Obamacare will drag down health care
To the Editor: Recently, after a serious falling accident, I experienced medical treatment from our local health care system at…
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Downtown Sylva needs some help
To the Editor: Tourism, tourism and tourism are the three most important words to line the struggling businessmen’s pockets and…
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By chance, by sea, bye bye
By John Beckman • Columnist Thirty-five years ago, I moved into my first dorm room and this small-town lad had…
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All Cherokee bear zoos should be shut down
To the Editor: It’s about time that the USDA finally suspended operations at Chief Saunooke’s antiquated concrete pit in Cherokee.…
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Lake J property owners need more information
To the Editor: The article about the upcoming decision regarding possible annexation of Lake Junaluska by Waynesville in the Feb.…
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Gov. McCrory needs to put up or shut up
To the Editor: Thanks for standing up to the governor in your column about our state universities (“Majoring in philosophy?…
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This diplomacy stuff just isn’t that hard
By Stephanie Wampler • Guest Columnist Well, it seems that John Kerry is our new secretary of state, ready to…
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Majoring in philosophy? More power to you
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is trying to temper disparaging remarks he made early last week about the value of a…
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Taking God out of schools was mistake
To the Editor: Just over five weeks ago a mentally disturbed 19-year-old young man went into a school in Connecticut…
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Jackson should not sell out to developers
To the Editor: Thank you for your excellent reporting on the consideration to a change in the development rules in…
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We can’t stop the changes
Some have charged that the true, underlying sentiment among those who support stringent development regulations in Jackson County — and…
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Bush goes south of the border for popularity
By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist Concerned Americans await the concluding acts of the political drama the president and his…
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Life too often revolves around the minutiae
By Stephanie Wampler Stuff. Life is all about the stuff, isn’t it? We have stuff to amuse us, educate us,…
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Waynesville building fits well with downtown
A government building for a mountain town that looks like it belongs in the mountains? Funny how that is going…
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Working triple time in Jackson County
By Nancy Geiger • Guest Columnist My daughter, Brittany, is staying at Western Caroina Univesity this summer. The hotel she…
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Bar fight in the Blue Ridge – the battle for the 11th District
By John Armour You’d think that what happens in Western North Carolina, in the 11th Congressional District, isn’t very important…
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We need to keep track of all firearms
To the Editor: I miss Martin Luther King. His enlightened reason and fervent advocating for equal rights is sorely missed.…
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Timber harvest at Devil’s Courthouse a good idea
To the Editor: Nature abhors a vacuum. Mother Nature assures change. Organisms are constantly adapting, changing, improving, evolving. Understand-ing life…
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Last issue of SMN painted a vivid picture
To the Editor: How incredibly serendipitous that your newspaper of Jan. 23 should headline the flooding and landslides that occurred…
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More than ever, schools need forest service money
By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist When the 1911 Weeks Act was passed, allowing the federal government to purchase land…
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A different perspective on guns and government
To the Editor: As someone who has lived in four different countries and traveled to several others over the last…
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Shame on Jack Debnam and Jackson’s citizens
To the Editor: Friends, they’ve out-waited us. And, motivated by the smell of money, they appear to have outlasted us…
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Some want to lead by using fear
To the Editor: Don’t let anyone tell you there’s no conspiracy or that conspirators are not busily at work here…
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‘Gun Free Zones’ are danger zones
To the Editor: Legislation has created a zone where the only people protected by a “gun free zone” are the…
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U.S. Postal Service should be left intact
To the Editor: We have just been through a holiday season during which the U.S. Postal Service and its workers…
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State GOP leaders’ tax plan would benefit wealthy
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist A 1996 New Yorker cartoon — poking fun at Steve Forbes’s presidential campaign plank…
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Something strange is haunting our dreams
The teenage cashier at the grocery store is conversing with a customer. “That’s right,” she says. “The only thing that…
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Loosening development regulations a bad idea
To the Editor: I am adamantly opposed to the rescinding or changing of the current steep slope and mountain-top ordinances…
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Our state's priorities have gone askew
The swearing in of new Gov. Pat McCrory this past weekend brought to mind a conversation at a recent holiday…
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Let’s do the hard work on mental illness
To the Editor: Almost everyone has an opinion about how to combat violent, mass killing. My hope is that we…
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Marijuana in national forests is out of control
To the Editor: Since the mid 1990s, Mexican criminals have been growing marijuana in our national forests. In recent years…
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Doesn’t that just melt your face off?
It all started with a simple book fair at the middle school. My daughter, inspired perhaps by viewing the trailer…
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Firearms are not the problem
To the Editor: We are writing in response to the gun control controversy. I agree that the recent acts of…
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We have a cultural problem, not a gun problem
By Tom Rogers • Guest columnist The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School is beyond comprehension. Such an event should…
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Strong gun laws require strong politicians
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist Had Al-Qaeda carried out the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Congress would be…
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We need a dialogue on guns and laws
To the Editor: I challenge The Smoky Mountain News to assist in opening a respectful, thoughtful, meaningful conversation in our…
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Investment in mental health might provide some answers
By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist After the killing of 26 children and adults by a young man using a…
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Make gun, ammo buyers pay to solve problem
Gary Peebles • Guest Columnist In an entirely predictable way, the Connecticut shootings have touched off another round in the…
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Help protect local nonprofits from fiscal cliff fallout
To the Editor: As the executive director of Cherokee Preservation Foundation for the past 10 years, I’ve seen the tremendous…
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The fiscal cliff is already in our rearview mirror
By Kenn Jacobine • Guest Columnist Washington is full of drama. Americans are constantly being treated to high political suspense.…
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Taking advantage of our unique attributes
The recently announced plans for a Blueways Trail focusing on the recreational uses of Western North Carolina’s waterways is one…
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HCC appreciates fire response
To the Editor: The following letter was sent to firefighters, first responders, and law enforcement personnel for all those who…
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Displaying Confederate flag is not illegal
To the Editor: It is apparent that history is still being written and revised by the victors and their descendants.…
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North Carolinians have it right
To the Editor: BINGO! Most North Carolinians caught on that Barack Obama’s economic failures are not so much ineptness but…
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New writer launches a promising literary career
Since the publication of Wiley Cash’s debut novel A Land More Kind Than Home earlier this year, I have been…
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A small but important investment in public transit
It may seem a relatively unimportant issue, but in truth it is very symbolic because it recognizes a reality that…
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Tourism overhaul was the right thing to do
To the Editor: Democracy is working in Jackson County! This week’s passage of the Tourism Development Authority (TDA) Resolution is…
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Early education no substitute for old-fashioned parenting
To the Editor: Doctor Raymond Turpin’s opinion of Michele Presnell, Mike Clampitt and Jim Davis seems based on the premise…
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When the cat’s away, the boys will play
We had been dreading it all week, and now, as we stood there on a brisk Friday morning waiting on…
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Internet businesses do benefit community
To the Editor: In a recent column, writer Jeff Minick implored holiday shoppers to consider shopping locally and using the…
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