The Golden Dragon Acrobats will bring the 2,000-year tradition of Chinese acrobatics to the stage at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the John W. Bardo Fine & Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University.

There will be a wildlife photography exhibit showcasing the works of Ed & Cindy Boos through the month of September at the Macon County Public Library.

Mountain music, dancing and tradition will be on display once again as the 45th annual Smoky Mountain Folk Festival celebrates the culture and heritage of Western North Carolina Sept. 4-5 on the shores of Lake Junaluska.

Question: Is canola oil safe and healthy for me to use?

Answer: Yes! I use it myself for cooking and baking. Here are some facts about canola oil:

Fact: “canola” comes from “Canada low oil acid”.

To the Editor:

Thank you Macon County. It was truly humbling to see the community turnout for the Homeless Symposium. The interest, support and concern was evident in the questions, comments, and suggestions.  

We discussed the need to rebuild a homeless person’s support network by addressing the themes of prevention, crisis sheltering and transitioning to a home. The threads that bind all of our efforts in these areas are prayer, volunteers and funding. Our vision is to see the homeless become fruit bearing members of our community.

In order to rise to the homeless challenge, as a community, the next steps will be to encourage and equip prayer warriors to seek out and edify volunteers, and develop funding sources. Our foundation is on THE ROCK, we should now begin “raising the building”.

Please join us in our community’s efforts to address homelessness. For more information contact Macon New Beginnings, Inc. at 828.202.3103; www.maconnewbeginnings.org, like us on Facebook; and/or contact your church, civic, business or political leaders.

Again, thank Macon County. 

Robert Bourke

Macon New Beginnings

To the Editor:

I am a human being, a member of a family, an American, and a Democrat, in that order.

Notice what I didn’t list. 

I could have been born in Asia, Africa, or Palestine, on a reservation, in Harlem, or in Mexico. I could have been born looking much different than I do, and treated accordingly by society, but I wasn’t. I could have been born a girl, or gay, or differently abled, but I wasn’t. I could have been raised Buddhist, Muslim, Anglican, Jewish, atheist or animist, but I wasn’t. I could have been taught only Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Swahili, or Arabic. I could have been raised only by my mother, my grandmother, or adopted, but I wasn’t. I could have been born in a different time in history, in any situation.  I had no choice in the matter. In some ways I won the lottery, in other ways, I lost. Imagine that. In some ways I lost.

Perhaps you believe that God has a plan for you, but then God has a plan for each of us, and God has us born into these very different situations around the world. Given that, how do we treat our brothers and sisters in our neighborhood, in our nation, and across the globe? Do we treat them as equal human beings, with the respect they deserve? Do we listen to each other in our vast array of experiences, or yell at each other? In this country, do we truly afford all God’s children the equal opportunities that we espouse as Americans? 

This is the great challenge of this world, now more than ever.

As a member of the human race, are you a person of good will? Do you strive toward respect, fairness, and peace?

Or do you give into fear, anger, hatred, and false division?  Do you give into arrogance or greed?

This is your choice. For the sake of your soul, for the sake of the world, for the sake of the billions of your brothers and sisters alive today and for all our descendants, please choose wisely.

Dan Kowal

Franklin 

To the Editor:

Traditionally, Americans have sent lawyers to congressional offices in Washington. The assumption was that they would be able to make laws and regulations. What they actually did is cut deals and trade agreements that are killing American businesses and jobs.  

While you know me as the pistol instructor, my background is stronger in business, having run several major- and medium-sized corporations. Over the years I’ve written many times that we need to send experienced businessmen/women to Washington. The government of the U.S. is one of the largest businesses in the world. Why would you send an inexperienced attorney, with no business experience to run it? A man who have never held a job, never punched a clock, never supervised people, never managed people, never created business plans, budgets or negotiated business deals? 

What Donald Trump is finally revealing is what I have written about for years. Fair trade laws that Washington negotiated served to send large parts of American business overseas. It has created severe economic results in the U.S. Our companies are not doing well, there are not enough jobs for Americans! It is difficult to achieve a middle-class position. Trump is validly pointing out that other countries are stealing from us, bad deals have been negotiated, and it is killing our economy.  

General Motors has now announced that it is going to build a new factory in Mexico. This is a company that the U.S. government had to bail out with taxpayer financial aid. Mitsubishi is closing its Illinois production factory, their only one in the U.S. If you tour the industrial parks in Mexico you will find thousands of U.S. companies that have facilities and jobs there.  

From a business point of view, GM is forced to go outside the U.S. It is the UAW that has almost put our auto companies out of business with $60 to $70 per hour salaries for production line workers. Toyota and Volkswagen have taken over our market. Trump has finally opened Pandora’s Box and has brought the truths to the surface. Now, we all know he is a jerk, but one hell of a businessman. He is leading the polls not because of who he is, but what he knows. We missed one huge opportunity with Mitt Romney. He had the business skills to turn this country around.

Americans seem inclined now to want a woman in the highest office. Regardless of political party, there are many qualified women who head up major corporations who would make an excellent leader for our country. I am searching for a bumper sticker that says ANYBODY BUT HILLARY! She doesn’t have the business qualifications and is just a crafty politician. We need to send business people to Washington who wake up every day with these thoughts:

• What can we do to strengthen American businesses today?

• What laws and regulations can we get rid of today?

• How can we lower the national debt today?

If your child came to you and asked you to cosign for a credit card, and he/she said they were going to charge half of everything they spend, would you cosign for the credit card? You bet your bippy you wouldn’t! Then, why did you let the U.S. government do this over the past few years? That’s why the national debt has skyrocketed. Over 50 percent of the money they spent was borrowed! We need to wake up folks!

Jim Sottile

Franklin

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Grants to help famers offset the risk of trying something new are available through the WNC Agricultural Options program, which will distribute $178,000 in the 2016 grant cycle.

A series of informational meetings across the region includes:

• 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Swain County Extension Center in Bryson City.
• 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Jackson County Extension Center in Sylva.

An October meeting will also be scheduled in Murphy. Since 2004, WNC Agricultural Options — funded by the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission — has awarded nearly $2 million to farmers in the 21 western counties, through mini-grants of $3,000 and $6,000. 

“The WNC AgOptions program is an excellent example of grant funds providing direct support to those who need it most,” said Ross Young, Madison County Extension Director and WNC AgOptions steering committee leader. “Our farmers are arguably the most important people in our society.”

Previous projects have run the gamut from helping farmers get started raising broiler turkeys to pick-your own berry operations to new grazing techniques.

The nonprofit WNC Communities administers the grant. Applicants should set up an appointment with the Cooperative Extension office in their county by Oct. 16. Applications are at www.wncagoptions.org.

The public comment period for a 1,000-page study of the effects of hydraulic fracturing — known as “fracking” — on drinking water is open through Aug. 28. 

The Environmental Protection Agency study concludes that fracking can affect drinking water, through either above-ground mechanisms such as spills and inadequate treatment of waste, or below-ground mechanisms such as substances moving into drinking water through the production well. However, the number of cases when fracking impacted water resources is small relative to the number of the fracked wells, the study concludes. That could be because it’s rare for fracking to affect water or due to other factors, such as insufficient pre- and post-fracking water quality data. 

“We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States,” the report says. 

Frack Free N.C., a group opposed to hydraulic fracturing, takes issue with that conclusion. 

“There is far too little known by EPA and scientists to say that there aren’t ‘widespread, systemic impacts,’” the group said in a press release. 

The report is online at cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/hfstudy/recordisplay.cfm?deid=244651. 

Comments can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with Docket number EPA-HQ-OA-2015-0245” in the subject line. The deadline is Aug. 28.

A talk on the migration of monarch butterflies at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Highlands Nature Center will close out the Zahner Conservation Lecture Series in Highlands for the year.

A student-conducted energy audit of Western Carolina University won first place at the Appalachian Energy Summit in Boone, marking the third year in a row WCU students took the top prize. 

The team included 18 students, who undertook the project as their environmental science capstone project. The submission, “Evaluating Sustainability of Purchasing Practices at Western Carolina University,” measured and evaluated energy costs — both direct and indirect — of buying and using resources such as water, electricity, office supplies, electronics and fuel. 

“The research took about a year to complete,” said Julia Robinson, one of the project presenters. “We began it as a sustainability audit of WCU’s campus and then during the spring semester, we expanded on the research where we focused mainly on the indirect energy consumption occurring on our campus.”

Another WCU team also presented at the summit, examining the challenges of converting solar power to usable form. 

The summit, part of the University of North Carolina Energy Leadership Challenge, has convened annually at Appalachian State University for the past four years. This year projects from 80 students, including 15 out-of-state colleges and universities, were presented under the theme “A New State of Energy.” 

Haywood Community College recently got word that its fish and wildlife management technology program has received five more years of accreditation from the North American Wildlife Technology Association. 

The only such associate degree program in North Carolina, the program earned praise from NAWTA’s executive director Jim Westerhold.

“You truly have an outstanding program at the college and should be commended for it,” Westerhold wrote in a letter to the college. 

Accreditation assures students they’re entering into a quality program and gives graduates an edge in the job market. 

The fish and wildlife program focuses on conservation and management of wilderness areas; management of wildlife reservations; and management of zoos and aquariums. It’s a hands-on curriculum that allows students to practice the skills they learn in the classroom and interact with professionals in the field.

Four new members will join the 18-member board of Land Trust for the Little Tennessee, a Franklin-based nonprofit focused on land and water conservation. 

• Dave Ackerman is a Boy Scout Leader, board member for Cherokee County Schools and owner of Andrews Veterinary Clinic.
• Joyce Dugan was the first female chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and is a retired educator. 
• Tom Hahn is a managing member of Hahn properties and lives in Franklin. 
• Rita Salain is a Macon County native and principal in Georgia-based Health Management Consultants. 

Hundreds of callers, online donors and private sponsors teamed up to raise $202,351 for work in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through the Friends the Smokies’ 21st annual telethon last week. It was the second year in a row telethon donations topped $200,000.

“It was heartwarming to see the support pledged by so many individuals during Friends of the Smokies’ telethon. Their gifts will have a lasting impact on the Smokies and we are truly thankful,” said Cassius Cash, superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The television program is over, but park supporters can still donate to the telethon online at www.friendsofthesmokies.org/donate. The money will help fund more than $800,000 of park needs this year, including black bears management, programs for school children and preservation of historic buildings. 

Stocking will resume in North Carolina’s hatchery-supported trout waters now that testing for whirling disease in fish raised at Marion and Brevard fish hatcheries has come back negative. 

Stocking had halted after the disease was confirmed in rainbow trout collected from the Watauga River near Foscoe in late July — the first occurrence of whirling disease in North Carolina. Caused by a parasite, whirling disease is often fatal to juvenile fish and can severely impact adult fish’s chance of competitive success in the environment, but it does not affect people or pets. 

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will resume stocking but will not retroactively stock locations that did not receive fish during the testing period, due to drought conditions and concerns of high water temperature there.  

Biologists will continue to test waters in the Watauga River basin to determine the extent of the disease’s spread, with results expected within two weeks. 

Report observations of fish with deformities or strange swimming behaviors, as well as fish with rice-like gill lice attached to their gills, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Budding fly tyers looking to get beyond the basics may enjoy a second-level fly-tying class at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, offered 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 29 at the center.

A small study on Satulah Mountain near Highlands hopes to shed light on what might be responsible for poor reproduction in a pair of rare species.

An orientation for volunteers who’d like to tell visitors about the history of Mingus Mill in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31, at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

The Cowee Pottery School in Franklin, an emerging nonprofit outlet for people of all ages wanting to play in clay, has announced its September pottery options.

Students are given an opportunity to learn to create beautiful objects, both functional and nonfunctional, in an atmosphere of both fun and productivity.

• Lydia Patillo will teach on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from Sept. 1-29. Students will learn to center, throw, trim and glaze a variety of forms.

• Doug Hubbs will also teach a daytime wheel class on Friday mornings from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. from Sept. 11-Oct. 2. Students will start out with salsa bowls, move to salad bowls and finish their throwing experience with at least one serving bowl. They will then glaze all their bowls.

• Hank Shuler is scheduled to teach three hand building classes in September. These include a Sunday afternoon class called Advanced Doowhockers, which means a variety of thingy-ma-bobs. No experience is required to design and complete a number of projects on lazy Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 13-27. On Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 2-30 (skipping Sept. 9), Shuler will teach a ceramic box class. Salt boxes, key boxes, earring boxes, boxes for all occasions.  Students will hand build a variety of boxes for several uses. On Thursday afternoons, Shuler teaches Hand Building for Gifts. The emphasis will be on student selected projects and functional items to be passed on as gifts.

• Maria Greene will teach a class designed to bring parents, grandparents and aunts together with a child or children to participate in a class where everyone enjoys the pleasure of working with clay. This Wednesday evening class will meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. from Sept. 2-30 (skipping Sept. 23). 

• On Monday evenings, Molly Suminski will teach a multi-generational class as well entitled Kids Play for All Ages. Both the children and their accompanying adults will have a blast in this hand building class. The class meets from 4 to 5:30 p.m., Sept. 5-26.

The registration fee for each class is $7 per meeting hour per student plus the cost of clay at $17 per 25 pounds. Included in the clay cost is glazes and multiple kiln firings. Class registration fees range from $42 for 6 hours to $84 for 12 hours.

www.coweepotteryschool.org or 828.524.7690 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

An exhibition of works by photographer Cathryn Griffin will be on display through Friday, Sept. 25, in the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University.

Great Smoky Mountains Association’s “Carroll Best and the White Oak String Band” has been named among the best of the year by earning an award nomination in the International Bluegrass Music Association’s annual competition.

The 14th annual RailFest will be held Sept. 5-6 at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad depot in Bryson City.

Legendary rock act The Steve Miller Band will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, at Harrah’s Cherokee.

By Katie Reeder • SMN Intern

With evolving regulations and a complicated system of reporting, there is no end in sight for the work university officials are doing to put a stop to sexual violence on campus.

A month after the sudden death of Maggie Valley Mayor Ron DeSimone, longtime alderwoman Saralyn Price has decided to seek the mayor’s seat as a write-in candidate in the fall election.

Question: What is acetic acid and is it bad for me?

Answer: Acetic acid…. sounds like one of those scary chemical ingredients that fearmongers warn you to avoid. If you were to inhale acetic acid it could cause your eyes to become irritated, you’d feel a burning sensation in your nose, you might feel congestion and a sore throat.

The 2014 IBMA “Entertainer of the Year” Balsam Range (bluegrass/gospel) will perform during the open house and barbecue on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Balsam-Willets-Ochre Hill Volunteer Fire Department on Mount Pleasant Church Road in Sylva. 

Barbecue begins at 3 p.m., with Balsam Range at 6 p.m. There will also be live music from the Trinity River Band. Barbecue is $10 per person, which includes dessert and drinks. Kids ages 12 and under are $6. 

Acclaimed actress Barbara Bates Smith will bring her performance of “Granny D” to North Carolina NAACP President Reverend Barber at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Harris Chapel A.M.E. Zion in Canton.

The Open Air Indian Art Market will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual in Cherokee.

The Haywood County Fair will be held through Aug. 31 at the Haywood County Fairground in Lake Junaluska.

Rock legend Joan Jett & The Blackhearts will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

Acclaimed bluegrass act Balsam Range recently received eight nominations by the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Country music stars Marty Stuart and Connie Smith will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

To the Editor:

The August 17 Town of Waynesville Planning Board meeting provided first-time meeting participants a crash course in the government planning process. To the credit of the board, its chair and town staff, the special-use permit hearing for the proposed Shining Rock Classical Academy charter school was managed professionally and largely courteously.  This despite the highly personal and emotionally charged nature of the proceedings.  

As a meeting rookie, I was particularly struck by three aspects of the proceeding which I feel deserve more attention from town leadership and area residents. Since one of the options afforded the proponents given the negative result of this meeting is a re-submission of its request, it is important that these issues are considered. 

Traffic and safety are inextricably linked

The planning board is charged to make its special use determination based on six criteria. Two of the six, adequate means to deal with traffic and protection of public safety, are inextricably linked. The board was presented with a request in which the attention to implications on local traffic were not adequately researched. While significant time was invested in consideration of entry to the property (this analysis hastily provided just in time for meeting but not contained in the initial submission), little preparation or analysis was provided related to the access from U.S. 276.  The dangerous curves of the two roadways in question, proximity of two intersections, and high volume of traffic already present at this site were treated by proponents as minor details that could easily be addressed through the creation of phantom turn lanes.  

In their haste to meet a self-determined deadline, proponents have placed the planning board in the untenable position of assessing the overall impact on the public without the necessary information. Further, if in the end a plan is provided that somehow addresses the complicated, dangerous traffic environment, the school opening should not be allowed until the necessary traffic improvements are completed, not merely planned. 

The town has unfairly tasked the planning board

I was surprised and dismayed to learn that, at least in regards to special use school projects, the town has a byzantine, dangerously flawed planning process. The planning board was tasked with evaluating a woefully incomplete proposal. The flaws within the submission wasted the town staff’s time, the board’s time and the time of citizens forced to endure the hours it took to recognize the deficiencies. Town staff should be empowered to set a standard that requires special use school projects proponents to adequately address the six criteria prior to consideration by the board. The rushed and incomplete nature of this submission placed an unfair burden on the board.

The appointed members of the planning board should not be placed in the position of final determination of issues that impact citizens lives at this level. By design, the special use process for school projects unfairly limits citizen input. Decisions of this magnitude should be reserved for elected officials whose decisions are subject to voter review. Under the current process, the town board inexplicably retains authority over elements of this proposal, e.g. extension of sewer and water access, while delegating more sensitive and community impactful elements, e.g. location of the school campus. Leave final authority to elected officials who can be held accountable for the full impact of their decisions.

A righteous cause can lead to indifference to thers

The proponents of the Shining Rock are passionate about their school and their mission. One can only assume that it is this passion that has led to their apparent indifference to safety and community concerns. The degree to which their paid spokesperson artfully attempted to minimize the concerns of local residents and the future costs necessary to legitimize the site was disappointing to witness. There was no evidence that alternative sites which may not carry the burden of safety and infrastructure costs associated with this site have been evaluated. The state legislature in its wisdom has empowered groups like this to pursue their passion with little regard to local citizens or our tax dollars.

The planning board should be applauded for its attention and service. Hopefully they will be spared this experience in the future.

Dale A. Rehkamp

Waynesville

To the Editor:

In Man for Himself, Erich Fromm gave us this valuable observation. He wrote, “Because of the fact that faith and power are mutually exclusive, all religious and political systems which are originally built on rational faith become corrupt and eventually lose what strength they have if they rely on power or even ally themselves with it.”

This seems like such a dire warning to modern-day Christians who appear to be intent on weaving their particular doctrines into our national legal system. Evidence is mounting that many politicians are using highly questionable tactics to secure public monies to advance their religious/political beliefs. Pursuing public money generated by the North Carolina Lottery as well as other tax money for school vouchers to attend private and religious schools is one glaring example of slick political/religious dealing.

Does this religious/political activity suggest that many Christians are now out on the moral and ethical slippery slope? If so, will they come to their senses and retreat? Or, will they slide on down the slope, thereby corrupting their faith as well as its potential influence for all people? Could religious/political activity eventually result in private and Christian schools having to declare themselves as actual political bodies and, therefore, be required to pay taxes as such?  

Religious institutions are losing membership. Church attendance figures are dropping, especially among young people. Does anyone know if there is any cause-effect relationship in these two trends and religious/political activity? Didn’t Jesus Christ say something worth remembering about money changers in the temple? 

Sturgill Simpson sang, ”When you play with the devil you know you’re gonna get the horn.”

Dave Waldrop

Webster

Driven crazy by the barking dogs of neighbors, Judy West says she is pulling up her life-long stakes in Haywood County and abandoning her farm, but not without sounding a warning to her fellow county residents: it could happen to you one day, too.

Jackson County is looking for the public’s help with an ongoing audit of its Permitting and Code Enforcement Department.

The audit, which commissioners ordered in response to questions that surfaced earlier this year about whether the department was carrying out the responsibilities assigned to it, looks particularly at the relationship between permitting and code enforcement and the planning department. The permitting office is a relatively new creation, established in 2012 when it was split off from the planning office. Thus the two offices and their responsibilities are somewhat intertwined. 

Benchmark Planning, the company performing the audit, is using a survey as part of its evaluation and wants input from anybody who has had contact with either the planning or the permitting department. 

In addition to the survey, Benchmark’s audit — for which it will receive a flat $15,350 fee — will include a review of the departments’ structure, workflow, software system, reporting requirements and staff training. 

The survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/jacksoncountycustomer or through a link on the county’s homepage, www.jacksonnc.org. All survey responses should be completed by Saturday, Aug. 29.

A rehabilitation project for the aging amphitheater at Mount Pisgah Campground will get some funding thanks to a fundraising ride by the Asheville BMW Riders. 

Earlier this year, a plan to repave the amphitheater, replace sagging seating and upgrade the electrical system was chosen as a Centennial Challenge project, a program that provides matching federal funds for selected initiatives in conjunction with the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary in 2016. The club’s $6,500 donation will be doubled to more than $13,000. 

The group raised the money at the Blue Ridge High Pass Boogie. The spring motorcycle endurance challenge, now in its second year, raises funds for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. Last year’s event raised money to help finish building bathrooms and an expanded parking lot at Graveyard Fields, located at milepost 418 on the Haywood-Transylvania county line. 

A new parasite has been confirmed on rainbow trout collected from the West Fork Pigeon River in Haywood County, as well as Watauga County’s Boone Fork Creek and Watauga River. 

The parasite, gill lice, is a tiny, crustacean that attaches to a fish’s gills, impeding the fish’s ability to breathe. Most fish can tolerate a moderate infestation, but for some fish — especially those suffering from other environmental stressors — the infestation can prove fatal. Impacts to local trout populations can be devastating.

Gill lice were found in North Carolina for the first time in 2014, when they were discovered on brook trout in the Cullasaja River watershed in Macon County. The creatures confirmed this month, however, are a different species within the same genus as the one previously found in Macon. The species found in Macon County affects only brook trout, while the recently confirmed species is known to infect rainbow trout and kokanee salmon. Nantahala Lake in Clay and Macon counties is the only place in North Carolina where kokanee salmon live. 

The discovery of new gill lice infestations comes on the heels of whirling disease being confirmed on rainbow trout collected from the Watauga River near Foscoe. Whirling disease is caused by a parasite and damages the nerves and cartilage of affected species. Symptoms can lead to death by making fish more susceptible to predation and increasing the difficulty of finding food. 

To prevent the spread of invasive pests, anglers should:

• Remove any visible organic debris before transporting equipment. 
• Remove water from equipment before transport. 
• Clean and dry anything that comes into contact with water. 
• Never move fish from one body of water to another. 

www.ncwildlife.org/Fishing/WhirlingDisease/AnglerGearCare.aspx 

A fundraising broadcast to support Friends of the Smokies will air 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, on WLOS Channel 13. 

The 21st annual Friends Across the Mountains Telethon — the only telethon to support a national park — will benefit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Over the past two decades, the event as raised more than $3 million, pulling in more than $200,000 last year alone. 

“As we celebrate the 99th year of the National Park Service and look ahead to its centennial in 2016, support from our partners at Friends of the Smokies is more important than ever,” said park Superintendent Cassius Cash, who will appear during the broadcast.

The broadcast will highlight the $880,000 worth of park projects Friends of the Smokies is funding this year. Current efforts include rehabilitation of the Alum Cave Trail by the Trails Forever crew, ongoing suppression of the hemlock woolly adelgid and other invasive pests, supporting black bear and elk management and funding for Parks as Classrooms environmental education programs for more than 18,000 students.

The telethon is sponsored by Mast General Store among others.

Donate online anytime at www.friendsofthesmokies.org, call the hotline during the broadcast or call 828.452.0720 to request a mailed donation form.

A new audio tour for the Mountain Farm Museum at Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee will give visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a trip back in time.

Visitation has been strong in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this year, with numbers for the first six months of 2015 up 8 percent over last year.

Ever looked at a six-legged creature and thought of dinner? A program by “bug chef” Zack Lemann will explore the possibilities at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, at The Village Green Commons in Cashiers.

A paddle tour of Lake Junaluska will tell the history of the 200-acre lake and information about the ecosystems contained within it from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30.

Dozens of hunters snared in the sweeping undercover bear poaching investigation known as Operation Something Bruin have refused to take their licks quietly, and continue to kick up dust two-and-a-half-years later.

Wildlife officers adopted fake identities to infiltrate bear hunting circles. They hoped to expose the black market for bear gallbladders, illegal hunting in national parks and bear sanctuaries, unethical tactics by hunting guides for hire and rouge baiting and trapping of bears.

I really don’t get hungry between meals… do I really need to snack?

Answer: There is no rule that says you need to snack. 

To the editor:

July 29 Bernie Sanders spoke to the entire country using the Internet. It was an incredible event. Our tiny group of Bernie supporters suddenly exploded, in much the same way support for Bernie has exploded all over the country. The tiny town of Sylva had two locations participating with a total of close to 70 people showing interest.  

And it was a diverse group of people. The oldest member at our event was in his 90s and retired from NASA. And we had a group of teenagers who were excited to get their hands on voter registration forms so they could vote for Bernie, now that their 18th birthdays were getting close. We had people from Highlands and from Franklin schedule their own house parties to support Bernie.  

What we did not have at the event was the media. We know that major corporations own the media and are suppressing information about Bernie Sanders. But we didn’t even have the local newspapers report on the event, and for this I am very disappointed.

All over this country crowds have been gathering to hear him speak and support him. A favorite saying among Bernie supporters has become, “Beware Hillary, objects in rearview mirror are closer than they appear.” He is behind Hillary, now, but only single digit percentages. He cannot be bought. His donors are not big corporations; they are people like you and I.  

If you are not hearing awesomely good things about Bernie Sanders then you are watching too much corporate television. Check out social media and you will hear about nothing else but Bernie Sanders for president.

Bernie Sanders will be in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 21 for the people who can’t wait to see if he gets to Asheville. Plans are being made to bring him to Asheville in September.  

Connie Jean Conklin

Dillsboro

To the Editor:

Now Democrats have once again dredged up the fabricated notion that Republicans are waging a war on women. That claim is as old and worn as Hillary Clinton, the leading Democrat candidate for President.

What we do have is a war on babies that is strongly supported by Democrat leaders. As soon as the Planned Parenthood baby parts sale was revealed, Democrat leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, Debbie Wasserman and Harry Reid and most Democrats throughout the country jumped in to support Planned Parenthood funding by taxpayers.

Republican leaders, including every presidential candidate on the debate stage on Aug. 6, call for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion mill in the U.S., and for diverting those funds to clinics that are truly providing health services to women.

In defense of their position, abortion supporters say a fetus has no personhood … I guess that means abortion does not murder a human life. But then, why are the aborted baby parts and even the little cadavers suitable for human scientific research? Something about that does not compute.

Abortion, the war on babies, is a dark and troubling practice in our society. That practice becomes barbaric when harvesting baby parts for sale is a byproduct of what is purported to be a women’s right to control her body. Do those who have abortions even know what happens to the body of life taken from them? Republican leaders who support withholding taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood are on the right side of this issue.

Carol Adams

Glenville 

To the Editor:

The controversy in South Carolina revolving around the Confederate Flag has made me think about my Southern heritage. I grew up in Georgia and spent most of my working life in South Carolina. The rationale offered by those who support prominent display of the flag is to honor their Southern heritage and their ancestors who fought in the Civil War.    Over 600,000 Americans died in that war, more than any other war in American history. This war was indeed about states’ rights — states ensuring the right of landowners to not only own the land, but to enslave other human beings to work that land. That’s it! If that’s the heritage we’re supposed to be celebrating with the flag, I’ll pass.

Similarly, characteristics such as high levels of poverty, poor education and ill health that characterize many of the states of the old Confederacy are part of the legacy, but hardly worth honoring or celebrating. That being said, I choose to live in the South and there are many things worth celebrating. 

Maybe a new flag is in order that recognizes those things positive about the South. One element of the flag would celebrate food — maybe grits and barbecue. Another element would certainly be music. Jazz and bluegrass are have a uniquely southern heritage and should be represented. The literature from southern authors such as William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Harper Lee and many others should also be symbolized in such a flag. Designing such a flag would be worthy endeavor to acknowledge things worth honoring that are uniquely Southern.

Those individuals who wish to fly the Confederate flag should clearly have that right. It is not a sign of honor, but it does clearly mark those who choose to exercise that right — sort of like a mark of Cain.

John Gladden

Franklin

To the Editor:

Every person who pays taxes in Haywood County needs to be aware of, and pay attention to, the creation of Shining Rock Classical Academy, a charter, public school about to begin classes in our community. The school’s application to become a charter school reveals that over a half-million dollars of Haywood County “local per pupil funds” will be transferred from our public schools to the charter school. Nearly $1.5 million more are expected from the state of North Carolina. Thus, $2 million of tax monies paid by individuals are going to this school for its first year.  The school’s own revenue projection anticipates that figure will grow to exceed $3 million by 2019.

You and I have absolutely no say in how this school is run. There is not an elected school board that we, as voters, can support or replace. There was no public bond vote so that you and I could decide whether to fund this new school or not. If you want an example of taxation without representation, there it is. 

Shining Rock is a Challenge Foundation sponsored school. Go online and see for yourself the lack of educational background on the national board. There is not ONE person who was an educator before becoming a board member. One of the five members is the Director of Higher Education at the Charles Koch Foundation and never taught in a classroom. One member is, currently, the headmaster of Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy.  He made the leap from being a president of a commodity trading firm to headmaster. Rev. William Steinbrock is on the board and was the founder of the Challenge Foundation. The last two members are an entrepreneur with a degree in agricultural economics and a man who is a partner in a large insurance firm.

Surely our local school, however, will be headed by an appropriately qualified professional. Sadly, no. School Director Mr. Ben Butler states, on the school’s website, that “… I began teaching at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in 2003 after CAREERS (emphasis supplied) in print journalism and commercial photography.” He has a four-year degree in English and, to the best of my knowledge, became a teacher through the lateral transfer program, not by being an accredited teacher. He is now the person charged with overseeing the hiring of all the teachers and staff for Shining Rock. 

Lastly, take the time to review the Challenge Foundation’s proposed curriculum. In the school’s application to the state of North Carolina it is stated that Shining Rock’s intent is that all classes will be taught at the honors level or above. That may be a worthy target, but does that reflect any public school that you have heard of? What will happen to those students who are in need of help to simply get to average or those who have learning disabilities? What about those students who will struggle until they gain a mastery of English? Public schools are a shining example of democracy in action as every student is taken in with the goal of helping each student reach his or her potential. We who pay the taxes have oversight and control over how our monies are spent for educating our fellow citizens. At least we used to. 

Bob Clark

Waynesville