The grand opening of the Boomerang Brain Gym is slated for 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 14, at 81 Elmwood Way in Waynesville. Dr. Lisa Verges and Dr. Leigh Odom will be guest speakers.

The Boomerang Brain Gym is designed to do for the brain what physical exercise does for the body. Boomers and seniors who are interested in remaining cognitively fit and aging well are invited to attend the grand opening and give the Brain Gym a try.

Following the presentations, guests will be invited to enjoy refreshments and tour the gym. Staff and volunteers from the Geek Squad will be available to help attendees try out the equipment.

Historic Glenville churches, a one room school house and the Drake Cabin, parts of which are thought to be 150 years old, are three of nine stops on the Glenville Area Historical Tour set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 23.

The tour is a fund-raiser for the Glenville History Project. It will reveal some of the extensive history of the area uncovered by the research and studies conducted by members of the Glenville History Project Committee. All nine sites on the tour will be tended by a knowledgeable committee member and photo story boards will be displayed at each site.

The tour launches at the Glenville Community Development Clubhouse across from the Glenville Post Office. Following the complete tour is estimated to be around two hours.

Tour-goers will visit rarely open-to-the-public sites, including the Hamburg Baptist Church, which was moved from Hamburg Township, cemetery included; the Glenville Wesleyan Church, the Old Glenville Post Office, a present-day tree farm where growing cabbage began the area’s cash-crop agricultural history; a root cellar, springhouse and smokehouse compound all in continual use since before the 1940s.

Tickets for the tour are $10 and can be purchased on the day of the tour at the Glenville Community Development Clubhouse or in advance at 828.743.6744 or 828.743.1658.

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands continues its fine craft tradition July 21 to 24 in Asheville. More than 200 craftspeople will fill two levels of the Asheville Civic Center selling their works of clay, glass, leather, metal, fiber, mixed media, natural materials, paper, wood and jewelry.

All exhibitors are mountain artists who are masters of their craft and have been accepted into the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The Guild is a non-profit organization which has been supporting local and regional craftspeople since 1930. Crafts rooted in Appalachian customs are featured along with the work of contemporary artists.

Throughout the show, the guild will sponsor educational craft demonstrations, including natural dyeing and spinning, throwing, trimming and assembling clay, raku firing, and doll making.

The fair will also host live entertainment beginning on Friday. Local musicians will play on the arena stage, sharing old time music and bluegrass.

What: The 64th Annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands

Where: Asheville Civic Center, 87 Haywood St. in downtown Asheville, NC

When: July 21 – 24, 2011; October 20 – 23, 2011

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

Admission: Adults $8, children under 12 free. Group discounts available

More info: www.craftguild.org or 828.298.7928

City Lights in Sylva presents a reading featuring the poetry of Kathryn Byer and Susan Lefler at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 9.

Kathryn Byer, a featured reader at the recent Flannery O’ Conner Festival, will read from her new limited edition collection titled, Southern Fictions. She will also read from her forthcoming book, Descent, due out in the fall of 2012 from LSU press.  

Susan Lefler, whose work has been featured in numerous journals, including The Asheville Poetry Review, will read from her recent collection titled, Rendering of Bones.

828.586.9499 or visit www.citylightsnc.com.

Registration for a space-limited nature writers’ intensive workshop scheduled for this fall is now open.

The Wilderness Society, a national organization with offices in Sylva, will be hosting the three-day event with author Janisse Ray. It will take place at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center outside of Highlands from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.   

The workshop is for writers committed to communicating the importance of place — where you live, where you hike, where your drinking water comes from — and what matters about both its present and future state.   

Participants will spend their time engaged in both dialogue and writing exercises.

Janisse Ray is the award-winning author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, of which “The New York Times” said, “the South has found its Rachel Carson.”   

Evenings will include special guests such as regional authors Thomas Rain Crowe, John Lane and Barbara Duncan.

Early registration fee for this workshop is $450 per person, and includes three nights of double-occupancy lodging, as well as all meals and workshop materials. mountaincenters.org.

The Plateau Fly Fishing Club will host a free casting clinic with the senior guide for Davidson River Outfitters at 7 p.m. Monday, July 11, in Cashiers.

Walker Parrott, general manager for Davidson River Outfitters, has been a guide in WNC for 12 years and is a top finisher of regional and national fly fishing competitions including the Masters Fly Fishing Championship.

The clinic will feature casting techniques for floating and sinking lines and cover characteristics of full flex, mid-flex and fast action rods. The clinic will offer all flyfishers an opportunity to determine the best rod for specific streams and species. Anyone is welcome to bring a rod for Parrott to analyze.

Held at the pond behind the Albert Carlton-Cashiers library. 828.885.7130.

As part of a new green curriculum, students from Oconaluftee Job Corps will be helping on a variety of projects in Western North Carolina.

This includes transplanting culturally significant rivercane with Western Carolina University in Cherokee; building an educational trail with the Watershed Association for the Tuckasegee River in Dillsboro; and trail revitalization on the Cheoah Ranger District in Robbinsville.

The Oconaluftee Job Corps currently serves 68 at-risk students who get a new lease on life through vocational training, education and life skills. The idea behind the new green curriculum is to expand employment opportunities for its graduates, help revitalize local economies in rural communities and enhance the mission of the agency, U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said.

Job Corps students have fought forest fires, planted trees, improved wildlife habitat and built or maintained recreation facilities and miles of hiking trails.

Get up close and personal with wild things and wild places at the annual Mountain Wildlife Days held at Sapphire Valley Community Center July 15 and 16.

The weekend festivities are hosted by regional conservation group Wild South and are designed to introduce people to the wonders of nature and inspire a sense of responsibility to the natural world by directly connecting them with wildlife.

The speakers for Saturday’s line-up include:

• Freeman Owle, one of this year’s new presenters, who will share insights on the value the Cherokee place on wild lives and wild places — not only in the past, but in today’s society.

• Kate Marshall will share her experiences and award-winning DVDs featuring unique filming of black bears. Her video will show close-ups of bears and cubs in their natural habitat, and she’ll discuss some of the modern dilemmas bears face. She also will encourage participants to become “bear smart,” as part of an initiative currently under way that is sponsored by the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance.  

• Rob Gudger, a very popular presenter at Mountain Wildlife Days, will be back with his wolves. Gudger will share a new program designed to promote a better understanding of wolves, and the need to be compassionate advocates in support of our most misunderstood animal.  

• Doris Mager, often called the “Eagle Lady,” will bring an assortment of her birds of prey to perform in a flying exhibition. During the up-close look at her birds, Doris will stress the importance of being advocates for raptors, and speak to their roles in our natural world.   

• Steve O’Neill, “Wildlife Warrior” from the Earthshine Lodge, will bring small mammals and reptiles for a program designed to build compassion and inspire the protection of these wild creatures. 

On Friday, experts will lead a moderate guided hike in Panthertown and a more challenging hike to the Devil’s Courthouse on Whiteside Mountain. Cynthia Strain of Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance and the local Audubon Society will lead a bird watching hike. To register for any of the hikes, call 828.743.7663.

Friday evening, “Creation Calls” will be presented at the Sapphire Valley Community Center with live music by the Judy Felts Trio. Bill Lea will accompany the music with photographic images of landscapes and wildlife, and a puppet team from Cashiers Baptist Church will perform.

Tickets for “Creation Calls” are $12 for adults. Saturday’s events are $7 for the entire day. Children accompanied by adults are admitted free to all events.

828.743.7663 or www.wildsouth.org.

The Homestead, an inpatient hospice center, is being built on property adjacent to the MedWest-Haywood hospital campus in Clyde.

About $7,000 was raised by a recent brunch and auction to purchase plants, shrubs and trees for the gardens at The Homestead.

The keynote speaker for the event was Nancilee Wydra, who spoke about “Designing Garden Spaces.”

Wydra noted a garden can offer relaxation, empowerment, connections, healing, acknowledge life transitions and be a place of joy and play.

“The places we inhabit affect the way we act, interact and react,” Wydra said. “When sequestered, we are separated from nature and don’t feel as content or alive.”

The gardens at The Homestead are scheduled to open in November. They will allow people to continue to experience nature. The atmosphere of the six-room Homestead facility will be homelike, with provisions for family members and pet visitation.

A sophomore at Haywood Community College, Daniel Jones of Hayesville, will demonstrate his lumberjack skills on national television Friday, July 8, when ESPNU airs the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifier.

Back in April, Jones bested six other top collegiate lumberjacks in four professional lumberjack disciplines to take the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifier title. With this win, Jones earned a $1,000 scholarship from STIHL for his school and became one of four student lumberjacks in the nation to advance to the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate National Championship in Oregon in late August.

Catch the chopping action in replays of the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Qualifier scheduled to air at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Additional re-runs will air:

n Friday, July 8, at 11:30 p.m. EDT

n Saturday, July 9, at 2 a.m. EDT

n Sunday, July 10, at 6 p.m. EDT

n Sunday, July 17, at 9:30 a.m. EDT

n Sunday, July 31, at 8:30 a.m. EDT

British Soccer Camp is coming back to Franklin the week of July 11 to 15, at the Macon County Industrial Park Fields.

Challenger’s British Soccer Camp is the most popular soccer camp in the USA and Canada. More than 110,000 boys and girls will attend some 2,500 British Soccer Camps this summer, which provide players of all ages and abilities high-level soccer coaching from a team of international experts.

The camp includes a free camp shirt and camp ball, a giant fold out soccer poster and a personal player evaluation.

Half and full day sessions are available and costs vary from $60 to $145 depending on age group and skill level.

Michael Fowler-Berken at 828.524.0476. Players can register now at www.maconsoccer.net or at www.challengersports.com.

You might not run faster, but you’ll probably feel better doing it by taking advantage of running screenings Thursday, July 7, at the Jackson County Recreation Park.

Thomas Burns, board certified specialist in Orthopedic Physical Therapy with Carolina West Sports Medicine, will be on hand to look at aspects of strength and flexibility, balance, functional movements and running gait. The sessions are free, but to be evaluated you must make an appointment.

828.293.5174.

A program on “butterflying and dragonflying,” a twist on the outdoor pastime of birding, will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, at the Maggie Valley Pavilion by the Great Smoky Mountains Audubon Society.

The speaker is Jeff Pippen, who started birding and “butterflying” in 1985 by taking both field ornithology and field entomology courses simultaneously as part of his coursework for a masters in biology at the University of Michigan. Since then Pippen has birded in eight countries and has seen more than 1,600 bird species. He started serious butterflying in 1994, and has been conducting butterfly surveys in the Duke Forest and all over North Carolina for more than 15 years. When not birding and butterflying, Pippen works at Duke University. His research focuses on ecology and the effects of climate change on forest growth.  

The program will include cake and coffee. The GSMAS meets the second Tuesday of each month April through October.

828.550.5449.

High school students, recent graduates and their families can spend time in the field with a park ranger conducting scientific projects such as salamander monitoring, tree identification and mapping, and water quality assessments this summer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The programs help park researchers perform important studies while providing young people opportunity to get involved in science and in their national park in a fun and interesting way. Held July 8 and July 23. Registration required. 865.436.1713.

A similar volunteer scientist field day for middle school students will be held August 13.

• Kids 10 years of age or older can learn about some of the tiny creatures that are part of the amazing biodiversity of the Smokies. A park ranger will set up microscopes and other scientific equipment for participants to collect and view microscopic invertebrates such as water bears, also known scientifically as tardigrades. These eight-legged creatures, the “other bears” of the Smokies, exist in mosses, liverworts, and lichens.

The program will be held at the Twin Creeks Science and Education Center, a facility supporting the park’s education programs, on the Tennessee-side of the park. Held July 13 and August 5.

Blue Ridge Parkway Interpretive Rangers at Waterrock Knob are presenting summer programs each Saturday afternoon for families with or without kids.  

The program series (entitled F.U.N., Families Understanding Nature) will be about the many natural and cultural resources found along the Parkway. The programs will take place each Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m., last approximately one hour, and will often include activities for children. There is no charge for these programs.

Waterrock Knob Visitor Center is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 451.2, between the Parkway entrances at Balsam and Maggie.

828.456.9530, ext 3., or 828.775.0975.

To carve Asheville out of the 11th Congressional District is completely irrational.

My campaign will work with all Western North Carolina Democrats to fight this gerrymandering. We’ll oppose it on every level. We look forward to supporting a united legal challenge. And, I urge Re. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, to join us in this.

Asheville is, after all, the economic hub of this region with 40,000 daily commuters who follow the river valleys to work each morning. Asheville is the medical center for the region for the same reason: rapid transportation can be a matter of life and death. Asheville is the legal nexus as well, with its Federal Courthouse serving all of the western counties and is also the banking and business core of the region.

More compelling is the fact that fully one third of the residents of WNC live in Buncombe County!

The French Broad River inexorably links Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe and Madison counties. The economic ties of our region are all a function of our mountain watersheds. The Land of Sky Regional Council, which includes those four counties, is not an artificial consruct — it is a planning district dictated by geographic reality. Our railroads and highways follow the river valleys due to geographic necessity as well.

By jamming Asheville into the 10th Congressional District, and adding Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Mitchell and Wautauga counties to the 11th, the Raleigh Republicans have removed the region’s media center, the source for the news that lets people see what government is doing in order to cast intelligent votes.

For voters in those north-central counties, Winston-Salem and Charlotte are the major media sources, while Morganton and Hickory are the closest economic centers. Meanwhile, Asheville’s news media will suddenly be reporting on congressional news related to Gastonia, which is clearly a part of the greater Charlotte metropolitan area.

The GOP can pat itself on the back, believing that its cookie-cutter tomfoolery is long deserved payback for past Democratic sins, but what they’re doing is showing us that all they care about is power — not the people of our state. They don’t want the people of WNC to have a representative in Washington who stands up for our regional interests. That should be a matter of concern to Republicans and Democrats alike in these mountains. They don’t want us to have a champion in Congress who will fight for our jobs, our health and our lives.

Of course, their stated goal is to create another “safe” Republican seat in the 11th District. But contemplating that outcome should also be extremely unsettling to WNC voters.

Republicans have long been trying to scuttle Social Security and Medicare. They are the same people who brought us NAFTA, CAFTA and WTO deals with China — sending  our jobs out of the country. The Republicans’ apparent overarching goal is to divert American wealth to the wealthiest, while middle class workers in WNC lose their jobs, their homes and their health care.

This is the time for us to unite as Democrats — blue dog, yellow dog, middle of the road. We are share one common bond — we are Mountain Democrats!

Let’s show Raleigh Republicans that we may vary in our political opinions, but when our home turf is threatened we come together to defend our mountain homes.

I feel that challenging these maps constitutes an absolute obligation to my constituents, both as an Asheville City Council member and as a candidate in the 11th Congressional District. These western mountains are my home, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

(Cecil Bothwell is an Asheville city councilman and a Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District seat now held by Rep. Heath Shuler. The proposed redistricting map released last week  would take Asheville out of Shuler’s 11th District.)

To the Editor:

A question has been asked as to why I was not at the Cherokee County “Meet the Candidates” forum. I would like to make it clear my absence was not meant as a slight to the community.

I have kept to my commitments to visit within communities and homes. The date of this event was changed at the request of another candidate and this information was not given to me or another candidate. I do thank Barbara McNair, community club chair, for announcing at the event that the date change came as a result of the other candidate’s request.

To be in attendance at events like this in various communities has been a priority of my campaign. I feel it is very important for the voters to see, hear, and judge the candidates. However, fulfilling my commitments is also high on my campaign’s priority list. I had home visits and other events scheduled for the new date of the Cherokee County “Meet the Candidates” forum.  By the time I received the new date of the forum, it was impossible and unfair to shift my existing schedule.

I invite any voter to contact me at 828.736.0922; by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or at my website: www.juanita4chief.

Juanita Plummer Wilson

Candidate for EBCI Principal Chief

The second case of rabies in eastern Haywood County in less than a week has been confirmed, marking the fourth case so far this year in the same general area of the county.

Two cases were in skunks and two were in raccoons. Before this year, only five cases of rabies had been confirmed in Haywood County since 2006.

In the most recent incident, a Canton area resident discovered a skunk in their barn, exhibiting unusual behavior. According to the incident report, the skunk was off balance and falling down. The skunk was killed and sent to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services laboratory, where it tested positive.

Also last week, a group of hunting dogs got into a fight with the raccoon. The raccoon was killed and the owner of the dogs reported the incident. Tests on the raccoon came back positive.

Two vaccination clinics have been scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, July 6 and 7, at North Canton Elementary School. According to North Carolina law, all dogs and cats four months old and older must be vaccinated against rabies.

“There is really no better way to protect family members from rabies exposure and avoid the high expense associated with treatment and keeping pets quarantined than getting and keeping your pets vaccinated,” said Haywood County Health Director Carmine Rocco. “Even if you don’t live in the area where these incidents occurred, it’s a good idea to bring your pets over to be vaccinated.”

828.456.5538 or 828.452.6675. Information on rabies is also available on the web at www.epi.state.nc.us/epi/rabies or at www.cdc.gov.ncidod/dvrd/rabies.

Western Carolina University’s Academic Success Program (ASP) is working with associates from the Sylva Wal-Mart for a day of service from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, to help benefit several local community-based programs.

It will be held in the parking lot behind Wal-Mart’s garden center and will include a variety of fundraising events. A carnival with food, games and inflatable jump houses will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is open to children of all ages. Paws, the WCU mascot, will be there to greet the community as they enjoy the day’s festivities.  

A benefit concert, featuring The Mixx, will be held after the carnival from 5 to 8 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Community Table and REACH of Jackson County as well as Full Spectrum Farms, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Skyland Care Center and CuRvE. People who come to this year’s Day of Service will have the opportunity to shop for a wish list provided by the Community Table and REACH. Wal-Mart will provide a matching grant of up to $1,000 for each agency in addition to helping offset the cost of the event.

828.227.7184 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.227.2217 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Haywood County Volunteer Center awarded Judy Smith of the Fines Creek Community Association’s MANNA food bank program as the outstanding Volunteer of the Year. Also recognized were:

• Patricia Stevenson with the Good Samaritan Clinic and John Hawkins with Haywood Regional Medical Center Hospice and Palliative Care.

• In the youth category, Susan Nations won through her work at the Kids at Work! Program.

• In the faith-based category, Alice Fisher received the award with her work with the Community Kitchen.

• The group award was given to Haywood Middle Academy and Donna McCullough for their work with Meals on Wheels.

• The Director of Volunteers award was given to Jeanne Naber for coordinating over 200 volunteers for Meals on Wheels.

A cooking program called “Fresh Ways with Local, Seasonal Food” will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21, as part of the Good Cooks series in Sylva. Chef Lindsay Kent with Rosebud Cottage in Franklin and will focus on fresh and local ingredients used in quick and easy meal preparation. She will also offer tips on short cuts, knife skills and easy ways to make meals more flavorful without adding lots of sugar, salt or fat. Participants will get to sample four dishes she will prepare.

To attend, call 828.586.4009 by July 18. Held at in the Community Service Center.

MedWest Health System is breaking ground on a new outpatient services center  at 4 p.m. on Monday, July 11, on the MedWest-Haywood campus.

The new outpatient services center will include imaging services, lab services, endoscopy, two outpatient surgery rooms and two procedure rooms, as well as rehabilitation services. Women’s diagnostic services also will be located in the new building, including digital mammography, breast MRI, ultrasound, stereotactic breast imaging, the Nurse Navigator service and bone density testing.

Patients previously had to go to the hospital to receive these services. The outpatients center will provide for a quicker, smoother and easier patient experience.

There also will be space for two physician practices.

MedWest is also opening an urgent care center in Sylva on August 1, and an urgent care center in Canton in December. An inpatient hospice unit at MedWest-Haywood scheduled for completion in November.

Democrats are crying foul over new Congressional district lines that with seemingly surgical precision slice the City of Asheville, a liberal stronghold, out of the 11th Congressional District.

The maps, drawn by state Republican leaders in the the GOP-dominated General Assembly, are no doubt a political move, according to Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

“This is the game that both parties play,” Cooper said. “They know exactly what they are doing.”

The new 11th Congressional District would include Mitchell, Avery, Caldwell and Burke counties. In exchange, the district divests itself of Asheville and eastern Buncombe, as well as Polk County. The mountain district will shift from 43 percent of the voters being registered Democrats to 36 percent.

The result: a far more conservative voting base, and much more difficult re-election campaing next year for three-term Democrat Congressman Heath Shuler of Waynesville.

Shuler seized the district in 2006 over eight-term incumbent Charles Taylor, R-Transylvania County, and has easily won back his seat every election since. His opponent last fall was considered an admirable opponent, and the year was a watershed for Republicans, but even then Shuler handily kept his seat with more than 54 percent of the vote.

That may not be the case in 2012 given the new district lines, however. Shuler is one of several previously Democratic-leaning districts that has been infused with just enough GOP voters to tip the balance.

As for what to do with all those Democratic voters? The best bet is to lump as many as possible into as few districts as possible. In otherwords, pick a few Democratic-leaning districts to be sacrifical lambs. Stack them heavily with Democrats, while spreading Republican voters around to have just enough of an edge in as many districts as possible.

“Any vote after 50 plus one is a wasted vote,” Cooper said. “The reason you do that is not to dominate a few districts but to win a lot of districts by a little bit.”

All the while, however, the districts must make geographic sense or else risk being overturned in a court battle. If the other party can prove gerrymandering and show that districts are not geographically “compact,” a lawsuit over the district lines is likely.

In this instance, Cooper doesn’t think the new mountain districts cross that line. He sees the districts being geographically close enough to be bullet proof in court, yet still achieving their purpose of favoring Republicans.

“They did a great job of it. The more I look at the more impressed I am,” Cooper said.

Mike Clampitt of the Swain County Republican Party said the redrawing wasn’t tit-for-tat as it might appear — Democrats have a long history of gerrymandering districts in North Carolina — but a case of putting likes with likes.

“This balances the playing field,” Clampitt said. “Asheville is more like the Greensboro and Charlotte area.”

That metropolitan, urban mindset is at odds with the rural understandings and needs of the bulk of the 11th Congressional District, Clampitt said.

Members of the opposing party see the situation differently, however: “Democrats will not take this lying down,” promised Janie Benson of the Haywood County Democratic Party.

“I’m stunned, because the distance between Caldwell county and Cherokee county is so great,” Benson said, adding that the redistricting proposed by Republicans is a “blatant” attempt to wrest the district from Democrats.

“Frankly the redistricting maps that I’ve seen just look unfair,” she said. “The Democrats, to my knowledge, have never been so obvious in whatever they were doing. This just seems almost like a punishment, and it feels that way somewhat.”

In addition to threatening Democrats hold on the 11th Congressional District, Democrats could also lose control of the 7th, 8th and 13th districts.

But Kirk Callahan of Haywood County, a self-described conservative, believes Republicans might be missing the mark some. While cautioning he hasn’t had time to fully assess the potential voter fallout, Callahan thinks the growing bloc of unaffiliated voters could actually dictate who wins and who loses.

“They are key,” Callahan said. “A candidate has to earn the votes, because they are not going to be swayed by party labels or an appeal to party loyalty.”

Callahan, by way of example, pointed to Taylor’s defeat, saying he was dismayed by the longtime congressman’s unabashed support of earmarks.

“That didn’t sit well with me, because (earmarks) really corrupted the budgeting process,” he said.

Lawmakers will vote on the redistricting plan in a special session that starts July 25.

Across the state, there were five districts that posted major geographical shifts. Four are seats currently held by vulnerable Democrats that have now seen the scales tip in their district to favor Republicans — as is the case with Shuler’s district. The fifth that showed the biggest changes was held by a vulnerable Republican, but is now more solidly Republican.

“It is really clear they targeted these vulnerable Democrats,” Cooper said.

Shuler’s new district would be the most Republican-leaning district in the state when judging by those who voted for McCain over Obama in 2008.

Shuler is a conservative Democratic at best — others considered him a DINO, or Democrat In Name Only — and plays well with conservative Southern Democrats and even many Republicans.

But under the new district lines, even that may not be enough, Cooper said.

“For Shuler to win he would have to practicaly completely separate himself from the Democratic party,” Cooper said. “This is going to be a really intersting race.”

Why the new voting maps?

Every 10 years, along with the census, state legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn to reflect the population change. As the population grows, so does the number of people each elected leader represents.

The state’s Congressional District will need to grow from the current 619,177 people to the 733,499 each, plus or minus 5 percent.

Since growth was more robust in urban areas, districts in rural regions like Western North Carolina will have to expand geographically to take in the required number of people.

Under the proposed new maps, which sever Asheville from the district, it would lose 9,000 Democrats and gain 26,000 Republicans.

The Department of Justice issues guidelines governing how states can and can’t be carved up, and they must approve a map before it can be put into action.

Currently, redistricting is done by legislators and is a highly partisan affair. With every redistricting comes a court challenge from one side or the other, claiming that the lines are unfair.

But under new legislation recently passed by the state House, the process would become staff-driven, with a simple up-or-down vote by legislators. It’s based on a system long used by Iowa, where no redistricting has been to court in the four decades since the system was put into place.

The measure is now headed to the Senate.

Speak up

Weigh in on new Congressional districts

A public hearing on the new Congressional district maps will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at  Western Carolina University in the Cordelia Camp Building.

It is one of nine across the state on the same day and time. There is also one in the Ferguson Auditorium at A-B Tech.

The hearings are sponsored by the Joint House and Senate Redistricting Committee, and anyone wishing to comment can sign up online at www.ncga.state.nc.us or in person the day of the hearing.  Written comments can also be submitted on the North Carolina General Assembly’s Website.

Blue Ridge Books will host Rick McDaniel, the author of An Irresistible History of Southern Food: Four Centuries of Black-Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, & Whole Hog Barbeque, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 9.

McDaniel has been a working journalist for 30 years and a full-time food writer for more than a decade. Coconut cakes, vegetables fresh from the garden and abundant Sunday dinners flavored his upbringing in a small North Carolina town in the 1960s. A member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, he is dedicated to preserving Southern culinary heritage by collecting and publishing historical recipes.

He has been a consultant to the producers of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations on the Travel Channel, as well as a Southern Regional panelist for the James Beard Foundation’s chef and restaurant awards.

McDaniel explores the history of over 150 recipes, from Maryland stuffed ham to South Carolina chicken bog to New Orleans shrimp Creole.

828.456.6000.

The Mountains in Bloom Garden Festival will be held July 7 through 10 in Highlands.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, author and interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein, will speak at The Farm at Old Edwards. Tickets for the lectures are $65 per person.

From 6 to 8 p.m. that evening there will be a flower show preview and Frank Stella: American Master opening reception at The Bascom. This is a first peek at the floral, horticultural and photography exhibitions that comprise the flower show. Tickets are $50 per person and will include cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

On July 8 and 9, five gardens in the Highlands Country Club area will be featured on a garden tour. Parking for the tours will be at the Highlands Civic Center, where participants will be shuttled to houses. Tickets are $80.

The admission-free flower show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 9 and 10, at The Bascom.

Mountains in Bloom benefactors will also tour the Southern Highlands Reserve at Lake Toxaway from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 10. The Southern Highlands Reserve is a private native plant garden and research center dedicated to the preservation, cultivation and display of plants native to the Southern Appalachian Highlands.

Benefactors are also invited to a “Some Enchanted Evening” Benefactor Party on Sunday, July 10, featuring music by Jim Gibson of Hickory Cove Music. A seated dinner will follow.

828.526.4949 or visit www.thebascom.org.

Musicians Larry and Elaine Conger will host the 12th annual Mountain Dulcimer Week, to be held Sunday, July 17, through Friday, July 22, on the campus of Western Carolina University.

This week-long residential program draws dulcimer enthusiasts from around the country for a week of dulcimer music, training, fun and fellowship.

Attendees spend mornings developing their playing skills and afternoons choosing from electives that allow them to explore different facets of the versatile mountain dulcimer.

Larry Conger is the author of eight books of dulcimer arrangements and has been featured on numerous recordings, including “Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer II,” “National Champions” and “Great Players of the Mountain Dulcimer.” He presents dulcimer programs in the public schools as a participating artist for the Tennessee Arts Commission and Kentucky Arts Council.

Elaine Conger’s musical career includes playing keyboards and singing backup for country music artist Faith Hill. With her husband, Conger now owns and operates a music studio that offers instruction in piano, guitar, drums, voice and mountain dulcimer.

828.227.7397 or visit dulcimer.wcu.edu.

Al Jardine and his Endless Summer Band will fill the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts with summer music at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 9.

The band is led by Al Jardine of Beach Boys fame and features a number of stage musicians who toured with the Beach Boys.

Jardine is a founding member of the Beach Boys, of which he was a part for 35 years. Jardine was the band’s rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist and sang lead on Beach Boys favorites “Help Me Rhonda” and “Then I Kissed Her.”

Jardine released his first full-length solo studio album, “A Postcard from California,” in June 2010. The album contains contributions from fellow Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, and Mike Love, along with guest appearances from Neil Young, Steve Miller and others.

Tickets are $35. 866.273.4615 or visit www.greatmountainmusic.com.

On Saturday, July 9, Grammy-award winner Laurie Lewis will give an after-dinner performance at Cataloochee Ranch.

Lewis is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and fiddle player from California. Her performing companion is ace mandolinist-singer Tom Rozum. Their 1996 CD, “The Oak and the Laurel,” was nominated for a Grammy and Lewis’ stage shows are known for their musical virtuosity and front-porch friendliness.

Her songs helped shape the template for the modern bluegrass-pop style.

The cost of the evening event, which includes dinner, will be $40 per person or $20 per person without dinner.

For reservations call 828.926.1401.

Pete Friedman will bring his music to the Jackson County Public Library at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, with a program of jazz and blues tunes on electric and acoustic guitars.

Friedman has been playing guitars for 47 years and is a musician, composer and guitar teacher. For the past nine years he has been accompanying the choir and pianist at Whittier United Methodist Church. Prior to that, he played in many bands during the 60s, including underground groups and a psychedelic band called the Second Foundation in New York City. He has played lead guitar for singer/songwriter Kath Bloom and many others.

This program is free to the public and is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library. 828.586.2016.

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will host and sponsor a free performance of The Liars Bench, a Southern Appalachian variety show, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 7.

The Liars Bench was founded by Sylva writer and storyteller Gary Carden in June 2010, and the show’s cast has been presenting monthly programs at City Lights bookstore in Sylva for the past year.

The upcoming performance at the museum, titled “On the Wings of a Snow-White Dove,” will have old-time religion as the theme. Carden, artistic director and host for the shows, will perform “Go Down Death” with musician Steve Brady. The White Sisters of Franklin will present gospel music favorites and Will Peebles, director of WCU’s School of Music, will demonstrate shape-note singing, with audience participation.

The show also will feature Mary Fowler, a spiritual singer from Liberty Baptist Church, and Paul Iarussi, a claw-hammer guitar player recently featured on the History Channel.

The Mountain Heritage Center will host another Liars Bench performance on at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, with the theme “Cherokee in a Changing World: Traditional and Contemporary Legends and Lore.”

828.227.7129.

The World Massage Festival will hold its 6th annual festival from July 14 to 17 at Western Carolina University.

The festival allows the local community to experience various types of massage, learn about massage therapy as a profession, speak with massage schools and network with the industry’s world class instructors and therapists from around the country.

It is open to the public, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Hundreds of health and massage-related products will be on displayed, demonstrated and offered for sale.

Sweet Serenity will be offering a wide variety of massage techniques at $1 per minute.  All proceeds will be donated to the Shriner Children’s Burn Hospital in Greenville, S.C.

336.957.8997 or visit www.worldmassagefestival.com.

The Groovy Movie Club will show the film “Amish Grace” at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 8. A mostly organic potluck dinner will precede the screening at 6:15 p.m. This event is free and open to the public and it meets at Buffy Queen’s home in Dellwood.

The mission of the Groovy Movie Club is to show excellent films, both feature and documentary, with a message. A discussion will follow for all who wish to participate.

828.926.3508 or 828.454.5949 to make reservations and get directions or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Tim Lynch will lead off the 2011 Franklin Folk Festival at 9 a.m. on July 16 at the downtown gazebo stage in Franklin.

Lynch is the leader of the Tallahassee-based band Sojourn and has played for decades in Florida. Sojourn has a newly released CD titled Lilting Banshee that will be for sale and the proceeds will be donated to REACH of Macon County.

Lynch specializes in traditional Appalachian and other American roots and Celtic music and storytelling. He sings and plays the guitar, mandolin, dulcimers, banjo, mandolin and bouzouki and will often be joined by musical friends.

Lynch has played at the Franklin Taste of Scotland and Franklin Folk Festival and hosted the festival’s jamming tent over the past few years. He again will be playing and serve as one of the 2011 Taste of Scotland Festival.

The Highlands Motoring Festival is scheduled for July 15 to 17, in downtown Highlands.

The festival will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening, July 15, with early registration and cruise-in activities. There will be prizes awarded and items will be available for purchase.

Saturday features a car show scheduled 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Kelsey-Hutchinson Park. Participants will be vying for Best of Show and Top 25 awards. The public can participate in the judging by voting for the People’s Choice Award. In addition to the automobiles, there will be food, entertainment, raffles, Highlands Motoring Festival promotion items for sale and many pets seeking homes.

The event will also feature the Bridgestone Racing Simulator; the simulator will provide the public the opportunity to test their driving skills on a high-speed road course. Activities continue Sunday with a road rally and brunch. Cars and their owners will gather on Main Street at 9 a.m. for instructions and directions. The road rally is open to everyone and any type vehicle. Participants will depart Main Street about 9:30 a.m. for a three-hour tour of local mountain roads that includes drive-by visits to three waterfalls.

The road rally will conclude with a meeting at the Ugly Dog Pub for award presentations.

This year’s event will provide financial support to the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society.

There is no admission fee to attend any of the activities. Registration fee for car show participants is $25 per car for prior registrations and $35 on the show date. Participation fee for the road rally and brunch is $15 per person.

Visit www.highlandsmotoringfestival.com or www.highlandschamber.org.

The Mountain Artisans Summertime Art & Crafts Show will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 2 and 3 in the Ramsey Center at Western Carolina University.

This year’s event has 115 exhibitors showcasing contemporary and heritage art & crafts. An array of items will be displayed for sale, including fine art, woodworking, pottery, weavings, paintings and gourd art. Heritage crafts such as shaker brooms, pine needle baskets and folk dolls will be available, along with heirloom fabric items.

Admission is $3 for adults. Children under 12 are admitted free. Free parking is also available.

828.524.3405 or visit www.mountainartisans.net.

Brian Bartel, a local artisan who has spent the last 14 years developing his technique in woodworking with hand tools, will present a demonstration at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12, at the Jackson County Public Library.

Bartel started woodworking in 1997 and uses methods of joinery virtually unchanged for a thousand years. Most of his tools are at least 100 years old. Today in his wood shop, Bartel is producing a line of high-end rustic furniture, reclaiming unwanted barn wood.  

Bartel is a member of Handmade in America and has spoken and demonstrated throughout Western North Carolina. He has shown his craft at Mountain Heritage Day and was commissioned through the Grove Wood Gallery to produce high-end custom furniture pieces.

Most recently, he has begun teaching a series of classes dedicated to the art of fine woodworking, focusing on craftsmanship, quality and hand tools at Southwestern Community College.

This program is free to the public and is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Main Library. 828.586.2016.

Witnessing a wild fox is not necessarily a cause for alarm, nor are all foxes rabid or dangerous, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

However, residents should not approach, touch or disturb foxes or their dens. In most cases, people should do nothing when seeing a fox. But if a fox has become habituated to people and is causing a problem, make noise by yelling, banging pots and pans and setting off legal fireworks to chase foxes from yards and neighborhoods. It is necessary to be aggressive and repeat these actions if foxes do not leave.

To prevent problems with any type of wildlife: don’t feed wild animals, clean up pet food, secure trash and barbeque grills, establish protective barriers to keep wildlife from entering basements and crawl spaces where they might build nests or dens, keep pets secured or indoors, clear overhanging tree limbs that wildlife could use to enter a structure, clear fallen fruit from around trees and inspect property annually.

For more information, visit ncwildlife.org and click on “Nuisance Wildlife” or download “Coexisting with Foxes.”

A talk titled “The Southern Blue Ridge at this Moment in History” will discuss growth in the mountains and its impact on farm and forestland at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, at the Highlands Biological Station.

The talk is part of the Highlands Biological Foundation “Think About Thursdays” summer event series.

The speaker, Paul Carlson, executive director of the Little Tennessee Land Trust, will talk about the collapse of steep-slope land values, the legacy of substandard road systems and what it means for the future of mountain development, and how these issues tie together with biodiversity and future conservation planning for Western North Carolina.

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust is co-sponsoring the event, and Executive Director Dr. Gary Wein, will give an introduction.

828.526.2221 or visit www.wcu.edu/hbs.

This upcoming July 4 is a “free fishing day” in North Carolina. Everyone — residents and nonresidents — can fish in all public waters without purchasing a fishing license.

All other fishing regulations, such as length and daily possession limits, as well as bait and tackle restrictions, apply.

“Free fishing day is a great opportunity for families to enjoy some quality time together on the water and it is a relatively inexpensive activity that anyone, no matter what their age or skill level, can enjoy,” said Kyle Briggs, a program manager with the commission’s Division of Inland Fisheries.

A trip for seniors, age 50 and above, to see the elk in Cataloochee Valley will be offered on July 13 by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department.

Participants should bring cameras, binoculars and folding chairs; they should also bring their own dinner.

The trip will leave the Waynesville Recreation Center at 2 p.m. and return by 9 p.m. $5 for Waynesville Recreation Center members and $7 for nonmembers. Space is limited to the first seven to register.

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

The MedWest-Haywood Triathlon has returned this year with a new summertime date, attracting seasoned triathletes looking for a challenge as well as newcomers just getting their feet wet in the multisport arena.

The race will be held Saturday, July 9, starting from the MedWest Health and Fitness Center in Clyde.

It is the perfect race for new triathletes and those who aren’t wild about open-water swims. The race features a 300-yard pool swim, a 10-mile bike leg and a 5K run. Both the bike and run courses offer scenic views of the area, and both are fast.

Those who raced Haymed before should note the run course has been reversed this year. Maps and cue sheets for both courses can be found at the race page at www.GloryHoundEvents.com.

Registration is limited to 250 athletes.

The Cherokee Runners Moonlight 5K and Fun Run will be held on July 4 at the Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds. The run/walk will be followed by the tribe’s Fourth of July celebration and fireworks. The fun run will begin at 7:15 p.m. and the 5K will begin at 7:45

The race will help fund the Cherokee Runners Summer Running Camp, and 20 percent of entry fees will be donated to the Cherokee Special Olympics. The 5K will be a certified USA Track and Field course along well-lit streets through downtown and toward the Casino. There will be one water stop at the turn around/halfway mark.

The pre-registration cost is $15 and late registration is an additional $5. The registration form is online at www.active.com/running/cherokee-nc/4th-of-july-moonlight-5k-2011. Registration and check-in will be from 6 to 7 p.m. on race day. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Learn the basics of canning through workshops offered by the Jackson County N.C. Cooperative Extension Service during the month of July.  

These are hands-on workshops designed to give you experience in processing foods. The class size is small, and participants will take home a jar of canned food. Classes will be held in the conference room of the Community Service Center in Sylva.  

The schedule is as follows:

• Boiling water bath canning, Tuesday, July 5, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. or Wednesday, July 6, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

• Pressure canning green beans: Tuesday, July 26, form 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. or Wednesday, July 27, from 9 a.m. to noon.

• Canning tomatoes: Thursday, July 28 from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Cost for each class is $5. Copies of the Ball Blue Book will be available for an additional $6. 828.586.4009 to register.

When you walk into an automotive shop you don’t expect to see men in crisp white lab coats and surgical masks sporting plastic green gloves. But Pete Wolosin’s Engine Performance II class at Southwestern Community College is anything but ordinary.

Wolosin and his students are making biodiesel fuel. And they are doing it with used cooking oil from the college’s culinary arts kitchen.

“I’ve got to prepare these students for the future, and that future includes alternative fuel sources,” said Wolosin.

Wolosin’s students learn first-hand the chemistry involved in the biodiesel process, which includes cooking oil, methanol and potassium hydroxide.

“If you don’t mix it properly, you will end up making soap,” Matt Holland, a SCC student from Sylva, said, holding up their first batch, a two-liter bottle full of soap. “We learned quickly what not to do,” he said.

The class used a funnel to pour the mixture of cooking oil, methanol and potassium hydroxide into another container to shake it. After shaking, the mixture changed color and eventually settled into two distinct layers: the bottom is a waste byproduct of glycerin and the top is the biodiesel.

“Not one war has been fought over this oil,” said student Art Zanotti of Sylva.

A weeklong Environmental Camp for ages 10 to 15 offers a full lineup of hands-on nature exploration and fieldtrips.

The camp, put on by Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department, will be held July 18 through July 22 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Town of Waynesville Horticulturalist Jonathan Yates will lead the camp. Learn about soil, trees and plants while visiting waterfalls, going on hikes and exploring Western North Carolina.

All campers need to bring a rain poncho and lunch each day. The cost is $60 for members of the Waynesville Recreation Center or $72 for nonmembers. Registration is open now at the Waynesville Recreation Center.

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

To the Editor:

The patronage politics of roads, money, power, and ethics in North Carolina is a strange creature. Individual North Carolina Department of Transportation board members may not receive direct compensation (nor anyone related to them to the first degree) for a road-building project in their districts; yet that is not the whole story.

Every four years the DOT board members are re-appointed (or not) to their districts by the governor. Often, these re-appointed board members have given thousands of dollars to gubernatorial candidates’ campaigns. These DOT commissioners have given money, not necessarily out of their own pockets but through many $100, $200, and $300 contributions that the individual board members receives from other constituents (private citizens, paving companies, architectural firms, etc.). This is called “bundling.”

Many of these smaller (some not so small) contributors do have a stake in the board member’s re-appointment because of either jobs they hold with the DOT or companies who are regular contractors with the DOT. They consequently are dependent upon the DOT board being able to “fast track” certain projects and to informally steer certain projects to these contributors.

Of course the governor has a hand in all this — larger now since Gov. Beverly Perdue centralized more DOT/roads decision-making power in Raleigh back in 2009. Power and perquisites always flow from the governor’s mansion to campaign contributors — always.

Do the Southwestern Community College campuses in Jackson and Macon counties need these multi-million dollar “driveways,” as Jackson County Commission Chairman Jack Debnam calls them, complete with expensive overpasses that only allow for limited on/off access to major roads? No. More economical road designs are possible.

It is not “for the children” — it never has been and never will be. Yet because of the political patronage (jobs, money and power) at stake, these projects will probably get built. Under the state’s ethics statutes, is it legal? Yes. Is it truly ethical? No. But who cares? It is only yours and my money. And money is always the bottom line.

Carl Iobst

Cullowhee

To the Editor:

It is with astonishment that I have been following the flurry of recent articles in the newspapers detailing Jackson County commissioner chair Jack Debnam’s one-man crusade against building an access road on the Southwestern Community College campus.

Mr. Debnam is new to county government, but should he be reminded that his first duty is to serve and represent ALL the constituents of Jackson County, and this includes SCC? For more than 40 years the college has provided a valuable educational opportunity to the people in Jackson County and the surrounding area. As both an educational institution and one of the largest employers in the county, the college has had a positive impact on many lives.

Several weeks ago in an informal discussion regarding safety issues on the SCC campus, Mr. Debnam made a statement to me that, “If a disaster happens at SCC, you folks could just run through the woods.” What a callous and hurtful statement from someone elected (and paid) to serve all the people of Jackson County, including those who because of various handicaps or infirmities cannot “run through the woods.”

For the past 15 years I have been responsible for taking and transcribing the minutes at SCC Board of Trustee meetings. I can assure you that safety has been the primary concern with the connector/loop road and has been discussed frequently. The primary purpose of the minutes is to record actions and resolutions, not a word-by-word narrative discussion.  Narrative is used only for clarification purposes. Safety was not mentioned because it is such an integral part of the road that I did not feel it necessary to include in the record.   

The road is also not a recent concern for Southwestern. The need for an additional access road on the Jackson campus has been an issue for most of my 33 years at the college. In 1994 (17 years ago), the college officially made it part of its master plan, citing safety concerns.  It was also detailed in subsequent college planning documents and correspondence.

One cannot help but wonder — what are Mr. Debnam’s true motivations? Is there a personal vendetta involved here? Is he using his position as an elected official to represent other interests besides those of the taxpayers of Jackson County? Perhaps these are some of the questions that should be asked.

My feelings about this one-man crusade against a community college whose only purpose is to serve and educate the community — well, to borrow a quote from Mr. Debnam, “This stinks so bad, I can hardly stay in the room.”

Sharon Grasty

Waynesville

To the Editor,

We North Carolinians are very fortunate people. Our Republican majority state legislature had the courage to make the necessary cuts in the state budget to close a $2.5 billion deficit. By reducing spending by more than $1 billion, North Carolina’s government will live within its means, preventing the bankruptcy that threatened our state and continues to threaten our nation and states and counties throughout the country.

However, ever since the budget debate began and the legislature overrode Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto, numerous naysayers have been critical of the spending cuts, but especially those in education. You would think that the education budget was reduced to $0!

What is actually true is that the legislature trimmed bloated areas in education in favor of increasing funding for K-12 programs. The budget fully funds classroom teachers and teaching assistants, makes important education reforms, while also protecting other core state services. The education reforms will lower class sizes by hiring 1,100 additional teachers, pay teachers based on merit, and ensure students can read.

A bill to eliminate the charter school cap was signed into law. North Carolina parents will soon have more choice and control over their children’s education. Presently there are only 99 public charter schools in North Carolina — not enough to meet the needs of about 20,000 students on a waiting list. Finally, North Carolina families will start getting the public education choices they deserve.

Money from the federal government, states and counties has poured into education for years. What do we have to show for it? A high level of school dropouts, middle and even high school children who cannot read, students who must take remedial courses in college before they are able to handle college level material, disgraceful disciplinary behavior in classrooms including teachers molesting students, and subject matter that includes time spent educating students on condom use.

I read these statistics from a writer who lamented that “in 1954 the U.S was No. 1 in the world in elementary school enrollment, math and science and college graduates. Today we are 19th in science, 24th in math, 79th in elementary school enrollment and 12th in the world in the number of college graduates.” That record tells me that just throwing more money at education does not work!

Thank you, North Carolina General Assembly, not only for reforming education but for reducing spending, cutting taxes for job-creating private small business and for taxpayers, reforming costly medical malpractice laws and for finding a reasonable solution to our state’s financial woes. Your efforts have provided us with more school choice, the potential for job creation, lower medical costs and the opportunity to keep our money in our pockets.

Carol Adams

Glenville