Why adopt a tiny rubber duck that’ll soon be floating down the Tuckasegee River in Swain County?

To the Editor:

One of the great mysteries of government in America is how and why we give over $50 billion a year in foreign aid.

Trying to point out many of the strange questions that exist in this seemingly total waste of money within the word limit of publications is all but impossible. I will share a few things to think about. 

We are $18.5 trillion in debt and we continue to pour borrowed money out to countries, many of whom hate us.

Nine of the 10 top receiving countries in Obama’s 2016 budget are Muslim countries. Does that tell you the same thing it tells me? 

One of the countries that we do not “officially” give foreign aid to is Australia; however, we did give them money for economic development. It is interesting though that we gave Al-Taqwa College, Australia’s largest Muslim school, $11.3 million dollars. The state government last year froze the school's funds and asked it to repay $9 million in government grants over allegations the not-for-profit school was funneling funds back to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.

This collage president has banned running by girls because he says “running causes loss of virginity in girls.”

A few other interesting numbers show that we give $6 million to China, $160 million to Syria, $370 million to the West Bank and Gaza, $150 million to Egypt, $1.2 billion to Afghanistan, $478 million to Packistan, $103 million to Vietnam, $79 million to Yemen, $110 million to Lebanon and we have increased our aid to Kenya by 14 percent to $622 million. 

If that isn’t enough to raise your blood pressure, we gave $71,500,000 to Russia. All of, of course, borrowed from future generations.

Bruce Gardner

Waynesville

The Folk Heritage Association of Macon County will show some more of their DVDs of past Front Porch Interviews with local residents at 2 and 6 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 

Interviewee Sue Waldroop has a great interest in genealogy and preservation of family heritage. She is a fifth generation Macon County native as her great-great grandfather brought his wife and children to Macon County and built a home on Matlock Creek in the Cowee area in 1832. Interviewee Fred Stiles moved from Rabun County to Macon in 1948. In his interview, he refers to the memory of such events as his daughter getting the polio vaccine on a sugar cube and chores like stacking hay and churning milk. 

www.fontanalib.org.

Writer Nita Welch Owenby and the SouthEast Bluegrass Association will perform on Saturday, May 16, at the Rickman Store in Cowee. 

At 11 a.m., Owenby will read from her autobiography Echoes of the Appalachian Mountain, which provides the readers with an in-depth view of farm living in the 1940s and 1950s and shares with them her values and experiences. Owenby was born and raised on a farm by the Little Tennessee River, and although her professional life led her to experience life in different states, her connection to her roots continues being strong. She is the author of The House of Rose and over 400 articles and short stories published for the Burningtown News. From noon to 3 p.m., the Southeast Bluegrass Association will host a music jam. 

The Friends of the Rickman Store invite the community and visitors to the region for the opening of a new series of weekly educational and cultural programs and for a special year of celebrations. It was built in 1895 by John Hall, with the business established in 1925 by Tom M. Rickman. Considered one of the gems of Macon County, the Rickman Store has been preserved by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) and the Friends of the Rickman Store since 2007. The store is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday.

The event is free and open to the public.

828.369.5595.

A paper-making Creating Community Workshop will be held at noon Saturday, May 16, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Ingles Markets will host a “Taste of Local” event from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at their Waynesville location on Barber Boulevard.

There will be a handful of new nightlife businesses popping up around Western North Carolina in the coming weeks.

The 6th annual Concerts on the Creek season begins on May 22, and will run from 7 to 9 p.m. every Friday through Labor Day at the Bridge Park Pavilion in downtown Sylva.

A two-year trail restoration project began this week on Alum Cave Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, meaning that the trail and associated parking areas will be closed on weekdays through Nov. 19.

A contaminated property next to Land Trust for the Little Tennesse’s office in Franklin could have a brighter future now that the land conservation organization has purchased it. 

“I never paid that much attention to this part of town until our offices moved here,” said Ben Laseter, LTLT’s associate director. “LTLT staff parks behind the building, so every day I’d park my car and be face-to-face with this adjacent lot full of tanks, barrels and pumps from its days as an oil distribution business and service station. It seemed kind of ironic that this was right next door to a non-profit dedicated to conserving this wonderful part of the world we live in.”

The 1.5-acre property used to belong to Duncan Oil. Containing 350 feet of Little Tennessee River frontage, the land took a beating during the 40-plus years it was used for storing and distributing petroleum. 

Hopefully, those effects will soon be in the past. Since purchasing the land, LTLT has removed 954 tons of contaminated soil and three underground petroleum tanks from it. Future cleanup will include removing above-ground storage tanks and contaminated soil on the property, and remediation of contaminated groundwater.

“There are so many options, and I hope by LTLT cleaning up this one property, we can have a hand in helping start the revitalization of this area in Franklin,” Laseter said. 

Backpackers in several popular areas of Pisgah National Forest are now required to use bear canisters when staying overnight, following a recent policy change by the U.S. Forest Service. 

Reports of bears accessing food from improperly stored gear and, most notably, an instance of a bear entering a tent at Graveyard Fields in March, resulted in a new requirement for canister use in Shining Rock Wilderness as well as the Black Balsam, Sams Knob and Flat Laurel Creek areas of the forest. Meanwhile, Graveyard Fields is under a camping ban until further notice. 

“Visitor safety is of the utmost importance, and canisters are the most effective way to safely store food and reduce bear-human conflicts,” said Pisgah District Ranger Derek Ibarguen.

Bear canisters must be commercially made of solid, non-pliable material manufactured to resist entry by bears. Other practices to prevent bear encounters include cleaning up food and garbage from the campsite and never leaving food unattended. 

More safety tips are online at www.fs.usda.gov/main/r8/recreation/safety-ethics.

Pisgah Ranger District, 828.877.3265.

With Superintendent Cassius Cash now settled into his new role, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a permanent deputy superintendent too.

Close to 175 people tackled the inaugural Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon in Waynesville this weekend, coming from as far as Colorado and as close as Waynesville itself.

A rash of break-ins to cars parked along the Blue Ridge Parkway on its way through Asheville has rangers asking the public to pay extra attention to securing their vehicles.

A new website aims to help Blue Ridge Parkway visitors better plan their attire for a day in the high country.

Growing season is upon us, and that means farmers of all stripes are harvesting produce to sell. Farmers markets around the region are starting up, with outlets for fresh food and locally made products in every county.

The WNC QuickDraw will be from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville.

Casino Royale Night, a benefit for the Haywood Healthcare Foundation's Drug Abuse Coalition, will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Maggie Valley Club and Resort.

Entrepreneurs and owners of existing small businesses from around Western North Carolina shared $7,000 in prize money to help launch or grow their companies during the inaugural LEAD:Innovation conference on April 22 at Western Carolina University.

The Russ Wilson Quartet will host an evening of jazz standards, swing and blues at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville.

The 18th Heritage Alive! Mountain Youth Talent Contest was held at the Greening Up the Mountains Festival on Saturday, April 25, in Sylva.

To the Editor:

As events unfold in Baltimore, the failure of liberal ideologies becomes clear. We’ve also seen the failures in Ferguson and even going back as far as Watts.

In spite of all the high minded speeches about the War on Poverty, the reality is that LBJ and his liberal camp have always considered black Americans as inferior to other races and we see this in their decision to simply throw more money at the problem which makes black Americans even more dependent.

Listening to some of the black protesters in Baltimore talk to reporters, the problem becomes clear in their answers; basically uneducated and dependent on the government for welfare and a total loss of self-respect. One could go on for hours talking about the various things we saw, such as destroying their own businesses and automobiles, but all of it goes back to one single root cause, lack of education and a lack of self-worth.

I doubt if the educational system in Baltimore is much different that it is in New York so I’ll toss in some information for you.  

Catholic schools in New York City graduate almost all of their black students and in fact some 90 percent of the kids go on to college or some sort of trade school. And, they do it for less than half of what a public school costs. Most of their students are from high crime and poverty areas of NYC.

In contrast, only a little more than 20 percent of the black public school students go on to higher education. NYC public schools are broken but their administrator’s only response is to throw more money at the problem.

To fix the problem, we must face the fact that teachers unions exist for teachers only and to protect their jobs. A teacher who uses drugs or has sex with a student cannot be fired, at least in NYC.  

Obviously, the problem in Baltimore is similar in nature to NYC and lies in the powerful control teacher unions have over education along with a completely useless Department of Education.

Breaking the choke hold teachers unions have on our educational system is the first step. But then we must find ways to restore self-respect, break up the single parent disaster supported by food stamps and other welfare that keep black Americans on the plantation.

Unlike the clap-trap mouthed by people like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, there are thinking black Americans who understand the problem and all agree that the human mind is a terrible thing to waste. Liberal ideology has not and will not work.

Bob Wilson

Franklin

To the Editor:

Imagine that in 2015, you, as an American citizen, don’t feel at home in your own town. You go out for pizza or to get braces for your child, and the TV blames you for all the ills of America. You turn on talk radio and it’s more of the same. Televisions and radios across town send the same message: you are unwelcome, you are bad, you are to blame.

Most of the messages are false. They put words in your mouth that you never said. They attack your patriotism, second guess your every move and motive. The talking heads attack your leaders viciously, lying about their military service, undermining their legitimate authority. If that isn’t enough, there are some pastors in town who have made it clear that you are not welcome in their church. 

Are you supposed to just accept this treatment? You ignored it, but it got stronger and more pervasive. What’s worse is that too many people believe the noise and vote accordingly. The results are trickling down on us from Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

What has happened to America, that this has come to pass as normal? There was a time in this country when everyone watched the same news channels and it was just news, not hate speech. But almost 20 years ago, a conservative ideologue started Fox News and public discourse and policy in America have deteriorated ever since.

We are by definition nice people.  We just want to live our lives without being picked on or bullied. But to bullies, that is like an invitation. So now we have to stick together and fight back. It’s a sad state of affairs that it has come to this.

The seed for this scenario was planted in 1985, when the Fairness Doctrine was thrown out by the FCC. When Congress voted to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, Ronald Reagan vetoed the legislation. Apparently, some folks aren’t interested in fairness, but rather winning at all costs.

In our experience, fairness is always a good policy. Just ask us Democrats and/or liberals. 

Dan Kowal

Franklin

To the Editor:

The people have been told for years, particularly by Republican candidates running for the General Assembly, “We will cut your taxes.”

They have cut your taxes if you made over $88,000 per year. If you have made less than that you have seen no cut and, in most cases, have seen your taxes raised. You may not have a raise in income tax but you will probably pay much more every day for sales tax.

They have imposed sales taxes on electricity, natural gas, entertainment and movies. They have increased tax rates from 2 percent to 4.75 percent on modular homes and manufactured homes (mobile homes) and taken off the cap on the maximum tax.

You will also be paying sales tax for your dentist, doctor, mechanic, electrician, plumber and for work done on service contracts. You will now pay sales tax on farm equipment and if you gross less than $10,000 per year, you will lose your farm deduction.

They have eliminated all personal exemptions and repealed the $50,000 business income deduction. They have eliminated the $4,000 deduction for most government retirement income and the $2,000 deduction for private retirement.

They have also eliminated deductions for premiums paid on long-term care insurance, medical expenses, earned income tax credit and cost of meal plans at colleges.

Who wins from these tax bills? Corporations have been paying 6.9 percent. This drops the tax rate to 6 percent for 2014 and to 5 percent for 2015.  Individuals have been paying 7.5 percent, 7 percent and 6 percent and will now pay 5.8 percent. Figure this tax advantage for those making millions.

Calculate how much more you will pay and remember it when you vote for members of the General Assembly in 2016.

Clayton Ramsey

Franklin

Bradley Letts will have to keep his day job, but the Superior Court Judge will soon begin serving as a temporary judge for the Cherokee Supreme Court. 

William Holland Thomas, a self-made, prominent businessman, a revered chief in the Cherokee tribe, a politician and a colonel in the Confederate Army, spent the final 20 years of his life fighting mental illness. He passed those years, as he put it, “in a mad man’s cell.” No diagnosis of his condition exists, though biographers E. Stanley Godbold and Mattie U. Russell contend that Thomas was possibly suffering the tertiary state of syphilis, which causes erratic behavior and bouts of insanity.

QUESTION: I don’t like to eat red meat … How much protein should I be getting each day and what are some sources besides red meat?

ANSWER: The amount of protein you need each day depends on your age, activity level and also any medical conditions you have.  Generally a sedentary male should be consuming about 56 grams of protein per day and a sedentary woman about 46 grams each day.

A discussion on falconry and the importance of birds of prey to a healthy ecosystem — as well as a chance to meet those birds — will be the centerpiece of Trout Unlimited Cataloochee’s next meeting 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at the Rendezvous Restaurant in Maggie Valley.

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust will kick off its annual lineup of eco tours to ecologically important areas throughout the region with a wildflower hike to Whitewater Falls Thursday, April 30, led by botanist Gary Wein.

The time is drawing near for synchronous fireflies to once more light up the night in the Smokies, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has announced this year’s dates for up-close firefly viewing at the park’s Elkmont Campground. 

The park has a limited number of passes to see the fireflies from Tuesday, June 2, through Tuesday, June 9. The passes, which cost $1.50 each, can be reserved starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 30, at www.recreation.gov. Typically, they sell out within minutes of going on sale, though the park holds back 85 passes for each day to go on sale at 10 a.m. the day before the event. 

During each evening, shuttles ferry viewers to and from the campground for an additional $1 per person. The prices are designed to regulate the number of people flooding the site at any one time rather than as a way for the park to make money. 

Synchronous fireflies are a particular species of firefly that lives only in certain habitats at certain elevations. For a short window each year, they give a showy mating ritual in which all the males in the forest blink simultaneously, making the forest appear to be lit by blinking Christmas lights. The annual event at Elkmont attracts viewers from across the region. 

With warmer weather comes the opening of a lengthy list of campgrounds and recreation sites in the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests that had been closed for the winter. 

Newly reopen recreation areas include:

• Nantahala District: Nantahala River facilities and Wayah Bald.

• Pisgah District: Cradle of Forestry and Lake Powhatan.

Newly reopen campgrounds include:

• Nantahala District: Appletree Group Camp, Balsam Lake Lodge, Standing Indian Campground and Van Hook Glade. 

• Pisgah District: Lake Powhatan Campground and Sunburst Campground, which has vault toilets only and no drinking water until mid-May.

A complete list of spring openings is available at www.1.usa.gov/1HxwN5s.

Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital have embarked on exciting futures for our hospitals and communities.  

Early this month, we unveiled new names and logos for our hospitals that highlight our connection to Duke LifePoint Healthcare. While this was the first visual representation of our relationship with Duke LifePoint, the benefits of our becoming part of its system began several months ago.

The Western Carolina University College of Business is establishing a new, for-profit limited liability company designed to provide entrepreneurial business, scientific and technical services to help spur economic development activity in Western North Carolina.

The new LLC will replace WCU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which was created in 2007 to serve as a catalyst for the creation of successful entrepreneurial ventures in WNC while providing hands-on learning experiences for WCU students.

The company will increase the potential to generate revenue from professional and consultative services provided by faculty and staff; provide broader access to financing necessary for product development, business expansion and technology transfer; and enhance the potential to generate revenue for internships and other forms of student financial aid.

Once the for-profit entity is fully established, university officials will identify a manager to run its day-to-day operations. Ed Wright, director of the CEI, will be entity’s faculty contact.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.3603.

A public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Cashiers-Glenville Recreation Center will take the public’s temperature on a proposed fire tax for Jackson County residents in the Cashiers-Highlands area. 

The county’s board of commissioners has been discussing the possibility of a fire tax for a few years, with the 2013 board even considering a referendum vote. The idea was discarded when it became clear that support for a fire tax was not unanimous among the county’s fire chiefs, but in January chiefs from the Cashiers and Cullowhee districts came to commissioners to say that something had to be done about their aging equipment, growing response time and difficulty attracting volunteers. Meanwhile, Macon County was pressing Jackson for help paying for fire services rendered to Jackson residents in the Highlands area who are more accessible to Macon County’s fire response than to Jackson’s. 

A tax for Cullowhee is not currently being considered, but a proposed fire tax would charge 2 cents per $100 of property value to Cashiers properties and 0.9 cents per $100 for properties in the Highlands area. Currently, Jackson County’s tax rate is 28 cents per $100 of home value.  

Residents can deliver comments, limited to three minutes apiece, at the meeting, or send written comments to Board Clerk Angie Winchester, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 401 Grindstaff Cove Road, Sylva, North Carolina, 28779. Detailed information about the proposed tax is available through a link on the right-hand side of the page at www.jacksonnc.org. 

— By Holly Kays, staff writer

The Proctor Revival Organization will once again honor the history of Graham County May 1-31 with “A Time To Remember” celebration.

The celebration will focus on the construction of the Fontana Dam as well as the deep, pioneering roots of Graham County. The event will strongly focus on the people of Graham County, Western North Carolina, and elsewhere who contributed to the success of World War II by their contribution to the construction of the dam and on how this historical event changed the world as well as the culture of our citizens.  

The power generated at Fontana Dam enabled the accelerated production of the nuclear material needed to complete the Atomic Bombs. The communities of Proctor, Judson, Bushnell and Japan were destroyed and 6,000 residents were forced to relocate and re-establish their livelihoods during this difficult time in American history. 

For a full schedule of events, click on www.proctorrevival.com or www.fontanavillage.com.

A solid marble statue is the newest art installation by the Waynesville Public Art Commission. 

The WNC QuickDraw will be from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville.

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the “Last Shot Fired” at the Battle of Waynesville, there will be a weekend of events May 8-10 at The Shelton House in Waynesville and around the community. The full schedule is as follows:

Haywood Regional Medical Center’s recent decision to purchase the Evergreen Family Medical Center in Canton will keep Evergreen employees from losing their primary care physician and will expand health care services to the entire community. 

Since Evergreen announced in January that it would close the clinic and pharmacy at the end of March, Evergreen employees and their families have been protesting in hopes of finding a way to keep them open.

QUESTION: Why is there sugar in my milk?

ANSWER: When you see grams of sugar listed on the nutrition facts panel of plain (unsweetened/unflavored) cow’s milk it’s lactose or milk sugar. Dairy farmers and milk processors haven’t added any sugar to that milk, it's just the naturally occurring sugar in milk (lactose) that is considered a carbohydrate.

A new edition of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Local Food Guide is out in time for the spring growing season. 

The guide lists farmers markets, farms and restaurants and grocers selling local produce in the Southern Appalachians. It is free at various locations throughout the region. 

New this year is information about farmers markets accepting credit, debit and food stamp payments. The guide also highlights several multi-generation family farms, as well as listings of restaurants, wineries and bed and breakfasts committed to serving local food. 

www.appalachiangrown.org

A $500 grant from the N.C. Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ Auxiliary will mean some hands-on science for students of Hayley Cox and Noal Castater, both teachers in Haywood County. 

Cox, a fourth-grade teacher at Junaluska Elementary School, plans to use the money for water testing kits, hands-on activities, books and magazine subscriptions. 

Castater, an agriculture teacher at Waynesville Middle School, has already used grant funding to teach his students about hydroponics — a soilless method of growing plants — and will use the $500 to expand his system by snaking 30 feet of PVC pipe on a greenhouse wall for a vertical garden. Students will drill holes in the pipe and maintain the system to grow up to 320 plants. When harvest time comes, students will learn about sales and marketing as they sell the herbs and lettuce. 

Grants go to projects that enhance learning, using conservation and environmental practices. Applications are already open for next year, for which the deadline is Dec. 1. 

Gail Heathman, 828.452.2741 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Paul Carlson of Land Trust for the Little Tennessee was named Outstanding Conservationist in the 2015 Roosevelt-Ashe awards given out by Wild South, an environmental organization that works in several southern states.

Carlson, LTLT’s founding director, led LTLT for 18 years, helping to conserve and protect thousands of acres before transitioning from the role director to senior advisor at the end of 2014. 

“We’re inspired by these conservation heroes who have given so much of themselves to help save wild places and wild things in the South,” said Ben Colvin, Wild South’s development director. “Their stories remind us that the greatest conservation achievements are rooted in personal passion.” 

Heritage Life Skills, a fourth-year event featuring classes in survivalist cooking, self-defense and food production skills is coming up May 29-31 at Haywood County Fairgrounds, with registration rates jumping after May 1.

Appalachian Trail hikers in search of a satisfying meal found it at the First Baptist Church of Franklin this year — 633 of them, representing 44 states and seven foreign countries.

More than 200 fifth graders from Jackson County Schools spent two days learning about natural resources at East LaPorte Recreation Park this month.

The grand opening of the Fly-Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians in Cherokee, originally intended for May 1, has been rescheduled to 10 a.m. June 6.

The 18th annual Greening Up the Mountains spring kickoff street festival will be held Saturday, April 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Sylva.

The third annual Beer Garden will return to McGuire Gardens with craft beer offerings from Heinzelmannchen and Innovation breweries. The two businesses will also release a Heinz-Syl-Vation Collaboration Ale (blackberry spring wheat ale). Live music at the garden will include Alma Russ, Ian Moore and Dr. Pockets. Entry to the garden is $5, with craft beer and prepackaged treats from the Evolution Wine Kitchen sold separately.