Developers haven’t earned a break from the rules
They didn’t show up. That alone signals, or maybe “symbolizes” is the proper word, a shift in citizen attitudes that…
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Lottery’s proceeds unfairly flowing east
The effort to change the lottery funding formula so that counties in Western North Carolina get their fair share of…
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I hear the mountains calling
Even though she’s an Indiana girl who had only seen the ocean once before we met, there is something about…
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Congressmen should weigh in on relicensing
When a room full of elected officials pleaded with a U.S. senator and a congressman last week to step into…
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Oh, the irony of it all
“Sausage is good!?” My 7-year-old son was looking out the window of the van when he blurted the words out…
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NC GreenPower is inexpensive way to take a small step
When Louis and Talitha Mes put up a 100-foot windmill two weeks ago in the Crabtree community of Haywood County…
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Someone who understands me
In every town I’ve ever lived in — and I have lived in several — I have made a Sports…
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N.C. counties have gotten more democratic
By Lee Shelton After the primary election results were in, I offered a commentary on county government and the implications…
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Media freedom could easily slip away
When Federal Communications Commission officials came to Asheville last week to discuss media ownership regulations, they got an earful from…
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Once and for all, stop the influence peddling in Raleigh
For most people who live and work in Western North Carolina, the inner workings of our citizen legislature in Raleigh…
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Truth about kids and synchronicity
Before our son was born almost a year and a half ago, Tammy and I made an important decision. She…
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Authenticity often doesn’t lend itself to good drama
Back in 1952, when I was one of a dozen Western North Carolina high school students who wrote winning essays…
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Support for downtown Sylva is a wise investment
Sylva town officials have OK’d a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that has just about eliminated funding for the…
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Saving farms is not about nostalgia
If you think taking tangible steps to protect farmland is more about nostalgia than anything else, guess again. As change…
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The difference between co-opted and compromised
By Avram Friedman In January of 2006, Jim Hansen, a climatologist advising the Bush Administration, said that we have “at…
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Look at TDA structure, and then let’s move on
After last week’s surprising meeting of the Haywood County Council of Governments regarding the tourism board, perhaps there is finally…
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Scared of the Dark?
By Stephanie Wampler • Columnist The dark is a strange creature. It has so many faces. “Dark” is how we…
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A heated rivarly where everyone’s a winner
By Eric Larson Where I grew up, you had to choose sides early: You were either a University of Alabama…
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Finding a father while keeping a Dad
By Marshall Frank Imagine having a fathers of all varieties. Step, biological and adopted? Here’s a story about such a…
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The principle is always important
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,…
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So how far have we come?
Each year as summer dawns, when children begin counting the days until shoes become something they just have to keep…
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Paddlers will not do damage to the Chattooga
By Bruce Hare • Guest Columnist In response to your article (“Tug of War over the Chattooga River,” May 31…
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Gibson case highlights larger problems
When the jury came back with a not guilty verdict in the case against Michelle Gibson, many across the country…
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Making Jennings Randolph proud
Jennings Randolph does not leap from the pages of history. Perhaps he should. His likeness is not found on any…
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Personal heart therapy with Homer Harris
I have found that not being able to hear in a crowded room is a constant frustration. Usually, when people…
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The art of the graduation speech
A few years ago, I was asked to give the keynote speech for an area high school’s graduation ceremony. At…
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The test, and nothing but the test
I don’t bash public schools. My wife’s a teacher, my children have gotten a great education at these schools, and…
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Selling the library out for all the wrong reasons
Back last fall, about the time the Jackson County Library controversy mutated into an issue with all of the appeal…
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An encore for mama
By Joanne Meyer • Guest Columnist A soft, spring breeze wafted through the open window, sending a sheer, cafe curtain…
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Tammy deserved better
Mother’s Day was probably not everything Tammy had hoped for. She may have had visions of sleeping in until 9…
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Osteoporosis is real – get tested
By Darcia Bondurant I would like to think of myself as a healthy, 46-year-old woman. My weight, blood pressure, blood…
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Leadership is all about good ideas
Ideas. Those who have them become leaders and gravitate to places where they can implement them. All of the counties…
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Becoming one with the multi-taskers
By Stephanie Wampler • Guest Columnist Multi-tasking? Not me. Or so I’ve always thought.
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Gas prices, HCC’s needs and Sylva’s liquor dilemma
Around the region and throughout the world, there’s a lot going on right now. My “column ideas” folder runneth over,…
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Reflections on May 2 – what’s really going on?
By Lee Shelton Those who stated that Haywood County Commission Chairman Mark Swanger, who lost in last week’s primary election,…
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Get over the fear and say it: ZONING is GOOD
Note to all candidates seeking office in Western North Carolina, and all their constituents: repeat these words, over and over…
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Get ready for the backroom abortionists
Three cheers for crime. If moralists have their way, it will only get worse. How coincidental that within three short…
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Baseball’s scapegoat
San Francisco Giant outfielder Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player of this era, and one can make a good…
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Mixed drinks won’t be good for Sylva
By Jason Kimenker • Guest Columnist What makes Sylva great? The people of rural Sylva, North Carolina are as unique…
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Taylor tangled in Abramoff’s web
The recent revelations about Rep. Charles Taylor’s ties to a lobbyist who has confessed to federal bribery charges is a…
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Forging a wise immigration bill
Amnesty? In the immigration controversy that is dividing Congress and the nation, this has become the most misused term in…
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Changing budget laws would save taxpayer money
The words still ring in my ears, coming as they did from a teacher who had spent years playing by…
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Lottery funding formula needs to be changed now
It’s past time to keep rehashing the same old arguments about whether having a state lottery is a good idea.…
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Slaves to titillating news and ....
You have already read or heard about the three guys who were arrested for “operating” — yeah, I guess the…
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A public grace worth emulating
By Stephanie Wampler I didn’t know her. I never met her. I haven’t even read that much about her. I…
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Media consolidation just ain’t good
It happened months back, but the request was typical of what we hear everyday in this business: will you do…
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There are many good reasons to get slope ordinances on the books
There’s no more pressing issue in this region than enacting ordinances to control steep slope development. If we snooze on…
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Savoring the coming political season
When the political season cranks up, as it’s about to, this business gets a lot more fun. I’m one of…
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So many reasons to oppose forest sale
“This is an administration that believes in natural resource exploitation, and hang any future cost to the public owners. This…
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Radical Islam is infiltrating U.S.
By Marshall Frank “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.” — Ariel…
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