The potential effects of climate change on the animals — salamanders in particular — of the Appalachian Mountains will be the topic of discussion at a lecture in Highlands

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking the public to help document observations of nine-banded armadillos, as the bony-plated mammals expand their range in this state.

The $20.6 billion biennial budget recently approved by the N.C. General Assembly includes more than $1.4 million for expansion of Western Carolina University’s undergraduate engineering program to Biltmore Park.

State appropriations include $698,962 for engineering program start-up costs and laboratory equipment at WCU’s Biltmore Park location, and $719,844 in recurring funds to cover faculty positions and ongoing operations.

The expanded engineering program is expected to begin at Biltmore Park in the fall of 2014.

Western Carolina began offering the Bachelor of Science degree in engineering last fall at its campus in Cullowhee as a new stand-alone program. The university partnered with UNC Charlotte to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from 2004 until 2012.

www.kimmel.wcu.edu or 828.227.7368.

Representatives from the firms assisting Western Carolina University in drafting a comprehensive master plan that will guide campus development and improvements in the years ahead will return from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.

The consultants are expected to complete a preliminary report and plan by early September, followed by a series of campus and community presentations for reaction in October and November. After revisions based on that feedback, the final master plan should be ready for consideration by the WCU Board of Trustees at its meeting in December. Refreshments will be served, and community members can arrive at any point during the event to offer feedback.

www.masterplanning.wcu.edu.

To the Editor:

When I was told I had cancer, I wondered what caused it. I had always been very healthy, so the diagnosis was a complete surprise. Now I am urging my friends, family, and neighbors to help with a study to learn more about the causes of cancer. 

Folks in Haywood County have a chance to join the American Cancer Society in a nationwide study to investigate the causes of cancer. Cancer Prevention Study 3 is coming to Haywood County on Sept. 17-18 at the Haywood Health and Fitness Center through a collaboration with Medwest-Haywood. Residents of our area have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to participate.  

I encourage all eligible men and women in our community to consider taking part in this important study. Individuals between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer and who are willing to make a long-term commitment to the study are able to schedule an appointment. It only takes 30 minutes of your time to enroll. And the follow-up surveys, every two to five years, take about half an hour. 

I also call on my fellow cancer survivors to spread the word by asking friends and family to enroll in your honor. 

Enrollment is simple. Visit the website to make your appointment at www.cps3haywoodnc.org or call toll free 1.888.604.5888. 

This study has the potential to help prevent cancer for our children and grandchildren.

Angie Ford 

Clyde

To the Editor:

Referencing the article of two weeks ago about the Jake brakes in Waynesville and in reply to last week’s letter from Gino Deneef of Franklin, I would first like to say that this article was about a local law in Waynesville, not Franklin. Not intentionally being rude, but Mr. Deneef, please mind your own town’s laws. There are several in Franklin that need to be addressed.

More importantly, we know what the Jake brakes are used for. Coming from a family of truckers, one having recently totaled an 18-wheeler in the Pigeon River Gorge, I understand the need for them in these mountains. However, it is the places specifically pointed out in Waynesville that need attention to the ongoing, awful noise from these trucks: Allens Creek and Russ Avenue.

Allens Creek is a flat road from beginning to end and these brakes should not even have to be used. The speed of the dump trucks is what needs to be regulated on this road. 

As for Russ Avenue, the new law is speaking specifically to the lower end after passing K-Mart towards Lake Junaluska. I live in an apartment directly bordering Russ Avenue and the noise at all hours of the day and night is ridiculous. I know they are carrying a heavy load, but slow the trucks down a bit before topping that wee hill. Besides, there are two signal lights at the foot of the small incline and these truckers know this; they are the same companies and rigs all day, all week long.

I support the change in the law. Once the signs are placed it will be better. The word is already out about the change and it has been pleasing to the ear as of late.

Brian Harkins

Waynesville

To the Editor:

I’ve had several citiznes ask me why I voted against this or that. It’s time to clear the air and let you folks know all the other stuff that goes on.  

First off, I do try to get along with my fellow commissioners so long as I feel it’s good for the taxpayers! I have tried three years in a row to lower our property tax rate. Two years in a row I voted for the budgets. Our budgets are loaded with numbers and details which are sometimes tricky to get a handle on. However, in this year’s budget here’s just a few of the items I had problems with.  

1) I saw in our budget one department getting more than a $200,000 raise for their budget over and above what we already gave them throughout the year. That same department then got thousands of dollars in pay raises while most county employees only got a 2 percent raise. 

2) The Southwestern Commission is a group who supports land-use regulations. I don’t. They get thousands of your tax dollars in this budget. I simply could not support that.  

3) Same goes for a lobbying group in Raleigh that just recently found out where Macon County was. They get thousands of dollars of your tax money in the budget. What does Macon County get out of that? 

4) There was $150,000 in the budget to buy the land (1.5 acres) in Highlands for a soccer field.  I asked how much it was going to cost total to complete project but never got an answer. I also asked what will it cost to take care of that underground spring? Again, I was ignored and never got the answers so I didn’t vote for it.  

 5) I was led to believe the Parker Meadows Ballpark would cost the county around $1 million to complete. I was in favor of that and voted for it. On the day we were scheduled for a due diligence vote, all of a sudden the figure ballooned to upwards of a potential $4.9 million. I could not see spending that much taxpayer money in this economy. Not to mention I think we overpaid for the land.

6) Although this school budget problem wasn’t caused by the commissioners, we were the ones thrown under the bus for their past management. It resulted in Macon County taxpayers paying over a million dollars more in the budget. Don’t get me wrong, I have always stood for education and teachers in our county. 

7) That budget also had way over $100,000 to fund the old Cowee School.  

 A couple weeks ago I read another uninformed person’s letter to the editor saying we needed to keep the county pay scale up to minimum pay like other nearby counties. Actually, I would support targeted pay raises that would accomplish just that; but, sorry friend, that was not the problem.  

 That pay study was not compared to our nearby counties. It was compared to three counties near the coast. One case in point;  Watauga County up near Virginia, which has 239 employees and 69,000 citizens, compared to Macon County that has about 418 employees and 35,000 citizens more or less. Do the math. Watauga has twice the population and half the employees. This is no comparison. Another was Transylvania County near Asheville. Asheville is urban, which again, is not a good comparison. None of these comparisons even included the fringe benefits Macon County pays, which were higher than all the others. I also asked for a comparison to Cherokee, Swain, Jackson, Clay, Rabun and Graham counties but never got it probably because that wouldn’t fit the plan either. 

 We are going to be confronted with a $300,000 or more proposal to widen the Macon County Airport runway. I voted last year for $230,000 as part of a grant to repave it. I was told about all the money this airport makes annually. If it makes all this money, why are we asked every year to fund $200,000 or more?

 These are only a few of the reasons I vote the way I do. I am not running down my fellow commissioners for how they vote.  However, I didn’t pledge to the citizens to follow a big spending plan. I said I would be conservative and that is how I have voted. 

I know some don’t worry about the taxpayer. They just want us commissioners to spend. Sorry, I am not going back on my word. It’s hard sometimes to be a true conservative who looks out for the taxpayers’ money with an economy in the ditch and when everyone else seems to be looking for ways to spend it. I wish more folks would attend meetings and get the facts before speaking.  If you can’t make the meetings then at least watch them on video at www.thunderpigblog.blogspot.com/. That way you can at least see and hear most of what happens. I hope this helps you all see just a few of the things that go on that you don’t always read about in the newspapers.  

Commissioner Ron Haven

Macon County

To the Editor:

On Monday this first week of August, a group of people showed up in Raleigh complaining about teachers’ pay and the budget for the coming school year. Does anyone believe that Gov. Pat McCrory has a “stash” of money hidden in Raleigh somewhere he can use to increase pay for teachers or any other state employee? 

We all know that teachers deserve more money, but how do we solve the problem? We have 1.7 million people in North Carolina on food stamps, up from 1.6 million the year before. Nationally food stamp use has gone up from 17.7 million people in 2006 to 46.6 million now. These numbers came from the Asheville Citizens Sunday Paper. 

Our teachers are ranked in the bottom of the barrel nationally as far as pay goes. Our state’s tax rates have been the big reason these numbers are so high. Gov. McCrory and the Republicans have just redone our state tax rates to make us a more business-friendly state. We are now listed as one of the more friendly states to expand an existing business or start a new business. Adding new businesses and helping the unemployed find work is the key to rebuilding our state’s economy. Adding tens of thousands of new taxpayers to our employment rolls is the only way to build up our state’s income. When our state’s income goes up then teacher pay will follow.    

Like Detroit, Gov. Beverly Perdue kept borrowing money from the U.S. Treasury to balance the budget. The Republicans are now forced to pay that money back along with the interest. Perhaps the people who went to Raleigh think the Republicans should keep borrowing money like Gov. Perdue did. That would be a grave mistake. 

Gov. McCrory has put North Carolina on the path to economic recovery. It is always painful to do the right thing. We should be grateful our governor and his legislators have the guts to do the right thing for our state.    

Jim Mueller

Glenville

The Carolinas Region, Mountain Area of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) is hosting the 5th annual People’s Choice Concours, In Den Bergen, Aug. 9-11, at The Waynesville Inn Golf Resort and Spa.

More than 70 Porsches are expected at this fun-filled, low-key event. The primary sponsor is Harmony Motors, the local Porsche Audi VW dealership in Asheville. Associate sponsor is Stuttgart Motorwerks, an independent Porsche specialist in Hendersonville and Jan Davis Tire Store, a locally owned and family operated full service tire and underbody store in Asheville.

The People’s Choice Concours will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, with Porsches displayed on the number one fairway of the Carolina course in Waynesville. The event is open to the public but for non-registered participants PCA requests a donation to Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation. There will be a raffle of numerous items following the PCA dinner on Saturday night that will also benefit Sarge’s. Sarge’s volunteers will bring some of their foster dogs available for adoption to the Inn.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.sargeandfriends.org or 828.246.9050.

Tickets for the Western Carolina University Arts and Cultural Events Performance Series will go on sale Tuesday, Aug. 6.

“Wood Day,” an annual celebration of wood crafts, will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, in the Folk Art Center at Milepost 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway east of Asheville.

Country singer Clint Black will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

Black has long been heralded as one of country music’s brightest stars. Black’s many talents have enabled him to transcend genres to become one of the most successful artists in all the music industry. To date, Black has written, recorded and released more than 100 songs, a benchmark in any artist’s career. His 1989 critical and fan favorite debut, “Killin’ Time,” was awarded triple platinum and named one of the greatest 100 albums by Country Music Television. With more than 20 million albums sold worldwide, Black’s continued success can be attributed in part to his deep sense of country music traditions and his humble gratitude for being an important part of music history.

Tickets are $35, $45 and $55.

www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

The 5th annual Mountain High BBQ Festival and Car Show will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 9 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 10, at the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center in Frankin.

Country singer Trace Adkins performs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at Harrah’s Cherokee.

By Michael Beadle

Cherokee now has a biodiesel gas pump at its filling station to fuel up Tribal transit and maintenance vehicles as well as buses from the Cherokee Boys Club.

Charles Taylor: My opponent has made numerous allegations about my record on the federal minimum wage, but the fact is that I have supported — and will continue to support — a fair federal minimum wage.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Reviews on the on the Zerve.com Web site all rave about Mountain Glides’ Segway tours of the Macon County Greenway.

By Margene Roper • Guest Columnist

Around 7:30 this evening my telephone rang and I rushed into the house from grilling steaks to answer it. A voice on the other end said “Health Shuler and his “liberal” followers (or cronies, or whatever, I forget ... my steak burned) want you to believe that Charles Taylor is not tough on amnesty (or something like that).” I hung the phone up.

Each time the president and Congress choose a new leader for the National Park Service, those of us in Western North Carolina are left to hope for the best. If the right leader with the right political skills comes along, perhaps they will be able to address the chronic funding shortage facing America’s national treasures, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Most salamanders are born in the water as tadpoles. Later they grow legs and emerge onto land, albeit with a deference for soggy places. Hellbenders on the other hand live completely underwater. In fact, they’re a good candidate for Darwin’s long-sought fish with legs.

As a passel of high school interns tugged and squirmed their way into wetsuits along the edge of the Oconaluftee River last month, Park Ranger Susan Sachs — a seasoned salamander hunter — shared a few tricks of the trade.

More than 300 competitors converged on Tsali Recreation Area earlier this month for the 14th annual Tsali Challenge Triathlon, a 3-mile lake paddle, 4.5-mile trail run and a 12-mile mountain bike trail ride.

Illegal poaching of hellbenders, a gigantic prehistoric-looking salamander, has become so problematic scientists like Dr. Michael Freake are omitting data on their whereabouts from research papers.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

It’s late at night and Georgie is standing at the door waiting for Dave to come home. Her suitcase is packed. There’s a look of disgust mixed with anguish on her face.

By Chris Cooper

I have to admit — I really don’t know much about Kinky Friedman. I mean, most of us have certainly heard the name, but beyond what seems like the sheer novelty of being a Jewish country artist and the rather non PC nature of a few song titles (“Ride ‘Em Jew Boy” comes to mind) I can’t say I’ve ever even heard a Kinky Friedman song.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

In most rural small-town communities, local theater isn’t known for being particularly racy, daring, or even very good.

By Michael Beadle

Appalachian storyteller and musician Jerry Harmon will perform at Eaglenest in Maggie Valley for one special performance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Jackson County commission candidate Mark Jones, a Democrat, will face Republican Geoff Higginbotham this November in the only contested race for the county board.

Following the brutal shooting death of a Jackson County woman staying at a local shelter for battered women, District Attorney Mike Bonfoey met with representatives of domestic violence victim advocacy groups in the 30th Judicial District last week to discuss and implement actions enabling domestic violence shelters to improve security.

By Michael Beadle

“Where is Cold Mountain?”

Nearly a decade after Charles Frazier’s debut novel became an international success, folks still come to the area asking about the mountain that has become as much of a tourist icon as Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward Angel.

By Chris Cooper

It’s all too easy to dismiss the ‘80s as an era of day-glow clothes, poofy hair and painfully lame, glossy radio friendly “pop.” And thanks to the popularity of television shows like VH1’s “I Love the ‘80s,” a generation that did most of its growing up in the ‘90s now has nothing but the worst aspects of the previous decade to stare at and be glad they missed.

By Michael Beadle

It’s a gorgeous autumn afternoon in Asheville just a few days before author Charles Frazier begins an 11-city tour for his new book, Thirteen Moons.

By Michael Beadle

The world where artists create can often be a private place off limits to the general public.

If you do a lot of surfing on the Internet, you probably know that astonishing changes are taking place there. Almost every day, Web sites that were previously stiff and uninteresting are suddenly morphing into multi-media sites with color, graphics and sound. Here are my favorites this week!

Bob Cathey

Cathey worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 34 years in timber inventory and currently serves on the soil and water board. He has served on the school board and Haywood Community College Board.

Citing his candidacy for county commissioner, Macon County planning board chairman Ronnie Beale announced his resignation last Wednesday (Sept. 27) putting vice-chairman Larry Stenger in line for the job.

A survey conducted by the Bethel Community Club asked candidates for the Haywood County Board of Commissioners to weigh in on the controversial issue of running water and sewer lines to Bethel.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Prices at the gas pump began falling last month with the announcement that a new pocket of deep-sea oil had been found off the Gulf of Mexico. Locally, regular unleaded hit a mere $2.25 per gallon, or in some cases even less, such as in Maggie Valley where the new Quality Oil Co. station posted prices of $2.02.

The Jackson County Green Energy Park will celebrate the opening of Phase 1 of the park with an open house to be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Oct. 6.

Taylor: Each time we visit the gasoline pump, it is clear that the U.S. has become overly dependent on foreign sources of oil for our energy needs. While the previous Administration – joined by environmental extremists – refused to allow any increases in domestic energy production, we placed ourselves into the position of having to pay whatever price is demanded by OPEC’s greedy cartel.

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer

Macon County commissioner candidates fielded several questions about growth and the county’s future during a forum conducted by the League of Women Voters last Thursday night (Sept. 28).

By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist

Just over a month remains before voters make the decision who will rise and who will fall in the political races being run before us now. Many issues are bantered about, but absent from any great debate is this question: Who bears the burden of the corruption which spews from Raleigh like the foul contents of a broken sewer main?

The answer to the problem with Segways on the Little Tennessee Greenway in Franklin is not to enact an outright ban. Instead, a well thought out set of regulations to govern the who, when and how of such an operation seems a better answer.

School students who visited the Haywood County Fair last week learned all about bees at a traveling bee hive exhibit from the local North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service.

By Kathleen Lamont

Buying local produce enables you to:

• Eat fresher, better tasting, and healthier foods.

The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department will offer an old school, “wooden bat” softball league this summer.

The organizational meeting will be held at 7:30 pm. Monday, Aug. 12, at the Waynesville Recreation Center. The meeting is mandatory for all team representatives interested in entering a team in the league. The reps must bring a $100 non-refundable cash deposit to secure a team entry.

The wooden bat games will be on Monday and Wednesday nights at the Vance Street field and or the recreation park field. The final payment meeting is scheduled for Aug. 19. The entry fee will depend on the number of teams entered. 

828.456.2030 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

A retired Western Carolina University professor and Jackson County environmentalist has been given top honors for his work in education and advocacy.

The N.C. Wildlife Federation has honored Dan Pittillo with the Environmental Educator of the Year award. Pittillo spent 50 years educating at the academic, regional, community and grassroots levels, and is still involved in environmental issues across the mountains.

The award is part of the Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards, (GCAA) an effort to honor individuals, governmental bodies, organizations and others who have exhibited commitment to conservation in North Carolina. The GCAA ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Embassy Suites in Cary.

Award winners are nominated by the residents of North Carolina and decided upon by a committee of scientists, environmental educators and conservation activists. Categories of achievement include wildlife conservation, water conservation, forestry, sportsmen and others. This is the 50th anniversary of the awards. 

This summer was no waste for teachers and students who enrolled in a Great Smoky Mountains Park program that put them on the front lines of park management.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have honored a Duke Energy scientist for his work in helping to restore aquatic species near the Dillsboro Dam.

Main Street Waynesville wasn’t the only place to get a spit and polish before visitors and performers from around the world arrived for Folkmoot USA.  The Richland Creek Garden Club, Waynesville’s first garden club, spruced up the Folkmoot Friendship Center gardens with new flowers, native plants and a good weeding.