The emerald ash borer has been discovered in Haywood County, making it the 32nd confirmed county to which the invasive pest has spread.

News of the upcoming solar eclipse has been hard for Western North Carolinians to avoid this season, and the big day is coming up Monday, Aug. 21, when the moon will cover the sun for one to two minutes during the 2 p.m. hour — exact times and durations vary by location.

Tony Alan Coleman, 52, of Waynesville, recently pled guilty as charged to murder and felony child abuse in the death of his 17-month-old grandson Kyler Presnell.

After 19 years with county government, former Haywood County Tax Collector and current Haywood County Tax Assessor/Solid Waste Administrator David Francis is calling it quits at the end of this month.

Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews told the Haywood County Board of County Commissioners Aug. 7 that preliminary tax collection rates for the 2016-17 fiscal year show one of the highest collection percentages ever.

Asheville Republican Congressman Mark Meadows hosted his fourth annual Veterans’ Solutions Seminar in Waynesville last week, and judging by the turnout, they appear to be working.

What is Salmonella...and how can you avoid getting it?

To the Editor:

I read about the rescue at Yellowstone Falls in the July 26 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. The more I read about the heroic rescue, the angrier I got. I felt like, “Look, sir, you got yourself into this situation because you did something thoughtless, reckless, dangerous, and stupid. Now deal with it yourself.”

His rescue endangered the lives of at least 45 rescuers who could have been seriously injured or killed, and they probably have families who would have been forever impacted and devastated. Undoubtedly there were major expenses involved in this rescue: vehicles, rope riggers, backup equipment, paramedics, ambulance, airlift, etc. I feel the victim and his friends who accompanied him on this adventure should pay the costs involved in this rescue. That’s the least they can do.

The article said: “Yellowstone Falls, located between Skinny Dip Falls and the Lower Falls at Graveyard Fields, isn’t accessible by any official trail, and that’s on purpose …. it is dang near impossible to get down in there and even more difficult to get someone out.”

That tells me that many lives were risked because these people were somewhere they should not have been, and the entire situation could have been avoided had they used a little common sense. People need to realize there are consequences when you endanger the lives of others, and sometimes having to spend their money is the only thing that gets their attention.

Janice Workman

Bryson City

To the Editor:

This is in response to Mr. Paul Strop’s letter from the June 7 issue. There is a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. The Left’s continued, disingenuous misrepresentation of this issue — another example of which is highlighted by the letter — is what contributes the most to making this issue so “emotional and divisive” in our country. Believe it or not anti-immigrant and anti-illegal immigration are not the same thing.

Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and open your mind, just for a minute, and you might actually realize that. And this is coming from a man who is married to a legal immigrant, one whose family had to go through the legal process to become proud, contributing citizens of this great country.

Picking and choosing which laws should or shouldn’t be enforced — particularly based on political inclination — is not only wrong, but also unconstitutional. If you don’t like the laws, then get your congressional representatives to change them.

Tom Smith

Davie, Fla.

To the Editor:

On behalf of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank those who helped to make Franklin’s Annual 4th of July Fireworks & Fun Day such a huge success. Businesses donated not only money but products, while others donated their time. These people willingly worked a long, hard day to provide the activities that were offered to the folks of Franklin.  To all, we say “thank you.” We also appreciate all the hard work our EMS and police did to help with the traffic and emergency needs.

Thanks to the Macon County Recreation Department and the Macon County Fair Association for allowing us to stage this event in the Recreation Park and the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center.

We here at the Franklin Chamber feel it is an honor to serve our residents and visitors.  We look forward to offering even more new and exciting activities in the future.  We invite all businesses to join us as we serve those who live in and visit this place we call home, Franklin, North Carolina.

The Staff and Board of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce

To the Editor:

The recent accident involving a state trooper and the elderly couple near Balsam was a tragedy for all involved, and many prayers for the trooper and families of those who lost their loved ones. The trooper was doing his job, but excessive speed is what killed this couple.

I live here and have witnessed personally the state police continually use speeds over 100 mph almost every month in this particular spot. This mile and half of highway is known as where the state troopers hang out and write tickets. I have called months ago and complained after taking my boys to school and having a trooper blow by me doing at least 120-30 mph. I was about to change lanes, and if I had not been paying close attention that day then this could have been me.

I know that emotions are high right now but a serious discussion needs to take place. A speeding ticket — which is 90 percent plus of these occurrences — should never justify anyone traveling at these speeds, including law enforcement. We do live in the mountains everyone has limited sight traveling and especially at those speeds, whether law enforcement or not.

Living here in the mountains we have curves — and add to that a highway with roads and driveways that are directly off the highway — that spell disaster. Anyone of us who has turned around in the turning lanes — as what happened in this particular accident — we know it can be dangerous.

I have to cross this same highway in a similar fashion everyday from a turning lane to come to my house and, yes, it is dangerous. I support our law enforcement and am thankful for them, but this could happen to anyone of us. This kind of speed kills. Just because the lights and siren are on when doing 100-plus you can not count on the other drivers to know you are there, especially when there is other traffic on a busy highway or road.

This is a very sad story but we all can learn from this and hopefully our law enforcement will change this practice before another life is taken. Hopefully, the N.C. Highway Patrol will rethink high-speed enforcements on busy highways or roads, especially this one. The point of speed limitations is to protect the public, and high-speed enforcement is doing the opposite. Something must change before it takes another life.”

Joseph Thomas

Haywood County

To the Editor:

Dear Mission Health,

I saw your full page ad in the July 19 issue of The Smoky Mountain News. Nice try, but I’m calling you out. When I read your ad I found myself actually applauding Blue Cross and Blue Shield for pushing back against hospital charges and what would, without a doubt, be another rate increase for their customers.

Years ago I started my career as a pharm tech in a hospital in Baltimore. I was promoted to Head Pharm Tech and then Director of Medications Distribution. We were unit dose and I was in the unique position of seeing cost to hospital and charge to patient information. On the average, between the cost to hospital and charge to patient, was a 200 to 300 percent increase … sometimes higher. I can’t imagine what that ratio is today!

I wish I had a nickel for every story I’ve heard about a $15-dollar Band-Aid or astronomical charges to patients who have actually read their bills. How about the woman that was charged $40 to hold her baby after delivery, billed under Bonding Time. Please tell me why an Epi-pen now costs around $600? After all, epinephrine is an old drug and long past its seven-years trademark rights.

As I am now 64, my doctor suggested some routine tests be done, one of which was a cardiac stress test. I called your hospital to get an appointment and asked about the charges. The test was to take about ten minutes. I’d be on a treadmill and connected to a heart monitor. If the doctor was not in the room the bill ran pretty close to $4,000. IF the doctor was in the room, the total cost rose to over $6,000. For ten minutes … really?

In all fairness to you Mission, I realize the costs of supplying state-of-the-art health care. I also understand that many, many people that do not have health care, even Obamacare, use the emergency room for a case of the sniffles or ailments that warrant a simple doctor’s office visit and you are obliged to treat them. Naturally, the cost of that has to be made up somewhere.  Don’t tell me … I know who makes up the deficit.

So don’t whine about arm wrestling BCBS. You’re not a research hospital and you are “for profit.” You’ve already taken OB/Gyn from Franklin (great way to kill a town’s economic growth). I’m seeing ads every day from doctors announcing they will no longer see patients in Franklin, they are moving their offices.

I’m a frustrated consumer. I’m tired of everything in this “trickle down economy” being trickled down to middle class. I’m tired of the blame game. Here’s a thought, how about you and BCBS joining forces and putting some pressure on your suppliers and Big Pharma. Complain about costs there. Ask why a pill that costs 3 cents to make, costs the consumer a hundred bucks or more. Put pressure on our government to create a truly affordable health care bill. Cause here’s what’s gonna happen. Eventually the whole health care system will implode. Middle class will no longer be able to pay for insurance increases … heck we might even get mad and refuse to pay them.

So please don’t try to make me feel bad for you. Please don’t try to come across as beleaguered victims that just want to heal people. You are also a “for profit business.” If you were truly transparent, we’d find you do you’re share of inflating costs too. Nice try on the ad … good spin … but it falls flat on this consumer’s ears.

Jeanne Dupuis

Otto

While Western North Carolina is still in the thick of summer 2017, the Haywood County Master Gardeners are already looking for gardens to be part of the June 2018 Haywood County Garden Tour.

The team of skilled volunteers that organized the mission to connect with the next generation of park users during the National Park Service’s 2016 centennial won the Southeast Regional Group Volunteer Service Award from the National Park Service.

The harvest is rolling in, and Haywood Gleaners is looking for volunteers to help get the leftovers from the field to the mouths of those who need it.

For the first time in 10 years, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is operating a career development center aimed at helping youth develop the skills they’ll need to enter the workforce.

Free medical, dental, eye and veterinarian services will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis Aug. 2-10 in Bryson City and Hayesville.

Praying in public has never been something politicians in Swain County have shied away from and it’s unlikely the recent court ruling will change that ritual anytime soon.

The Cherokee of Jerry Wolfe’s early memory is a different place than the Qualla Boundary of today.

Wolfe, 93, remembers hills covered in farmland rather than forest, cleared by hand to keep the trees from encroaching on slopes families coaxed to yield the corn, beans and potatoes that fueled them. The weedy edges of fields yielded blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. The woods yielded fuel for winter heat in the log cabins and, when the family ran out of kerosene, knots of pine sap that could ignite to keep the lights on.

Haywood County Deputies with the assistance of the Maggie Valley Police Department K9 arrested Brandy Marie Grogan, 35, Thursday evening along Dellwood Road.

Anthony Scott Price, 29, of Waynesville, was stopped by Waynesville Police Officer Tyler Howell at 2:30 a.m. after driving erratically on Russ Avenue.

Is the pork at Ingles pasture-raised?

By Jerica Rossi • Folkmoot Guide

When asked which country I wanted to be a guide for during the 2017 Folkmoot Festival, it was a no brainer: India.

It was while I was studying and traveling through the states of Gujarat and Kerala that I fell in love with the vibrant colors and aromatic cuisine that India boasts of. It was then that I also had my first taste of being completely intoxicated by the up-tempo drum beat and the tenacity of the synchronized dancers — a kind of high that hits your stomach and demands you to be completely present and in tune with your senses.

To the Editor:

We all wish Sen. John McCain a speedy recovery. Sen. Mitch McConnell kindly delayed the vote on repeal of healthcare and decimation of our safety net until McCain can rejoin the Senate.

This brings up several questions:

1. Is the care the esteemed senator is receiving the same as we receive as lowly citizens under ObamaCare?

2. How would that care change if McConnellCare is passed?

3. After his hospital stay, what would be McCain’s vote on repealing ObamaCare (the best solution to our healthcare crisis so far)?

That’s all I have to say for now.

Caryl Brt

Haywood County

To the Editor:

Scott McLeod hit the proverbial nail directly on its head July 12th in his assessment of our representative (ww.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/20350) and I use that term very loosely), Mark Meadows, “fighting the wrong fight.’ Rep. Meadows is one step ahead of our President (but only marginally) in the thinking before he speaks department and in regard to the southern border wall, any thinking at all on Meadows’ part, is a stretch.

With no respect due what-so-ever, Rep. Meadows is pursuing a personal agenda of advancing his own power, wealth and influence through association and a quasi leadership position with a misnamed and ill-conceived “Freedom Caucus.” I have no respect at all for people willing to shut down our government (which hurts our economy locally and nationally and directly hurts the common citizen) while in pursuit of wrongheaded ambitions such as a wall between us and our neighbors to the south.

With health care in total disarray due to the GOP's lack of concern for their fellow Americans coupled with their fixation to destroy everything Obama tried diligently to accomplish, plus our national debt of over $20 trillion, the student loan ripoff, a faltering national infrastructure, and other serious problems, to obsess over an unneeded border wall is a slap in the face to men and women of good conscience and affirms yet again how far the Republican Party is willing to drift from the foundation of “representative government” many of us once believed was the fundamental underpinning of this once great nation.

David L. Snell

Franklin

To the Editor:

As a proud Great Lakes kid, I am so pleased that Franklin Town Council and Macon County commissioners have voted to make Macon a green county and town by supporting the U.S.A. “Climate Alliance.”

I was born in Michigan. My family began their U.S. experience on the shores of Lake Michigan. Due to World War II events, my parents moved to Ohio, near yet one other of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie.

I was horrified to read about the ‘Larsen C’ ice shelf breaking off in the Antarctic. One reason the article caught my eye was that it referenced one of the Great Lakes. The ice shelf is not only the size of Delaware, but the resulting iceberg has the volume of twice that of Lake Erie.

Climate-change deniers say human activity doesn’t have an effect on climate, even though most of us believe it does. Even if you think it doesn’t exist, why not err on the side of caution? The last time I looked, we all live on this one little blue planet we call Earth, and it needs us to take care of it..

I’m not concerned about me, but what kind of world are we leaving those who follow us?

So, thank you to the Franklin and Macon County elected leaders for taking this step — all our steps together will add up.

Shirley Ches

Franklin

Forty-one years have gone into making Dogwood Crafters Cooperative of Dillsboro the successful business it is today. And the co-op will set fire to their mortgage agreement from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at the 11-room shop.

An algal bloom observed in the Tuckasegee arm of Fontana Lake during late June continues to develop, prompting the N.C. Division of Water Resources to remind people to avoid contact with the filamentous bluegreen algae.

The Nantahala National Forest is reviewing a proposal from Duke Energy that would allow the company to upgrade its electrical distribution system located on national forest land in the Winding Stairs area of Macon County.

A Solar Eclipse Education Program at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont will turn high school students into experts tasked with helping the large numbers of visitors sure to come for the cosmic event understand the science behind the spectacle.

The number of Haywood County beekeepers is on the rise, and a new honey extraction facility is now available for those beekeepers to use for free.

The Southeastern Private Property and Federal Land Use Conference will be held July 29 in Bryson City.

Sign ups for Franklin’s Town Council were coming in slow until the last day, and now there are six candidates signed up to run for three available seats on the board. Councilmember incumbents Barbara McRae and Billy Mashburn signed up to run for another term while Patti Abel decided against a second term.

Numerous law enforcement agencies led by the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office are engaged in a search for Phillip Michael Stroupe II, a suspect who is known to be armed and dangerous.

A friend of mine says drinking raw milk is healthy. Is this true?

To the Editor:

Conservative business owners are realizing that our dysfunctional health care system, driven by private health insurance, is cost prohibitive for businesses.

Michael Grimaldi, past president of General Motors of Canada, states, “Canada’s public healthcare system significantly reduces total labor costs for automobile manufacturing firms.”

David Steil, business owner and a former Pennsylvania Republican legislator, said, “Conservatives should be supportive of single-payer because it costs less. When they look at the single-payer model they will come quickly to the conclusion that it is the least expensive, the most supportive of a free market, and will have the most direct effect on the costs of their operation.”

Richard Master, CEO of MCS Industries — a world leader in their industry — discovered, in an attempt to control costs, that USA physicians average $84,000 annually just interacting with private health insurance. In contrast, Canadian physicians under their single-payer system spend little more than a quarter of that. In the USA, 33 cents of every premium dollar goes to maintaining administrative functions with private insurance.

More importantly, private insurance has not been doing the job they’ve claimed in controlling health care service costs. Master states, “The truth is that private insurers end up paying 20 percent more for health care services than Medicare, which, keep in mind, is our government-run program for people much older than the average privately insured American.” Because of all this waste, we spend more on health care than any other country, and we have far less to show for it.

Master states, “it’s a myth that under a single-payer system, the government takes over the delivery of health care. Not only are hospitals operated privately and doctors are in private practice …, patients in [single payer] countries have complete freedom of choice of providers. By contrast, more and more Americans find themselves in health plans that severely restrict their access to providers.”

In a recent PBS interview, Warren Buffett said, “I think that [single payer] probably is the best system.”

At American’s expense, our bought-and-paid-for-representatives help private insurance propagandize the myth that Medicare for all is socialized medicine and too costly. Both are lies. The fact is, our current market driven system is the most bureaucratic, most inefficient, most costly, and most rationed health care system in the world.

The conservative solution is Improved Medicare for All (H.R. 676). This 30-page bill simplifies and economizes. It is the most conservative, cost saving, and efficient solution.

Watch the movie at: FixItHealthcare.com.

Allen Lomax

Sylva

To the Editor:

President Trump’s campaign staff met with a Russian attorney in Trump Tower to discuss inside “dirt” about opponent Hillary Clinton in June 2016. The information has finally surfaced after months of denial by the Trump folks. Trump’s son, “Little Donnie,” has finally admitted to the fact. After the Tower meeting, Russia released damming emails about Clinton and the inside workings of her campaign staff. Did the Trump folks collude with an enemy of the United States to swing an election? It sure looks like it.

America could have done better without Trump or Clinton in 2016, but I guess we had a bad choice in 2016. I liked Kaisich, Bush, Christie — anybody but Trump.

President Trump is a lying dog, in my opinion, an obnoxious New York bragger with low-energy smarts; all talk and little knowledge about history or world events. He would flunk a high school American history course. In fact, Obama is looking pretty good right now.

The administration has long denied any collusion with Russia, but Little Donnie finally admitted the truth in released emails. Also present at the meeting was Trump son-in-law, weird, shell-shocked Jared Kushner, who now has top U.S. security clearance, and Paul “the Capo” Manafort, then-campaign manager and former Russian representative against Ukraine’s independence. Yes, Manafort dined and cozied up to Vladimir Putin at a get-together in Moscow a few years earlier. Hmm.

All of them had previously lied about meeting with any Russians, as have Attorney General Jeff Sessions and fired former NSA chief Michael Flynn. The Trumps and lies are synonymous — they are like peanut butter and jelly.

Even S.C. Republican Trey Gowdy, who headed up the Benghazi investigation on Clinton, has joined the chorus against Trump’s lies: “If you had contact with the Russians, don’t wait until The New York Times figures it out.”

I haven’t heard much from our esteemed Congressman Mark Meadows about his erstwhile buddy Trump. Meadows, it seems, is far too busy figuring out how to hurt poor people and help the rich get richer, especially on healthcare.

Just remember Rep. Mark “gerrymander” Meadows’ creed: “Afflict the afflicted, and comfort the comfortable.” In other words, make the rich richer and the poor poorer — and never, ever let the electorate  know how badly they have been fooled.

I noticed Meadows has recently moved closer to the airport in Asheville so he can be closer to Washington, where the Florida or French (?) native is truly focused. Meadows reportedly said moving to the airport area from Cashiers saved him three or four hours of drive time to the airport. Yes, Meadows loves the Washington spotlight. He certainly hasn’t had too many town hall meetings. Why meet with the masses? When you’re gerrymandered like Meadows, you are truly a One-eyed Jack in the Kingdom of the Blind.

James Budd

Bryson City

To the Editor:

Thank you for dispelling the myth that indigent defense attorneys don’t get paid (http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/20283). They might not make $100,000 but they do get paid. Thank you also for pointing out that out of 100 counties in this state only “about 15 counties” have a public defenders office. Thanks to TV and fiction books we have the fantasy that court appointed defense attorneys are dedicated defenders of justice. Instead most are trying to fit court appointed cases into an already busy calendar. And, as Danya Ledford VanHook pointed out, the lawyers are often “sole practitioners” which means no staff to do all the research and paperwork.

However, any discussion of indigent defense expenses should include the fact that if convicted the defendant then owes the state for the cost of defense. When released the defendant is held accountable for those costs.

In addition, the discussion should also include the question of accountability. The Indigent Defense Services have guidelines for the quality of defense provided. But how do they ensure that standard is met? How are defense lawyers graded, or are they? Who determines which lawyer gets which case? Is it possible for a judge to pick a particular lawyer because the judge knows that lawyer will get the results the judge wants?

“The concern is that if lawyers know they’re only going to get $300 for a DUI case, they’ll be quicker to just make a plea deal instead of going above and beyond to make the best decision for the client.” You are assuming lawyers do that, go above and beyond, at the current hourly rate of $55.

The belief that “every person is entitled to competent, vigorous legal council” is just that, a belief. It does not mean that is the reality. Without some system for accountability, that belief will remain a fantasy.

Sara Lee Hinnant

Sylva

North Carolina now has a position for a dedicated outdoor recreation recruitment director tasked with developing the state’s outdoor recreation economy, a position modeled after similar ones in Utah, Colorado and Washington.

The new Buy Haywood agritourism guide is now available, celebrating the 10th anniversary of this initiative to promote homegrown Haywood County products.

A man was airlifted from the Graveyard Fields area of the Pisgah National Forest July 12 after falling 40 feet from Yellowstone Falls.

Repairs on the Blue Ridge Parkway will continue through August between mileposts 383 and 389 near Asheville, part of a project to repair several dangerous ruts.

The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians Hall of Fame will have six new members when its second-ever class of inductees is recognized Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Southwestern Community College Swain Center in Bryson City.

The 34th annual Folkmoot International Festival will return to Waynesville this weekend for 10 days worth of folk dance performances across the region. This year’s lineup features 10 performance groups from around the world coming to Western North Carolina to share their culture through music and dance. 

The 34th annual Folkmoot Festival in Waynesville kicks off Thursday, July 20 and will again feature close to 300 performers from 10 countries eager to introduce Americans to their native clothing, culture, dance and music during almost 30 appearances across Haywood County and the surrounding region through July 30.

Harris Regional Hospital is expanding its cardiac services, offering diagnostic cardiac catheterization in Sylva beginning in mid-July.

Sign ups for 2017 municipal elections close at noon Friday, July 21. The election will be Tuesday, Nov. 7, with early voting running Oct. 19 to Nov. 4 and absentee ballot requests open Oct. 6-31.