According to the Chinese horoscope calendar, 2019 is the “Year of the Pig.” The pig represents “…wealth and generosity” (Source: https://chinesenewyear2019.org/horoscope/). 

That’s about as far as I’m going to go with the whole horoscope thing and instead I’ll focus on just the pig and the pork. 

The historic Rich Mountain Fire Lookout Tower has been restored, thanks to a collaborative effort from the Carolina Mountain Club, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Forest Fire Lookout Association and the U.S. Forest Service.

Seasonal road closures will soon begin in the Nantahala National Forest. Certain roads are closed each winter to help protect wildlife habitat, decrease wildlife disturbance, reduce road maintenance costs and protect public safety during long bouts of adverse weather. 

Chronic wasting disease has been preliminarily detected in western Tennessee, increasing the threat to deer and elk in Western North Carolina. 

Hydrilla, a highly invasive nonnative plant, has been found in the Deep River, covering a 90-acre area in Moore, Chatham and Lee counties. 

To the Editor:

Last Saturday, a group of merry elves paraded down the sidewalks of Main Street in Waynesville to pick up donations of blankets, hats and gloves to be distributed to elderly residents of Haywood County.

Carrie Keith, owner of Twigs and Leaves Gallery, assembled a group of 23 different merchants who willingly agreed to be drop off points for the donations. 

Mary Margaret Johnson and Julie Mulhern spearheaded the effort for the auxiliary board of Mountain Projects. These ladies assembled over 60 boxes from the donations. 

Members of the Tuscola High School Honor Society wrapped the large boxes, which were dropped off at the Mountain Projects Senior Resource Center to be delivered as Christmas presents to elderly residents in need of a little Christmas cheer. 

Many thanks to the participating merchants, members of the auxiliary of Mountain Projects, the Honor Society of Tuscola, the Senior Resource Center of Mountain Projects and of course, the merry elves for making Christmas a little brighter for our seniors!

Judy Dikes

Waynesville

To the Editor:  

I have somewhat followed the issues surrounding the Green Hill Cemetery. I have stayed out of this because we were notified of the rules concerning tombstones in 2009, and again in 2015. My family has been respectful of the rules, and has only placed flowers and flags in the allotted vases.  

However, I have recently become aware of the cemetery tours in Green Hill Cemetery. Not only do I find this extremely disrespectful, but I find this almost sickening.  

My grandparents, Haywood County natives belonging to farming families, started out as many young couples in the early 50’s. They did not have the money for appliances in their home. They saved and bought appliances one at a time, starting with a refrigerator. 

Once settled, they decided to start a family of their own. Unfortunately, their efforts were not as joyous as many. Pregnancy complications caused them to lose not one, but two babies. The first baby was born stillborn. Once they decided to finally try again, their second baby died about an hour after delivery. I can’t imagine the devastation, hurt, and frustration they must have felt. Burying one child would be absolutely devastating, but having to bury your second one would be earth shattering. As a young couple, paying for one funeral — let alone two — would be unimaginable. Luckily, years later they decided to try again, and my mother was born. They were finally blessed with the joy that they longed for.  

Both of my grandparents worked long hours to make ends meet. My grandfather, like many, retired from Dayco. He also did side work when available. My grandmother retired from Haywood County in 1996. They worked hard to provide a great life for my mother, and eventually myself and my brother. However, they were so busy providing that they never bought headstones for the babies. Buying the headstones was the one thing they mentioned for so long. As time went on, my grandfather became ill, suffering from diabetes. He eventually lost his eyesight and suffered from diabetic neuropathy and epilepsy. My grandmother cared for him until his death in 2009.  

My grandmother has always been an inspiration to me. I was extremely close to both grandparents, and spent time taking care of both of them until their deaths. Unfortunately, I suffered from the same pregnancy complications as my grandmother. Thankfully, due to the advancements in medicine, I was able to be monitored and had a successful delivery. My son was rushed to NICU, but is now a very happy and healthy five-year-old. I can remember my grandmother being terrified that I would loose my baby, as she had lost hers. After Brennen was born, she wanted to buy headstones for both of her babies. She finally met with someone; however, she passed away unexpectedly in 2015. It is my plan to eventually get headstones for the babies.  

The pictures I have seen of the tours appears that people walk freely in the graveyard. I am concerned that we have random people walking freely over top of the babies. I understand that it might not be known that the babies are there. However, I’m sure that more children or people may be buried there that don’t have headstones either. I feel as though it is extremely disrespectful to offer tours and have people walking freely and not on paths, just to make a few dollars.

Is nothing considered sacred any longer? How do we fix this?  

Meagan Mintz

Located in Waynesville, the renowned Haywood Arts Regional Theatre received an early Christmas present when the organization was awarded the prestigious “Community Theatre of the Year Award” for 2018 from the North Carolina Theatre Conference. 

Every year it’s fun to predict what will be the new food fads or trends. This year “plant-based” is the term du jour and more products are reflecting that trend…or is it only a short term fad? Let me know what you think!

As of Jan. 1 the quarantine area for the imported fire ant will include Davidson, Orange and Vance counties, meaning that 75 counties will be included in the quarantine. 

Fees will increase at 24 sites on the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests beginning Jan. 1. For sites that are closed seasonally, fees will take effect on the first open day of the year. 

To the Editor:

This is a letter to our dear Gov. Cooper.

I couldn’t agree with you more. Pure genius. It is far better to have a firm and steady hand in the governorship that can veto the will of the people than allowing the democratic process to play out. Why would you foolishly allow your population to decide their own future as it is enshrined in that dusty, outdated old document this country was founded upon? After all, everyone knows it was written by a bunch of old white guys. We also know what a true crime it would be to allow the ignorant masses to live with their mistakes when your administration can save them from the error of their ways. 

It’s obvious the 55 percent majority of people in North Carolina that actually voted for a law requiring people to have an ID to vote didn’t really understand what they were doing. After all, an identification card is only something required for plane travel, train travel, bus travel, banking, registering a car, driving a car, going on a cruise, cashing a check, getting a library card, entering a school, purchasing an evil gun, taking a government handout and so many other daily events. 

No, I say. I say the majority in your state have no right to expect a voice in government when we have such brilliant and dedicated politicians as yourself standing strong and ready to override such a foolish expectation. Thank goodness you’re there at the apex of the ruling class in North Carolina.

I say bravo, Gov. Cooper, for protecting your minions from the scourge of democracy and self-rule. And with this veto, you’ve taken a few steps closer to a wondrous dictatorship. If the people don’t like that, then take their evil guns away and force them to submit. That’s what the Democratic party is really all about now, isn’t it? And when it’s all said and done, you’ll be invited to oh so many street dances in Asheville. Perhaps you can even take part in a drum circle, if you can find a place to park, that is.

Bruce Fields

(previously of Clyde)

Looking for an easy to use eating plan that’s not a fad diet with a long list of foods you can’t eat?

The N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund awarded $20 million for conservation projects across the state this fall, with much of that money going to Western North Carolina. 

A cold, rainy day made for a muddy course on the inaugural Headwaters Half Marathon Saturday, Dec. 1, in Panthertown Valley. 

The current administration is in the process of trying to erase transgender/cisgender people. If they have their way they will define gender as biologically incontrovertible, determined by genitalia at birth. This definition will exist in title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that get government financial assistance. It will also inform section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which investigates medical discrimination based on sex, in which sex includes gender identity and presentation. It would effectively relieve doctors of any obligation respect gender that may differ from genitalia at birth. 

To the Editor

The works of Bethel Rural Community Organization (BRCO) seem to have flooded the news lately. A full page in the Dec. 5-11 issue of Smoky Mountain News and four BRCO articles in December’s Haywood Vicinitus has piqued a lot of interest among readers. 

Cory Vaillancourt’s interesting report on our DVD documenting the history of Sunburst and other logging operations plus his well-researched full-page article, “Sunburst – a Short History” has helped produce a flood of on-line orders for the DVD. Readers want to learn what the short history could not tell.

If Cory had been able to garner another half page for BRCO, he may have reported that our organization president, Carroll Jones, is an award-winning author and has written several historical non-fiction and fiction books about Haywood County. SMN readers will remember the articles that reported on Carroll’s most recent book, Thomson’s Pulp Mill, that unveils the history of Canton’s original pulp mill. 

BRCO members, as Cory meticulously reported, are eager to preserve the rich history of the area. BRCO thanks SMN for Cory’s time and well-done reporting.

Ted Carr

Bethel

On Nov. 28, Matthew William Ray, 25, of Waynesville, was found guilty of trafficking in opiates by possessing and transporting illicit hydrocodone pills after a two-day trial in Haywood County Superior Court. 

Newman R. Sigman, 55, of Franklin, pled guilty to first degree arson and driving while impaired and was sentenced to a maximum term of 94 months in the Division of Adult Corrections. 

More than 150 Haywood County Schools fourth- and fifth-grade students chased after zooming robots at the Wolfpack Robothon on Friday, November 30.

After a year-long process of designing, SCC Mechatronics student Scott Mitchell donated his SWAT Robot project to Jackson County Sherriff’s Office.

It’s important not to neglect our health and fitness during the holidays.

By Danny Davis • Guest Columnist

I wish to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of you who voted for and supported me in my recent campaign for Haywood County commissioner. I am indeed humbled by the 10,916 votes I received. Unfortunately, we fell short by 471 votes. The people of this county have spoken and I respect their decision and congratulate the new board. It was great making new friends and renewing old friendships. I will be forever grateful to my wife, my children, my family and friends. I worked as hard as I could and have no regrets. 

To the Editor:

Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, continues to lie, even after he pled guilty to 175 pages of exceedingly detailed evidence of a multiplicity of federal and state crimes, such as state tax evasion, fraud, money laundering, etc. The inclusion of the enumerated state crimes means that when the Virginia attorney general brings those charges in a state court, Manafort has already agreed under oath that he is guilty.

Manafort was already facing what is effectively a life sentence even if he had cooperated fully. Going fallaciously through the motions of cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller was likely a signal to Trump for a potential pardon. We know now that Trump and Manafort have been in contact to coordinate stories and buy time. 

Having now received Trump’s written responses to queries from the special counsel, Mueller will compare Manafort’s lies to Trump’s anticipated lies. If they match, then Trump is guilty of witness tampering and obstruction. Trump and Manafort have just enough hubris and idiocy to try it.

What a sad day for us all when federal prosecutors can make their case because they can assume without challenge that our president is a liar. 

John Barry

Cartoogechaye

An $8,000 grant will benefit hemlock trees growing in the Green River Gorge, hopefully saving them from the deadly hemlock wooly adelgid. 

Sylva’s newest outdoors store will hold a grand opening party noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at 562 West Main Street. 

In response to a Nov. 5 federal court ruling that found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rollback of protections for wild red wolves “operate(d) to violate [the Fish and Wildlife Service’s] mandate to recover this species in the wild,” the Fish and Wildlife Service announced Nov. 30 that it would extend its review of a proposed red wolf management rule. 

Tribal members received the largest per capita distribution ever released from casino profits when payments of $7,007 were released Monday, Dec. 3, bringing the yearly distribution for 2018 to $12,559 before taxes. 

A magistrate judge recently recommended that a federal district court judge order the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to provide universal testing and treatment for Hepatitis C, the most deadly infectious disease in the U.S., to all people who are incarcerated in state prisons.

Inside Ingles: Supermarket Vocabulary 

To the Editor:

As I have said on many occasions, anti-gunners like to ignore the very important comma sign in the second Amendment, indicating a completely new part of the text: “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” has nothing to do with the right of a state to have a well regulated militia. Those are two very different statements.  

Furthermore, there is no such thing as an “assault rifle.” Assault is a state of mind, not a type of rifle — another very important thing that anti-gunners deliberately ignore. The “AR” in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifles, the model being Number 15. 

By not owning a gun, anti-gunners open themselves and their family members to violence inflicted upon them, without those family members being allowed to defend themselves. The fact that anti-gun gun grabbers refuse to defend themselves is akin to suicidal tendencies. That’s OK, it’s their own life they want to throw away. 

Still people are interned for less serious health issues of self harm. But denying their family members the constitutional right to defend themselves is nothing less than abuse. Child abuse if they are minors. Not only are they denying them their constitutional rights, you are jeopardizing their lives! I believe that is a crime in itself, endangering the lives of others. At the very least it should be. 

Owning a gun is not seeing more people murdered but preventing people from being murdered, even gun-grabbing anti-gunners. Call it our civic duty to prevent self-harm to anti-gunners! 

To end this letter, the guns ending up in wrong hands are almost never the legally owned guns. Criminals will always find a way to get a gun. 

One more thing, two things actually. Someone who refuses to own a gun but calls himself a gun owner is a liar. Someone who opposes the right of others to own a gun under the Constitution is not a second Amendment supporter but a liar.

Gino De Neef

Franklin

To the Editor:

This is a shoutout for the folks at Haywood County Animal Services.

Last Sunday (Nov. 19) late afternoon, I heard a dog barking up the drainage pipe in the front of my house. I saw him crawl into the pipe, and never saw him come out. I went down and looked up the pipe and could not see him. I talked with Jeff of the Haywood County Animal Services. He suggested I wait a while and call him if the dog was still in the pipe. 

I checked about 8 p.m. and the dog was still barking in the pipe. I called Jeff, and he came to my house. The dog was still somewhere in the pipe. The pipe runs along the road for about 50 yards, so locating the dog was a problem.

Jeff called for reinforcements, and ultimately two more men (including Doyle Teague, the director) and one woman, Samantha, were on the scene. For four hours, we dug holes in the ground up to three feet deep trying to locate the pipe, and cut into it to locate the dog. Shortly after midnight, we finally were able to see the dog, enlarge the hole in the pipe and free a very happy and hungry red tick coonhound.

I was impressed with the people of Animal Services. They showed a strong desire to rescue an animal in distress and they should be proud of the work they did that night, and every day.

Dave Harrington

Clyde

To the Editor:

A recent letter writer said that the Democrats will do almost anything to get rid of Trump. He is probably right, but for the wrong reasons.

The President recently said he would give Saudi Arabia and its leader the benefit of the doubt about the brutal murder and dismemberment of a journalist and resident of the United States.  Our CIA has said with high certainty that they did it, but that was not good enough for President Trump. He said it would cost too much.

He is worried that they might cut off our oil. The U.S. is now self-sufficient in oil. He is concerned that we will lose huge arms sales to the Saudis, but the actual sales are a small fraction of what he claims. He said we need good allies like the Saudis, but their war in Yemen has caused the death of over 80,000 children from starvation. Even his Republican allies in Congress are crying foul on the Saudi mess as a betrayal of American values and moral leadership.

On the home front, President Trump said, Californians should just rake the leaves off the forest floor, like they do in Finland, then there would be no more wild fires. Ninety percent of the forest land in California is under federal governmental control, so he needs Congress to appropriate money for an army of rakers. That should work.

Don McGahn, the recently fired White House attorney, has admitted that President Trump wanted him to instruct the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute James Comey and Hillary Clinton. Since the days of J. Edgar Hoover  and Watergate there has been an impenetrable wall between any administration and law enforcement. But Trump, who is no student of history, believes that the Justice Department is just a tool to go after anyone who disagrees with him.

There are many countries where this is true — China, Russia, North Korea, Turkey, to name just a few. But as Don McGahn told the president, in this democracy, that is an impeachable offence.

This and much more has happened just in the last two weeks. So it is true that Democrats, as part of  a solid majority of voters in this country, will work very hard to end this stain on our presidency.

Louise Vitale

Franklin

Duke Energy is working on its final phase of a solar project at Mount Sterling, removing utility poles and overhead power lines along a 3.5-mile corridor from the park boundary at Mt. Sterling Road to the Mt. Sterling Fire Lookout Tower. Work is expected to be complete Nov. 30. 

A 324-acre property in the Highlands of Roan is now in public ownership thanks to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. 

For the eighth year running, Western Carolina University has been named one of North America’s most environmentally responsible colleges by The Princeton Review. 

The Jackson County Department of Public Health and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Public Health and Human Services are investigating three cases of Legionnaires disease in people who visited Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort during May through November 2018. 

Canned pumpkin is an excellent source of beta carotene (vitamin A) and fiber so if you have extra cans of 100% pumpkin around, don’t let them go to waste and don’t think you just have to use them to make a pie. Here are a few ideas of what you can do with canned pumpkin.

By Will Studenc

To the Editor:

The Second Amendment states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Please note the first words: “A well regulated Militia ….”

My mother used to ask me if I meant to do something she had forbade me to do. Then she would ask if I meant not to. I am reminded of this when I see more and more people being killed by military style guns. Do we mean for them to be killed? No! Of course not. But, do we mean for them not to be killed? 

As a gun owner and Second Amendment supporter, I mean not to allow more people to be murdered with an assault weapon. That is why I choose not to own one. I would be afraid it would wind up in the hands of someone who killed people. I would then have some sense of guilt over a needless death. By not owning an assault weapon in spite of the fact that I currently have the right to, I hope I am part of preserving “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that our system of government is meant to secure for all people.

Do you own an assault weapon? If so, why? Are you part of a “well regulated Militia”? Do you mean not to see more people murdered? Does America? 

Dave Waldrop

Webster

To the Editor:

In response to the guest column in the November 7 issue regarding immigration, if you live long and travel wide, you might look back on the Irish toilet experience as downright luxurious.  

Try riding the overnight train from Chang Mai to Bangkok. There is a hole in the floor of the train that goes down to the tracks. A curved metal bar to balance your behind on, if you choose to use it. In Japan they squat over a hole in the floor. A lot of toilets have no water in them, and at times you will find a bucket of water with a dipper to wash the toilet.  

Many countries do not flush paper products down the toilets. At the Folkmoot Center, they have waste bins in the toilets for those dancers that visit from those countries.  

In a fancy restaurant on Martinique in the Caribbean, there was a plank with a hole in it (similar to an outhouse) where you could not see the bottom. Tip: take a couple of plastic grocery bags and ball them up and put one in your purse and one in your carry on. They don’t take a lot of room and you will be surprised how often they come in handy.

When you travel, look well dressed. Neat, clean and well groomed. Agents will go out of their way to help you. Smile and have a little humor. Agents take a lot of abuse from the public.

Those who work in the airports around the world develop a sense of people and notice any small thing out of the ordinary. It could have been your husband’s beard, your braid, or your shoes or anything else. Sometimes they will take a passenger out of a certain line for no reason. Ask them if you can do anything to help make their job easier. 

When I return home from a foreign country (and sometimes want to kiss the ground), as our agents from customs and immigration have finished clearing me, I always say “Thank you for the job you do and keeping us Americans safe.” You might just get a smile and make their day. I worked eight years in an airport in Hawaii. Happy traveling, and a warm Aloha.

Jackie Alexander

Waynesville       

To the Editor:

In the November 7 issue of The Smoky Mountain News, Guest Columnist Autumn Woodward related a harrowing story of detainment by Irish immigration officials who actually were performing the duties expected of immigration officials throughout the world. No doubt, however, such an experience is frightening. Woodward admits that their U.S passports held some strength and privilege, which she alludes to as a condition others entering the U.S may not have.

In Woodward’s launch into the history of U.S. immigration, she recounts the vilifying of Irish immigrants who entered the U.S in the 1850s. What she has omitted is that as the Irish assimilated they and other Americans proceeded to vilify and hate the Italians, Greeks and middle Europeans who came to the USA in the early 1900s. Next were the Puerto Ricans and now immigrants from Mexico and the Middle East are in the unfortunate position once held by the Irish, Italians, Greeks and Puerto Ricans. We are even seeing maligning of white people, especially white males. Is all this a good thing? No! Is it a repeat of history? Regrettably, yes.

However, there is a serious difference between many of today’s immigrants and those in the 1850s and early 1900s. Today we have people who seek to enter and do enter the U.S. illegally, which was not the case with earlier legal immigrants. Of course we should stop the thousands who are marching towards and now have reached the United States seeking asylum. True asylum seekers would apply for asylum in the first country encountered. In the case of the present caravan that would be Mexico.

The U.S. conditions of asylum are to be under fear of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or a particular social group. The conditions for asylum are not lack of a job, seeking a better quality of life and desire to uplift the lives of children. 

Perhaps the answer is that couples like the Woodwards and members of charity, church and private funding organizations join the marchers on their way back to their own country and then work with them to improve their lives and well-being there. The marching immigrants are of an age and ability to develop their own country. In the USA, President Trump rightly is improving the lot of our citizens. Unemployment level has tumbled to numbers unknown for decades, the economy is moving again, workers have seen pay raises and taxes are lower. These improvements benefit U.S citizens who should be the number one focus of our federal, state and county governments.

Carol Adams

Glenville

To the Editor:

While I agree with Cecil GOP Precinct Chair Ted Carr’s statement in Cory Vaillancourt’s “Eastbound and down” article (The Smoky Mountain News, Nov. 14 edition, www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/25944) that there is a distinct difference between voters who reside in a farming community and those who live in a town or city, I strongly disagree that farmers are the only ones who “think for themselves.” Also, if Fox News is the primary information source for many of them, that may preclude their independent thinking. 

I found Mr. Carr’s comparison of Waynesville (Democratic) voters to mindless rodents who “follow the leader off a cliff” to be unprofessional and highly offensive.    

As the official representative of his precinct, Mr. Carr should strive to promote civility between our two parties instead of making statements that only serve to polarize.

Furthermore, I encourage Mr. Carr to do a little more research on the lemming. According to what I read in a Nov. 26, 2014, Smithsonian Magazine article, the belief that lemmings throw themselves off cliffs is a popular myth that originated in “faked documentary footage” from the Disney Corporation. 

In closing, I commend Mr. Carr and his wife for all the hard work they did to get their Republican candidates elected on November 6. At the same time, I want to remind him that the Christian faith he so strongly professes to follow teaches winners to be humble and gracious in their victory. 

He needs to rethink his statements and issue an apology to the Democratic voters in Waynesville.

Myrna Campbell, Chair

Haywood County Democratic Party

A group of climate activists based in Asheville is nearly finished a 10-day Thanksgiving fast aimed at bringing attention to climate change issues. 

Alarka Institute in Cowee is now selling seeds from the Franklinia, one of the rarest shrubs in the world.

Tanbark Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed until further notice after pieces of the tunnel’s natural rock ceiling began to come loose. To effectively route visitors away from the tunnel, the Parkway will be closed from milepost 355.3 at N.C. 128 north of Montreat to milepost 375.6 at Ox Creek Road near Weaverville.