylva to — is this for real? — get good and soused. They’ll instead drink beer and wine and shots of liquor within walking distance of campus as God intended for university students to do.
Additionally, WCU suggests the Boca Raton, Fla.-reminiscent name of Forest Hills be lost in favor of the name Cullowhee. We can only assume the town sign painted in pastels on U.S. 107 will have to go, too, folks.
Only in Macon Could This Happen Award
Where else would a county board of commissioners appoint a man who openly doesn’t support land planning to the county’s planning board, except in Macon County?
In a move so audacious in its sheer lack of thought and concern for regulating unbridled development, we salute the Republican (and one rogue Democrat) commissioners in Macon County for the appointment of Tea Party member Jimmy Goodman to the planning board. Never mind that he’d not been reappointed to that same board for (allegedly and all that) obstructing the other members in, well, their efforts to plan, those rascally planning-board members.
We take our hats off to you, Macon County, and offer sincere thanks for being in our coverage area. You help us remember that we still can be surprised by what actually does take place sometimes on the local political level.
Boomerang award
Cecil Groves, president of Southwestern Community College since 1997, retired this year and headed to Texas for a relaxing retirement close to the grandkids.
“As for everything and everyone, there is a season. My season has now come,” Groves said of his departure from SCC.
Three months later, Groves announced his return to the area to be the CEO of Balsam West, an entity that controls a 300-mile fiber broadband ring looping the six western counties. Groves helped create the fiber ring while at the helm of SCC and considered it one of his biggest accomplishments, but with few users, it is struggling to realize its potential.
The Garden City award
In Maggie Valley, the new mantra is call on the name of beauty and ye shall be saved. Residents and businesses alike buried thousands of daffodil and tulip bulbs this fall in hopes that the bursts of coordinated color will swoop in this spring to help save the struggling city from economic depression and the gaping financial hole left by the death of Ghost Town.
The idea is being coupled with another aesthetic assault from the town government’s camp. In November, the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to impose a set of design standards for renovations and new builds that follow a general design plan town planners call “mountain vernacular.”
Officials hope that the visual double whammy will spruce up the town’s face which, they seem to be admitting, is a less-than-pleasant sight to behold.
The Long and Winding Road award
“So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen …OK, I guess I’ll stay a little longer.” That’s the tune sung this year by Maggie Valley’s Dale Walksler, owner and curator of the renowned Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum.
After several years in its current location and several more bouts with local officials over the museum’s value to the town, Walksler threatened to pack up his collection and ship out to another, more friendly, but as yet unnamed, locale. This fall, however, he decided to make those empty threats and chose to keep the storied – and probably unrivaled – collection of American motorcycle memorabilia nestled snugly into its Soco Road home.
No word from local officials on how they’re reacting to the decision, but since sharing his thoughts with us in October, it’s been all quiet on the Walksler front. So maybe 2011 will see a happy ending to the animosity?
The Size Envy award
They say bigger isn’t always better, but Swain County’s Marianna Black Library isn’t so sure about that. After catching a glimpse of Macon and Jackson counties’ new, improved and enlarged library digs, they couldn’t help but want to gain some growth themselves.
So this October, the library system embarked on an exploratory campaign of their own, seeking input from local residents and guidance from the same consultants used by their neighboring counties. Patron suggestions ranged from expanded collections and more special events to requests for outdoor fire pits, presumably not to be stoked with the library’s contents.
Whether the county’s case of library envy has abated remains to be seen; the consultants won’t be back with final recommendations until the new year. But with Jackson County’s new facility opening up soon, it’s easy to hear cries of “but I want one, too,” on the not-too-distant horizon.
The Earmark to Nowhere award
To earmark, or not to earmark – that, of late, is the Congressional question. And for residents of Swain county, it’s the $52 million question. That’s how much they’ve been promised to repay the cash they laid out on the nonexistent North Shore Road over three decades. When the road was flooded for the war effort in 1943, the county took it on the chin, along with a pledge from the federal government that they’d put it back. But time went on, the county kept paying on the road loans and the promised new road was never to return.
Earlier this year, the county agreed to take a cash settlement from the government in lieu of a road they no longer needed, after laborious negotiations and a good bit of lobbying from Swain County native Rep. Heath Shuler.
But those dollars are in danger now that Congress is swooping in to slash earmarks. To some legislators, that’s just what the North Shore money is, an earmark designed to funnel federal money into local projects. But local proponents counter that it’s not just funding, it’s debt service paying off a 66-year-old IOU.
Whether the money will keep rolling into the county hasn’t been decided. But much rests on convincing Congress members that the settlement is an obligation, not an option.
Billy Graham Hall of Fame nominees
County leaders refused to stop praying in Jesus’ name during their public meetings, despite a federal court ruling that such overt prayers were tantamount to government endorsement of Christianity over other religions — and thus were unconstitutional.
A federal judge in Forsyth County found that specific references to Jesus Christ during prayers at county commissioner meetings “display a preference for Christianity over other religions by the government.”
But county commissioners in Macon and Swain counties were undaunted.
“If there was a law that said how I could pray, I think I would have to break it,” said Swain Commissioner Phillip Carson.
Or as Swain Commissioner David Monteith put it, “I guess they would just have to arrest me.”
Macon Commissioner Ronnie Beale said Christian prayers reflect the vast majority of his constituents.
In Haywood County, commissioners chose to drop references to Jesus and stick with more generic, and thus legal, references to Lord or God. Jackson County does not hold a prayer during its county meetings.
S.O.L. award
This is exactly where homeowners down slope of Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in Maggie Valley found themselves this year. A massive landslide screamed down Rich Cove mountain in February, uprooting yards and bumping into houses on its way. While some residents remain without a well for drinking water and one couple still has not been able to return to their home, they had been unable to hold anyone accountable to cover the damages so far.
But Ghost Town’s liability insurance was canceled a week before the landslide due to late payments, according to the insurance company. Court documents verify that Ghost Town received warnings to pay up to risk cancelation, and eventually received a cancellation notice.
Ghost Town has blamed the slide on a company hired to shore up the slipping mountainside with a series of retaining walls, but the contractors blame Ghost Town for a leaking water line buried behind the wall, according to court documents.
Most Formidable Opponent
As a multi-billion Fortune 500 Company, Duke Energy is used to getting its way. But when it went up against the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians this year and came under fire for desecrating the tribe’s equivalent of an ancestral holy site, it seemed the utility giant had met its match.
Duke Energy had embarked on a $79 million electrical substation on a knoll overlooking an idyllic farming valley in Swain County — a valley that happened to be the home of Kituwah mound, an ancient ceremonial site and political center for the Cherokee. The massive electrical substation threatened to mar the landscape, which Cherokee considered integral to the cultural integrity of the spiritual site.
Duke faced three-fold opposition. The tribe’s government leaders condemned Duke for picking the site and failing to consult with the tribe first. A grassroots activist group formed to challenge Duke before the state utility commission. And Swain County leaders also got mad that Duke had started construction without applying for county permits, and even passed a moratorium barring work on the substation from moving forward.
It didn’t take long for Duke to throw in the towel on the controversial site and instead bought another piece of property in the Swain County industrial park to locate the substation.
Dumbest Criminal
Attorney John Lewis may as well have worn a flashing neon sign when he tried to forge a judge’s name in Jackson County.
Lewis forged a court order in a parental custody case, but no sooner had he filed the fraudulent document with the clerk of court then he apparently thought better of it and asked for it back. The clerk — assuming it was a valid part of the case file — refused. But an agitated Lewis came back twice over the course of the day trying to retrieve the document. As a last resort, he came around the partition in the clerk’s office, snagged the file himself and put a Post-It note on the document declaring it void, arousing enough suspicion to launch an investigation.
The 31-year-old attorney had also faked the signatures on limited privilege driver’s licenses for at least three clients in Swain County who had their real licenses revoked.
Head in the Sand award
When a recession took hold of the country in 2008, most counties got to work cutting costs to head off impending budget shortfalls. But Swain County was nearly a year late to the party.
Swain County continued with business as usual until summer 2009 when its fund balance dipped so low it was put on the watch list by the Local Government Commission, a state agency that monitors the fiscal solvency of counties.
Counties are supposed to have a savings account, known as a fund balance, that’s equivalent to 8 percent of their total annual budget. Swain’s dropped to only 6.67 percent. The county had to play catch-up to restore its fund balance by laying off workers and imposing furloughs, which amounted to pay cuts.
County Manager Kevin King failed to let the Local Government Commission know ahead of time that the county would dip below the safe threshold, but county commissioners said they didn’t know either until it had already happened.
The Life’s not Fair award
As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Haywood County nearly doubled its per capita recycling rate in two years under the leadership of a new solid waste director, Stephen King, who is passionate about recycling. The county will save money by saving landfill space in the long run, but in the short run, all those recyclables began to overwhelm the system. Faced with the need for more recycling staff, the county instead chose to simply shut down the recycling “pick line” and laid off workers who manually sorted recyclables before they were sold. Instead, the county started selling the recyclables in bulk without separating them first. They fetch a lower price, but allowed the county to save on salaries.
Biggest Loser(s) Award
The biggest election upset of the year was in Jackson County, where Democrats lost control of the board of commissioners for the first time in 16 years.
In a clean sweep, Democrats Brian McMahan, William Shelton and Tom Massie headed to the house, while the conservative ticket of Jack Debnam, Charles Elders and Doug Cody took over their reins.
The new guys immediately started shuffling the deck. County Manager Ken Westmoreland, a target in the election because, among other reasons, he helped institute a pay raise that most benefited longtime employees such as himself, has gone to the house as well. Chuck Wooten, just retired from Western Carolina University, has stepped into his shoes temporarily until a new manager can be found.
Easy Money award
As a new form of video gambling proliferated across the state this year, several towns decided to get in on a piece of the action by imposing hefty business license fees for establishments sporting the machines.
The fees were hardly a deterrent given the lucrative nature of the video gambling machines. When the Canton town board voted to set the fee at $2,500, a business owner attending the evening meeting pulled out his checkbook on the spot. The town manager advised him to come back the next morning.
State lawmakers banned video poker, but the gambling industry came up with a reincarnated version called “video sweepstakes,” which wasn’t subject to the ban. State lawmakers followed suit by broadening the language of the ban, outlawing the sweepstakes machines as well, effective with the new year. But not before towns cashed in.
Maggie Valley and Franklin also cashed in on licensing fees.
Don’t Have to Win to be a Winner award
Sylva Commissioner Harold Hensley, who lost his seat in last year’s election, landed a spot back on the board anyway. When former town board member Sarah Graham moved outside the town limits and had to step down, it was up to the remaining board members to appoint someone to fill the vacancy. By a 3 to 1 vote, Hensley found himself back in his old seat, a move that shifted power from the progressive voting bloc to a new majority characterized by a more traditional philosophy.
This marked the second time in less than a year that Sylva’s board had to vote to appoint one of their own, the other being the seat of Maurice Moody who left his seat on the board empty after moving up to mayor.
Texas Hold ‘em award
After seven long years, Jackson County finally folded in its protracted and expensive battle against Duke Energy over, well, that’s where things get murky. What started as a noble fight by mountain people to get their due from a utility giant left most people scratching their heads and wondering why Jackson County was still anteing up, long before the game was eventually over.
To casual observers, the fight appeared nothing more than a tug-of-war over the Dillsboro Dam: Duke wanted to tear it down and the county wanted to save it. But the origin of the conflict was philosophical: how much does Duke owe Jackson County in exchange for harnessing the Tuckasegee River with numerous dams?
Duke proposed removing the Dillsboro dam and restoring a stretch of free flowing river as compensation for saddling the Tuck with a handful of dams, but county commissioners believed they were being short-changed and wanted more, including a trust fund based on a percentage of the hydropower revenues.
Jackson County commissioners hoped to bring Duke to the negotiating table, but Duke repeatedly called the county’s bluff. Instead of folding, Jackson kept throwing in for the next hand until finally calling it quits this year.
The legendary Appalachian Trail grew by 1.9 miles in 2010.
Every December, the latest mileage and shelter information for the 11 official guides to the AT is updated from volunteers who are constantly improving the trail. Volunteer Daniel D. Chazin of Teaneck, N.J., pulls all the information together, a task he’s been performing since 1983.
This year, due to relocations and re-measurements, increases were reported for: Massachusetts-Connecticut (0.2 mile), New York-New Jersey (0.9 mile), central Virginia (0.1 mile), and Tennessee-North Carolina (0.9 mile), while the southwest Virginia mileage was reduced by 0.1 mile.
The new official length of the AT is 2,181.0 miles.
“The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s 2011 Data Book is an essential planning resource for any Appalachian Trail hiker; whether they are out for a day hike or hiking the entire length from Maine to Georgia,” said Brian B. King, publisher of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Each year, the $6.95 Appalachian Trail Data Book is a top-selling official guide to the longest continuously marked footpath in the world. It condenses into 96 pages the high points of the series of guidebooks and maps. Information is presented at a glance in the same geographic units as the guides, with elevations for major points. Shelters, campsites, water sources, road crossings, supply sources, off-trail lodging, eateries and post offices are all easy to identify in the Data Book.
For more information about the 33rd edition of the Appalachian Trail Data Book or to purchase a copy, visit www.atctrailstore.org or call 888.287.8673.
The University of North Carolina at Asheville and the U.S. Forest Service are joining forces to boost awareness and understanding of threats to forest health.
The joint venture will team UNCA’s advanced computer modeling and imaging capabilities with Forest Service research expertise to develop web-based resources that make threats to forest health readily visible and comprehensible.
The agreement, effective through June 2015, extends the ongoing collaborative efforts between UNC
Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) and the Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC).
“Our team’s passion is helping diverse interest groups visualize and understand complex scientific data in creative ways,”NEMAC Director Jim Fox said. “The goal of the NEMAC-EFETAC collaboration is to deliver critical information and tools to the people who need it, when they need it.”
NEMAC will contribute unique skills in computer modeling and programming, database management, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and education and outreach to the joint venture. These include CRAFT (the Comparative Risk Assessment Framework and Tools), a forest planning and decision support system; the Forest Threat Summary Viewer, a database of forest threat information and images; a prototype Early Warning System, a satellite imagery-based monitoring system for detecting unexpected forest changes; EFETAC’s online portal (http://www.forestthreats.org) and related communication materials.
For more information about NEMAC, visit www.nemac.unca.edu.
Early registration is now open for the 2011 Organic Growers School Conference on March 5-6 on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville campus.
More than 1,500 farmers, gardeners, chefs, food activists and consumers are expected to attend what has become the largest sustainable living conference in the Southeast.
Topics covered include fruit production, urban farming, primitive skills, all about poultry, gardening, farming, food preservation, cooking, herbs, sustainable forestry, Alternative energy and more.
For more information about the conference — to attend, exhibit or sponsor — email Meredith Leigh McKissick at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The Western North Carolina Wildlife Advocates will meet from noon to 3 p.m. on Jan. 7 at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center.
North Carolina Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill, will present his ideas for increasing funding and manpower for wildlife law enforcement officers. The group will also discuss the N.C. Wildlife Federation’s “Responsible Sportsman Doctrine” as a tool for educating hunters and encouraging responsible behavior.
The WNC Wildlife Advocates want to form a coalition of concerned citizens, conservation organizations, hunters, wildlife enthusiasts, law enforcement officers, wildlife experts, and elected officials to seek creative and proactive solutions to reduce human/wildlife conflicts and conserve mountain resources.
The meeting will convene at 12:45 p.m. after lunch, which will be available at the noon for $8.95 at the Terrace. Reservations required for lunch. Call 828.258.2667 for more information.
To the Editor:
The local radio station in Sylva, WRGC, has reported that the unemployment rate in Jackson County increased by one tenth of a percent from 7.2 to 7.3 in October.
Unemployed workers in Jackson County have received over $18 million in unemployment benefits since November of last year. And yet, when HR 6419 Emergency Unemployment Continuation Act came to the floor of the house on Nov. 18, Heath Shuler was the only North Carolina Democratic representative to vote no.
Rep. Shuler was the only N.C. democrat to vote no on other recent votes: HR 1742, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act; HR 1736 to accelerate relief for victims of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile (see www.govtrack.us/congress/votes).
It appears that these votes follow other no votes on bills that offer relief to citizens of North Carolina: HR 2749 (Food Safety Regulation Amendments); HR 1256 (FDA Oversight of Tobacco Products); HR 1 (“The Stimulus Bill”); HR 1931 (Hate Crimes Expansion); HR 3162 (SCHIP-State Children’s Health Insurance Program); HR 7081
(United States-India Nuclear Agreement); HR 4872 (Health Care Reconciliation Act); HR3590 (Health Care Insurance Law Amendments).
Is this what being “moderate and centrist” means? Is this what the citizens of Western North Carolina really want? I would much rather see a journalist explore in detail Shuler’s rationale for his no votes than the “love fest” article in a recent edition (“Calculated gamble, Shuler’s House leadership run thrusts him onto the national stage,” Dec. 1 SMN).
I would also like to see good definitions of moderate and centrist. If voting against initiatives that have the possibility of improving the lives of people — espeically children — is what a “big tent” means, then I want no part of it.
Linda Watson
Cullowhee
To the Editor:
Give the wealthy $700 billion over the next decade?
Absolutely, say the Republican politicians led by Rep. John Boehner. It would be unfair to allow their tax rates to return to the pre-Bush rates. Giving the rich more money will help the economy. Really? How has it helped the economy the last 10 years?
David Stockman’s (budget director under Ronald Reagan) says, “Let the temporary tax reduction expire for the wealthy.” It would cost $700 billion over the next decade if extended. Stockman says over the past 10 years while the rich have benefitted from reduced taxes how has it helped the economy? Hello?
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates also say let the temporary tax reduction for the rich expire. They believe the rich should help pay to reduce the deficit.
The rich spend their money on stocks, bonds and real estate. The middle class spends theirs on goods and services that help everyone, including the wealthy. Leading economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez agree.
But, my friends, remember that the Republican politicians receive large donations from the rich. Wake up America.
Ron Rookstool
Maggie Valley
To the Editor:
Whether it be a deficit or a debt, no amount of money owed a creditor is a good thing; not on the federal, state, or local level. Unfortunately, for too long it has been much too easy for us to borrow when we should have saved instead. The fiscal conservatives have been there for many years. Mores the pity that they have been ignored by both parties, the bureaucrats (un-elected office holders) who manage the government on a day-to-day basis, and the vast majority of the American people who are too busy watching “Dancing with the Stars.” Consequently the piper will come to collect his due, soon.
Unlike “Astroturf,” which is essentially a tool of public relations/publicity campaigns, authentic grassroots movements don’t arise, grow, and become powerful overnight. This is especially true when apathy in participation in government has been overwhelming for so long.
How could a county manager be able to get away with the irregularities and abuse that he has for so long? How could a board of commissioners be able to spend our county into backbreaking debt otherwise?
Ask yourself, “when have I gone to, sat and listened, and sometimes used the public comment period (our First Amendment rights!) at a county commissioners meeting? Did I want something from the commissioners, or did I go because it was the right thing to do? Have I participated in a meaningful way?”
Previously on the federal level, any surpluses were merely on paper and only affected the deficit, not the growing debt. Americans of all stripes are only just waking up to the fact that the deficit and the debt (two different wolves) have been enormously increased by unscrupulous elected and un-elected office holders who have not been following the Constitution. For this citizen, it makes me wonder if anybody else has read (and understands) the socio-political contract between us and our government? And do they care?
But take heart; for the truly concerned individuals lamenting the pending demise of our republic, there’s always as a last resort Locke’s “appeal to Heaven” to achieve a restoration of the founder’s vision of what we still could be.
Carl Iobst
Cullowhee
Steam engines are coming back to Western North Carolina, thanks to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
The railroad announced that in coordination with Rail Events Inc., it has closed on the purchase of a steam locomotive — #1149 — and a Bud Rail Diesel Car — RDC-1. Additionally, the railroad has obtained nine passenger coaches from the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad Preservation Society in Unity, Maine.
The locomotive and coaches have been winterized and will remain in storage for the winter. They will come to Bryson City, where the railroad is headquartered, in late spring 2011. Minor repairs are needed — two boilers will be renewed, which means disassembly of the smoke box and reinstalling a throttle.
Locomotive #149 is a Swedish locomotive built in 1913 and exported to the U.S. in 1994. It is a coal-burning locomotive with a 4-6-0 wheel configuration and a 5,000-gallon coal tender. The locomotive was rebuilt and re-tubed in 1998 under Federal Railroad Administration standards. The locomotive and passenger coaches have a Swiss coupling system and will operate together as a train set.
The RDC “Budd car” is capable of seating up to 84 passengers and is equipped with controls on each end. It has two 275hp diesel engines and has #6 airbrakes with D-22 brake valves. The RDC may be coupled with additional passenger coaches.
“Having been with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad for the past 23 years, I have seen the operation grow and expand the passenger rail-tourism industry with our successful special events,” Kim Albritton, vice president and general manager, said in a prepared news release. “I, along with my staff at GSMR, are exploding with excitement and the many opportunities that restored steam service will provide, not only to the railroad but to the region of Western North Carolina.”
The Waynesville Planning Board said this week it will hold off on adopting a major update to the town’s land use plan until February at the earliest, and will delay voting even then if it thinks citizens still want time to digest the plan and offer suggestions.
“I will say that people have told me that if we vote at this meeting it would prevent some from commenting,” said planning board member Jon Feichter at the Dec. 20 meeting. “I would be in favor of waiting until at least Feb. 21 to vote.”
Other planning board members agreed to wait until then at the earliest.
“I think we can tentatively schedule it for then, but it can wait until later if that’s what we need to do,” said board chairman Patrick McDowell.
Town Planning Director Paul Benson also said that there should be no rush to adopt the revisions.
“It is my recommendation that you vote when you feel comfortable with it. Tonight would be too early,” said Benson.
Benson told board members he would like them to delay voting and take public comment at its next couple of meetings.
The updates to the town’s land development standards have been in the works for more than a year. Waynesville hired a consulting company that has been working with a town committee to update the land-use standards that were originally adopted in 2003. Nearly 40 meetings have been held, and result of that work was presented to town citizens at two public meetings in late November and early December.
Benson prepared a package of all the comments for the planning board, but he said two issues raised by the public stood out: one, criticism of the revision that will remove the mandate that parking be on the side and in backs of buildings in commercial areas; and two, complaints about the new plan’s allowable density and height.
The board did not discuss any changes to the original proposal in response to public comment from the two public meetings.
Feichter did bring up one problem that he said might need to addressed: the stipulation that redevelopment of existing structures did not have to meet the new standards as long as the revision was to less than 50 percent of the existing structure. He said some could take advantage of this if there was not a time limit put in the regulations saying how long a period there had to be between renovations.
Benson suggested that saying a year must pass between renovations would likely solve this problem, but the board did not adopt any change.
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners is accepting applications for the following boards:
Haywood County Board of Health – This board is a policy-making, rule-making and adjudicatory body for the Haywood County Health Department. The Board adopts rules necessary for the purpose of protecting and promoting public health. The regular meeting for the Board of Health is held at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month. The Health Board has four vacancies in the following specialties: registered nurse, veterinarian, pharmacist, and medical doctor.
Tourism Development Authority Board — The function of this board is to oversee the operations of the Tourism Development Authority in the collection and disbursement of occupancy tax from Haywood County accommodations and in the promotion of tourism in Haywood County. The TDA Board has one vacancy for an owner or operator of a hotel, motel or other accommodation with 20 units or less, to serve remaining term ending Dec. 31, 2012. The board meets at 3:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
Application forms may be downloaded from the Online Services section of the county website, www.haywoodnc.net; or picked up from the County Manager’s Office, Haywood County Courthouse, Third Floor, 215 North Main Street, Waynesville, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Completed applications may be returned to the County Manager’s Office or attached to an email to Rebecca Morgan, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m., Friday, Dec. 31. For more information contact the County Manager’s Office at 828.452.6625.
