To the Editor:

The House in Raleigh recently passed a budget with deep spending cuts. According to Forbes.com, House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) said “… retirements, vacancies, turnover and flexibility for local school districts … would reduce actual job losses to fewer than 7,000.” I have seen several interviews with Mr. Tillis, and I was struck by his complete lack of empathy for those people – whatever the number – who will lose their jobs.

Our education system will be the hardest hit by the cuts. U.S. Sen. Richard Burr recently warned that even though North Carolina corporate tax rates are the highest in the Southeast, we win every time when competing with neighboring states because of our education system, particularly our community and state colleges. “When an employer looks at an investment in North Carolina, they are not looking at the return next year. They are looking at the return 30 years from now.”

North Carolina just came in second for the third straight year as “Best State for Business” in a poll conducted by Chief Executive Magazine. Sen. Burr summed it up: “When we talk about the things that work. Let’s not overlook what most employers in the 21st century are looking for – that’s an educated workforce.”

Our lawmakers are jeopardizing our future by not exploring every budget option, such as extending the one-cent sales tax which amounts to about $860 million a year. Mr. Tillis insists this money will go back to North Carolinians and create jobs.

It might, but I don’t believe that businesses create jobs because they save a penny on the dollar in sales tax. They create jobs when there is a higher demand for their products or services. Higher unemployment does not create higher demand. If my family spent an average of $500 a week on taxable products, we would save only $5 a week.

I agree with the 73 percent of North Carolinians who, in a recent Elon University poll, support extending the one-cent sales tax for another year to offset budget cuts. Please contact Sens. Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine, and Jim Davis, R-Franklin. Urge them to explore every available budget option to keep our state moving forward.

Terri McGovern

Waynesville

With its unending contradictions, life is at best confusing and at worst inexplicable. The U.S. is in the minority of nations today that embraces the death penalty. Since I endeavor to avoid self righteous mobs known as majorities, I like that. But the one troublesome aspect to the death penalty is its stingy application. Our justice system, otherwise known as the employment service for lawyers and clerks, is unfairly inefficient; and as regards the death penalty the unfairness of its lethargic foot-dragging bears not against the guilty, but against society.

If you can pardon the expression, I’m just dying to know why in capital offenses we dally in applying the appropriate punishment when there is no reasonable doubt of a person’s guilt. Death penalty opponents contend that capital punishment is cruel and unreasonable, and the irony is in the fact that those opponents usually come from the political left, where atheism and a general disregard for things divine seem to flourish in abundance.

Non-believers think the death penalty immoral. Believers think it righteous. (This is a generalization, but I subscribe to that word’s definition as being “a huge truth, highly disconcerting to sociologists and others who have earned like degrees from correspondence courses, community colleges and equivalent universities.”)

The paradox thrives in the fact that those who oppose the death penalty do not necessarily oppose war and all its much talked about collateral damage. That euphemistic term means, “Oops, we may have destroyed a town full of civilians.”

At present our government has elected to enter into yet another war, this time against the leadership of Libya. Never mind that Libya is a sovereign nation conducting its own affairs. No, the U.S. and its acolytes now think it necessary to get involved in that country’s internal affairs. Citing some abstruse moral code, our leadership tends to play down the fact that Libya has valuable oil reserves. This could lead some to believe in the insincerity of altruism. I’m one of those.

I frankly do not care anything at all about Libya, or what goes on there. If the people in that nation desire a civil war, let them have one. I don’t care. The quarter-billion dollars in cruise missiles the U.S. recently fired into the sand dunes over there is money that might have been better applied in paying down the national debt. As far as I know, we don’t owe Libya a dime.

See how confusing it is? Unlike an electric chair or tablets of cyanide or a syringe or two of poison, cruise missiles are somewhat indiscreet. They blow up, and anyone nearby gets blown up too. Conversely, an electric chair has room for only one. So why do we whimsically risk blowing up people whose only crime is misfortune, while here at home we debate and quibble and appeal and protest over the execution of deranged killers? Our political leadership calls Muammar Qaddafi deranged, and is ready and willing to kill him for it. Yet we allow deranged killers to languish on death row for 20 or more years. Worse, we sentence deranged killers to life imprisonment.

The Unabomber is now doing life without parole for blowing up people with dynamite. Serving the same sentence right down the hall from him is Eric Rudolph, who killed people in a like manner. They killed American citizens on American soil, but it is wrong to execute them? It is wrong to execute them yet it is right to execute people on the other side of the planet who may not have committed any crime against anyone?  

Are you confused too?

(Scott Muirhead lives in Haywood County. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)

Auditions for the 2011-2012 season of Voices in the Laurel will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24 and 31, and June 7.

The Western North Carolina children’s choir develops singers’ abilities through group practice and public performance. Categories of musical styles vary from gospel and hymns to jazz, international, Celtic and traditional folk music.

Choir participation is open to boys and girls in grades one through 12. The ensemble is led by Martha Brown, who teaches music in Haywood County Schools and has coached and guided Voices through 15 years of public performance.

828.734.8413 for an audition appointment or visit voicesinthelaurel.org.

Arts, crafts and food vendors are being sought to participate in Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University’s annual fall festival of traditional Appalachian culture to be held in September.

The festival typically attracts more than 20,000 visitors who come to enjoy two stages of continuous music and dance, exhibitions of Cherokee stickball and shape-note singing, a midway of juried arts and crafts and food.

The festival arts and crafts are judged for quality of workmanship, booth display and design. Cash awards will be presented to the vendors with the best works.

Festival food vendors are required to use compostable and recyclable serving materials, with no plastic foam cups or plates, in an effort to make the festival more environmentally friendly.

Arts and crafts applications must be postmarked by Friday, June 10. Food vendor applications must be postmarked by Friday, May 27. 828.227.7129 or visit mountainheritageday.com.

The annual Smoky Mountain High School Mustang Roundup is scheduled for May 21, sponsored by the Smoky Mountain High School Parent-Teacher Organization.

The Roundup is an outdoor carnival held in the afternoon during the regular school day and features inflatables, face painting, relay races, a dunking tank, food, music, booths and more.

Wrist bands can be purchased for $8 for unlimited access to the inflatables and snacks will be available for a nominal cost.

Brevard’s Hogtown Squealers Band will play a concert of traditional string band music at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, in Franklin’s Town Square gazebo.  

Over their 20-year collaboration, the Squealers have incorporated honky-tonk, ragtime and other traditions into their lively music, sharing an approach to their craft reminiscent of the early Red Clay Ramblers and other greats of recorded Southern string band music.

Attendees should bring a lawn chair, and in case of rain, the program will be held in Tartan Hall at First Presbyterian Church, one block from Town Square. This event is sponsored by the Arts Council of Macon County, and is the first of a series of Sundays on the Square. 828.534.7683 or visit artscouncilofmacon.org.

A special evening concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 27, at Grace Episcopal Church in Waynesville.

The event will be held as a fundraiser for the children’s summer program at Pigeon Community Multi-Cultural Development Center. The Pigeon Center was able to operate the summer program for children in the past with a grant which is no longer available.

Performers will include William Staley, pastor of Jones Temple AME Zion Church who specializes in gospel music.

Becky Mendez will be presenting Latino selections, including some of the music of Selena. The evening will be opened by The Signature Winds, who will perform some traditional spirituals as well as music from Africa and Mexico. Rounding out the program will be The Frog Level Philharmonic, offering spirited renditions of Dixieland classics.

Tickets are $10 for adults and children are free. 828.926.8721.

Members of the Haywood County-based Balsam Range will be joined by the host of the television show “Life in the Carolinas” during a performance at 7:30 p.m. on May 24 at Smoky Mountain Roasters in Waynesville.

Host Carl White will interview band members between songs for his documentary style show. The coffee shop only seats 75 and the setting is very intimate. Doors open at 6 p.m.

For tickets call 828.452.1212.

The Vettes in the Valley Corvette show will be held May 28 and 29 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

Vettes in the Valley hosted more than 320 Corvettes from 15 states last year and anticipates an even bigger show this year. The official show car of the NASCAR Nationwide Series will also make a pit stop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 28.

Along with the show car, there will be a race car simulator, a wheel game with prizes and the NASCAR car carrier.

Included in the show is class judging with trophies and awards in each class, people’s choice, participant’s choice and specialty trophies and awards. There will be vendors, entertainment, door prizes, contests and a silent auction, with a Corvette Parade at 4 p.m. on May 28.

Tickets are $5 for adults and children are free. 828.734.9126 or visit smokyevents.com.

The Osmond Brothers are coming to the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, to perform all styles of music from barbershop to jazz.

The Osmond Brothers have been performing world-wide for 50 years. They practically grew up on stage, and they’re still pleasing audiences with their special brand of entertainment.

As regulars on the Andy Williams Show and the Jerry Lewis Show in the 1960s, The Osmonds learned 28 musical instruments and perfected their dance skills. They have sold more than 77 million records and have accrued more than 30 gold records.

Tickets are $30. 866.273.4615 or visit greatmountainmusic.com.

A benefit concert featuring Jon Byrd and Milan Miller will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, at Smoky Mountain Coffee Roasters in Hazelwood.

The performance will raise money for the Kids Advocacy Resource Effort and is the second benefit for the cause this year

828.456.8995 ext. 205.

Get a taste of English tradition at Mountain High Tea, a fundraising party for the Haywood County Arts Council.

The event starts at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, at the home of Nancy Rhead. Party-goers will enjoy a traditional English high tea, with champagne, tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and lemon curd, and a variety of sweets. Food will be served on antique British bone china using silver serving pieces, joined by fine linens and fresh flowers.

Tickets are $35 and seating is limited to 16.

828.452.0593 or visit haywoodarts.org.

Dillsboro will close Front Street to host a block party from on the third Saturday of each month from now through November. The event will include live music, food, games for kids and more. Most shops will be open late.

The May 21 line-up includes local artist Liz Nance followed by Blood Brothers.

Nantahala Brewing will celebrate its one-year anniversary at noon on Saturday, May 21, at the new tap room in Bryson City.

In addition to its own craft brews, there will be live music from the Freight Hoppers, door prizes and brewery tours.

The owners and brewers will also be on hand to answer questions. 828.488.2337.

The Haywood County Arts Council’s Quilt Trails project unveiled its first quilt block in Maggie Valley in April at the Maggie Valley Town Hall.

More than 30 people attended the unveiling of the Little Red School House block, which is the fifth block on the Haywood County Arts Council’s Quilt Trail. Other blocks can be seen on the Shelton House in Waynesville, and the Shook House, Lil’s, and Haywood institute in Clyde.

The Town Hall block design was selected and purchased by the High Country Quilters and given to the Town of Maggie Valley as a gift.

The rock town hall was once a schoolhouse, built in 1930 with assistance from the Work Progress Administration at a cost of $8,000. Families in the community donated rock, which came mostly from nearby creeks. The building was used as an elementary school until 1986.

The Haywood County Quilt Trails concept is based on similar projects in Ashe, Avery, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga, and Yancey counties in North Carolina where quilt squares are painted on wood and installed on barns, public buildings, shops, and other appropriate buildings around the community.

For current information and block locations visit haywoodquilttrails.org.

“Buzz’s Summer Blast Youth Camp” at MedWest Health & Fitness Center in Haywood County will be held two weeks this summer, June 20 to June 24 and July 25 through July 29. The camp will offer games, activities and exploration of fitness and sports. Children will play indoor and outdoor games, swim in the pool, watch movies, make crafts and more.

Daily schedule includes a drop-off period from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., counselor-led activities from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m., and a pick-up period from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Enrollment is $110 for members and $120 for non-members for each camp. 828.452.8056.

Rising second through ninth graders can promote their creativity and problem solving skills at the ninth annual Rocket to Creativity Camp at Western Carolina University this summer. The camp lasts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, June 27, through Friday, July 1, in the Killian Building on campus. Children will choose from 18 interest areas including crime scene investigation, robotics, spy and espionage, animation, inventions and more. Parents may attend a showcase of the children’s projects on July 1.

Registration is $125 and includes lunch each day in the Courtyard Dining Hall at WCU. 828.227.7397 or learn.wcu.edu.

All Haywood County students grades six through 11 who plan to participate in a school sport for the upcoming school year are eligible for a free physical provided by MedWest Sports Medicine on May 31 at MedWest Health & Fitness Center. Students must pick up medical forms to fill out from their school prior to the physical then drop by during the appropriate time slot for that school.

828.452.8077.

Business owners looking for help getting started with social media marketing can attend the free seminar “Business Owner’s Guide to Facebook & Twitter: Starting from Scratch to Online Success,” from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24.

Led by Cintia Listenbee, owner of Listenbee Media, the workshop will lead you through creating Facebook and Twitter business pages and will teach social media interaction. Sponsored by the Small Business Center at Haywood Community College.

Bring photos of your business to add to the pages. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. 828.627.4512.

“Summer Slam,” a co-ed softball tournament sponsored by Swain/Qualla SAFE, Inc. and Medwest Swain, will be Saturday, May 28. Deadline to get your team registered is at 8 p.m. Monday, May 23. The tournament will be held at John Crowe Complex in Cherokee. Cost is $200 per team. Proceeds help the nonprofit that fights domestic violence. 828.488.9038 or 828.788.0403.

Alan Sumeriski, chief of facility management, was selected as Great Smoky Mountains National Park employee of the year for major accomplishments in improving park facilities. Sumeriski has led the park’s facility management workforce since 2007, which consists of about 160 permanent and seasonal staff, almost half of the park’s total staff. Facility management is the park’s largest and most complex division. It maintains 384 miles of roads, 146 bridges, 151 historic cemeteries, 42 water and 19 sewer systems, 10 campgrounds, 11 picnic areas, 800 miles of trails and 97 historic structures.

The Waynesville Kiwanis will host a “Spring Fling” at the Waynesville Recreation Center on Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There will be tubing in Richland Creek, a dunking booth, kids’ dog show, a three point and free throw contest, and games for children, including a bounce castle and obstacle course, and a 21-foot water slide.

There will be several organizations present for parents to plan their children’s activities for the summer.

Also, the entire day on Saturday will be “Haywood County Resident Day” at the Waynesville Recreation Center, meaning all residents in Haywood County can get in free.

The dog contest has four categories: Largest Dog, Smallest Dog, Best Dressed Dog and Best Trick. Each child may enter their dog in up to three categories. It’s free to enter, but register by May 18 by contacting Diane at 828.456.2030 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The event is free to the public. There will be hotdogs and hamburgers for sale by the Waynesville Kiwanis. 828.456.2030 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Medwest Health and Fitness Center in Haywood County will be holding its last American Red Cross lifeguard training course beginning May 20.  

This will be the final opportunity to obtain certification before the summer swimming season arrives. The course will take place on the following schedule:

• Friday, May 20 and 27, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Saturday, May 21 and 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Sundays, May 22 and 29, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Enrollment fee is $150 for members, $175 for non-members, which includes all instructional materials. CPR certification is included in this curriculum. Register by May 16. 828.452.8056.

The third-annual Bicycle Rodeo is set to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 14, in Clyde.

Children ages 5 to 11 can ride their bicycles inside a closed course, designed to instill safe habits while biking, with an emphasis on sharpening skills involving stopping, starting and controlling turns. Professionals from area bicycle shops will also be on hand to check your child’s bike and helmet for fit and safety.

If your child does not have a bike or helmet, bikes and helmets will be available in several sizes.

In addition to the bicycle course, the Town of Clyde will have a fire truck on display and the police department’s K-9 Unit will do a demonstration. Prize drawings will be held at the conclusion of the event.

The event will also look to the future of bicycling with the kickoff of the Haywood County Comprehensive Bicycle Plan. Parents and children who attend the Bicycle Rodeo will have a chance to provide input to help shape the bicycle plan under development as a joint project of BicycleHaywoodNC and the Haywood County Recreation and Parks Department.

The rodeo is sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Town of Clyde, Haywood County Recreation and Parks and Bicycle Haywood NC. Admission is free.

Free hot dogs and drinks will be offered. Held at 64 Glance Street in Clyde in an empty parking lot near Angie’s Dance Academy. Turn at the Shook House, then make a right on Glance.

828.452.6789 or 828.627.2566.

An open house and public hearing is set for Tuesday, May 17, on a segment of Cooridor K, a controversial highway through the far western counties that has been partially built but still has two missing segments.

On the table is a new 9.9-mile, four-lane divided highway through the Stecoah area of Graham County. Supporters claim the highway will end the economic isolation of Robbinsville, which has no four-lane roads leading to it. Opponents lament the environmental destruction it would mean and the large price tag.

An open house will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Robbinsville High School commons area. The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. It will include an explanation of the proposed corridor alternatives, what the proposed road will look like and the right-of-way and relocation process for property owners in the path of the highway.

The DOT was sent back to the drawing board last year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the N.C. Division of Water Quality to consider whether a two-lane option could achieve the same purpose as a new four-lane highway.

At the hearing, DOT will provide details on why, after conducting the additional study, it still prefers building a new 9.9-mile highway.

A discussion about creating a science discovery center along the Tuckasegee River will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 12, at the Fairfield Inn and Suites across from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

This brainstorming meeting is open to those wanting to discuss the educational components of such a center. This is the first of three workshops intended to produce a feasibility report on the center. The second and third workshops will involve government and business sectors, respectively, and they will be held later in the summer.

A final general meeting will be held to inform the public about the progress made toward establishing a center. Light meal will be served. RSVP requested. Daniel Perlmutter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or Roger Clapp at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

They might look abandoned and waiflike, but the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is urging folks to not approach, touch, feed or move them.

Whitetails are a “hider” species, which means the female will hide her fawn in vegetation during the first two or three weeks of life as she feeds. Spotted and lacking scent, fawns are well camouflaged, and usually remain undetected by predators. The doe will return to the fawn several times a day to nurse and clean it, staying only a few minutes each time before leaving again to seek food. A human might never see the doe, and think the fawn needs help or food. But staying away is a better option.

The fawn, however, is well equipped to protect itself. By the time it is 5 days old, already it can outrun a human. At three to six weeks of age, fawns can escape most predators.

Unless a fawn is in imminent danger — for example, under attack by dogs — the best decision always is to leave it alone. If you are concerned about the fawn, leave the area and come back to check on the fawn the next day. Do not remain in the area. Does are very cautious and will not approach a fawn if they sense danger.

If a fawn is in the exact location when you check on it the following day and bleating loudly, or if a fawn is lying beside a dead doe (likely at the side of a highway), do not take the fawn into your possession. It is illegal to remove a fawn from the wild. Instead, call the Wildlife Resources Commission at 919.707.0040 for the contact information of a local, permitted fawn rehabilitator or see a list of fawn rehabilitators at www.ncwildlife.org/Injured_Wildlife/Injured_Contact_Rehabber.htm.

There will be a free lecture on “running medicine” Tuesday, May 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30. p.m. at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee.

Topics include running gait and technique, barefoot running and minimalist shoes and running after an injury. The lecture will be presented by physical therapist Thomas Burns of Carolina West Sports Medicine. Thomas specializes in the treatment of runners and provides biomechanical gait evaluations in the Carolina West physical therapy clinic on the campus of Western Carolina University.

828.293.3053.

Jackson County residents who love the public library are called to join Book Brigade Buddies and help move the last of the library books up the hill to the new facility. At 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 21, residents are asked to gather in front of the current library to form a line which will stretch up the courthouse steps and into the main entrance of the new Jackson County Public Library.

After the Book Brigade Buddies complete their task, the current library at 755 West Main Street will be closed permanently.

To the Editor:

Regarding the monument to the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority, these two headlines are just too much to take on the same page of the April 27 eidtion of The Smoky Mountain News:

• “Folkmoot Funding Gets the Ax”

• “TDA Makes Amends with Haywood Chamber”

Let me get this straight. The TDA doesn’t have $6,000 to promote Folkmoot through advertising — something they have been doing since 1984, and something that is their sole mandate for existence. And their reason, besides the ubiquitous “bad economy” excuse, is due to the overhead associated with the new downtown Waynesville Visitor Center.

So while they’re busy building a monument to themselves (in a bad economy), they have no money for advertising an annual event that brings in reportedly $4 million, spread across most of Haywood County over a two-week period.

Do I have that about right?

“Do we give the money to one event, or keep it to represent the entire county?” ask some on the TDA board.

Well let’s see. Let’s not promote the largest event in the county, especially since Ghost Town is a ghost town and Wheels Through Time is gone after this season. What are you saving it for, the ‘Mater Festival?

It seems a bit over the top to me and a waste of my tax dollars, since a few blocks away the TDA could have continued to pool resources with the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.

Don’t tell me, let me guess. As soon as the first rent payment comes due on the new digs, you’ll be back knocking at our door for another 25 to 50 percent increase in the TDA lodging tax because you ‘“need” it.

Any government entity, left unto itself, will eventually run amok.

Larry Wright

TDA TAX SERF

Maggie Valley

To the editor:

With the recent rapid rise in gas prices, the hype about nuclear as an alternative source of energy has resumed — if it ever let up. Notwithstanding the Fukushima disaster and the consequent spread of dangerous radioactive emissions, the extent of which is still unknown, the nuclear industry is still trying to persuade us that it has the solution to our energy problems. Here are seven reasons why they are wrong:

1. Time. It can take up to 20 years to commission and build a nuclear plant. The supply of cheap oil is already exhausted, so gas prices will continue to rise during this time, to the point where the continuation of our oil-dependent lifestyle will be seriously threatened.

2. Insurance. The insurance industry has refused to underwrite nuclear power, which means we taxpayers will be expected to fill that void. Can we afford to do so when federal and state budgets are already strained, and cuts in education, health care, social services, and highway repair are in the works?

3. Waste. Nuclear waste has a half-life of 100,000, and there is no safe place to put it. It is proposed to truck it up I-26 and I-40 from the Savannah River Plant, and deposit it somewhere in our mountains. Do we want that hazard for our children and grandchildren in our backyard?

4. Cost. Nuclear plants are prohibitively expensive, and cost overruns are legendary. Private investment is hard to come by because of the risk involved. President Obama has slipped $36 billion in new construction loan guarantees into the 2012 budget. If we can’t afford to fund teacher salaries, food stamps, health care for the elderly, bridges, and social security, why would we even think of pouring money into a nuclear boondoggle?

5. Peak Uranium. At present there are about 60 years of uranium left. If electricity generation from nuclear grows, however, this figure will decline, to the point where if all the world’s electricity were generated with nuclear, we’d have about three years’ supply left. Like peak oil—which rising gas prices demonstrate has already hit us—the supply of uranium is limited and does not warrant a huge investment for a short-term gain. Shouldn’t we be planning for a long-range future by putting our money into renewable sources of energy like wind and solar? (My wife and I have installed solar panels on our roof with this in mind.)

6. Carbon Emissions. Contrary to industry claims, nuclear is not a carbon-free way of generating electricity. True, the actual generation uses no fossil fuels, but the mining, processing, enrichment, treatment, and disposal of nuclear fuel all have significant impacts, equivalent to about one-third those of conventional, gas-fired generating plants. The production of nuclear power does send greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to global warming and environmental devastation. Haven’t we had enough of that?

7. Risk of Accidents. In the U.S. we already have 104 licensed reactors, 23 of which are of the identical or similar flawed, outdated design as the Mark I at Fukushima. Through the years there has been a steady stream of nuclear accidents worldwide, leading up to the Fukushima disaster. A major incident like this in just one of these plants could kill thousands, spread radioactive residue, and do trillions in damage, devastating our economy and putting future generations at risk. Why would we want to take a chance on this?

It’s up to us to muster “people power” to stop the rush to nuclear power by opposing the industry propaganda that has spent some $645 million in the past decade pushing their product in Congress. As Nuclear Watch South puts it, “No Nukes, Y’all!”

Doug Wingeier

Waynesville

To the editor:

Oh yeah, then there are the children.

How many bureaucrats does it take to educate a child? It must take more than seems to make sense. In Raleigh, we have 800 that are on the payroll of the Department of Public Instruction. The budget for this group of non-teaching employees is $153,000,000 (The well-paying job of one of them is to order magazines.)

Then we have to add The State Board of Education, 115 local School Boards, School Superintendents and Associate Superintendents with their staffs, Principals and Assistant Principals; then we have Psychologists, Resource Officers, Human Resource Directors, Guidance Counselors, Water Quality Directors, Staff Development Directors, Cultural Arts Program Directors, Federal Programs Directors, Community Schools Program Directors, Child Nutritionists, Nurses, Safe Schools Program Directors, Special Needs Program Directors, Public Relations Directors, Migrant Education Program Directors and social workers.

All of this before a single child encounters a single teacher. Gee, and I thought education was about the children.

It’s generally an accepted fact that in most states only 40 to 50 cents of every dollar spent on education actually reaches the classroom. Gee, and I thought education was about the children.

It’s not hard to understand why Catholic Schools, Christian Schools, private schools and charter schools (both public and private) deliver a far better product with much higher graduation rates and test scores at about half the cost. The teachers are not hindered by the performance stifling effects of layers and layers of bureaucrats administering regulation upon regulation. The Principal runs the school and the teachers teach the children. Maybe in these schools it really is about the children.

Is it any wonder that all of these well paid, non-teaching bureaucrats and the politicians that are handsomely supported by the unions wage fierce battles to maintain the status quo and keep out other options for the parents? After all, who is hurt by this self-serving cartel? It’s only the children.

Beverly Elliott

Clyde, NC

The Haywood County Veterans Office and the Haywood County Veterans Council are calling for veterans to participate in the Memorial Day Parade, scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday May 30th, in Canton.

The parade will feature several National Guard and Reserve Units, a color guard, Civil War reenactors, and veterans’ organizations. ROTC units from Pisgah and Tuscola High Schools are scheduled to participate.

828.452.6634.

A Citizen’s Constitutional Workshop will be held in Franklin Friday, May 20, at The Fun Factory on U.S. 441 South.

Experts from the John Locke Foundation and N.C. History Project will be at the event, which lasts from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The event is free, but pre-registration is strongly suggested. Mountain Patriots Tea Party and FreedomWorks are hosting the event.

919.828.3876.

Cecil Bothwell, who announced his congressional bid in March, will not run as an Independent but instead run in the 2012 Democratic primary.

“I’ve heard from hundreds of people, from Western North Carolina to Washington, D.C., who believe the most likely path to success is up the middle instead of trying for an end-run,” Bothwell said in explanation. “Groups are smarter than individuals, and I’m following advice gleaned from a wide network of friends and supporters.”

Bothwell is challenging incumbent Congressman Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville. Some political experts believed Bothwell could potentially erode Shuler’s Democratic base by running as an Independent, making for a tough re-election bid for the three-term congressman.

Bothwell is a former editor for the Asheville-based newspaper Mountain Xpress and is currently an Asheville city councilmember.

Donate food to the Manna Food Bank Summer Sack program from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 12 and help feed Haywood County children this summer.

Collections, organized by Keller Williams, will be taken in Waynesville at K-Mart and Bi-Lo on Russ Avenue, and at Food Lion in Canton and Clyde. All foods need to be in pop-up cans or individual boxes, portioned for each child.

For a taste of fun and history, visit The Blackberry Jam from 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 14, at the Macon County Fair Grounds.

The Macon County Historical Society has lined up a variety of events to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the role that Macon County played. This will be the first of a series of events and lectures to be held over the next four years.

The jam will showcase local and regional talent from acts like Nathan Parrish, The White Sisters, Mickey, Pat and Trisha Raby, Barbara Duncan, David Patterson, the Community Choir and the Good Old Boys from Clover Creek.

Gary Carden and the Ammons Sisters will tell Appalachian stories, while Gregg Clark will offer a chilling ghost story.

Square dancing, metal and wood working and shoe making demonstrations will be held throughout the day, and the girls from the Rabun County 4-H Club will be making corn shuck dolls for the children. Food vendors will also be on hand to tempt appetites.

Other entertainment will include pony rides and questions and answers with Civil War re-enactors.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Children under 12 are free. 828.524.9758 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This year’s Dancing With the Mountain Stars event is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 20, at the Laurel Ridge Country Club to benefit REACH of Haywood County. Local celebrities will be paired with professional dancers to compete for the coveted title.

The community can support its favorite star by purchasing tickets to the event or by making a donation to their star.  Tickets are $100.00 each, and the evening includes dancing, dinner, entertainment and hors d’oeuvres.

The 2011 stars are: Dr. Michael Hogan with Blue Mountain Chiropractic Center, Dr. and Mrs. Charles Thomas with 21st Century Oncology, CeCe Hipps with the Haywood Chamber of Commerce, Gary Lance with LN Davis Insurance, Scotty Setser with Haywood Regional Fitness Center and Pat Smathers, Mayor of Canton, each of whom will be paired with a professional partner.

Money raised will be used to support the various services REACH offers to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse.

828.456.7898.

Southern Gospel group Archie Watkins & Smoky Mountain Reunion will play two shows at 6 and 8 p.m. on May 21 at the Colonial Theater in Canton.

The concerts will benefit Arc of Haywood County, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. They offer training programs and activities, as well as mini-grants for Haywood County teachers of special needs students, specialized equipment and financial assistance.

Tickets are $15. 828.452.1980 ext. 300, or visit www.archiewatkins.com.

The Town of Dillsboro is seeking vendor applications for the upcoming Arts and Music festival, which will take place the second Saturday in June. Applications can be found at visitdillsboro.org.

Entertainers and musicians are also needed to play on Saturday nights in Dillsboro throughout the summer.

For information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Have fun while staying active this summer through a ballroom dance class, held from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday evenings, May 24 through June 28, at Western Carolina University.

Students will learn several ballroom dance styles, including the waltz, tango, cha-cha, swing and fox-trot, as well as the basics of leading and following. Beginners are welcome, and attendees can come with or without a partner. Comfortable, soft-bottomed shoes are required.

Instructor Heidi Turlington holds degrees in dance education and physical education, and is herself a former competitive dancer and experienced instructor.

Cost of the class is $59. Registration will continue through the first week of classes.

828.227.7379 or visit learn.wcu.edu.

Elementary school-aged children and their families are invited to a free ARTSaturday workshop from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 14, in the Macon County Public Library children’s wing.

Activities include make-and-take percussion instruments, harmony and round singing, a Musical Me mural, and more. ARTSaturday always features live music by keyboardist Lionel Caynon and coloring projects. Children should wear play clothes and come for any part of the session.

The monthly ARTSaturday series is produced by the Arts Council of Macon County.

828.524.7683 or visit www.artscouncilofmacon.org.

Pianist Thomas Uchtmann will perform a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 21 at the Performing Arts Center in Waynesville to benefit the Haywood County Arts Council. A reception will be held after the concert.

Uchtmann will perform a range of works by Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and others.

He was born in Trenton, New Jersey and holds degrees from the Juilliard School of Music and the University of California at Santa Barbara. For over fifteen years he performed with Community Concerts Association and is a professor emeritus of Eastern New Mexico University, where he taught on the piano faculty for 25 years before retiring to Western North Carolina.

Tickets are $17.50 for adults, $8 for students 17 and younger.

828.452.0593

Local writers can hone their skills with summer workshops in poetry and prose at UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Programs. Classes are open to all interested writers but class size is limited.

Poet Jeff Davis will lead Getting the Muse Back into Gear: A Poetry Workshop, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, June 8 to July 13.

Brian Lee Knopp, author of Mayhem in Mayberry: Misadventures of a P.I. in Southern Appalachia, will lead a narrative nonfiction writing workshop at the same time.

Peggy Tabor Millin, author of “Women, Writing, Soul-Making: Creativity and the Sacred Feminine,” will offer a course on memoir writing from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, June 7 through July 5.

A fiction workshop will be held by Heather Newton, author of Under the Mercy Trees, Thursday evenings from June 9 through July 14.

In-state tuition and fees for five-session courses are $98.33; cost for out-of-state residents is $529.81.

828.251.6099 or visit unca.edu/gswp.

Former Cullowhee resident Marly Youmans, novelist, short-story writer and poet, will return to Sylva at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 12, to read from her new poetry collection, The Throne of Psyche, at City Lights bookstore.

Youmans is a prolific author whose previous books include Claire, The Wolf Pit, Catherwood, Ingledove, Little Jordan, and Curse of the Raven Mocker. She currently lives in New York.

828.586.9499.

Get started on Christmas gift-giving early by attending a Christmas napkin-making workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, at the Community Service Center in Sylva.  The workshop is hosted by the Jackson County Extension and Community Association Craft Club and will be taught by Mary Ann Budahl.

The cloth napkins, when folded, resemble Christmas trees, although they are usable at any time of the year.  They are easy and quick to make, requiring only a half yard of two contrasting fabrics to make six napkins. Participants will need to purchase their own material and bring a sewing machine and basic sewing equipment.

Cost for the class is $1. 828.586.4009.

A conservation agreement with landowners has preserved 13 acres in the Bethel community of Haywood County.

The property is largely agricultural land, providing corn, hay and a critical calving unit for a larger cow-calf operation. The land will remain in agricultural production.

The land includes more than 1,000 feet of Garden Creek, which helps provide water for downstream farmers, the towns of Canton and Clyde, Evergreen Paper, trout, one species of rare fish, two species of rare freshwater mussels and hellbender salamanders.

The property was protected through a conservation easement, a voluntary and permanent agreement that limits certain development in exchange for possible federal, state, and local tax benefits, a cash payment, or some combination.  

In this case, the landowners, Charles and Janice Henson, received modest compensation for the conservation agreement. Partners funding the easement, as well as other out-of-pocket expenses such as a property survey, an appraisal of the easement’s value, legal fees, and other closing costs, include: the Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District, the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, the Southwestern NC Resource Conservation and Development Council, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Bethel Rural Community Organization, and the Pigeon River Fund, which has provided several grants to help protect water quality in the Upper Pigeon River Valley by protecting rural lands.

This transaction marks the sixth conservation easement completed in the Upper Pigeon River watershed since 2007, a total of more than 230 acres.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 828.712.6474.

Until May 23, walkers and runners at Lake Junaluska won’t be able to make their usual circuit.

The Turbeville Footbridge, which spans the lake and completes the loop, will be closed for renovations. No foot traffic will be able to cross the bridge during a full replacement of the treads that provide the walking surface on the bridge.

Options include going part-way around the lake then turning around. Or significantly extending your route by taking Lakeshore Drive all the way around the lake and then the sidewalk along U.S. 19 back to the lake’s main entrance. Go to www.lakejunaluska.com/bridge-repairs for a map of the alternative route, call 828.452.2881 or visit the Bethea Welcome Center near the entrance to Lake Junaluska for more information.

While Lake Junaluska is a private conference center, the public is welcome to use the grounds, including the popular walking path around the lake.

The footbridge was made named for Paul M. and Willie May Turbeville of Bradenton, Fla,, who donated the money to build the bridge and established an endowment to provide some funds for its maintenance. The Lake accepts donations from the community to help maintain and improve recreational facilities. www.lakejunaluska.com/donate