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To the Editor:

Recently, we the employees of WestCare learned of an exciting decision that we are entering into a  partnership with Duke LifePoint Healthcare that will provide resources to help our hospitals in Sylva and Bryson City and our outpatient care center in Franklin serve our community. The new relationship will mean that MedWest is dissolved and WestCare will continue to maintain our long-standing clinical relationship with Mission Health.

This decision did not happen overnight. We have to thank our dedicated WestCare Board of Trustees and our representatives on the MedWest Board who have devoted countless hours over the last 18 months trying to find the right partner. The care of our local communities and the best interests of the dedicated WestCare employees and physicians remained their top priority in the decision-making process. 

We owe them much gratitude for ensuring that our local hospitals are viable for generations to come. Too many hospitals in the current healthcare environment have had to close their doors, but thanks to our WestCare Board of Trustees and our MedWest Board of Representatives, we have a bright future. This sentiment was echoed by staff at recent WestCare employee forums with reactions being hope and optimism. We believe that our new collaboration will lead WestCare into an era of improved health services and technology that would not have been financially possible before.

So if the opportunity presents itself, please reach out to the below listed WestCare Board of Trustee members and our representatives on the MedWest Board and let them know that you appreciate their relentless pursuit of healthcare excellence for our communities.

Board members include: Elizabeth “Bunny” Johns, Daniel Allison, Martha Anderson, MD, Lowell Crisp, Cliff Faull, MD, Joe Hurt, MD, Timothy Lewis, Stephanie Treadway, Ann Marie Wright, John Buenting, MD, Heather Baker, David Thomas, MD, Chuck Wooten and Mark Tyson

 Our MedWest Board of Directors representatives include: Elizabeth “Bunny” Johns, Cliff Faull, MD, Larry Selby, MD, Ed Lewis, MD, Mark Tyson, John Burton and Jerry McKinney.

Submitted on behalf of 288 WestCare employees.

Marian Garrett

Sylva

 Mike Grezlik

Waynesville

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fr cullowheeplanningJake Flannick • SMN Correspondent

Building consensus among the increasing number of residents and business owners in Cullowhee is critical to shaping the identity of the area. Growth is outpacing steps to establish a long-term plan for building and economic development, community planners and advocates here agree.

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Jackson County Librarian Dottie Brunette will retire at the end of the year, and the public is invited to a reception in her honor from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

Brunette has been Jackson County Librarian since May 2007. Previously, she was branch librarian at the Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library in Cashiers, and before that worked at the Macon County Public Library and also at WCU’s Hunter Library.

A native of Sylva, Brunette graduated from Western Carolina University and received her Master of Library Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Brunette oversaw the library’s 2011 move from its previous location on Main Street to its new home on the site of the Old Courthouse. All together, Brunette has served the Fontana Regional Library system for 17 years. 

828.586.2016.

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Michael Bruce 

2nd year assoc.

Hometown: Waynesville

Major: Web Technologies 

App: Class Schedule Organizer

As soon as he learned how to build a mobile application, Michael Bruce put his knowledge to work for his fellow-students.

He started developing an app to enable college students to organize their class schedules based on their major — a kind of digital academic adviser.

“It’s a way to put it in their hands,” he said.

Bruce, who is pursuing his associate’s degree in web technologies at Southwestern Community College, is part of a group of students and faculty from SCC and Western Carolina University who will give presentations and talks at the Carolina Coding Initiative from Dec. 9-11. Part of a series by the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching, the seminars are meant to spread interest in computer programming.

Bruce hopes to share the difficulties he faced while developing his first mobile app, an inventory of photographs and descriptions of the classic cars and motorcycles at the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley. He spent more than 200 hours over about six months developing the app. 

“It’s a huge time commitment,” Bruce said. Among the technical challenges, he had to synchronize the images to different versions of the iPhone, whether by readjusting their resolution or size. 

Along with two others who helped develop the app, Bruce hopes to release it to Apple for approval. If it appears in the tech company’s app store, he is guaranteed a share of revenue from paid downloads.

In many ways, mobile developers are artists. They give shape to ideas by writing software code, usually involving more technical expertise than designing websites, said Bruce. He has a few web site clients in Waynesville, where he lives, and he has helped to build the site of the Sylva Police Department as part of a class project.

The craft can prove lucrative. Mobile apps generated nearly $10 billion in revenue in 2011, according to an October 2012 study by a wireless industry trade group. It said more than 500,000 jobs have emerged since Android Market and Apple iTunes, the two major app stores, opened in 2008.

Still, the chances of turning what many consider a side job into a livelihood are small. Given the stiff competition in a mobile app market flooded with developers, Bruce said, “The odds are stacked against you.” Few developers can hope for an app like Angry Birds, among the top-selling paid mobile apps for the iPhone in the United States and Europe.

Nonetheless, the app market is versatile, Bruce said, as it shifts away from investments in new concepts toward innovations of existing software programs.

Bruce, 23, plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Western. He is committed to finding work in the filed he describes as an “intrinsic part of my life.”

— By Jake Flannick, SMN Correspondent

 

Hayden Thomas

Senior

Hometown: Burnsville

Major: Computer Science

App: Vehicle-Tracking (Public Transportation)

For Hayden Thomas, it’s all about practicality.

“I think my favorite part of the mobile apps course is that the information I’m learning all feels practical,” he said. “When I’m working on an assignment or studying an example, I know I’ll able to use the things I’m learning some other time.”

Thomas and his partner are currently working on a vehicle-tracking app, which takes Google Maps and applies it to the current location of public transportation. The app allows users to see and figure out how far a specific mode of public transportation may be from their stop. At Western Carolina University, the app would let students know just how far away their commuter bus is, giving them ways to better plan ahead.

“It will also be able to display the vehicle’s routes, stops and current speed,” Thomas explained. “The app is part of a larger project that will also include a website that users without smart phones can access, as well as tools that will help the people who run the buses to collect information about how people use their services.”

When developing an app idea, Thomas said, one of the biggest obstacles is determining if the idea warrants an app. Some ideas could be just applied to a website, while others could go straight to a smart phone.

“Some of the challenges with implementing the idea are anticipating how people will use the app and making sure that the app is easy to understand and use,” he said. “You can’t always predict how people will use your app, and after spending so much time working on it, you have ideas of how it should work.”

Asked if there is any downside to the increasing popularity of apps, Thomas is optimistic that the end justifies the means. He believes  each app can provide helpful resources.

“I think the only real downside to smart phone apps is that sometimes people end up focusing more on their phones than the world around them, but that’s a problem with a lot of modern technologies,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a major problem, though, and I think the usefulness of smart phones really outweighs the downsides.”

With graduation on the horizon, Thomas has enjoyed his time in the phone app course at WCU. Along with providing him with the tools he needs to enter the technological workforce, it also has opened many doors of creativity and analytical thought.

“I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into a mobile apps course,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot about working with Android and how to utilize its features, as well as how to make apps easy to understand and use, so that’s something that came as a pleasant surprise.”

— By Garret K. Woodward, Staff Writer

 

Blake Bowen

Senior 

Hometown: Asheville

Major: Computer Information Systems

App: Cherokee Language Learning

A self-proclaimed technology geek, Blake Bowen has been fascinated with smart phones since their inception.

“I always have to have the latest thing in technology, and right now that’s smart phones,” he said. “A smart phone is only as good as the apps that run on it, so I’m always looking for new and exciting apps.”

Bowen has found his niche in the phone apps course at Western Carolina University. He likes the format of the curriculum and how the academic side blurs the lines with the creative element of the process. And with each new phase of smart phone, comes an array of innovative and useful phone applications, or apps, like GPS, restaurant finders or breaking news, which can use the hardware to its fullest capacity.

“The course is based on real world projects with real clients. Dr. Clapper runs the course like a real development studio would, assigning students to a position that best suits their talents,” Bowen said. “There’s no grading rubric that students must follow. This allows students to explore and find solutions that would not be possible if the class was run like a typical college course. Our projects don’t have to include ‘X,’ ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ because ‘X,’ ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ isn’t the best solution.”

For his project, Bowen developed the “Talk To Me: A Cherokee Language-Learning App.” The app takes the Cherokee language and makes it into a fun, easy and interactive game design. Users connect symbols and sounds by listening to audio in four different games modes. They then use the app to process through different levels of the game. Eventually they retain the information on a subconscious level. Bowen developed the app as a collaboration between the Cherokee Studies, Computer Information Systems and Graphic Design departments at WCU.

“I think apps, particularly games, are the ultimate expression of creativity,” Bowen said. “So many of your senses are involved when using apps, and it takes a set of talented developers to be able to package everything into something of value that people will enjoy.”

Bowen will graduate at the end of this semester. He plans to continue work on the Cherokee app, and hopefully pursue other ideas he has ready to spring to life. 

“I started my career at WCU as a Computer Science major, which involved writing a bunch of algorithms that I personally hated doing. However, once Dr. Clapper showed me the types of apps his students were working on, I was immediately sold on picking up programming again,” he said. “It turns out I’m really good at programming, and I definitely found a niche that excites me.”

— By Garret K. Woodward, Staff Writer

 

Diedre Massingale

Graduate

Hometown: Balsam Grove 

Major: Web Technologies

App: Balsam Grove Cookbook

Diedre Massingale wanted to share the recipes of the Transylvania County hamlet where she lives with her family. So she turned to her technical expertise, developing a mobile application containing dozens of pages of ingredients, some of them family staples passed down from generation to generation.

It was an idea that took shape over many early mornings and evenings on her way to work or after family dinners. At 34, she has two kids, aged 11 and 14.

“If you’ve got it in your mind, you can do anything with it,” she said. Massingale earned a certificate in mobile app programming from Southwestern Community College in the spring. “Anybody can do anything” through computer programming, she said.

That is one of the messages she is seeking to share at a series of seminars, called the “Carolina Coding Initiative,” from Dec. 9-11. Students and faculty from Southwestern and Western Carolina University will give presentations and talks about computer programming as a way to spread interest in what has emerged as a major industry.

Massingale hopes to share the process of developing her cookbook app, which she finished a couple of weeks ago. At around the same time she finished another app, for a spa in Brevard, which allows users to view prices and arrange appointments.

She hopes her digital cookbook, which consists of instructions for two dozen recipes that are part of an existing community cookbook in Balsam Grove, will  draw recognition not only around the region, but across the country and beyond.

“There’s a lot of people who want small community,” said Massingale, who plans to offer it as a free download in the mobile app market in the near future. She expects to spend the next year developing a paid version, containing more than 300 total recipes in the cookbook, for the Android Market store. 

Massingale began studying computer programming in the mid-2000s. Since then, she has earned two online associate’s degrees — computer information technology and web technologies — also from Southwestern.

“It took me a while,” she said, balancing her main job as a teacher’s assistant at Davidson River School in Brevard. She helps maintain the school’s Chrome Books, donated through a grant from Google.

Massingale, who grew up in the Little Canada community in Jackson County, has faced some challenges  earning her degrees. After ruling out the possibility of making the one-hour drive to the closest Southwestern campus in Jackson, she sought grants to study online. She plans eventually to pursue a bachelor’s degree in teaching, for computer programming.

Perhaps her strongest motivation comes from her role as a mother.

“I wanted to do something for my family,” said Massingale.

For more information about the seminars, visit www.nccat.org.

— By Jake Flannick, SMN Correspondent

 

Todd Michael

Senior

Hometown: Burlington

Major: Computer Information Systems

App: Orientation (WCU campus tours)

Todd Michael knew from an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in phone apps.

“My interest in developing apps started when I was in high school and I got my first cell phone,” he said. “I had been learning very basic coding techniques and thought it’d be cool to develop apps as a career. Once I heard Dr. Clapper was going to be teaching a course in mobile web apps, I immediately wanted to sign up.”

Teaming up with the Western North Carolina Orientation Department, Michael and his partners are currently developing a mobile app that would give tours to freshmen and incoming transfer students. The app provides the user with a map and marker to pinpoint where they are and where they need to go using Google Maps.

“It’s how they can get from point A to point B on our campus,” Michael said. “This way, the users will not be confused as to where they are on campus. It will be completed and pushed out at the end of this semester.”

In bringing the idea to light, Thomas takes great pride in working patiently in a team to reach the completion of an idea. He believes he has gained teamwork skills that will make the transition from student to employee that much easier.

“I enjoy the fact that we are working in a team in order to achieve a goal,” he said. “Outside of school, new employees are going to be faced with challenges, such as working with people you’re unfamiliar with. In this capstone course, we must work with clients and interact with one another in order to develop our apps and their features.”

Looking into the future, Thomas sees the potential of new computers that don’t require a hard drive, where software is directly downloaded over the Internet.

“I believe there will come a time where mobile devices will reach a stage similar to this, where all the internal mobile software is loaded from a source outside the device,” he said. 

Thomas points to the personal and professional skills he has acquired through the phone app course as key to his success in future career pursuits. It’s about developing technology, but not losing sight of the original component: humanity.

“One of the most difficult challenges with developing a feature or idea for an app is making sure the client or user likes the new features of the idea,” he said. “As a developer, we may have great ideas, but ultimately it is the user who decides if those ideas are worth adding or not.”

— By Garret K. Woodward, Staff Writer

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By Paul Clark • SMN Correspondent

So, here’s the problem. It’s raining and you need to catch the CAT TRAN, one of the purple vans that shuttle students and staff around Western Carolina University.

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The Southern Appalachian Office of the Wilderness Society will host a reception for “Land of the Crooked Water,” an exhibit of works by Joshua Grant from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. The series of art prints will be on display at the library through the month of January. 

“Land of the Crooked Water” depicts Western North Carolina landscapes in a combination of abstract and realist styles. 

828.524.3600 or www.fontanalib.org.

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“An Enchanted Broadway Holiday Show” performed by award-winning recording artists Lee Lessack and Joanna O’Brien begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University. 

The show will feature holiday classics such as “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Some Children See Him,” “Merry Christmas, Darling” and “O Holy Night.”

Lessack, who is known for his graceful baritone, has toured the United States and Europe to sold-out crowds. In addition, he founded LML Music, which is home to more than 100 recording artists and performers. Soprano O’Brien has trained in classical music and has a degree in opera from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has a wide range of musical styles, but has worked over the years to bridge the gap between opera, Broadway and pop.

The performance at WCU is part of the 2013-14 Arts and Cultural Events Performance Series. For more information about the ACE series, visit www.ace.wcu.edu. Tickets are free for students and $5 for all others.

bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 828.227.2479.

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art franklinThe 2013 Franklin Christmas Parade will be at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1 in downtown.

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art museumThe Appalachian Women’s Museum has kicked off its first fundraiser since reaching an agreement with the Town of Dillsboro to restore and preserve the 1908 Farmhouse at the Monteith Farmstead.

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art hayweirdThe inaugural Hayweird County Hometown Holiday Jam will be at 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, at the Water’n Hole Bar and Grill in Waynesville.

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art frBy Colby Dunn • Correspondent

This week, kids across America will learn the story of the first Thanksgiving. How the pilgrims, beleaguered and starving, broke bread with their Wampanoag neighbors, who extended a helping hand, teaching them to grow the corn and squash that kept them alive. They celebrated a meal to give thanks that at least some of them had survived the first winter, and that they finally had a successful harvest. So in terms of how we celebrate today, the timing, at least, is right. 

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To the Editor:

For the past few months some of the people in Western North Carolina who write letters to the editor want to blame Gov. Pat McCrory for the sorry state of affairs in the State. He knew what he was getting into. He knew his popularity would suffer as he carried out his plan to get the state moving again and that his popularity would improve if he could increase employment and add more revenue to the state’s treasury. 

North Carolina was broke when he took over. It is going to take several years to repair the problems he inherited when he became the governor. He worked with legislators to fix tax laws that have hurt our state. 

Well over a million people are unemployed in North Carolina. Putting people back to work is the prime interest for Gov. McCrory. Without more people working and paying taxes, teachers, policemen and government works are not going to have their pay increased. Adding thousands of people to the employment list is the only way to increase our state’s income. 

With the new tax laws, several companies have moved into our state and several businesses have announced expansions. Out unemployment rate is now 8 percent. We have dropped from being 49 to 39 on the unemployment list. 

The unemployed people in North Carolina know that their governor is out there trying to help them find employment. Tell me how else we can improve our state’s social networks, including our education system, without adding more money to the state’s treasury? Whether you like Pat McCrory or not, he is a man who knows how to help people find jobs. People with jobs pay taxes and buy stuff, which is what North Carolina needs. It is too bad that is not happening all over the United States.

Jim Mueller

Glenville 

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To the Editor:

As I write this, the stock market is hovering around record highs. The Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates low to stimulate borrowing and investment. Corporate profits are generally high and many companies are sitting on record amounts of cash. This should be the sign of a booming economy that is creating lots of jobs. In reality, the economy is stagnant and unemployment is stubbornly high. So what is the problem?

The problem is demand. The people who would buy the products that these companies make don’t have the money to purchase them. It’s fairly simple. There are two parts of a consumer economy: producers and consumers. If there’s no demand for the products, companies are not going to invest in more capacity and jobs. In this economy, it’s the consumers who are missing. While the wealthy certainly consume, there’s a limit to how much stuff they can buy that will stimulate the core economy.

If I have a successful business, I’m only going in invest in new production capacity if there is a demand for my product. If the majority of consumers don’t have money for other than essentials, then I’m not going to invest and create new jobs. Whether a small local business or a large corporation, if there’s no prospect of profit, there’s no investment and no new jobs. It’s that simple!

It is an article of faith among conservatives that the job creators are those with the wealth to invest in companies, thereby creating jobs for workers. This supply side approach to economics assumes that wealth will trickle down to the middle and lower economic classes. By this theory, the more money in the hands of the wealthy, the more will “trickle down” to the middle and lower economic classes.

Since the initiation of this strategy during the Reagan administration, there has been a dramatic redistribution of wealth in the country, moving more and more money into the accounts of the upper 5 percent and away from the 95 percent. Because of this transfer of wealth the 95 percent do not have enough money to keep the economy healthy through their purchases. That’s where we are now. 

So who are the job creators? Like most complex problems, such as operating a national economy, it’s a team effort. There is no doubt that investment money is needed (that’s the wealthy and money rich companies), but the consumer is equally important in having a thriving economy. If you want to meet a real job creator, go look in the mirror.

John Gladden

Franklin

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To the Editor:

The response from zoning advocates — to my letter that was printed two weeks ago — was typical. There will always be people who place their aesthetic values over the rights of others. They will be supported by those who would like to eliminate more competition in the apartment business or other businesses. Then the people who think more government regulation is the answer to everything will gladly advance the effort of a small coalition of people who want to clean up old Cullowhee into an underhanded attempt to zone thousands of acres from Locust Creek to East Laport.

The approximately 300 property owners who may be about to have their property strictly zoned should have already been notified by certified mail of this possibility. The notion that these property owners should show up at meetings dominated by people who have been organizing for over two years is ridiculous. Questionnaires could have been sent out with tax notices.

Explain the U.S. 441 corridor zoning ordinance and what it has meant to us all instead of hiding behind the word “planning.”

Most all of us would like to see a more healthy Cullowhee, but shouldn’t it be accomplished in an approved democratic procedure (such as incorporation) with the vote of the majority of affected property owners?

Mike Clark

Cullowhee

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To the Editor:

Limited government was ridiculed in a recent Smoky Mountain News article. Most Americans are strong believers in limited government because we believe in our individual rights. 

These rights (such as free speech) must be protected against a powerful and abusive government. Freedom of speech limits the government’s ability to prevent citizens from speaking their minds and opposing the government. Freedom of speech is not only for the press and journalists — it is for everyone. 

This is a powerful limit on the government. So limited government is a good thing. People around the globe have been arrested because they choose to speak out against their governments. 

In America, we are seldom arrested for excising our freedom of speech. But some of our other liberties are not so well guarded. 

That means that a powerful government can take away your freedom of speech … freedom of religion … freedom to bear arms … put us in jail without probable cause …  spy on our cell phone conversations and internet messages … use drones … and abuse the power of the IRS to intimidate us. Ordinary citizens must limit the power of the government or it will be abusive. 

In general, as our government over-reaches into all areas of our lives, Americans do not approve. As the original extremists (Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Ben Franklin, etc.) remind us, “Any government powerful enough to give you anything you want, is powerful enough to take away everything that you have.” 

Our rights come from God; they are not given to us by our government. This is important. When the government is limited, it means that individual people have more power. So power to the people implies a limited government. Governments take freedoms from people in many ways. 

So it is our job as good citizens to fight back against the government’s desire for more power and to limit the abuses of the government.

Freedom is not free; it must be fought for everyday. Limiting government ensures freedom. I will even protect your freedom to disagree with me.

Lynda Bennett

Maggie Valley

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op frBy Doug Wingeier • Columnist

In early October we spent two weeks in our 150-year-old log cabin situated on a corner of our daughter Ruth and husband John’s 40 acres in central Minnesota, which has no electricity or running water. 

While there we enjoy a simple life — reading by oil lamp and candlelight, outhouse comfort, vegetarian diet, sleeping sundown to sunup. Ruth is a licensed nurse midwife who has delivered more than 2,000 babies (many of them home births) in the 30 years she has lived there. John is recently retired after working as an Alaskan bush pilot, builder and cabinet maker, skilled factory worker, and a math and science teacher. They have raised three boys, the youngest now a college junior.

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coverBy Paul Clark • Correspondent

Mary McNeil carried her shopping bag around Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market like a kid on Halloween. In went fresh-ground sausage, newly prepared chorizo and a few cuts of meat from animals that spent the summer happily munching Haywood County’s glorious green grass. 

Walking through the market outside the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre on a crisp fall day, McNeil felt good not only about the quality of meat she was buying from a surprisingly large number of meat vendors, but also about what she was doing for the local economy. Buying meat from local farmers helps them keep their land in farms and their families in the pink. 

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Hey, all you turkey deep-fryer users. What are your plans this Thanksgiving for all that cooking oil once you have fried the big bird?

 Here’s an idea: bring your used cooking oil to one of Blue Ridge Biofuels drop-off bins located throughout Western North Carolina. Recycling cooking oil keeps mucky grease out of sewers and landfills and turns it into clean energy instead, according to BRB. 

For more information, visit www.cookingoilrecycling.org.

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The Waynesville Judo team took top honors at the Fall Brawl judo tournament Oct. 5 at the Waynesville Recreation Center by winning the coveted Team Trophy. The Waynesville team competed among nearly 100 contenders from five different states, who attended the event.

“Overall we were pleased with the event,” said Sensei Jimmy Riggs.  “We had lots of good judo, the Sunset Cruisers and great barbecue.”

In addition to the Team Trophy, individual competitors from the Waynesville Judo team also claimed numerous gold, silver and bronze medals in their divisions. First place winners were: Braden Riggs, Max Rogers, Jessi Shell, Billy Frizzell, Eli Frizzell, Gage Cole, Dalton Greer and A.J. Flowe.

Second-place winners were: Trevor Phillips, Travis Austin, Carson Frizzell, Dessa Phillips, Mitchell Ensley, Greg Rogers and Samuel Danks. Third-place winners were: Jazzie Baxter and Cristian Kuehl.

The club’s next tournament will be at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. For more information about the program contact Jimmy Riggs at 828. 506.0327.

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out firesuspectU.S. Forest Service law enforcement officials have released a picture of a man they believe may have information about the Linville Gorge wildfire, which is now 100 percent contained after burning nearly 2,600 acres. They are hoping the public can help identify him. 

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out blackfridayThe Great Smoky Mountains Association will hold a “blow-out sale” on select merchandise starting Thanksgiving Day at its Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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out parkwaypreserveMore property along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waterrock Knob is now protected, thanks to The Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) and a Salisbury couple.

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An investigation is underway to determine the cause of a fire that broke out Nov. 21 in the commercial strip in the center of the Western Carolina University campus and caused heavy damage to three popular businesses.

No injuries were reported during the fire. All university functions remained operational throughout the duration of the incident, and the university did not cancel classes. Portions of Centennial and Central drives were closed while firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. 

The fire, which resulted in heavy smoke pouring from the affected businesses, was reported shortly after 9 a.m., and was extinguished by approximately 12:30 p.m., emergency officials said. A total of 21 units from WCU, from the counties of Jackson, Haywood, Macon, Swain and Buncombe, and from the Qualla Boundary responded to the blaze, including firefighters, law enforcement and emergency medical care teams.

The fire damaged three dining establishments in the commercial area of Centennial Drive — a Subway sandwich shop, Rolling Stone Burrito and Mad Batter Bakery and Cafe. The businesses are located on the ground floor of the two-story structure. The second story of the building, which had contained apartments until several years ago, was unoccupied.

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fr finescreekBy Colby Dunn • Correspondent

On a recent sunny afternoon, Deb Shalosky is standing in the kitchen pantry at the Fines Creek Community Center, a little autumnal sun glinting off the neatly labeled octagonal jar in her outstretched hand. 

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fr rathskellerBy Jake Flannick • SMN Correspondent

The legendary Rathskeller Coffee Haus and Pub, an institution and social mainstay in downtown Franklin, saw a generational changing of the guard this year after 15 years in the hands of its original founder and owner.

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fr sylvalocalBy Jake Flannick • SMN Correspondent

A group of merchants in Sylva rallying their fellow shopkeepers and restaurateurs in the downtown area to jump on the buy local movement as a way to strengthen their own economy from the ground up.

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fr hospicehouseJake Flannick • SMN Correspondent

A nearly decade-long dream to build an inpatient hospice house for the terminally ill and their families in Franklin is closer to becoming a reality.

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fr sidsBy Paul Clark • Correspondent

In the old Imperial Hotel in Canton, Sid’s on Main is creating a little history of its own. 

Sid Truesdale, who owns the restaurant with his wife Page, is honoring the building’s place in local history by putting pecan pie on the menu. The original restaurant, which fed workers and executives at the then-new Champion paper plant nearby, served pecan pie, as well as the drop biscuits that Sid also offers.

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Light rainfall over the weekend wasn’t enough to slow the Table Rock fire in Linville Gorge nor will this week’s expected weather help much either, a fire official said Monday. “[The rain] has helped, but a half inch is not going to put this fire out,” said Deborah Walker, fire information officer for the U.S. Forest Service.  Fire officials pulled firefighters off the line Sunday because of windy conditions and this week’s forecast of wind and warmer temperatures will continue to make it too risky for firefighters to access the uncontained areas. As of Monday morning, the fire had burned about 2.275 acres, closing a number of trails, and was about 40 percent contained. “We have an uncontained portion of fire on the original south line that’s in steep and rugged country. It’s very difficult to get in there.  We can’t put crews in there to put containment lines,” Walker said. Instead, firefighters will cut snags and do dozer line and hand line construction to bolster their containment lines on the east and south sides of the area. The fire was first detected on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in the Table Rock Picnic Area on the Grandfather Ranger District in the Pisgah National Forest. More than 190 personnel are involved with the firefighting effort. The cause of the fire is unknown. Fire investigators are asking the public to contact the Grandfather Ranger District at 828.652.2144 with any information about people in the Table Rock Picnic Area on Monday, Nov. 11, Veteran’s Day. 

www.fs.usda.gov/nfsnc.

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Portions of the popular Graveyard Fields Loop Trail are closed for upgrades, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The agency expects to complete the work by late December.  

The Forest Service will construct a board walk on the east end of the trail, which will be closed during the construction. Users can access the Upper and Second Falls via the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Also, users can park in the Graveyard Fields Loop parking lot and start at the west end of the loop. 

 In addition, the Blue Ridge Parkway will make improvements at the parking area for the Graveyard Fields in the near future. The work will include increasing the parking capacity and construction of a restroom facility. Dates for repairs at the parking lot have yet to be determined.   Funding for the project comes from a Scenic Byway Grant awarded to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. The grant matching funds are provided by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation to pay for the trail work. 

www.fs.usda.gov/nfsnc.

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out purchasehikeTalk about mission creep. What was supposed to be a simple, final project for his Blue Ridge Naturalist certificate of merit turned into a full blown illustrated hiking guide for Haywood County. And so much the better, says Ken Czarnomski, who combined his three greatest passions: hiking, cataloging and sketching into the illustrated Purchase Knob Hiking Guide.  

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out ATsignHave an idea for a project that will benefit the Appalachian Trail but have limited funds to make it happen? Apply for an Appalachian Trail Special License Tag Grant through the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The deadline is Jan. 10, 2014.

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out frJake Flannick • SMN Correspondent

Michael Wagenseil is settling into his element, arranging displays of ski equipment and clothing as he finishes a flurry of preparations at a new rental shop in Maggie Valley amid the beginning of what is considered a rite of the winter season here.

It is familiar territory to a man who has spent years working at ski areas across the country, including in Colorado, whether as a lift attendant or a member of the ski patrol.

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By Doug Wingeier • Columnist

 The cover story in the Oct. 30-Nov. 5 issue of The Smoky Mountain News described divisions in the Haywood County Republican Party caused partly by differences in ideology and partly by conflict over strategy and approach.

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All branches of the Haywood County Public Library are currently collecting food to help meet the needs of local residents through Dec. 18. 

Citizens can bring their contributions to the front desk and give it to library employees. 

The most-needed food items include canned items, such as meats, stews and chili, pasta, sauces, vegetables and fruits, juices, beans and canned or dry soups; peanut butter; jelly (no glass containers); hot and cold cereals, rice, packaged pasta, juice boxes, baby food and cereal (glass containers acceptable); baby formula; granola and cereal bars; diapers (all sizes); personal items, such as shampoo and soap; and paper goods, like toilet paper and paper towels. Dog and cat food will also be accepted.

828.452.5169.

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The Board of County Commissioners is seeking applicants to fill three vacancies on the Haywood County Agriculture Advisory Board (Farmland Preservation) and three vacancies on the Tourism Development Authority Board.

The three positions on the Agriculture Advisory Board are at-large positions for three-year terms. The positions on the Tourism Development Authority are for three-year terms, for representatives of accommodations with more than 20 units; accommodations with 20 units or less; and a tourism-related business.

Application deadline is 5 p.m. Dec. 4. Download a form at www.haywoodnc.net and attach in an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Or pick up and drop off a form from the third floor of the Haywood County Courthouse, 215 North Main Street in Waynesville.

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Canton biscuit maker finishes strong

Canton resident Chris Sellers competed recently in the final round of Bojangles’ 18th annual Master Biscuit Maker Challenge at the company’s Test Kitchen in Charlotte.

Sellers is a biscuit-maker at the Bojangles’ on Champion Drive in Canton. 

He was one of only nine biscuit-makers to advance to the final round of the competition to determine Bojangles’ top biscuit-maker of all Bojangles’ franchised restaurants. To make it to the final round, Sellers’ biscuits earned the highest scores in his restaurant, area and regional level buttermilk biscuit-making competition. 

Sellers didn’t win but took home a Master Biscuit Maker Finalist trophy, a $250 cash prize and bragging rights.

 

Jackson Chamber holds holiday reception

The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce held its Holiday Reception Nov. 20 at the Comfort Inn in Sylva. 

About 150 Jackson County Chamber of Commerce members, partners, friends, ambassadors and board members came out to celebrate another great year at the chamber. Everyone enjoyed socializing over drinks and tasty treats from member restaurants Half Past and Zaxby’s. Incoming and outgoing chamber board members were recognized, as were Ambassadors. Door prizes provided by members were given out and everyone made donations to the Jackson County Department on Aging’s Operation Christmas Box.

 

Cashiers chamber recognizes community leaders 

The Cashiers Chamber of Commerce has created a new community advisory board comprised of public sector, education and business leaders to address specific economic and community development efforts.

The Inaugural members are: Dr. David Belcher, Chancellor of Western Carolina University; Chief Randy Dillard of the Cashiers Glenville Volunteer Fire Department; Dan Harbaugh of the Tuckaseigee Water & Sewer Authority; Commissioner Mark Jones of Jackson County; Karen Sullivan of Remax/Summit Properties representing the Rotary Club of Cashiers Valley; and Chief Roy Taylor of Blue Ridge Public Safety.  


The Cashiers chamber dished out its annual awards at a recent banquet, including Businessperson of the Year to Jim Zoller of Zoller Hardware.

The Cashiers chamber has also installed its officers for the coming year. Robin Tindall-Taylor of the Highlands Cashiers Hospital Foundation will serve as president, Mary Alice Grant of Sounds Essential will serve as president-elect, and Will Madden of Macon Bank will serve as treasurer. Debby Hattler of Hattler Properties and Mountain Lake Rentals was installed as a newly-elected director.

 

Get your packing in ship shape

The Ship Haus, a one-stop shop for packing and shipping needs, is up and running in Waynesville and Sylva just in time for the holidays.

The Ship Haus stores offer convenient packing and shipping from one location. Their seasonal motto: “Get your ship together for the holidays.” The Ship Haus will offer the full range of FedEx services. It is a division of The Print Haus, which recently joined forces with Old Style Printing. With the addition of The Ship Haus, they will now be providing an even wider range of services including full service printing, copying, on-site design services, signs and banners, faxing, laminating, coilbinding and direct mail.

The Ship Haus is located at 641 N. Main St. in Waynesville (828.456.4287) and 509 Asheville Hwy., Suite B, Sylva (828.586.4287) or www.theprinthaus.com.

 

Help shape Haywood’s economic development blueprint

The Haywood County Chamber and Economic Development Council have created an industry and business survey for evaluating the Haywood County business environment. 

The results and recommendations will be used to assist in developing long-range business retention and expansion planning for the Haywood County business community. It will provide a blueprint and action plan for the chamber as it takes over the lead role of economic development functions from county government.

The survey only takes a few minutes and can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/s/haywoodchmbredc

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Over the next few weeks, Southwestern Community College will host a pair of information sessions for anyone interested in pursuing a career in one of Western North Carolina’s fastest-growing industries. Jobs are available now in the field of table gaming, and SCC currently offers the state’s only certification in the field. Including tips, these jobs typically pay $20 or more per hour.

The first upcoming information session will be Nov. 21 at the SCC Macon Annex. A second session is set for Dec. 5 at the college’s Jackson Campus. Each session runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“By attending one of these sessions, you’ll gain valuable information on career options,” said Scott Sutton, SCC’s director of occupational training. “You’ll also learn about industry requirements as well as training opportunities, and you’ll get the chance to interact with an instructor to get a feel for what the training entails.”

New classes begin in January. Information session attendees will get the first opportunity for enrollment.

For more information or to schedule a time and location for your visit, contact Latresa Downs at 828.339.4426 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The 26th annual “Hard Candy Christmas Arts & Craft Show” will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 29-30 at the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University.

This popular event features the original work of over 100 regional artisans. Customers line up early for the first selection of pottery, woodcrafts, jewelry, folk art, glass art, and specialty sweets and breads. Collectors of Old World Santa’s, heirloom ornaments and miniatures always find something new. You can even purchase a fresh mountain greenery wreath or scented dried fruit rope for your house.

Admission is $4 for an adult weekend pass, with children under 12 free.

www.mountainartisans.net or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.524.3405.

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art cash“Ring of Fire — The Music of Johnny Cash” comes to life at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.

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art santaJoe Moore, author of the Santa Claus Trilogy, will make a special appearance from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 29 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 30 at Santa’s Gift Shop at the Macon County Community Facilities Building in Franklin.

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art holtgoforthFour-time Grammy Award winner David Holt will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, at the Martin Lipscomb Performing Arts Center in Highlands. Holt will be joined by musician Josh Goforth. 

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art mojomaticAsheville blues/rock group Mojomatic will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at Swain County Center for the Arts Bryson City. Following the concert there will be a meet and greet reception for the musicians and exhibiting artist, Vickie S. Beck, whose baskets and realistic acrylic landscape and still life paintings will be on exhibit and for sale through mid-January. 

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art frBy Jacob Flannick • SMN Correspondent

After ending a series of lessons in which she learned the basic steps of clogging, Dee Decker did not want to stop dancing.

So she held out hope for another floor, eventually moving into a classroom in a vacant church in Bryson City a couple years ago. That is where she — along with a handful of others who regularly take clogging lessons — spent hours during the winter and summer months, stomping and twirling to the old-time folk rhythms of Appalachia.

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The Macon County Commissioners received the 2013 Robert and Virginia Ramsey Brunner Land Conservationist of the Year Award during LTLT’s annual Fall Celebration Nov. 2 at the Cowee School in Franklin. The award recognizes the Macon County Commissioners’ essential role in conserving the historic Cowee School, which is now being repurposed as a community and heritage center, home now to a new Bluegrass concert series.  Former classrooms are now being used by various groups, including the Macon County Historical Society and the Eastern Band of Cherokee.  The Macon Heritage Center also houses the Cowee Pottery School and Cowee Textiles. The Brunner Award was established in 2004 to honor the Brunners’ vision and generosity, which were instrumental in the founding of LTLT. “Without the Macon County Commissioners this project could not have happened,” said LTLT Board President Ken Murphy. “The Macon County Commissioners, our elected officials, not only approved the repurposing of this facility, they provided critical support including financial support. Their approval and support was evidence of their real vision for the future, and we recognize that they made their decisions in light of many competing considerations and alternative uses of the funding provided.”

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The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has upgraded its Green Growth Toolbox to better equip communities to deal with wildlife and natural resource conservation in developing areas. In addition to a handbook, a GIS data package and a website, the Commission’s second edition of the toolbox contains additional detailed information about the amount of habitat that wildlife need in developing landscapes; more step-by-step guidance on conserving wildlife habitat through land use and development planning; visual examples of how to use the conservation mapping data and how to design wildlife-friendly developments; and more than 60 articles on the economic and societal benefits of a green-growth approach. “A good example is in Apex, where homes in the Shepherd’s Vineyard development adjacent to the American Tobacco Trail sold for $5,000 more than comparable homes in a nearby neighborhood,” said Land Conservation biologist Kacy Cook. 

The toolbox handbook, first released in 2009, was updated based on feedback from more than 200 planners, developers and local governments who attended Green Growth Toolbox workshops.

The Wildlife Commission provides the Green Growth Toolbox and technical guidance at no cost.

www.ncwildlife.org/conserving/programs/greengrowthtoolbox.aspx or 910.638.4887.

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out bethelpreserveRural preservation leaders in the Bethel community of Haywood County have announced the permanent protection of 29 acres through two separate conservation easements. 

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out parkwinterYou know winter is just around the corner when Great Smoky Mountains National Park starts shutting down. Here is a list of the Park’s closures and change in hours: 

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out mtnjugDr. Randall Provost walked the walk—or more accurately ran the run—when he competed in the Mountain Jug Run for Research, a 175-mile relay from Cullowhee to Boone, last month to raise money for athletic training research and scholarships.

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out delozierSo, what does one do when a sedated bear wakes up in the back seat of a helicopter mid-flight or in your office while you’re on the phone or in your car while you’re driving down the highway?

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