By Joe Hooten

As I was barreling down Interstate 40, racing to make it to Asheville in time to see the fifth concert in a nine-show residency put on by the Smashing Pumpkins at one of the South’s finest venues, the Orange Peel, I hesitantly reached into my glove compartment to find my map. I slowly unfolded the aged paper with some lingering anxiety and felt compelled to double-check to see if my favorite mountain metropolis was still there.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Canceling the public hearing on the North Shore Road couldn’t shake the unwavering determination of almost 125 people who packed a Swain County courtroom Monday night to share their thoughts and opinions on the issue.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has known it needed a new visitors center on the North Carolina side of the park since the early 1980s. Finally, it appears the nation’s most-visited national park is going to get one, and the communities surrounding the park should be glad the time has finally come.

By Arthur Hancock • Guest Columnist

With 70 percent of Americans now disapproving of the way George W. Bush is doing his job, maybe a little soul-searching on the part of the now-disillusioned Bush supporter is in order. “How could I have ever voted for this guy?” seems a good starting point. More specific questions might include, “How could I have ever imagined Bush to be capable, honest, compassionate, Christian and in his right mind?”

By Michael Beadle

More acid rain and invasive insect pests. Fewer trout in mountain streams. More “code red” days with poor air quality and less visibility.

These are some of the dangers threatening the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if efforts aren’t made now to curb toxic chemicals from spewing into the earth’s atmosphere.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

A proposed project by Ingles to expand its Waynesville store and add a gas station suffered a setback after parts of it were soundly rejected by members of the Community Appearance Commission.

By David Curtis

The cows ate my corn. My corn is Silver Queen sweet corn. It’s an 80-day corn, which means that in approximately 80 days from the date you plant it your corn should be ready to pick and eat. That’s of course if the cows don’t beat you to it.

Guide to William Bartram’s Travels

There are guidebooks and then there are GUIDEBOOKS. If you’re a Bartram junkie as I have become, following the travels of America’s first great naturalist who came through Western North Carolina for a brief stint in the spring of 1775, you’ll find Brad Sanders’ book to be a modern-day treasure that takes you through the science, history and people of Bartram’s travels. With easy-to-follow maps, photographs, neatly organized biographies and well-written narratives, the book is a must for anyone who wants to learn more about the natural beauty of the Southeast from the Carolinas to Florida and east to Mississippi and Louisiana. At 371 pages, the book is a thoroughly researched supplement to Bartram’s Travels. You get a wonderful tour of the forests, lakes, historic homes and parks that dot the miles where Bartram passed through in his late 18th century travels.

By Chris Cooper

Finding a line between respecting the bluegrass form and tradition, while gently pushing its boundaries, is a tough row to hoe, for sure. Only a handful of groups are able to really pull this off — Mountain Heart and Railroad Earth make the list easily, the former’s effort from last year being one of the most enjoyable listens to come down the “newgrass” pipeline in a long while. But my money, and most people’s I’d imagine, is on the Steep Canyon Rangers, an almost unfairly talented band of regional players whose previous recording, One Dime At A Time, attached a veritable turbo-booster to their already rapidly climbing rocket to the very heights of the bluegrass elite.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Supporters of a 30-mile road through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that would fulfill a decades-old promise were thrilled last month when the Swain County commissioners agreed to hold the first-ever public hearing on the issue.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Haywood County commissioners last week put a halt to their bidding for a 22-acre tract of land in Jonathan Creek after opposing parties skyrocketed the price to more than $1 million.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Waynesville voters will have plenty of choices on their ballot for mayor and town board this fall in what is shaping up to be both an interesting and crowded race.

Competition for the Waynesville town board has ramped up significantly compared to the past two election cycles, which saw little opposition. There are a dozen candidates running for five seats. Candidates have come out of the woodwork to run for a variety of reasons.

By John Hood • Guest Columnist

The North Carolina General Assembly seems poised to enact a new $300 million tax increase on North Carolinians this year, even though the tax burden has risen nearly every year since 2001.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Hispanic culture has infused nearly every aspect of American life — from restaurants to bilingual education, its influence is impossible to ignore. Yet, much to their detriment, many businesses in Western North Carolina are ignoring the growing influence and prosperity of the Hispanic community.

• Bryson City recently conserved the old Lands Creek watershed, getting $1.5 million from the Clean Water trust fund to protect the 800-acre tract and $500,000 from a private donor. Bryson City’s conservation agreement allows hiking, hunting, fishing, picnicking, horseback riding and camping. It does not specifically mention mountain biking, but doesn’t outlaw it either.

By Marshall Frank

As of this writing, five presidential debates — three Republican and two Democratic — have been held, ostensibly offering the American people a chance at learning the positions of each candidate and to evaluate their presidential gravitas. This is one voter who is extremely disappointed. Here are 10 reasons why:

The voters of Forest Hills will get the chance to weigh in on their preference for mayor this fall after being trumped by a coin toss in the last election.

By Chris Cooper

It’s warm out, people are out wandering the streets later in the evening, guitars clang and drums echo off the building’s facades with each opening and closing of one bar’s doors whilst the occasional chime of a flat-top guitar lingers in the air above a deck at the other end of the street — ah, ‘tis the season for a new batch of local and regional artists to pass through Sylva, bearing gifts of DIY recordings and live music. Up this week is the delicate folk/pop of Hannah Levin, eccentric pop offerings from Dylan Gilbert and some finely crafted retro/roots/indie rock from Hickory’s Israel Darling.

A coin toss.

That’s what decided the race for mayor two years ago in the Jackson County town of Forest Hills. It was an election that featured an evenly divided electorate and ended with the kind of flair usually found in theaters. It was also a great example of just how close local elections can be, where in this case just one voter could have tipped the scale to one of the candidates.

There are two ways to hike to Pinnacle Peak, renowned for its 360-degree views from the Plott Balsams.

Option one: This route climbs steeply up the face of the mountain. Head north out of town on the Old Asheville Highway (the road that parallels Scotts Creek). Make a left on Fisher Creek Road a short distance out of town. The road gets rough and steep, but keep going until it dead-ends at the trail head.

Canton

Two weeks ago this Thursday my husband and I moved to Canton. Anyone who’s been in the area for any length of time and knows Canton for its reputed odor automatically reacts with surprise and a sense of almost compassion as they say, “Oh... Can you smell the mill?” In all honesty, no — we can’t. We’re upwind, on a bit of a hill and it’s only on the most overcast of days that we even get a whiff. This is despite the fact that we can see the mill just out the window and hear it at night when it seems to kick things up a notch. The mill churns along seemingly to say “Quick! Everyone’s asleep – make some paper, make some paper!” before returning to its day time pace and happily belching out steam like a cumulus cloud factory.

Cherokee Middle School students have been getting a dose of hands-on science in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this summer.

Students in the Cherokee Science Investigation camp highlighted some of the exciting biological research that is occurring in the Smokies. The camp allows students to work with park rangers and researchers in the park.

The steep slopes of the Fisher Creek watershed provided drinking water to the town of Sylva for many decades, from the 1920s until the early ‘90s. Spanning 1,100 acres on the Plott Balsams north of town, the watershed was off-limits to recreation during its days as a drinking water source.

I really don’t think we are as stupid as they think we are. Developers of commercial retail shopping centers have an unfounded hang up about planting trees in front of, or in the parking lot of, shopping centers being developed. Or in the case of the Ingles on Russ Avenue in Waynesville, incorporating the use of trees into the plans for a 16,000-square-foot proposed expansion.

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and John Warren will lead an Eco Tour to Timber Ridge, part of the Warren Estate conservation easement near Highlands, on Sept. 20. Eco tours are $35 for new friends of the land trust and include a guided tour, lunch and an HCLT membership.

The 15th annual Kids in the Creek program for Haywood County eighth-graders will be held Sept.17-19 at the Canton Recreation Park.

Trout fishermen from across the country will convene in Asheville this weekend for the Trout Unlimited annual conference Sept. 14-16.

Friday’s speakers and conference topics will focus on Trout Unlimited current initiatives and projects around the nation. Saturday will focus on major environmental issues facing the country that have implications for trout populations, with a primary focus on energy policy. Since trout need cool water to survive, global warming could affect some brook trout populations. Fracking and mining are also on the agenda.

To kick-off the conference on Thursday, a conservation tour will showcase success stories of brook trout restoration and watershed renewal.

The tour will venture to Graveyard Fields along the Blue Ridge Parkway, where a stem of the upper Pigeon hosts a healthy population of brook trout thanks to efforts to preserve the genetically-unique Southern Appalachian strain and restoration of native habitats. The tour will also stop at Lake Logan at the base of Cold Mountain in Haywood County, also a conservation success story, to enjoy a little fishing. On Wednesday, conference goers arriving early will take in some fly-fishing on local rivers, including a fishing trip on the Tuckasegee River in Jackson County and West Fork of the Pigeon in Haywood County. For more information on joining in on some or all of the programs, go to www.tu.org/events/2012-annual-meeting.

Farms across Western North Carolina will welcome the public to traipse through their fields, barns and greenhouses during the annual Farm Tour put on by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project Sept. 22-23.

The self-guided tour offers a chance for locals and visitors alike to learn how food grows, taste farm-fresh products, interact with farm animals, and meet the community’s food producers.

There are a whopping 35 farms on the tour in several counties. Along with the standard small vegetable farmers, there are several specialty farms, including apple orchards, vineyards, blueberry farms, organic meat, bee farms and herb gardens including Sunburst Trout in Haywood County.

Passes are $25 per carload in advance. For more information, go to www.asapconnections.org.

ASAP plans to launch a new local food app, entitled Appalachian Grown and modeled after their Local Food Guide, just before the big event. The app will connect folks with area farms and businesses that support local food.

Volunteers will rescue creeks and rivers from a tangle of accumulated trash that builds up along the banks and in the water during the upcoming Big Sweep. Now in its 25th year, all 50 states and more than 90 countries participate in the all-volunteer Big Sweep effort.

In Haywood County, the Big Sweep will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, along Richland Creek in Waynesville, led by Haywood Community College students in the Natural Resources Department and the Haywood Waterways Association.

Haywood Waterways is also coordinating volunteers to take on creeks and streams in their own neck of the woods that same day.

“Big Sweep is a great way to get involved with an event that has a huge impact on water quality in Haywood County and meet your Adopt-A-Stream commitment to do that yearly cleanup of your adopted waterway,” said Christine O’Brien, coordinator for Haywood Waterways.

To learn more about forming a Big Sweep team, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 828.226.8565.

To join the Richland Creek team led by HCC students, meet at 9 a.m. in the Bi-Lo’s Grocery Store parking lot off Russ Avenue to divide into teams. 828.627.4564.

• The Big Sweep in Jackson County will be Oct. 6 along the Tuckasegee River. 828.508.3377.

• The Big Sweep in Swain County will be Oct. 6. 828.488.8803.

• The Big Sweep in Macon County was held in August.

National Hunting and Fishing Day will be celebrated with family-oriented outdoor events at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 22.

Hands-on, interactive exhibits and demonstrations give participants a chance to try their own hand at fishing, outdoor cooking, archery and pellet rifle range.

It is one of several events statewide sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission that day.

Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education is located off U.S. 276 in Transylvania County, south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Free. 828.877.4423.

An outbreak of a disease spread by biting gnats has turned up deer populations in several foothill counties.

The adventure stories of several Jackson County residents is the subject of a new collection of exhibits and a program at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13 at the Jackson County Library in Sylva.

The inaugural Tuckasegee River Festival — “Fiddler on the River” — is sponsored by the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River and will be held from 2-6 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the Dillsboro Inn.

Surrounded by three river front parks, the Dillsboro Inn will serve as the base camp for viewing, learning and celebrating the redevelopment of the Tuckasegee Dam removal. The family oriented event will begin with a hot dog picnic lunch ($5 a plate) and bake sale benefit/WATR membership drive. There will also be optional hikes on the Discovery Trails at Monteith Farmstead Park and then a concert by the New Broad River Band from Asheville.

The Tuckasegee River watershed supplies the drinking water and ecosystem foundation for Swain and Jackson counties. WATR is a grassroots organization working to improve the water quality and habitat of the Tuckasegee River Basin.  

“What happens upstream, downstream and all around the watershed impacts all of us directly,” says WATR Executive Director Roger Clapp.

WATR’s three focus areas are education, stewardship and recreation. The new riverfront parks and the Monteith Homestead total 30 acres, and good stewardship of these areas is one of WATR’s areas of emphasis.

“We are looking for volunteers and donations to help with this beneficial service to the community,” said T.J. Walker, a member of WATR.

828.507.9144 or www.watrnc.org.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will hold the first annual Plates for the Parkway event on Sept. 18 in which local restaurants will donate 10 percent of a day’s revenue to the foundation.

Restaurants from communities along the 469 miles of the Parkway are invited to participate, and current participants stretch from the top of the Parkway in Waynesboro, Va. to Sylva. Participating restaurants include Sylva’s City Lights Café and Guadalupe Café. A current list of all participating restaurants can be found at www.platesfortheparkway.org.

“There are so many wonderful restaurants in the communities along the Parkway,” said Christy Bell, development director for the foundation. “For visitors, this event highlights some of these unique places and gives them the opportunity to benefit what brings many of them here in the first place: the Parkway. For those of us lucky enough to live near the Parkway, it’s a fun way to support this amazing place while dining out at a favorite restaurant.”

Restaurants may sign up to participate through Sept. 14. Interested restaurants may contact Christy Bell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

10 percent of Mast General Store sales in Waynesville on Sept. 15 will go to the Friends of the Smokies to help protect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in significant, tangible ways.

“Friends Day” will help support the organization that has raised more than $37 million to help preserve and protect the park. Friends of the Smokies contributed more than $1 million last year to fund Park needs, including the ongoing battle to suppress the hemlock woolly adelgid across the Smokies, conservation of black bears in the backcountry, and management of the elk herd in Cataloochee. Friends also provided more than $275,000 for curriculum enhancement for the Parks as Classrooms environmental education program that serves more than 12,000 students in schools bordering the park.

Representatives from Friends of the Smokies will be on hand at the Mast Stores in Waynesville on Sept. 15. They’ll share information about projects the Friends are currently undertaking to preserve the character of the most visited national park in the United States.

North Carolina State University is hosting a workshop on organic broccoli production from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sept. 19 at the Mountain Research Station on Test Farm Road in Waynesville.

Learn about organic broccoli production including insect management, post-harvest techniques, and marketing. View 28 broccoli varieties and help rate which one is best, see which ones are most insect resistant, heat tolerant, and taste best.

To ensure that there will be a lunch, attendees should email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This workshop is free and open to the public. 828.684.3562.

The Jackson County Public Library in downtown Sylva will host Cooperative Extension agent Christy Bredenkamp for a free seminar on ginseng production for homeowners who desire to grow “sang.”

 Topics covered will include state regulations for growing and hunting “sang,” plant physiology, present and historical use of ginseng and comparing Asian versus American ginseng. The major emphasis of the program will be woods-simulated cultural practices such as: site selection and preparation, sowing, harvesting and drying the roots and seed stratification.

828.586.2016.

Author Jim Staggers will read from and discuss his book Messages To My Descendents — Please Fix Our Government from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Franklin library.

Staggers is a former Chief Operating Officer and vice president at APL Corporation who retired to Franklin five years ago. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in chemistry and attended Syracuse University to study finance and business management.

The impetus for writing the book is his frustration with the gridlock in Washington D.C., and he uses his experience as a businessman to describe his concerns.

The Macon County Public Library is located at 149 Siler Farm Road in Franklin.

828.524.3600 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Johnnie Sue Myers, author of The Gathering Place, will visit City Lights Bookstore at 1 p.m. Sept. 16.

The Gathering Place is a cookbook featuring traditional Cherokee dishes, wild game preparation tips and recipes and Southern Appalachian cooking. The book has received regional and national attention being featured in an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman on the Travel channel and in the September edition of WNC magazine. Myers will discuss the book and offer samples of a few of the recipes featured in her book.

828.586.9499.

By Kenn Jacobine • Guest Columnist

According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, we are about to enter another recession. Of course, one would be hard-pressed to convince the over 20 million Americans who remain unemployed or underemployed that the last recession ever ended. But, I suppose, according to economists, it technically did.

To the Editor:

The 2012 campaign illustrates two oft-quoted maxims: that war is a continuation of politics by other means, and that truth is the first casualty of war.

It’s more than the usual question about which party will occupy the White House for the next four years. The campaign has become a civil war — minus the bloodshed — over what kind of America this will be for a long time to come.

The Republican Party, its former “big tent” converted into a death chamber for dissent, single-mindedly idealizes an America where wealth is a measure not just of success but of one’s value to society. Whatever stands in the way of wealth — whether taxes or regulation — is to be rooted out. 

The Democrats still believe that we Americans owe more than that to each other, to our children, to our future, to our planet.

No one alive has experienced a choice so clear or so stark. That’s the one thing on which the parties agree: it’s about changing the future. Whether for better or for worse is for the voters to decide.

But the Republicans don’t trust the voters to make that choice intelligently. If they did, they wouldn’t be lying so much and so often about whether President Obama repealed welfare’s work requirement or “raided” Medicare of $716-billion.

My side has shot from the hip too, but not nearly so flagrantly or persistently.

The Medicare issue, one of five falsehoods that Paul Ryan spoke to the Republican convention, has long since been effectively debunked by Consumers Union and dozens of media fact-checkers. But the Republicans are on record as saying they’re not going to let fact-checkers run their campaign, and so there was Ryan, retelling that big lie. I also found it reeking in my mail box last week and heard it in a Romney-Ryan robocall.

Ryan’s own budget incorporated the same $716 billion in savings, but of course hypocrisy is just another form of deceit. The truth is that Obamacare added new benefits to traditional Medicare, such as wellness visits and cancer screenings, and took none away. The savings will come from reducing overpayments to Medicare advantage plans, hospitals that because of Obamacare will no longer have to treat so many uninsured patients, and certain other providers.

The Romney-Ryan Medicare canard symbolizes the Republican attempt to insert generational warfare into the class struggle that they began. They want to peel off senior voters by assuring us that our Medicare and Social Security benefits would be safe in their hands, so long as we let them have their way with people not yet 55.

Do the Republicans truly take us to be that selfish? Are they betting that we don’t care as much for our children and grandchildren?

Yes, they do. Yes, they are. Is it surprising that a party pledged to Social Darwinism as national policy should be encouraging voters to look out only for themselves? 

Martin A. Dyckman

Waynesville

To the Editor:

As a full-time resident of Maggie Valley, I am shocked at the shenanigans taking place in our town over the selection of a replacement for Alderman Phil Aldridge who resigned in August.

I think that the people currently serving the town on the Board of Aldermen need to remember that the positions on the Board of Aldermen are elected positions and that the person who is selected to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Aldridge will serve out the remainder of his term, for three years. Therefore, this is a serious issue for the townspeople and needs a serious solution. This is not an opportunity to put “one’s good friend” on the board or have back room discussions about candidates amongst aldermen about their “favorites” before candidate interviews have even been conducted. This smacks of cronyism and violates the Open Meetings Act. This is an opportunity to select the best person for the job of serving the town and the public needs to have input in this decision.

Since Mayor Ron DeSimone has decided to interview all the applicants, I suggest that these interviews be conducted publicly with opportunity for the public to question the applicants. This would take the place of scheduling an election and give the town their due process. I am aware that there is no requirement in the town ordinances to have an application process, or conduct interviews, or even have a public discussion when a vacancy occurs on the board of alderman. Since this is the third vacancy in the last two years, perhaps this time, the town needs to consider the correct process for filling vacancies that serves the best interest of the town and draft new ordinances accordingly. Otherwise, there is no transparency or fairness in government and the whole process is tainted.

Dr. Janet Banks

Maggie Valley

To the Editor:

While I support the display of the Confederate flag or the Ten Commandments as a means of individual personal opinion, neither should be displayed on property we the people own together.

The beginning of the end of the Civil War began on April 19, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant. At that time “all physical possessions of the Confederate army” were also surrendered (including their flag) and all troops became united under one flag. Grant charitably agreed to give back to the Confederates their horses and to feed and supply them. The union of the states was eventually reestablished. The 13th Amendment banning slavery was passed. And most importantly, the 14th Amendment, which reflects what our founders had previously established by the adoption of the godless and, without regard for any scripture, U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.

Those did in fact create a secular republic whose primary duty is to equally protect its citizens as well as “all persons” within its borders, as to their naturally inherent or otherwise inalienable rights, of which came not directly from any God, but were inherited from their “creator” — their parents.

This embrace of the deistic notion of a God who created all things great and small never to interfere again, which is by itself a firm basis for separating the church from the state, can be found throughout our founding documents.

But of course there has been a long history of disregard for the 14th Amendment, whereby women and minorities were not considered to be “all persons.” The current Republican Party platform certainly reflects a disregard for a woman’s naturally inherent or otherwise inalienable rights as the result of her birth by denying to any woman under any circumstance her right to the liberty of self-determination by the means of her own conscience.

Again, neither the Ten Command-ments nor the Confederate flag should be displayed on public taxpayer funded property except as individual personal opinion.

Chuck Zimmerman

Waynesville

To the Editor:

 You printed an interesting, however misguided, guest column in the Sept. 5 issue. John Beckman (“Proud to be an American … sort of,” www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/8558) spends three columns lamenting the state of the country but then at the end admits he will vote for the President. Evidently, despite his frequent use of the internet, he has never examined the background and record of this president.

The corruption he deplores is all over this presidency and this administration.

So Mr. Beckman wants to be a proud American as our president “does by his actions not his words,” says he! Where have you been these nearly four year, sir? In the very first months of his presidency Obama made his “Apology Tour” to countries around the world asking for forgiveness for America’s bad behavior. Never mind that the USA has rescued failing countries, has sent billions of aid to help disaster victims everywhere and anywhere, has been a dedicated ally to countries in peril and has been an economic and lifestyle model to worldwide citizens. Do you see immigrants flooding to any other countries other than the good old USA?

Finally, Mr. Beckman refers to the “spin and obstructions” Obama’s opponents throw at him. According to my recollections it is just the opposite … the Obama campaign and PACs have thrown everything they can conjure up at Mitt Romney and now Paul Ryan. Romney is falsely accused of not paying taxes and causing the death of a cancer victim. According to the Obama machine Romney’s worst offense of all is being a successful businessman who has built his own success and that of others. This of course is outside of Barak Obama’s experience level since he has never worked in the private sector nor has he had any appreciable record of success … except of course to talk his way into the presidency of the United States.

 Finally, if you think all of the above is “opinion,” here is the Obama record from 2008 to the present. Sorry, but this is not a record to be proud of.

• Unemployment: 7.8% then, 8.3% now.

• Median income: $54,983 then, $50,964 now.

• Gas prices: $1.85 per gallon then, $3.78 now.

• National debt: $10.6 trillion then, $16 trillion+ now.

• Half of all Americans are now considered “poor” or “low income.”

• One out of every six Americans is living in poverty, an increase of millions since Obama took office.

• Food stamp usage has increased by 45 percent under this president.

• Average family health care premium costs have increased to roughly $15,000 per year.

Carol C. Adams

Glenville

Communications chairman, Jackson County GOP)

To the Editor:

Some like to claim that ours is a Christian nation. But this was not the intent of our Founding Fathers. While a majority of our citizens may identify themselves as Christian (as do I), there is nothing in our Constitution that names our nation as Christian, or gives special recognition to Christianity. The Constitution is a wholly secular document and makes no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ. In fact, the Constitution refers to religion only twice — in the First Amendment, which bars laws “respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and in Article VI, which prohibits “religious tests” for public office. Both these provisions are evidence that our country was not founded as officially Christian.

The Founding Fathers did not create a secular government because they disliked religion. Many — though not all — were believers themselves. Yet they were well aware of the dangers of church-state union. They had experienced religious tyranny and oppression — either in Europe before they came here, or in one of the early colonies that allied religion with government. Determined to prevent such religious persecution here, they adopted a Constitution that insured the separation of church and state.

We can be thankful they did, as we have freedom of religion today precisely because neither government nor church can impose its will on the other. We must make sure that this dividing line is maintained, and guard with vigilance the assurance that our friends in the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other faiths have the same freedom and protection for practicing their faiths as do Christians. There can only be freedom for us if we protect the freedom of all by preventing the imposition of our faith on adherents of the others.

 Doug Wingeier

Waynesville

John Tedesco, Republican candidate for superintendent of the North Carolina Department of Pubic Instruction, will be in town for two upcoming appearances on Sept. 15: an 11 a.m. lunch with the Macon County Republican Party at The Boiler Room Restaurant in Franklin and a 1 p.m. meet-and-greet at Swain County Republican headquarters in Bryson City. 828.488.2842.

•••

A talk on the Affordable Care Act moderated by former Republican Congressional Candidate Dan Eichenbaum will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Jackson County library in Sylva.

Sandy Goss, a registered nurse originally from England, will also offer first-hand comparisons of Britain’s government-run health care system and the traditional health system of the U.S. and field questions for the audience. Sponsored by the Jackson County Patriots group.

•••

“Patriots and Popcorn” will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Albert Carlton Library in Cashiers, which will feature of viewing of “A More Perfect Union.” It is sponsored by the unaffiliated Jackson County Patriots, a grassroots organization dedicated to fostering fiscal accountability and Constitution-based government.

•••

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, will hold a fundraiser at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Jarrett House in Dillsboro. Davis is running for re-election against former senator John Snow. $35 per person. 828.743.6491

Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for those 65 and older, and the chances of falling and being seriously injured in a fall increase with age.

In recognition of annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day, students and faculty from Western Carolina University’s Department of Physical Therapy are teaming up with the Jackson County Senior Center and Department of Public Health to offer free programs to help older adults decrease their chance of a fall.

• Learn general tips and brief exercises older adults can use to reduce their risk of falling 11-11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17, at the Jackson County Department on Aging office in Sylva. RSVP for lunch. 828.631.8033.

• An hour-long balance improvement exercise class will be held from 2-3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, at the Jackson County Senior Center. 828.586.4944.

• A fall risk screening clinic will be offered at the Cashiers-Glenville Fire Station from 8:45 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27. Undergo a series of simple tests to assess your fall risk, including medication reviews by a pharmacist, and receive individualized recommendations based on the results. 828.587.8279.

Western Carolina University’s 38th annual Mountain Heritage Day Local is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 29 on the campus in Cullowhee.

The foods competition will include divisions for canned goods, baked goods, extracted honey and “heritage foods,” plus the “Best in the West” whole grain recipe contest.

The foods contest is coordinated jointly by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service’s Jackson County Center and the Mountain Heritage Center. Ribbons will be awarded to the top three entries in youth and adult divisions and a grand champion will be selected from each of the divisions.

Canned goods, honey and heritage foods can be dropped off at the museum between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sept. 25. Baked goods and whole grain recipe contest entries should be brought to the Mountain Heritage Center between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 28.

Winners will be announced from the Balsam Stage at Mountain Heritage Day at 12:15 p.m.

For more information, 828.586.4009 or 828. 227.7129 or www.mountainheritageday.com.

A 5-kilometer foot race and other competitions will take place on the day of the festival. Full race details are available at www.claws.wcu.edu/sma/5K.

Other competitions scheduled for Mountain Heritage Day include a chain saw contest, with registration beginning at 9 a.m. and competition starting at 10 a.m., and an old-fashioned attire contest for children and adults and a beard and moustache contest for men at 12:15 p.m. on the Balsam Stage.

828.227.7129.

Autumn’s colors and flavors take center stage from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 6 during the fourth annual “ColorFest – Art & Taste of Appalachia” festival in Dillsboro.

Macon County Public Library in Franklin will show a short film, “Living in Bear Country: Practical Advice on Living Responsibly in Bear Country” at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13.

A growing population of both bears and people in the area means that problems stemming from improper storage of garbage, barbecues and birdfeeders are growing.

Cynthia Strain, Anne Allison and Kathy Sherrard are wildlife educators affiliated with both Appalachian Bear Rescue and the B.E.A.R. Taskforce of the Western NC Alliance. The trio will share information about black bears and explain how to reduce human and bear conflicts.

The B.E.A.R. Task Force joined forces with the Western North Carolina Alliance a year ago, with a mission to promote safe, harmonious coexistence between humans and bears.

The Friends of the Library is sponsoring the program. It is free, open to the public and appropriate for all ages.