Severe drought is nearly vanquished in North Carolina, with the number of counties in that designation the lowest it’s been since June 2016.

The new Local Food Guide from the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is here, including more than 800 listings of places to find local food in Western North Carolina.

Closures and openings have resulted in status changes for some trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Diving into the rich, vibrant and controversial history of bluegrass music, If You Can’t Play, Get Off the Stage: Bluegrass in Western North Carolina and Beyond is the debut work from Garret K. Woodward, arts/entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News.

With the current expansion of its New Generations Family Birthing Center, Harris Regional Hospital couldn’t be in a better position to handle an anticipated influx of patients for labor and delivery services.

Having been a dietitian for over 20 years, I've seen fingers pointed at many supposed "villains" of weight and health issues:

All citizens of western North Carolina owe a big “thank you” to Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, and the Freedom Caucus bloc of representatives in the U.S. Congress. This group, led by Mr. Meadows, is responsible for the fact that those of us who are not wealthy, who may have pre-existing medical conditions, who are elderly, or who are not covered by a group health care plan provided by an employer, can still — at least for now — purchase reasonably affordable health care insurance.  

The withdrawal of Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Health Care Act (Ryancare, or Trumpcare depending on your preference) means that the Affordable Care Act will continue as the law of the land “for the foreseeable future,” according to Mr. Ryan. President Trump has made it clear that he will not be bringing up a healthcare initiative again in the near future. Apparently he didn’t really have a plan in mind after all, in spite of his campaign promises. 

The Freedom Caucus put a stake in the ground (and a stake through the heart of the proposed legislation) over the fact that certain provisions of the ACA would survive — it was not a sufficiently complete repeal for this group of radical right politicians.

And it appears quite obvious that the Republican Party, after seven years of grandstanding votes to repeal what they termed “Obamacare” and which became a rallying point for resistance to anything that had President Obama’s or Democratic support, had absolutely no alternative plan or strategy to address health care.

Although the American Health Care Act was eventually exposed as a relatively cold-hearted attempt to cut benefits, such as Medicaid, that largely help the poor and the elderly, in favor of huge tax breaks for corporations and the rich, it still wasn’t enough to satisfy Mark Meadows and the Freedom Caucus. Their insistence on even more severe cuts to benefits, up to or including complete repeal of the ACA, with no replacement at all, was the eventual undoing of the plan. Last minute deal-making to try to bring the Freedom Caucus on board only drove moderate Republicans away from supporting the bill.

Will Mark Meadows and the Freedom Caucus be among those willing to work in a bi-partisan way to achieve a good result for a broad cross section of Americans? It doesn’t seem likely based on what we’ve seen on healthcare and so many other issues. Do they believe that their constituents really want them to vote “no” on every bill that is not a big tax break for the wealthiest 1 percent, or a big cut to any spending programs that aren’t for defense or a border wall?

If that turns out to be the case, remember it when you decide which citizens to send to Washington when election time comes around in 2018.

Dan Chasins

Cashiers

To the Editor:

Friends of Panthertown and Mainspring Conservation Trust would like to thank all of our donors, including Jackson County residents, commissioners, and the Tourism Development Authority for contributing to the 16-acre Salt Rock land acquisition. 

With the outpouring of generosity and community support, together we were successfully able to raise the funds necessary to purchase and conserve this important piece of property. Thank you for helping us protect and maintain Panthertown Valley.

Join the Friends of Panthertown on Saturday, June 3, National Trails Day, at the Salt Rock trailhead to celebrate conservation of Panthertown. Visit www.panthertown.org for more info.

Jason Kimenker

Executive Director

Friends of Panthertown

To the Editor:

Are you sick of government ignoring the people it was meant to represent? Do you want your representatives to do their job and represent you instead of the special interests? The North Carolina legislature is sitting on a bill, right now, that would force the government to work for us.

SB354 — the “We the People Referendum” — would put Citizens United on the NC ballot in 2018, giving citizens a chance to say once and for all that money is not speech and corporations aren’t people. Sign the petition here: http://www.ncwethepeople.org/ncwtp-online-petition.php

This bill would rip the levers of power away from the big money players and special interest and put it where is belongs, with the people. SB 354 is sitting in the Senate Rules Committee. The next step is for committee chair Senator Bill Rabon to put it on his committee agenda and see that the bill gets the vote it deserves. If you want to see this referendum on the ballot then please let Sen. Rabon know, call 919.733.5963 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Garrett Lagan

Bryson City 

To the Editor:

The Haywood County Schools Foundation is a participant in “A Community Thrives” project sponsored by Gannett, USA today, and the Asheville Citizen-Times. In this project there are three categories of Wellness, Arts & Culture and Education. Haywood Schools Foundation entered the Education category. The three winners will receive $100,000 for first place with two $50,000 second- and third-place winners. We are competing with the nation: i.e., Charlotte, Atlanta and Chicago. To win we must have support of all our citizens. Please help us get their support and votes.

Submission was a three-minute video which gave a description of the project which had to be approved for entry. We chose the Citation Awards Program. The Haywood County Schools used it successfully last year and felt that it is a success story. Our video can be seen on line by following these directions:

Google “USA Today: A Community thrives — awarding grants to great ideas.”

Scroll down to submissions. “View all submissions.” You get to a page with Head line “Submit an Idea O Days until voting begins.” When the page comes up, scroll down about 50 rows of submissions. Give the computer time to call up the submissions. Look for Citation Awards for Education.

We are asking our supporters to help us pass the next step. The voting period began at 11:59 a.m. on April 12 and ends at 11:59 a.m. on May 12. Votes will be submitted at www.act.usatoday.comhttp://act.usatoday.com/submit-an-idea/ and by filling out the required information. You may vote one time each day for 30 days. You must be over 13 years of age. At the end of the voting period, up to ten (10) applications in each of the three (3) categories which have received the highest number of votes, will be the finalists and advance to the judging.

Everyone can help our idea to advance to the 10 applications in the education category by voting each day. Set your computer so that when you open it in the morning you can vote for that day. Do this for 30 days and we will be among the finalist if all of our supporters — students, teachers, parents, families, clubs, organizations, businesses, everyone votes. Do vote yourself, every day and remind everyone you meet, “Have you voted?”

Our children thank you.

Doris B. Hammett, MD

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Back in 1979, then National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski received a middle-of-the-night phone call with the alarming news that a large-scale Soviet nuclear attack had been launched against the United States. Moments later a second call carried word that the all-out attack was underway. Convinced that the end was near, Brzezinski was seconds away from waking President Jimmy Carter to persuade him to press the button to begin a retaliatory nuclear response. But then, moments later a third call came canceling the alert and explaining that it was all a human, technical error. A training tape simulating a Soviet attack had mistakenly slipped into the actual early warning network, temporarily confusing the on-duty crew. They had taken eight minutes rather than the prescribed three to correct a near-calamitous error.

Imagine what might happen were such a mistake to occur with the current, trigger-happy Washington crew in charge — claiming authority to engage in acts of war without the congressional approval required by the Constitution. There would be only a few minutes to assess a report’s reliability and decide whether and how to respond. Recently we have had a quick decision to direct several dozen missiles at Syria, killing many civilians. The largest non-nuclear bomb ever exploded indiscriminately has incinerated many in Afghanistan. A nervous, unstable, belligerent Kim Jong Un now has responded by rattling his sabers (missiles) in North Korea. There is no apparent awareness in any quarter of the “law of unintended consequences.”

The U.S. has 7,000 nuclear warheads in its stockpile, with only 100 required to plunge the Earth into darkness, killing millions, destroying agriculture worldwide, and starving billions to death. Yet, while insisting that Iran and North Korea destroy their nuclear capability, the U.S. is disregarding its commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and gearing up to “update” and expand its arsenal.

When will we wake up and realize that the only real protection against nuclear disaster is the total elimination of nuclear weapons?

Doug Wingeier

Waynesville

To the Editor:

It was odd to be reminded of the Spanish Civil War when reading your article about the Haywood County GOP. It seems that history is repeating itself, though, since your article reflects that the Republicans are having great difficulties organizing and coordinating with the anarchists.

John T. Barrett

Sylva

To the Editor:

In a recent Q&A in The Mountaineer, Congressman Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, seemed very light on specifics related to health care. In response to being asked what he believed to be inadequate in the healthcare bill, in 21 lines of print, he said premiums would not come down enough and that it had to have a safety net for those who can’t afford insurance. Admirable goals. In 28 lines of print in answer to what an ideal affordable health care plan should include, he repeated the same two goals. Is that all? In a conversation with a constituent in his Washington office, he commented, “Who would have thought that health care was so complicated?” Indeed! Who would have thought that a member of Congress voting on national health care legislation would not know that? In health care legislation, a tweak here has repercussions there. It is indeed complicated. You can’t change one component without affecting something else. He also stated that he didn’t want to do anything to hurt children, the poor or the elderly. Then please remember that those are the ones most affected by Medicaid and by the Affordable Care Act.Congressman Meadows: We need to get away from simplistic throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater solutions. I have a problem with repealing the Affordable Care Act if it is not replaced with something better. It is not perfect, but please work to correct its shortcomings. Don’t ditch it till you are sure, in the complicated world of healthcare insurance, that you have something better to offer.

Joanne Strop

Waynesville

A $25,000 donation from the National Park Foundation will help the many Tennessee residents who lost their homes following the Chimney Tops 2 Fire last year. 

The Great Smoky Mountains Association had its best year every for sales and membership in 2016, allowing the organization to contribute more than $2 million in support of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

A 16-acre property adjacent to Panthertown Valley Backcountry Area has been conserved following Mainspring Conservation Trust’s April 21 closing on the purchase.

Sylva’s commissioners unanimously passed a resolution calling for a statewide commitment to eliminate fossil fuels during their meeting Thursday, April 13.

Western North Carolina’s rural roads have drawn their fair share of cyclists who are ready to roll. Weekly rides are underway throughout the region, offering seasoned riders and new converts alike the chance to get pedaling.

The Waynesville Public Art Commission has selected three finalists from a field of eight applicants for its upcoming project in the parking lot in Hazelwood.

In preparation for launching their new brewery, Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City, Kim and Mark Pettit had to understand the brewing process, develop a business plan, secure the necessary financing and design a new logo.

Ingles is pleased to welcome some new local food entrepreneurs. Look for these local products (and many others) at your Ingles store:

To the Editor:

White House budget director Michael Mulvaney recently said in an interview that: “When you start looking at places that  we reduce spending, one of the questions we asked was, ‘Can we really continue to ask a coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs?’ The answer was ‘No.’” 

Of course, he was referring to cutting funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If this is considered the current criteria for what should be curtailed or eliminated from the federal budget, perhaps there are several other items that we should examine.

The weekend trips to Mar-a-Lago by Mr. Trump cost the federal taxpaying public a bit more than $3 million for each outing, according to CBS News. He has made five trips to this resort in the first eight weeks of his presidency.  

The Washington Post reports that the cost of just two of these trips would fund the Interagency Council on Homelessness for one year. This is an agency that is currently slated to be defunded. For what has been spent on these trips to date Meals on Wheels could feed 5,967 senior citizens for a year or 114,583 school children through school programs for that same period. Both of these programs are proposed to be cut in the current budget proposal.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office says that they have spent $570,000 to help security measures for Mr. Trump’s visits, plus it costs approximately $60 thousand per day when he is at Mar-a-Lago. The current total is over $1 million of the Sheriff’s Office budget at this time and is growing with each trip. Add to this that every time Airforce One flies into Palm Beach, the airport is required to close down, disrupting not only travel to and from Palm Beach, but those businesses that depend on the airport and the airport travel. 

I realize that Presidents must travel and must have security. I do not begrudge them of that. I do begrudge the waste incurred in this travel. If Mr. Trump wishes to play golf (which he seems to do on each trip to Mar-a-Lago), he could go to the Trump International Golf Course which is on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.   

To paraphrase Mr. Mulvaney: “… one of the questions we asked was, ‘Can we really continue to ask a coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs?’  The answer was ‘No.’”

Luther Jones

Sylva

To the Editor:

As a former teacher of children with learning disabilities in Alabama, I have experienced the politicization resulting from school board elections. Shame on you, Rep. Michelle Presnell, for introducing a bill to politicize the school board by making elections partisan.

 By April of the first two years I taught, we teachers were having to buy or to go without materials as basic as notebook paper and pencils for student in a district with all low-income children. Of course, we bought them. But we could not clone ourselves so children had enough teachers. 

It is yet another attempt to get people elected who want to annihilate public education. Your bill isn’t being fiscally responsible — it is anti-Christian, anti-democracy, and inhumane.

In Alabama we had bumper stickers that read “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

I know I cannot change your mind as you yourself have conjured up with this piece of ideological legislation, but I promise you that your every act of ignoring the wishes of your constituents is putting another nail in your political future’s coffin. We are retired and have all the time in the world to campaign against you. We have already begun.

Mary Jane Curry

Waynesville

To the Editor:

Each of Ms. Becky Johnson’s two articles about the Haywood Republican Party were well researched and accurately reported. The actions demonstrated the strength and resolve of the “mainstream Republicans” and the ineffectiveness of the “patriot faction.”

Some of the comments received by Ms. Johnson are comical: 

• “Corrupt” — Ms. Joy Diettle should provide specific details of corruption to have credibility. 

• “Christian conservative” — the Christians that I go to church with do not publish the vile, uncivil, fact-free, slanderous and libelous rants that come from the patriot faction. 

• “Commies,” “socialists,” “crooked,” “underhanded” — not true. 

• “Deceitful” — hardly. Proper notification of precinct  meetings was made giving each side time to muster support. 

• “Cheat sheet” — did the patriot faction already forget the thousands of voter guides that were handed out at the November elections? 

• “Set up” — the patriot faction had every opportunity to recruit support. 

• “Exorcism” — that’s what you do to a cancer, cut it out. 

• “It is too soon to say whether the sides are ready to put the past behind them.” The first test was at the initial meeting of the newly formed Executive Committee. Only one of the two precinct chairmen from the patriot faction even deigned to attend. A motion was made that no recording devices be used. Chairman Ken Henson made a point of stating that he had no objection to recording the meeting. The motion passed with a 15 to 1 vote, but that did not deter Monroe Miller from publishing in an email that “dictator Henson” would not allow recording the meeting. 

However, revenge, not healing or unity, appears to be a motivator. Readers will remember Mr. Miller from an article by Ms. Johnson on Jan. 28, 2015. Mr. Miller was quoted as saying: “You see, my mom loved politics and was heavily involved. That was about the time when the GOP told my parents, ‘You are not from here. We don’t want you. Leave.’ Every time I think of that, it strengthens my resolve to do something about that here and now.”

Time will tell.

Ted Carr 

Bethel

Recent bear encounters in Panthertown have spurred the U.S. Forest Service to issue a warning for visitors to the area. 

A little rain couldn’t drown out the voices of a small group of protestors who gathered at the Historic Haywood County Courthouse on Tax Day, April 18, to demand President Donald Trump release his tax returns.

A brand new Ingles Market on Spartanburg Highway will be opening April 20th.  Be sure and stop by and check out our newest store!

To the Editor:

Haywood County Board Chairman Kirk Kirkpatrick has publicly complained “It feels like we have no representation” in Raleigh because local state House members like myself insist on giving constituents a choice whether to elect their tax collector via referendum.  

However, the citizens of Haywood County might feel they have no representation either if they lost their existing right to vote on this key public position without having any say in the matter, as Commissioner Kirkpatrick prefers.

 As a state representative, I support my constituents having local control over their elections. I will not support permanently removing their right to vote on a key official like tax collector via a directive from Raleigh. The citizens of Haywood County deserve a voice in this matter that a simple referendum would provide.

I value the unique input the citizens of Haywood County have on local government by electing their tax collector, just as they elected me to serve them. Holding a referendum at a cost of $5,000 is a small price to pay to let our voters decide if they want to continue electing their tax collector.  

Right now Haywood County citizens have taxation with a unique, locally elected form of representation. They deserve input whether to keep it that way. 

Rep. Mike Clampitt

North Carolina House Member

Haywood, Jackson & Swain Counties

To the Editor:

Funny how Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, never mentions once that we are the only county in the state where this position is elected, that there are very few counties (I believe just one) who had to have a referendum on this issue and also that this was a unanimous decision by our board of commissioners made up of three Democrats and two Republicans. 

The people of Haywood County vote every two years to put commissioners in place to make decisions for what is in the best interests of all of Haywood County. 

He is trying to turn this thing and make it about voting and choice, but he is listening to the few and truly ignoring the voters in Haywood County who selected the give of us as Commissioners to make decisions. We did that and he as well as Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, just ignored us.

Kirk Kirkpatrick,

Chairman, Haywood County Board of Commissioners

To the Editor:

As I prepared to leave home to participate in Sylva’s rally and march for affordable health care access (held Saturday, April 1, at Bridge Park and downtown), I was eager to hear local doctors, patients, and leaders speak about current needs and costs of health care, particularly in Jackson and Macon counties.

Then it occurred to me that I might not be alive to attend this event if I had not had access to affordable care twenty-some years ago. My gynecologist had recommended a baseline mammogram during an annual physical. I was a graduate student who was not sure my insurance would cover a mammogram or whether I had enough cash in my checking account to afford it otherwise. I took the financial chance, had the mammogram, and found out that I had breast cancer. Two weeks later, I had a modified radical mastectomy.  

Since then, my concern that I will have cancer again and that it will not be caught in time to save me is relieved with annual mammograms. Since graduation I have been lucky to work for large employers who provide access to group insurance, with affordable (though increasing) monthly payroll and annual deductions. Lucky to remain in that employ not only to retain this benefit, but to remain in work I wanted to do. Lucky to remain under the regular care of physical and mental health care providers who diagnose, treat, and advise me for other life-challenging health needs. 

What if my early luck had not been so good? What might have happened if I had not taken the chance on affording my first mammogram? If I had not chosen a vocation was not hirable by large, for-profit employers with affordable health care access? If I had not been able to remain employed in it? 

What about people who do not have such good luck?  Individuals I will never know as well as folks who are my family, friends, colleagues, leaders, neighbors? Do I deserve the “benefit” of affordable health care access more than they do? Morally, could I not care about their care? Ethically, could I advocate for my own pocketbook at the expense of their lives?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Love one another.  

Marsha Lee Baker

Cullowhee

Spring is here, and that means that most roads and facilities on the area’s many acres of public lands are either open or will open soon. Here’s run-down of opening dates for some of the region’s most popular areas.

Students from Haywood Community College came in fourth in a wildlife-centric competition during which they competed against 24 other schools.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park now boasts two new propane-fueling stations and six new propane-fueled trucks following an unveiling April 5. 

Haywood Community College Professional Crafts students recently participated in the School-to-Market Program at the American Craft Council’s American Craft Show in Atlanta, Georgia.

In many of Haywood County Schools’ media centers, including North Canton Elementary School, media specialists are working with teachers to create maker stations for students.

The articles of impeachment passed by the Cherokee Tribal Council on April 6 outline seven grounds on which to remove Principal Chief Patrick Lambert from office. In a Facebook post, Lambert offered a counterpoint to each accusation. 

You may notice some bright green live basil plants in the produce section of your Ingles Market with a "Tyger River Smart Farm" sticker.

By Norman Hoffman • Guest Columnist

A guest column by Joseph Trisha in the March 22 edition (www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/19589) makes a plea for unity and putting aside opposition to President Trump. This would be more credible if the Republicans had done the same for Obama when he became president instead of opposing virtually anything that Obama accepted or supported.

The difference with current concerns about Trump is that his political career is based on lies. His initial ascent in politics, his campaign, and his presidency all have a foundation based on lies. He gained national prominence with the lie that Obama was not born in the U.S. — as if that made a difference. McCain, Romney, and Cruz were all born in foreign countries, yet that was not an issue. Why? Because their mothers, like Obama’s, were all American citizens — and they were white.

During the campaign, Trump lied about almost everything form the Clinton Foundation to unemployment statistics. Trump claimed unemployment was not around 5 percent as the data showed, but as high as 40 percent, which was ridiculous even for a lot of minority subpopulations. As soon as he became president, the 5 percent figure was declared accurate.

Trump lied about giving healthcare to everyone. In point of fact, the TrumpCare bill that he pushed was nothing but a tax cut for the wealthiest. It did not increase healthcare coverage to anyone. More than 20 million people covered by the Affordable Care Act would have lost coverage. Insurance would not have been more affordable for anyone. What the TrumpCare bill did was cut the taxes on the rich in the ACA that help pay for subsidies for those who would otherwise not have coverage.

Trump claimed he had no business with Russia, but his son stated that Russians were involved with a disproportionate proportion of the Trump family businesses. In 2014 Trump bragged that he did business with Russian oligarchs.  Last year his son-in-law met with Russian bank officials who also have ties to the Russian spy agency and possible involvement in money laundering. 

The previous columnist stated, “President Trump has accomplished many positive changes…” However, Trump has no positive accomplishments. The alleged saving of 800 jobs at Carrier was a case of smoke and mirrors. A recent news report indicated that Carrier was cutting 700 jobs in Indiana. Other jobs were also cut. The so-called saved jobs were not going overseas in the first place.

The writer correctly indicates that the debt is an important issue, but not for Trump. His new budget would cut taxes for the wealthy and increase the debt. It makes no economic or mathematical sense to cut taxes if you want to cut the deficit or national debt. One does not take a pay cut to be better able to pay the mortgage. Tax cuts have never improved the economy or created jobs — they have only added to the deficit.

In short, we cannot believe anything President Trump or his administration say. Their history is to say one thing and do the opposite.

(Norman Hoffman lives in Waynesville and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

To the Editor:

We the people of these United States deserve a better way to put into power those who run for office. Money is currently the primary player in our elections. Morally, this is wrong!

There is a ballot measure, the We the People Act (HB 453 and S 354), making its way through the legislative process stating that corporations are not people and money is not speech. This ballot measure opens to the people of North Carolina a chance to vote on the measure in 2018.

Contact your legislators in the Committee On Rules and Operations of the Senate and tell them to pass S 354 out of committee and to the floor of the Senate.

Contact your legislators in the Committee On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House and tell them to pass H453 out of committee and to the floor of the House. 

One person, one vote is our constitutional right. Your input is very important. Go to www.ncwethepeople.org to read and sign the petition. Encourage your family and friends to get on board. Contact your representatives. They need to know of your support. Remember, corporations have no soul!

Joan Palmroos

Otto 

To the Editor:

I have one thing to say to the business owners who feel that equal pay for equal work, safety and environmental regulations, and providing benefits to full-time employees instead of hiring part-time employees to avoid doing so, would constitute an “undue financial burden.” 

If you cannot afford to participate in these fair and reasonable business practices, perhaps you should consider another line of work. Hopefully for you, your employer will have a different opinion regarding the business they operate. 

Judy Stockinger 

Franklin

To the Editor:

From where comes all this hate and disrespect directed at the President? 

I expect and respect differing opinions, especially when it comes to politics, but not the  blatant disrespect expressed in recent letters, “our one term — or less — President Donald Rump,” from one who spent a career in military service. 

We have seen our military severely diminished over the past eight years, and we now have a president who is pledged to rebuilding it so that our beloved country can be safe from those emboldened by a weak 44th president. President Trump — that’s with an uppercase “T” not an “R,” was elected an a platform of “Making America Great Again.” Evidently his detractors do not share this vision or desire. They would prefer to revert to the years of national decline. For this attitude, I express only my disappointment in them

I am registered as “unaffiliated” and voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past election.

Otis Sizemore

Maggie Valley

To the Editor:

It’s terrible that such a thing has come to pass, that the “so-called President” must be removed, but it is absolutely, critically necessary. The man has not exhibited the first indication of knowledge, skill, or ability to serve in this or any other position. If he remains in office, our country will suffer damage the likes of which haven’t been seen in ages. His only skill is the short con — he’s pulling money out of our pockets with both hands in violation of the The Foreign Emoluments Clause, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 and the Domestic Emoluments Clause, Article II, Section 1, Clause 7, of the United States Constitution.

Our congressional representatives should bring charges against him.

His incessant attacks on our institutions of government are designed to obfuscate his lack of ability, creating a diversion while he works to tear our country apart. He is the benchmark example of one who cries “Fire” in a crowded theater, creating chaos where there was at least a semblance of order and sanity.

Please start this process so that America can begin to progress again, you must not allow us to be controlled by a madman.

William Aylor

Swain County 

To the Editor:

Our Congressman Mark Meadows may have forgotten the needs of the voters who elected him. While Meadows wants to “drive down healthcare costs and insurance premiums,” his real aim seems to be eliminating government regulation and support for affordable medical care.

Meadows considers the Affordable Care Act “yet another healthcare entitlement” to be repealed. All subsidies and tax credits that help participants buy insurance would be eliminated. Clearly that would have a disastrous effect on thousands of industrious District 11 citizens who provide help for their families through Obamacare.

Rep. Meadows, a self-described fiscal hawk, believes driving down government costs is a priority. But a Western North Carolina food stand worker recently said, “It needs to be less about money and more about people.” She and her mother are scared that skyrocketing increases in prescription drug and hospitalization costs may do them in.

They and other Carolina workers interviewed on a national news program remarked that “maybe a ‘Medicare for All’ system would be better.” One local maintenance worker commented, “If you are going to help me, help me 100 percent, like other countries like Canada do.”

Ohio Representative John Conyers has submitted HR 676 – the “Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act” to the 115th Congress. His bill can be properly funded using existing resources for healthcare revenue and small tax increases. All people would have the freedom to choose their health providers, and the end result would be vastly lower costs to individual families, corporations, and the government.

We cannot and should not allow Tea-Party Republicans to harm struggling families. If enough of us speak up for affordable, universal healthcare for all hard-working Americans, perhaps Rep. Meadows and the rest of Congress will enact a humane and fiscally-responsible healthcare bill like “Medicare for All.”

Frank L. Fox

Asheville 

To the Editor:

We are loudly and frequently reminded of the many things that we are supposed to be afraid of every day. However, I cannot help but notice that among these repetitive ravings corporate America’s complete lack of a moral compass is conspicuously absent.

Perhaps my fellow citizens have failed to notice that we, as a society, have invested a great deal of trust, power and authority in legal entities whose only reason for existing is to make a profit. These companies, many of which provide vital services such as food and energy production and distribution, are so focused on the bottom line that they feel justified in using their positions as integral components of society to buy politicians.

These misguided politicians then strip away any regulations from their corporate patrons, allowing them to recklessly pursue profit without having to consider their moral duty to the very society they service.

Receiving a reward for a job well done is one thing, but behaving like a parasite sucking its host dry is quite another.

To help combat this internal threat, contact your state representatives and tell them you want to get money out of politics then go to www.ncwethepeople.org to learn more.

Cory Lomax

Sylva

To the Editor:

Like Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and others before them, Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, and Kevin Corbin, R-Franklin, have been seduced by the dark side in Raleigh. It used to only happen when local politicians went to Washington, but now it has infected our state government as well.

Just Davis co-sponsored the current law allowing fracking of our water supply throughout North Carolina and voting for HB2, Clampitt and Corbin have been cajoled into introducing HB 249, the so-called “Economic Terrorist” bill.

This would label anyone an “Economic Terrorist” for briefly occupying a road as a part of a protest, enhancing punishment for this “terrorist activity.”

How many Patriots during our American Revolution would have been labeled “Economic Terrorists” according to this bill?

When our elected officials refuse to listen to their electorate, even hiding from their constituents, what other non-violent means do we have to express our views under the First Amendment?

With HB 249, we have another highly divisive, extremist and unconstitutional piece of legislation looking to solve a problem that for the most part doesn’t exist.

Clampitt and Corbin would be wise to continue to think for themselves and do the right thing in Raleigh, rather than fall into groupthink.

We the people would be better served if those who control our General Assembly focused on improving our health care, child care, public education, job opportunities, and wages in rural North Carolina. If you agree, let them know.

Dan Kowal

Macon County

To the Editor:

I am a conservative. I conserve. A conservative wisely preserves, conserves and saves. A conservative secures and manages that which is available, to maintain or increase as possible or necessary, across all resources. 

As a child of the depression and the World War that followed, I learned to conserve. Everyone did. As a young wife and mother in later years, putting into practice the lessons of my youth, I sometimes made wrong choices by selecting what I thought was the wise, less expensive product or action. In the long run I would sometimes find that my conservative selection was more costly, and was not an effective choice to meet my goals. And so I learned.  

Learning is something that our present day self-described “conservatives” apparently either cannot or refuse to do. Giving lip service to the word “conserve” as an interchangeable for “savings” does not result in actual long-term savings on any level — local, state, or national.

Cutting programs simply due to their expense does not relieve the oft-threatened future burdens to our children. Without real thought, or perhaps necessary judicious trimming, you are ultimately increasing the problems these cut programs help solve. 

Numerous published reports by verifiably non-partisan research agencies are willfully ignored and discounted by bluster and public ballyhoo. Certified fiscal records (past and projected) that disprove the numerous willfully false claims and clearly misapplied conservation are blithely dismissed as “fake.”  

So, even though you mislabel me and those who share more humane positions which actually result in both human and fiscal savings, we so-called liberals ultimately are, by more accurately applied definition, the “truly conservative.”

Shirley Ches

Franklin

To the Editor:

If you were the boss of three employees (let’s call them Mark Meadows, Thom Tillis, and Richard Burr) and they repeatedly refused to meet with you and even refused to answer your questions about the way they were doing their jobs, how would you feel about it? Frustrated? Disrespected? Outraged?

Our elected officials are public servants who are supposed to be working for us, who are supposed to be improving our quality of life. That’s why we pay them.

So how is it that despite many requests and demonstrations, our representatives have stubbornly refused to hold town halls, have refused to meet with us as a group to answer our questions face to face?

I was puzzled about this until I realized that these politicians do not regard us as their constituents.  Constituents are people you feel you have to respect — people you feel you’re answerable to. Clearly, Meadows, Tillis, and Burr have not been acting as if they work for us.  It’s not us they feel obliged to represent.

They do, however, seem to regard Republican Party heads, special-interest groups, and billionaire donors, such as Betsy DeVos, as their bosses. Apparently, if we want their ear, we need to pony up $70,000 in campaign contributions.

So what would you do if you were the boss of three employees who were stubbornly insubordinate? Employees who ignored your repeated requests for a meeting? Wouldn’t you fire them?

Bill Spencer

Cullowhee

To the Editor:

The media is crowing over this so-called big loss for Trump by having to postpone the elimination of Obamacare.  

Not so fast. This is a major move forward. Let’s go back to December 24, 2009, in the dead of night when the Senate Democrats passed this thing with nary a Republican vote.  When Congress goes skulking about you can be sure they are up to mischief.

But all Congress knew then that a bill requiring an entire population to buy insurance, whether they needed it or not, would result in huge profits for insurance companies and also benefit for-profit-hospitals as it turned out.

Now here comes Trump. Nobody in D.C., home of the insurance company lobbyists, thought this man would win so they did not divest their fat portfolios of insurance stock. As long as they knew Obama would veto them the GOP was happy enough to send up repeal bills.  

But now the tables are turned and the truth exposed. Trump holds the upper hand. He will wait patiently, allowing them time to dump their stocks and he’ll go back for full repeal later on, possibly even after the Congress alone must face the collapse of the system they both profited from and tolerated.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive,” Sir Walter Scott.

Cornelia Scott Cree

Waynesville

The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians received the largest single donation it’s ever seen when Georgia resident Bob Bagerski gifted the museum with 50 handcrafted bamboo fly rods, 50 reels, six split willow creels, five wooden rod cases, four nets and three rod caddies.