Smoky Mountain News

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On the Cover

Following the school shooting in Connecticut, educators in Western North Carolina are considering more school officers to guard campuses and protect children. (Page 6-7)

Cover photo: Waynesville Middle School Resource Officer Eddie Lowe

News

Faith-based groups fill gaps in government aid for needy

Local brewery forced to change name in trademark dispute

Canton’s downtown could welcome veteran housing complex

Lawsuit threatens future of Canton-owned camp property

Cherokee lays out plans for new hospital

PETA protests Cherokee bear zoos

Golf course remains on tribal dime for now

Swain receives funding for new courthouse park project

Jackson steep slope rules on the rocks?

Opinion

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DSS says faith-based aid groups help fill in gaps

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFFWRITER

As government aid shrinks and church groups step up to fill the void, the thin and sometimes fuzzy line between church and state has gotten even more complicated.

County social workers in particular have a delicate dance to do — to steer those in need toward help, even if that help is being offered by a religious group, without appearing to condone a particular religion.

“There are a lot of needs that our programs simply do not supply,” said Ira Dove, director of the Haywood County Department of Social Services. “The nonprofits that we have partnered with have provided a great safety net for our community.”

As a family waits for food stamps to come through, a DSS will often refer them to food pantries and soup kitchens — many of them run by churches — where they can get help in the meantime. When people can’t afford heating oil, yet don’t meet the poverty cut-off for state and federal help, a DSS once again points them toward church groups.

Referrals like these, including those that are faith-based, are routine. Especially since most who seek Medicaid, food stamps or other assistance from a DSS often need more than just that one thing — they could use job training, counseling or clothing.

ple, typically a couple of hundred dollars a month at most.

DSS officials said that is not the case, however. It could have been a misunderstanding.

Those getting Work First aid indeed must show an effort on their end to improve their lot — whether it’s looking for work, taking classes or going through a program like Lifeworks.

But it doesn’t have to be Lifeworks. Similar life and job skills training are offered at Haywood Community College or the Division of Workforce Solutions (formerly known as the Employment Security Commission.)

Donna Lupton, a social work program administrator at Haywood DSS, said they usually provide clients with all these options. But sometimes the other options don’t fit with someone’s schedule or transportation.

“It’s on a case-by-case basis, and a lot of things come into play,” Lupton said. “If someone was recommended to go to Lifeworks, it might be that that’s what was open during the hours that they were available.”

“We do work with faithbased community programs, and they have been very good partners over the years.”

— Ira Dove, Haywood County DSS director

Haywood DSS keeps a list of outside groups, both secular and non-secular, that pick up the slack with supplemental services.

But it can have its pitfalls.

Haven Keener of Clyde recently complained after county DSS workers referred her to Lifeworks, a Christian-centered life skills and employment training program run by seven Baptist churches in the county. Keener said she felt pressured to attend the 28-week program, which includes strong messages of faith, when she applied for assistance at DSS.

“They are forcing girls to go to this,” said Keener, who was applying for Work First, financial assistance for low-income jobless peo-

DSS social workers regularly recommend Lifeworks to Work First clients, said Samantha Ledford, head of Lifeworks.

But, “It is their choice whether they want to come or not,” Ledford said.

Lifeworks teaches them how to get and keep a job, communication and listening skills, how to create a budget — skills aimed at breaking generational poverty and becoming a self-sufficient member of society.

Along the way, Ledford incorporates biblical context and teachings, which to her is part and parcel to helping people get their life together and on the right track.

“We want to open up the door and say ‘There is a whole world out there,’” Ledford said.

Because it is a private organization, Lifeworks has the right to incorporate Christian teachings into its classes, and some who join the program may welcome the religious themes.

DSS had received a complaint of its own after Keener came away with the impression

Insulate!

Samantha Ledford (center) runs Lifeworks with Christian Women’s and Men’s Job Corps, which offers job and life skills classes with Christian themes in Haywood County and often gets clients referred to them by DSS. Pictured with her are Theresa Roberts (left) and Cheryl McCullough (right) who both graduated from the 28-week program and now volunteer there. Caitlin Bowling photo

Lifeworks was a pre-requisite to qualify for assistance. The case highlights the precarious line social workers must walk when explaining the options.

“We do work with faith-based community programs, and they have been very good partners over the years,” Dove said.

But, DSS also works with secular groups such as Mountain Projects and the Division of Workforce Solutions, Dove said, meaning people seeking aid are not without options.

STEEPEDINFAITH

While DSS and government agencies can’t push religious themes in conjunction with aid, faith-based groups can. Many, however, don’t.

While the Bible talks about spreading God’s word, it also emphasizes feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and comforting the afflicted — no matter who they might be.

Haywood Christian Ministry, a nonprofit that offers heat, rent, electric, food, clothing and medication assistance, has a strict ‘services first’ policy. Only after the person is helped will volunteers at the nonprofit ask ‘Would you like me to pray with you?’

“We help anybody who walks through the door,” said Rusty Wallace, assistant director of

Haywood Christian Ministry. “The prayer has to come by mutual consent after the service is offered.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that it shies away from its faith-based roots. Area chaplains take turns sitting in the waiting room of Haywood Christian Ministry in case someone wants to talk. But, they don’t force religion on those they are helping — or make them feel they must pray to get assistance from Haywood Christian Ministry, Wallace said.

The same is true for the Waynesville chapter of the Salvation Army.

“We try not to push (prayer) on anybody, but we are here if they need us,” said Maria Perez, who works at the local Salvation Army. “Not everybody is comfortable with that. They can come to us for help even if they don’t want us to pray for them.”

Although Christian teachings are part of the deal when going through Lifeworks job and life skills training, additional Bible study is optional. The women in the program are assigned a personal mentor who will hold a Bible study with her if she chooses.

“That is something that we want them to do, but that is their choice. We don’t push anything on anybody,” Ledford said. “We are here to walk there beside them.”

Headwaters now Bearwaters after trademark tangle

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFFWRITER

Beer had been flowing from the taps of Headwaters Brewing Company in Waynesville for just a few months when the bad news arrived — a cease-and-desist letter from another brewery claiming rights to Headwaters’ name.

Victory Brewing Company out of Pennsylvania makes a beer called Headwaters Pale Ale, and while Headwaters Brewery had its name first, Victory Brewing beat them to the trademark punch.

Headwaters was faced with two options: limit their own distribution to North Carolina or change their name within six months to avoid a legal conflict.

Kevin Sandefur, one of Headwater’s three owners, didn’t relish the painstaking process of changing their name. There were billboards, T-shirts, pint glasses, hats — not to mention cardboard bar coasters — that will have to be redone, along with a new logo and new web address. But worse, the microbrewery had made a name for itself and its beer, and Sandefur would now have to redouble his marketing to introduce a new name into craft beer circles.

But, with plans for a brewery expansion this spring and hopes that the company will be distributing beyond state lines by year’s end, he bit the bullet.

“We decided to clean the slate and get a new name,” Sandefur said.

But what really hurts Sandefur is that his company had the name first. The name was inspired by the fact that every drop of water in Haywood County originates in Haywood, nothing flows in. It’s high elevation makes Haywood a factory of headwaters.

“Basically, this is a great lesson in intellectual property protection for do-it-yourself and small business guys.”

— Kevin Sandefur

They came up with the name in 2009 and went public with the name in 2010 after entering and winning the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce business start-up competition.

Victory Brewing Company didn’t come out with its Headwaters Pale Ale name until January 2012, Sandefur said. But Victory beat him to the trademark. It can cost an upwards of $2,000 in fees to secure a trademark — a large expensive for a startup business but more manageable for a national distributor like Victory.

Sandefur admits he took a risk by not securing it, hoping one day the fledgling business would have more expendable money.

“I gambled,” Sandefur said. “But in the long run, it ended up costing me more.”

They hired a marketing consultant out of Knoxville, who came up with the idea of switching out just two letters in the name to keep it similar. Starting this week, Headwaters becomes Bearwaters Brewing Company.

Veteran apartment proposed in Canton

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFFWRITER

An empty eyesore in Canton’s downtown could get a new lease on life.

The former Jackson’s Appliance store, at the corner of Depot and Main streets in Canton, has lived several short lives during the last several years, but owner Terry Simmons could not find a business with staying power. At one point, he even ran the building as a boarding house.

“We had all kinds of problems with the people, with the clientele,” Simmons said. “I don’t want to have that kind of riff-raff renting from me.”

So, Simmons hopes to transform the building into 18 affordable apartments for veterans in partnership with the nonprofit Home Advocates and Limitless Outreach, or HALO. There is one hitch, however.

Street-level apartments are not allowed in Canton’s central business district, and a requirement for veteran housing is that at least some of the rooms be handicapped accessible.

Luckily — and Sandefur could use a little luck at this point — Headwaters’ logo was copyright protected and also happened to be of a bear, so that gets to stay.

The building doesn’t have an elevator, however, that would allow disabled veterans to easily reach upstairs apartments.

Rather than give up at the first snag, Simmons and Lisa Allen, who runs HALO, lobbied the town to change its development standards.

Sandefur said he has spoken with owner of Victory, who was apologetic but insisted he had to protect his investors and intellectual property rights. The owner even offered to work on a collaboration beer with Bearwaters brewers. But, at this point, Sandefur said he is still getting over his disappointment.

“Basically, this is a great lesson in intellectual property protection for do-it-yourself and small business guys,” Sandefur said.

“This is a very, very good plan,” said Alderman Ken Holland.

Public meeting

The change would permit street-level apartments in downtown Canton on a caseby-case basis, requiring special permission from the town. It would also set a 5,500-foot buffer around any structure with first-floor housing, which would limit the places and number of buildings with street-level apartments.

A public hearing on changing Canton’s development standards to allow for streetlevel housing will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 22 at Canton’s town hall.

If everything goes as planned for Simmons and HALO, the new veteran housing facility could open within eight months or a year. The cost of renovations is estimated at $1 million to $2 million. The end result will be a two-level apartment building with 18 efficiency apartments just down the street from all the bare necessities. It will be a place where veterans can restart their lives.

The ban on street-level housing downtown is aimed at preserving storefronts for shops. But this particular site doesn’t have a lot of potential as a store anyway.

“I think with the location of the building — it’s not going to be a really commercial place,” said Alderman Patrick Willis. “I think that sounds really good in my opinion.”

At its Jan. 8 meeting, Canton aldermen were amenable to the idea of a veteran housing facility.

“Most stories end. Most projects end. But when we complete the renovations and get veterans in there, that will be the beginning,” said Arlise Emerson, HALO’s grant writer.

Emerson said that HALO will look for grant funding as well as donations to help pay for the project.

Veterans can experience trouble finding homes and jobs after returning from war, making veteran-specific housing a necessity.

“This project is unique in nature,” Emerson said. “I am just excited that at least this will be one place they can go to.”

Schools weigh cost of increased safety

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFFWRITER

Officer Michael Harrison has confiscated everything from buck knives and Airsoft pistols from students at Swain High — but never a real gun. Until last week.

Harrison and the principal discovered a .22 Remington rifle and assorted ammunition in the tool-box of student’s pick-up truck left behind in the school parking lot after the 17year-old was arrested for unrelated charges.

Although there was no indication that the student planned to use the gun at school — Harrison said he might actually encounter more guns if students’ cars were searched more frequently — the notable incident had a strange timing of its own.

The night before, Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran made a case to county commissioners for more deputies at schools. The county had a school resource officer at its middle and high school, but not at its two elementary schools.

Commissioners approved money to add the two new positions — becoming the only county in the region to fund officers in their elementary schools.

Cochran said he had been requesting money for more school resource officers for years, but the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook forced his request to be taken more seriously this time around. Then the gun was found.

“I think that really put the nail in the coffin as far as need for the officers,” Cochran said. “And it helped commissioners to know they made the right decision.”

Although Swain’s swift action to increase school resource officers on the heels of Sandy Hook make it the first to do so, many mountain counties are having similar discussions — including Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.

With school safety taking on new importance for parents, school administrators and school board members have found themselves on the receiving end of dozens of parents’ concerned phone calls.

Jackson County Schools Superintendant Mike Murray said he has personally addressed every phone call, letter and email he’s received since before Christmas about school safety.

One recurring demand, if carried out, would mark a change he has yet to witness in more than 20 years working in public education throughout the region: armed guards at each school.

The recent shooting, which took place in an elementary school, could change the expectations of school resource officers.

Rather than primarily addressing a school’s internal problems — such as fights, drugs and delinquency, usually more prevalent among older students — officers would become armed sentries protecting the school from the outside world.

“The role of the resource officer has really changed in all of this,” Murray said. “Parents are saying they’d like to see armed guards with guns.”

Murray said in the three school districts he has worked — Buncombe, McDowell and Jackson counties — he has never seen an armed officer assigned to an elementary school.

Sometimes, the most effective role for a resource officer is identifying and working with problem students as a preventative measure to stop them from walking into the school with a gun, Murray said. Again, it’s one reason officers are more common at middle and high schools, where threats and potential crimes come from within the student body.

Thus far, Jackson County School District officials have charged a task force with assessing school safety in the county and coordinated with state and local law enforcement to increase their presence at schools in the district.

Murray said he hasn’t ruled out the next step — a funding request to county commissioners to increase the number of full-time school resource officers — but then added that he did not think Jackson County schools are in an elevated state of danger.

“To be honest, I drive up every day with my 13-year-old daughter to drop her off at school.” Murray said. “I would not drop my child off if I felt I was putting her in an unsafe situation.”

School resource officers by county

Average cost of a school resource officer*

per

in

per year

Based on local agency estimates.

positions during the last the seven years.

In Haywood County, Superintendant Anne Garrett has already done the math on putting an armed officer in each of the county’s 16 schools to watch over the nearly 8,000 students that fill their halls.

“We’d love to have them at all of our schools,” she said. “But you’re looking at over $1 million.”

The first school resource officer in Haywood County was placed at Waynesville Middle School, approximately 15 years ago thanks to a federal grant at the time.

Today, Haywood has five school resource officers — one at both the main high schools, one at the alternative high school, one at Waynesville Middle and a shared officer between Canton and Bethel middle schools.

OFFICERSFORHIRE

The elevated safety concerns in Western North Carolina, and across the country, may not be forceful enough to overcome the budget restrictions however. Local districts are still reeling from staffing shortages due to budget constraints, and paying for an additional officer with a gun, car, salary and benefits at each school is not cheap.

Swain County and its local school district will pay nearly $90,000 more each year for the two additional officers commissioners approved last week, and that doesn’t cover the start-up cost of purchasing equipment and a vehicle for each of the officers.

Jackson County Public Schools already have $160,000 budgeted this year to fund their three school resource officers and had to purchase their cars two years ago. To place an officer in each of its nine district schools would be a significant expense.

“I’m not saying that’s off the table,” Murray said. “But we’re already spending quite a bit of money to have our officers in schools.”

Education is already strapped for funding. Jackson County Public Schools has 40 fewer positions now than three years ago, and Haywood County Schools lost 129 full-time

Now Garrett and other education officials are evaluating safety at all Haywood’s schools and exploring alternatives other than armed officers, such as physical features.

North Canton Elementary will be a pilot school in the coming weeks to test a security system — one that keeps the school’s doors locked to the outside and only allows visitors buzzed in after mugging for a security camera.

If proven effective, the buzz-in system will be expanded to other schools, primarily rural ones like the Bethel Elementary School, where it could be a matter of minutes before a sheriff’s deputy arrives in case of an emergency.

But, even Garrett noted that there are shortcomings in either method of security, whether it’s armed personnel or locked doors, especially at the larger school campuses where there are too many doors to monitor and a lot of ground for a school officer to cover.

“I can’t say we can handle every situation,” Garrett said. “But we certainly hope we’re prepared.”

MOREGUNSVERSUS

LESSGUNS

Although the prospect of spending millions of dollars to place officers in every school may not be the most fiscally sound plan during the ongoing recession,

Canton’s fight to keep Camp Hope takes a new turn

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER

Canton leaders are pondering how much time and money to invest in an abandoned summer camp and mountain property left to the town under one condition — its use benefit Haywood County residents.

After it was deeded the 100-acre Camp Hope, the town leased it to a private weightloss camp. But now, amid fall-out from a legal tug-of-war over Camp Hope, the weight-loss camp is pulling out, leaving Canton to run and manage the property on its own.

the town had no formal mechanism to get the word out about Camp Hope or otherwise advertise that the property could be rented out by the public for events.

The only mention was on Wellsprings website, which handled the booking for events to ensure that nothing conflicted with its two, eight-week summer programs.

“If anyone made inquiries before, we directed them to Wellsprings,” Matthews said. Matthews said that Camp Hope had hosted weddings, family reunions and the Cruso Fire Department picnic, but he did not know how many events — whether three or 13 — were actually held there yearly.

Canton has already received inquires from Haywood County residents about using the property for family reunions and other gatherings. Matthews said the town plans to post a sign at the entrance to Camp Hope letting county residents know they are welcome

Macon County Sheriff Robert Holland fears the alternative. From local parents to high-ups in the National Rifle Association, a call has emanated for armed volunteers in the schools.

To prove his point, Holland staged a roleplaying skit at last week’s Macon County commissioner meeting.

During the scenario, an “armed” county commissioner was told to run out of the room and into the hallway following “gun shots.” They found a man with a gun standing over a woman lying on the floor.

When it was Commissioner Ronnie Haven’s turn, he “shot” the man dead. During Commissioner Jimmy Tate’s turn, he bull rushed the man.

Then came the twist. In Holland’s role-playing scenario, the man with the gun was detaining a deranged pregnant woman who had just shot a teacher. He had been able to wrestle the gun away and wait for the police to arrive, until he was mistakenly as the assailant and shot or tackled.

school isn’t about the threat of an unlikely mass killing. It’s about having school resource officers do what they do best — provide legal assistance to administrators, help with certain types of counseling and classroom instruction, and educate students about street safety.

The school resource officer at Pisgah High School in Haywood County, for example, teaches a self-defense class each semester geared toward girls.

Of course, the added safety factor in case of a shooter is also important, Holland said.

“Do we have safe schools in WNC?” Holland asked. “Absolutely, but we could make them even safer.”

“The role of the resource officer has really changed in all of this. Parents are saying they’d like to see armed guards with guns.”

— Mike Murray, Jackson County Schools superintendent

Holland was trying to make a point.

“For those people being very boisterous, saying ‘Put the cafeteria lady with a gun, put the principal with the gun,’ I wanted to make them take a second look at it,” Holland said. “We need to have cops remain cops and teachers remain teachers.”

Holland is a proponent of expanding the number of school resource officers in Macon County schools. But to increase from the four current officers to 10 — enough to cover all of its schools — the cost would be an extra halfa-million dollars each year.

Holland hasn’t made the request to commissioners. But, he wants the discussion about school safety to begin.

To Holland, wanting an officer in each

But one Franklin town alderman is not jumping on the school resource officer bandwagon, at least not yet. Bob Scott, a former military officer and captain in the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, questioned the rationale that a armed cop, or an armed anybody, in a school would be a deterrent for a deranged killer.

“Usually these shootings are very well planned out, and I’m not sure school resource officers would stop anyone,” Scott said. “But that’s probably a very unpopular view of the situation.”

Furthermore, Scott said, the county and local municipalities, which sometimes fund officers for school’s within their limits, need to determine if the money being proposed for additional school officers might not be spent better someplace else. He said it may reflect poorly in terms of a communities’ priorities, taking into account current cuts to education.

“We’re talking about a situation where we have more guns and less teachers,” Scott said. “And I’m not sure that our schools are unsafe.”

Canton got around $8,000 a year from Wellsprings Adventure Camp, which ran the weight-loss program. But the town is out more than money. As part of its lease, Wellsprings handled maintenance and upkeep of the grounds, cabins and dining hall, as well as booked a smattering of family reunions, weddings and picnics held at the site — all of which Canton must now do.

The lawsuit that drove Wellspring away alleged Canton wasn’t keeping up its end of the bargain in the inheritance — namely to use the property for public good.

to use the land, although for facility use they must contact the town first.

The lawsuit that drove Wellsprings away alleged Canton wasn’t keeping up its end of the bargain in the inheritance — namely to use the property for public good. Leasing it almost exclusively to a private summer weight-loss camp doesn’t count as public benefit, the lawsuit states.

The case is still pending. Given the chance that Canton could lose the property, Wellsprings couldn’t count on being able to continue using Camp Hope, and thus pulled out.

“To ensure continuity with their program because of the lawsuit and the uncertainty with the lawsuit, they felt like they should not continue the lease,” said Canton Town Manager Al Matthews.

Now, with the weight-loss camp gone, Canton has to retool how it manages the property.

“We would like to see a summer program for Haywood County people,” Matthews said. However, with summer only about five months away, Matthews said he is not sure that will be possible this year.

Town employees were at Camp Hope last week looking it over with Wellsprings staff to discuss repair and maintenance issues.

“In general, it’s in pretty good shape,” Matthews said. He did not know yet how much the upkeep, which includes paying electric bills and mowing the grass, will cost the town.

Wellsprings Adventure Camp paid the town between $8,000 and $8,500 a year to use about 15 acres of the nearly 100-acre tract, most of it forested. During its seven years at Camp Hope, Wellsprings invested another $500,000 in upkeep and improvements.

While the town of Canton is supposed to use the property to benefit local residents,

The town has not decided whether to charge a “nominal” rental fee for using Camp Hope, Matthews said. The fee could help pay some of the maintenance costs, though it would not cover everything, he added.

“It’s like operating the swimming pool. We lose money operating the swimming pool each and every year,” Matthews said. “It’s a service to the people.”

HOWITALLSTARTED

The paper company Champion International previously owned Camp Hope but gave it to Canton on the condition that the property be used for recreational purposes that benefit mostly Haywood County residents and those in surrounding counties.

But John and Deborah Prelaz, who stand to inherit the property if Canton violates those terms, filed a suit last year arguing that the town was not keeping its end of the deal by almost exclusively leasing part of the property to Wellsprings, whose clientele is mostly out-of-town.

The fact that Wellsprings will no longer lease the property from Canton — and as a result it may be made more available to the general public — won’t make the lawsuit go away. Both parties in the suit agreed about a year ago that anything that happened after the suit was filed would not have any bearing on the case, said Mark Kurdy, attorney for the Prelazs.

“That was basically to allow the town of Canton to continue to do what they need to do,” Kurdy said.

If the lawsuit’s outcome favors Canton, Matthews said Wellsprings would be welcomed back. However, if the Prelazs win their case, Camp Hope will become private property.

Cherokee brings more health care in-house with new hospital

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFFWRITER

When pediatricians at Cherokee Indian Hospital retreat to their desk between patients to log data, research puzzling symptoms or review lab results, they’re constantly looking over their shoulders.

Not to safeguard the medical confidentiality of their patients but rather to keep from elbowing one another or backing their chair into a co-worker. Their shared office is smaller than some walk-in closets, built for one, maybe two, but definitely not the three or four doctors who use it.

While still a few years away, Cherokee is laying plans for a new hospital aimed at solving a space crunch that these days is more the rule than the exception.

The new hospital will be almost twice as big — a 141,000-square-foot, three-story building compared to the existing 78,000square-foot, one-story hospital. The projected cost ranges from $50 million to $65 million. Planning what health care services it will have and how much space each department needs is still a work in progress. Once final blueprints are in hand, actual construction will take anywhere from 36 to 60 months.

The Cherokee Indian Hospital is more like a medical complex than traditional hospital, housing a litany of doctors practices, clinics, a lab, a pharmacy, and even a dentist and eye care office.

The tribally owned and operated hospital aims to provide enrolled members with a onestop location for their basic health care needs, from mammograms to dentures. It has an emergency room but doesn’t do surgeries or deliver babies — few if any rural hospitals in a community of Cherokee’s size do. But the fact a community of its size has a hospital at all, let alone the range of services — from pediatric dental care to an MRI machine to

News briefs

N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Lt. Greg Christopher officially put his name in the hat to fill the soon-to-be-vacant Haywood County sheriff’s position.

Christopher joins Chief Deputy Larry Bryson, who is currently second in command at the sheriff’s office, and Lt. Bill Wilke of the Asheville Police Department.

Current Haywood Sheriff Bobby Suttles is stepping down with two years left to go on his term. Because Suttles is a Democrat, the Democratic Party gets to appoint a successor to serve out the remaining two years. Suttles’ last day is Feb. 8.

Those interested have until 2 p.m. Jan. 17 to get their applications turned in. Those seeking the office can call 828.456.4942 or 828.734.9056 for details on how to apply.

acupuncture — is impressive.

The Cherokee Indian Hospital has grown and adapted to meet the demand for health care services in the community but is limited by space.

“So it’s like we bring it in, and then we’ve got to figure out where we are going to put them — how we are going to offer that service,” said Jody Bradley, public relations officer for the Cherokee Indian Hospital.

Bulging at the seams, all these tribally run health services no longer fit under the hospital’s roof, leading to various clinics spread around the reservation at off-site locations.

The hospital’s finance department currently works out of a trailer behind the hospital, for example, and pediatrics will soon move out to free up more space.

said Bradley.

The current hospital tries to reflect Cherokee’s identity. A new interior design scheme was rolled out a few years ago, drawing on cultural elements to create a warm, rather than institutional, feel, including exam rooms decorated by Cherokee artists.

Among the messages inscribed on the wall of the main waiting room in Cherokee syllabary is the hospital’s slogan “It belongs to you.”

While there’s a preliminary master plan, hospital leaders are still finalizing what services will be under roof and how much space they would each need.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has created an artist’s rendering of what the outside of the new, yet-to-be-constructed Cherokee Indian Hospital could look like.

“That’s hard on staff, but again, there is that promise of that new facility,” Bradley said.

The new hospital will fix that — and then some.

Hospital leaders want everything from meeting rooms for health seminars and exercise equipment.

“How can we be a community facility?”

The Haywood Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals of Haywood (YPH) will host its first professional development breakfast of the year at 8 a.m. Jan. 24 at the Bethea Welcome Center of Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center.

Speaker Andrew Sanderbeck of People Connect Institute will provide an informative session on “The Power of Positive Thinking: Creating Your Strategy for Success.” Sanderbeck will give attendees the techniques to overcome their nagging negativity and self-doubt while building a strong foundation of positive thinking that others will notice and admire.

Cost of registration is $10 for YPH members or $15 for nonmembers. Attendees may register to attend without breakfast for $5. Pre-registration is required.

www.YPHaywood.com or 828.456.3021 or kgould@haywood-nc.com.

Growing beyond its bounds

Since the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians took over ownership and operation of its Cherokee Indian Hospital from the federal government in 2002, it has added new services, equipment and staff. The staff numbers 250, who handle an average of 1,700 ambulatory visits, 1,500 emergency room visits and 750 dental appointments a month.

“It just seemed more cost effective to build new.”

Like most of the tribe’s projects over the past decade, casino revenues will fund it at least in part, although grants and fundraising could play a supporting role.

“We have taken the master plan and still continue to kind of tweak it and make sure that the size is the size that will accommodate us through 2020,” said Chrissy Arch, operations director for the Cherokee Indian Hospital. In the months to come, the hospital leaders will meet with staff and community members to discuss what they would like the new hospital to look like and what amenities they want to see.

The hospital’s advisory board weighed the idea of renovating the current facility or adding onto it. But, Bradley said, they decided, “we deserve better.”

“It would cost us as much to renovate this facility as it would to build new, and you know, when you build new, you can fix things you would just have to live with,” Arch said.

Sen. Jim Davis (R-Franklin) was sworn in Jan. 9 for his second two-year term representing the 50th District in the North Carolina Senate.

Davis was appointed to the following committees: Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology (Co-Chairman); Commerce; Health Care; Insurance; Judiciary II; State and Local Government (Co-Chairman); Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services; Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government (Chair); and Municipal Incorporations Subcommittee of the Joint Legislative Committee on Local Government.

The N.C. Department of Transportation has awarded an $8.6 million contract to Harrison Construction Co. Division of APAC-

“Building this is possible because of the casino,” Bradley said. “If the casino wasn’t here, we probably wouldn’t be building a new hospital. We would be trying to figure out how to get by in this one.”

The hospital is just one of many recent and current projects that the tribe has undertaken. There was the $633 million expansion of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort, the on-going construction of a $20 million justice center to house tribal court and a jail, the new Emergency Operations Center, a $140 million K-12 school, a golf course, skate park, movie theater and plans for a more than $90 million family adventure park, which includes a hotel, indoor water park, climbing walls and zipline.

The tribe’s many building projects of late have sported “green” building elements — a trend hospital executives hope to continue with their project.

“We want it to be an environmentally friendly facility. It is part of our culture. That is the way it should be,” Bradley said.

The Eastern Band took ownership of the health care facility, which dates back to the 1970s, in 2002. Before that, the hospital was part of the U.S. Indian Health Services, but was hamstrung by federal bureaucracy and funding formulas. The Eastern Band believed it could do a better job running its own hospital and spun off from the federal agency.

Atlantic Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn., to resurface 5.7 miles of Interstate 40 East and West in Haywood County between Exit 15 in Fines Creek and Exit 20 at Jonathan Creek.

The contract also includes resurfacing 2.9 miles of Newfound Road from the Buncombe County line to south of Johnson Road in Haywood County. Work can start as early as April 15 and is scheduled for completion by Sept. 20.

The Small Business Center at Haywood Community College will offer a free seminar entitled “Business Planning for Business Success” from 6-9 p.m. on Jan. 15 on the first floor of its student center.

The seminar will focus on how to start and operate a business, attract customers, deal with competitors and make money. 828.627.4512.

PETA protests bear zoos in Cherokee on heels of undercover video

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFFWRITER

Despite being warned not to return to Cherokee without tribal permission, animal rights activists gathered once again last Saturday in front of Chief Saunooke Bear Park waving signs and even donning a bear costume to protest the allegedly inhumane condition of the bear pits.

This latest protest was sparked by an undercover sting operation by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A PETA activist went undercover and got a job at the roadside bear zoo where tourists pay to view bears in concrete pits. He wore a hidden camera to capture footage of its operations and conversations of employees.

PETA reportedly captured offhand, racist comments made by the park’s employees toward Native Americans, trash talk about a federal zoo inspector behind her back and poor living conditions for the bears.

“There’s so much in that video, I don’t know what people can say,” PETA spokesperson Dan Carron said. “I think the people of the community don’t want that in their community.”

Carron hoped tribal government would reverse their previous stance and exercise their authority to shut the bear zoo down due to the allegedly damning video footage.

PETA has been campaigning against the Cherokee bear zoo for several years. Chief Saunooke’s has also gotten a slew of violations from federal animal welfare inspectors. The most recent round of violations last fall came with a decree to make changes or risk being shut down.

eral states in the region, Cherokee Tribal Police officers arrived at the scene. Officers told the protestors they couldn’t protest

This latest protest was sparked by an undercover sting operation by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A PETA activist went undercover and got a job at the roadside bear zoo where tourists pay to view bears in concrete pits.

without prior permission. The protestors explained their demonstration would be wrapping up within 15 minutes anyway, so officers let them finish.

Tribe keeps tap flowing for Sequoyah a while longer

BY CAITLIN BOWLING STAFF WRITER

“If at first you don’t succeed, simply make your case again” is the lesson the executives at the tribally owned Sequoyah National Golf Course learned earlier this month.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has been propping up the golf course financially to the tune of about $1.1 million annually since it first opened in 2009. But tribal council signaled last year they wanted to scale back and eventually end the subsidies.

So when Ryan Ott, director of golf at Sequoyah, appeared before tribal council in December asking them to renew a $500,000 line of credit that helped cushion the golf course from cash flow issues, he got a lukewarm response.

Tribal council tabled the request, which in essence pulled the plug on the line of credit — reinforcing the message that they wanted the golf course on a path to self-sufficiency.

Tribal council had a change of heart this month, however, when Ott made his pitch again, with some help from Corey Blankenship, treasurer for the Eastern Band, and the tribe’s deputy finance director.

The tribe built the signature course, providing a missing form of recreation for residents and likewise adding to Cherokee’s tourist appeal. But it is notoriously difficult for a stand-alone golf course to break even no matter where it is, let alone a rural area in a down economy.

The $500,000 line of credit from the tribe is part of the about $1.1 million in annual subsidies that keep the course afloat. The course dipped into the line of credit whenever it lacked the cash flow to make payroll or cover the costly maintenance and upkeep of the course. The tribe has oversight of the line of credit, however, approving what it is used for anytime the course dips into it. The course would be severely hamstrung without that cushion.

“You are taking away the means to pay them,” said Kim Peone, the tribe’s deputy finance officer.

Near the end of the protest, which attracted 25 or so demonstrators from sev-

Swain lands state grant for riverside pocket park in Bryson

Plans for a riverfront park behind the historic courthouse in Bryson City got a boost thanks to $150,000 from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.

The iconic but now-empty courthouse is being renovated by Swain County to serve as a cultural heritage museum and Smokies visitor center. A landscaped town park on the banks of the Tuckaseegee where people can relax, picnic and access the water will round out the vision and add to downtown amenities.

The grant will help fund a fishing and sight viewing pier, picnic tables, lighting and a parking lot.

The county will match the state’s contribution, bringing the

The video from the undercover investigation can be found at the home page www.peta.org.

total project budget to $300,000.

“With the parking and lighting, you are talking pretty big bucks there,” said Ken Mills, executive director of economic development commission.

The new park, which will be less than an acre, is part of an existing greenway master plan the county adopted in the mid1990s that runs along the Tuckaseegee River. The greenway, if and when finished, will run from the public boat ramp on Old N.C. Highway 288 to Governors Island. The Swain Courthouse Square Riverfront Park is just one piece of the puzzle, however. More areas still need to be developed to complete the project.

“You try to build where you can, and you fill in where you can. It’s a long-term operation so you build where you can,” Mills said.

— By Caitlin Bowling

Sequoyah could try to get a line of credit on its own through an outside lender, but without backing from the tribe and given the state of its finances to-date, it would not likely find a good interest rate, Blankenship said. Plus, the tribe ultimately would be on the hook for an outside line of credit since the Eastern Band owns it.

Council member Tunney Crowe brought the matter back up for discussion at the January meeting of tribal council. The council voted 9-to-3 to extend the line of credit until fall 2016.

In a rerun of past discussions whenever the subject of Sequoyah Golf Course comes, tribal council members bemoaned the fact that Sequoyah is still operating at a loss after being open for about four years. But, Blankenship asserted, things are getting better and will continue to improve each year.

“They are making progress,” Blankenship said.

The golf course is no longer ending its year with a multi-million dollar deficit. This year, the golf course is only projected to lose about $600,000 or $700,000, he added.

Steep slope rules on the rocks?

Jackson planning board seeks middle ground in ordinance rewrite

changes before passing them down the line to county commissioners for final approval. The changes are largely billed as minor tweaks, aimed at making the mountain hillside development ordinance more user-friendly. But some of the changes being mulled will no doubt roll back some of the more arduous rules.

That’s a good thing, according to Koenig. He believes, to a certain degree, the regulations scare away developers and puts Jackson County at a competitive disadvantage with its neighbors — all of which have looser mountainside building laws.

“We’re competing against other counties,” Koenig said. “In a way this ordinance helps us and sets us above another county — we’re guaranteeing when you buy that house the house above you isn’t going to fall on it — but it’s also a hindrance.”

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFFWRITER

Jackson County’s planning board is kneedeep in a page-by-page rewrite of the county’s steep slope rules — a controversial process that seems destined to rekindle past disputes over protecting the mountainsides versus stymieing development.

A sweeping slate of mountain building regulations passed by Jackson County commissioners nearly six years ago were both commended and condemned as some of the most restrictive in the state. They took aim at unsafe building practices on steep slopes, but also reined in over-zealous development some feared would mar the mountainsides.

A major issue unfolding in the rewrite is whether the steep slope regulations went too far in an effort to protect views.

“I think everyone wants to protect viewsheds, but how far do you go to do that?” said Zac Koenig, chairman of the planning board and a builder in Cashiers. “I think this current board is probably more of a mind to protect public safety.”

That question was central to the debate six years ago when the regulations were put in place: should the county regulate aesthetics?

“I think it is overstepping the limit of what the government should do,” said Clark Lipkin,

a planning board member. “The mood on the board is that safety is the most important thing — that if you build a house it doesn’t come sliding down the mountain.”

But to those who support the original ordinances, the importance of protecting the scenic qualities of living in the mountains is paramount.

“If you look at what really precipitated this whole idea of having an ordinance, it was protecting the rural character of the viewshed,” said Ken Brown, an advocate for the original ordinances who lives in Tuckasegee. “How can you say the aesthetic doesn’t apply here? How can you say it is all about safety? Safety is certainly a great consideration, but you can’t take the aesthetic away from it.”

Planning board member Mark Jamison said the rewrites aim to find a balance between two extremes.

“The idea of sticking houses every single place we possibly can, as people say, ‘kills the golden goose,’ the environment and destroys the quality of life,” said Jamison. “On the other hand, the idea we live in this happy wonderland and nobody else should be able to come here, that is unreasonable, too.”

The planning board will spend another six months, at least, finalizing their proposed

of the original ordinances.

But the boom is over, and perhaps it is now time to reflect more rationally.

“I think we are fortunate in that now we have a more reasonable environment in which to come up with standards,” said County Planner Gerald Green.

Tom Massie, a former county commissioner who advocated for the ordinances six years ago, largely disagrees that the ordinances went too far or were intended to halt building.

“In my opinion, the minimum standards we put in place at the height of the boom were justified,” said Massie. “These ordinances didn’t prevent anybody from doing anything in the county. They just said there are certain thresholds you have to meet the bigger your subdivision gets or the steeper the mountain happens to be.”

HEARTOFTHEMATTER

The hope that loosening the regulations will somehow bring back better economic times isn’t rooted in reality, Brown countered.

“I don’t see how they can possibly tie a need to revise the ordinances to stimulating development in the county,” Brown said. “More than that, I think the whole context in which we consider development is way too weighted toward the side of developers and not taking into consideration why we have these ordinances: to maintain and protect the character of this rural setting and rural landscape. What are we tweaking and what for?”

Jackson’s original ordinances were passed at the height of the mountain real estate boom — when the pace of development was fast, furious and unprecedented.

Helicopters took would-be buyers on flyovers to pick out lots from the air during weekend real estate blitzes. Out-of-state buyers were snatching up lots online, sight unseen. Lots were being bought and promptly flipped for twice the price by investors.

More online

For a nuts-and-bolts picture of the existing development regulations in Jackson and the changes being considered, go to www.smokymountainnews.com, click on this headline and follow a link to an analysis that appeared in last week’s issue.

Mountain real estate was being played like the stock market, and many feared if the boom continued unabated there would be little undeveloped land left in a couple of decades. To what extent did the regulations go over-board in reaction to the climate at the time?

“I think some people saw the process as ‘Let’s just shut everything down,’” Jamison said

Loosening the development regulations was part of the campaign platform of three county commissioners who swept into office in 2010, setting the stage for the rewrites now underway. The planning board has since taken on new faces as well — six of the 10 planning board members have been appointed in the past two years.

The slope rules aren’t their first rodeo. They have rewritten four sets of development regulations in just two years: the subdivision ordinance, groundwater recharge rules, open space regulations and commercial regulations.

They have all been weakened to varying degrees but have resulted in little pushback from the public — a public that six years ago made impassioned pleas to protect the mountains from over-zealous developers.

There’s a few reasons why the changes thus far may have escaped backlash. One is simply staying power.

“Part of it is the energy to read the darn thing and keep up,” said Clark Lipkin, a planning board member.

Another factor is the lack of a rallying cry. With development on economic hiatus, there’s nothing to rile people up. Another factor is the lack of media coverage: the changes undertaken to date have not been widely reported.

But the absence of any major hubbub is proof to some that the changes to date just haven’t been that big a deal, according to Planning Board Member Joe Ward.

“There haven’t been as many big changes as one would think,” said Ward, who was on the original planning board six years ago and is still on it today.

That could change, however, with the planning board now tackling the slope ordinance. The slope ordinance does the heavy lifting when it comes to curbing mountainside development — and thus is where the rubber meets the road for both sides in the issue.

“I think there is a battle coming on that,” Lipkin said. “What we have done so far has not been hitting the main issues.”

Ken Brown, an advocate for the original regulations, said the people who spoke up and demanded the development regulations six years ago haven’t gone away and are watching the planning board.

“When word got out that they were going to start revising the slope ordinances, it piqued

people’s interest who supported it before, and I think they would be apt to follow it now,” Brown said.

TWEAKSINTHEEYE OFTHEBEHOLDER

The planning board has characterized its changes as minor — simply making the regulations easier to read, more user friendly, even more restrictive at times.

“One of the main things with this rewrite isn’t to make it more lenient but to clarify things,” Koenig said. “Our job as a board is to find a balance.”

“I don’t feel that we have lessened the ordinances at all,” agreed Ward, who helped write the first one six years ago. “It needed to be tweaked. At the time, everyone knew that we could come back to it and revisit it and tweak it.”

Planning board member Clark Lipkin said the ordinance has technical problems.

“I would have revised it from day one,” Lipkin said. “Part of what I hope to see is to make it simpler. It is a confusing, big document.”

The slope ordinance is only 33 pages and the subdivision ordinance 67 pages — 100 pages in all, which isn’t necessarily huge as far as development regulations go.

But revisiting ordinances on the books to clean them up and fix problem areas is simply good practice. Particularly a brand-new ordinance, with ground-breaking regulations, that was written in a hurry. The regulations were written in less than five months in 2007. The county hired a consultant, who some believed had undue influence on the final version of rules and inserted his own opinions instead of what the majority wanted.

“A lot of people felt like they didn’t get a fair shake influencing the ordinance,” Lipkin said.

Jamison said the planning board, this go around, does not have any preconceived notions. They are rationally addressing the ordinance point by point and discussing it as they go.

“One misperception I would really like to correct is the idea that this is some politically motivated process when these new commissioners came in,” Jamison said.

The new commissioners may have spoken against the regulations in their campaigns but have not handed down edicts to the planning board members.

“There has been nothing from any of the commissioners to say ‘I want you to do this, that or the other thing,’” Jamison said.

But nearly all the planning board members have said the slope ordinance is too tough, including Jamison.

“Some of the standards were unreasonable,” Jamison said.

As the old planning board members rotated off the board, the new commissioners systematically named replacements with a more conservative view of what development regulations should look like.

One of those is Kent Moore, whose son helped oppose the ordinance when it was first crafted. Moore’s son was working for the John Locke Foundation at the time, a conservative think-tank based in Raleigh. The John Locke Foundation, including Moore’s son himself,

“One of the main things with this rewrite isn’t to make it more lenient, but to clarify things. Our job as a board is to find a balance.”

— Zac Koenig, Jackson County Planning Board chairman and Cashiers-based builder

came to Jackson County and advised the local building industry in its their fight strategy, even helping them craft a civil lawsuit filed against the county to try to stop the regulations from taking effect.

MORETHANMEETSTHEEYE

One of the biggest sticking points in the rewrite will likely be housing density for steep slopes. The original ordinance limits the number of houses based on a sliding scale — with no more than one house per 10 acres on the steepest of slopes. Planning board members have discussed doing away with density limits altogether, or at the very least loosening them.

“We feel they should be modified greatly or done away with,” Lipkin said.

Lipkin said the safety of a foundation and slope are covered by engineering requirements.

“If an engineer says a house is safe and not going to slide down the mountain, then that is good enough for us, and we aren’t going to ask for a density requirement,” Lipkin said.

Dan Pittillo, a retired WCU biologist and former planning board member who helped draft the original ordinance, thinks that would be a mistake.

“The more people you put on a spot that’s not stable, if there’s a failure on that slope, the worse it’s going to be,” Pittillo said. “And the more you have stacked in the uglier it could get.”

Pittillo said the county officials shouldn’t water down the rules to cater to developers capitalizing on stunning views at the expense of everyone else’s view and the environment.

Pittillo reflects the view many had when the ordinances were first passed: they were tired of

to the open space standards would change how the percentage is calculated.

The old version based open space on a percentage of the entire subdivision. The new version calls for a percentage of the total “lot area.” Roads, utility easements and anything else that’s not an actual home lot is subtracted out of the land base before calculating how much open space is required.

Falling squarely in the realm of tweaks — with no apparent net impact other than clarity — is corralling all the “suggestions” in the ordinance and putting them in a “recommended building practices” pamphlet.

Several pages of the ordinance merely recommend rather than require practices that developers and builders should follow, such as earth-toned housing colors.

“Should suggestions really be part of an ordinance? Or should we just do an information package to buyers and builders that say ‘This is what we recommend you do,’” Koenig said.

VERDICTSTILLOUT

Whether the regulations are overly burdensome for developers would be easier to measure if there was more development actually going on. But development has grinded to a halt in Jackson County.

“I don’t believe there has been an opportunity because of the economic conditions to see how the ordinances work to this point,” Brown said.

In five years since the regulations have been in effect, only two subdivisions have been proposed under the ordinances, according to County Planner Gerald Green.

out-of-town developers despoiling the mountains for their own personal gain. But putting the breaks on rampant development from outside investors, some of them with unsavory motives, also hurt local, blue-collar builders.

Next week:

In next week’s edition, hear from all five Jackson County commissioners as they reflect on where the ordinance revisions are going.

“The problem is when it got out of hand, we had a lot of carpet baggers,” Jamison said. But, “There are a lot of people out there making a living building houses.”

The regulations carried such lofty ideals — the idea of 10-acre lots on the steepest slopes and huge swaths of conserved open space — they have created a climate where only highend developments could succeed. Only the most well-heeled developers and affluent buyers could be in the game.

“You’ll never build any moderately priced developments. Is that the type of environment we want?” Jamison asked.

Many of the changes being considered, however, don’t conjure up such big picture, philosophical questions. They are indeed tweaks, like slightly lowering how much open space developers must set in new subdivisions. It was 25 percent — proposed changes call for only 10 to 20 percent, depending on the size of the subdivision.

Even some minor language changes can have tangible effects, however. One such tweak

Some point to the development regulations as the culprit for no new development activity. Others point to over-saturation. There are so many lots for sale in existing developments and buyers so few and far between, developers simply aren’t bringing new subdivisions on line. There were more than 2,500 unsold lots in existing subdivisions at the time the ordinance was passed.

“That was the amount of surplus out there that exceeded demand,” Massie said. Those lots are mostly still sitting there. It’s hard to blame the regulations for all those lots languishing on the market today — especially since the ordinances didn’t apply to existing subdivisions, only new ones.

While Massie isn’t fond of some of the changes being proposed, he’s thankful for what the county does have.

“We have better protections in place, even if they make changes, than when we took office in 2006,” Massie said.

While pro-regulation commissioners lost their seats in 2010, they fared well in the most recent election. An adamantly pro-development candidate lost, while two pro-regulation candidates won. So it’s hard to say which, if either election was truly an accurate measuring stick of public sentiments on that one issue.

“If the planning board and commissioners and public feel the circumstances have changed to merit the kind of changes they are proposing now, that’s the way the democratic process works,” said Massie.

On that note, the regulations can always be tweaked back the other way, he said.

Reporter Andrew Kasper contributed to this article.

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Something strange is haunting our dreams

The teenage cashier at the grocery store is conversing with a customer. “That’s right,” she says. “The only thing that will work is for civilization to collapse so we can all go back to nature.” Later I encounter a friend at a party, a married woman in her 50s who has just completed an advanced handgun course, has stocked a year’s worth of provisions in her house, and hopes to purchase a farm in a remote area of Madison County. “When everything falls apart,” she had said to me earlier in the year, “I want a place for my family to feel safe.” Seeing her reminds me of a dozen other acquaintances who believe our civilization is teetering on the verge of an apocalypse. Nor is this phenomenon restricted to these mountains: the Internet is rife with bloggers predicting breakdown and widespread disorder, and advocating ways of survival.

Literature and film have both mirrored and helped shape these visions of disaster. In the last 50 years, in fact, writers and movie-makers have produced an entirely new genre: the post-apocalyptic. Their vision of a world in which civilization has crumbled and in which a few survivors battle for their lives has attracted enormous audiences.

William Forstchen’s One Second After provides a fine example of the best of such stories. When a series of electromagnetic pulses, created by the explosion of nuclear weapons in the stratosphere, knocks out most of the electrical power in the United States, the townspeople of Black Mountain, N.C., find themselves dealing with looters, thieves, possible starvation, a lack of medical supplies, and an army of marauding cannibals. Forstchen is realistic in his approach here: he has researched the topic of EMPs, sets the book in his hometown, and creates as his protagonist a college professor named John Matherson, an ordinary man called to leadership in extraordinary circumstances. What Forstchen does best, however, is to show us the side effects of disaster. His grim depiction of early casualties among the most vulnerable — diabetics, nursing home residents, hospital patients — reminds us of the terrible cost exacted when transportation, electricity and refrigeration fail. A 7-year-old boy dies from an asthma attack. A girl eventually succumbs to diabetes when her insulin runs out. (Forstchen, incidentally, has written his book as a cautionary tale, not as a blueprint for the future. As he states in the introduction, “I pray that years from now … critics will say this was nothing more than a work of folly.”)

Loosening development regulations a bad idea

To the Editor:

I am adamantly opposed to the rescinding or changing of the current steep slope and mountain-top ordinances in Jackson County. It is all is based on greed and amounts to the selling out of our county representatives to the real estate industry. Most of the houses built at high elevations are second or third homes occupied only a few weeks out of the year. The 2007 ordinances were forward thinking and helped preserve

So what gives? Why have we become so fascinated by such doomsday works that we have created a post-apocalyptic genre? Do we enjoy these books and movies for their entertainment value, or do they touch deeper sources of pleasure and dread? Why are we so enamored of television shows like “Jericho” and “The Walking Dead,” with movies like “I Am Legend” and “Children of Men,” with books like The Hunger Games, The Road, and Patriots?

Certainly the fears of the last seven decades — atomic weapons, environmental disasters, deadly microbes brewed up in laboratories, Big Brother in government — have sparked both our imaginations and those of our artists. These writers are also entertaining; we can enjoy being terrified while safe at home on a sofa, and the man or woman facing great odds is, after all, one of the premier themes of literature.

Lately, however, certain individuals appear to welcome — sometimes giddily — visions of Gotterdammerung. Some radical environmentalists, for example, dream of a humankind — much reduced in number — in a state of nature, foregoing technology and returning to the primitive. On the Left, many in the Occupy Movement, frustrated by the shenanigans of bankers and brokers, happily avow their intention of replacing democracy with anarchism. Some on the far-right, enraged by our government and the disrepair of the Constitution, see the disintegration of our political system as desirable, a falling-apart which will restore to them what they regard as their lost freedoms.

What all of these millenarians fail to grasp are the true circumstances of the change they envision. Like the rest of us, they identify with the heroes in the movies they watch and the books they read. They view The Hunger Games and imagine themselves as Katniss; they read One Second After and become John Matherson. Unlike the rest of us, however, these denizens of doom want to live out their fantasies, seeing themselves as the survivors, heroic souls who by their wit and grit will create a brave new world from the ashes of the old.

The reality would likely be quite different. Relatively few Americans have actually fired a weapon with intent to kill.

our environment, rivers and water supply — the main reason we all live here!

I want to address the mountain-top comments made in the newspaper. The mere suggestion of having a house color control to allow mountain top construction is ludicrous. Why not paint trees on the sides of the houses and put fake treetops on the roof so you won’t see the big swath cut out of the ridgeline.

The bigger issue is the roads that it takes to get up to these houses for three weeks a year, roads that create more erosion than the actual building site, affecting waterways and our water supply.

Few of us trap or hunt or fish. Few of us know what it is to be cold and hungry for days on end, to go unwashed for weeks, to work with our hands, to do without the thousand daily luxuries we take for granted. Most of us enjoy those luxuries and would be appalled — and soon likely dead — if thrust into conditions where we had to provide our own grub, live in unheated homes, or thwart attacks by armed mobs. Furthermore, to believe that people will gentle their condition by a return to nature, to believe that the collapse of our political and economic system, whatever its flaws, will automatically bestow the gift of utopia or greater liberty: these are the conceits of the armchair and the box office. Rip away the fabric of civilization — and we seem at times to be doing just that — and what you uncover is a nightmare of blood, dirt, tears, agony and death.

Should we pay any attention to these writers and directors? Should we prepare for wreck and ruin? You bet we should. My father, age 86, ends many of our telephone conversations with the words: “Keep your powder dry.” Though his repetition of this aphorism has annoyed me at times, he is absolutely correct. If we are wise, we should prepare in a prudent fashion for upheaval, whether from nature’s cataclysms or from murderous human hearts.

My mother preferred another adage: “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.” Can we dream ourselves to death? What might happen if growing numbers of people keep visualizing destruction, keep wishing for death-dealing bacilli, nuclear attacks, savages in the streets? Who knows? We just might get what we wish for.

I enjoy these books and movies as much as the next person. They get the blood racing and excite the imagination. But I also enjoy hot showers, good coffee, a heated apartment, my car, my cell phone, my computer and the many other amenities of civilization. These possessions are more than just pleasures. They are visible signs of life, liberty and my own pursuit of happiness. They are, in short, things worth fighting for — here and now, in the political and cultural arenas of the real world.

One final note to that young cashier: You are spot on about your return to nature. If the civilization which now coddles you does indeed crumble, I’d give you and millions like you about two weeks before you were food for worms.

(Jeff Minick can be reached at ashevillelatin@charter.net.)

Regarding density laws how about only allowing 20 to 30 real estate agents in the county? That’s one of the main problems. I have lived here for 41 years. We have done a fair job of controlling growth, but you are trying to open things to massive growth. The tax revenue some envision from this growth won’t make up for having to add more services and the destruction of our lifestyle. Please reconsider your actions and the forces that are behind them.

PS: All you need to do is take a look at Eagles Nest in Waynesville to see million-dollar houses that sit empty most of the year to see what a mess Haywood County allowed. Randall Lanier Jackson County

tasteTHE mountains

Taste the Mountains is an

listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251

AMMONS DRIVE-IN

RESTAURANT & DAIRY BAR

1451 Dellwwod Rd., Waynesville.

828.926.0734. Open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Celebrating our 25th year. Enjoy world famous hot dogs as well as burgers, seafood, hushpuppies, hot wings and chicken. Be sure to save room for dessert. The cobbler, pie and cake selections are sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

ANTHONY WAYNE’S

37 Church St, Waynesville. 828.456.6789

Open for lunch Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; open for dinner Thursday-Saturday 5 to 9 p.m.; and Sunday brunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Exceptional, new-American cuisine, offering several gluten free items.

BLUE RIDGE BBQ COMPANY

180 N. Main St., Waynesville. 828.452.7524. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. TuesdayThursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Blue Ridge BBQ is a family owned and operated restaurant. The BBQ is slow hardwood smoked, marinated in its own juices, and seasoned with mountain recipes. All menu items made from scratch daily. Featuring homemade cornbread salad, fresh collard greens, or cornbread and milk at your request. Old-fashioned homemade banana pudding and fruit cobbler of the season. Catering, take-out, eat-in. blueridgebbq@gmail.com.

BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL

207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997

Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slowsimmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts. Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily. Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available.

BOGART’S

35 East Main St., Sylva. 828.586.6532

Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Serving classic American food and drink in a casual environment. Daily lunch and dinner specials. Children’s menu available. Call for catering quotes. Private room available for large parties. Accepts MC/Visa, Discover and American Express.

BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE

454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Dinner nightly from 4 p.m. Closed on Sunday. We specialize in hand-cut, all natural steaks, fresh fish, and other classic American comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available. We also feature a great

selection of craft beers from local artisan brewers, and of course an extensive selection of small batch bourbons and whiskey. The Barrel is a friendly and casual neighborhood dining experience where our guests enjoy a great meal without breaking the bank.

HERREN HOUSE

94 East St., Waynesville 828.452.7837

Lunch: Wednesday - Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday Brunch 11 a. m. to 2 p.m. Enjoy fresh local products, created daily. Join us in our beautiful patio garden. We are your local neighborhood host for special events: business party’s, luncheons, weddings, showers and more. Private parties & catering are available 7 days a week by reservation only.

CATALOOCHEE RANCH

119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1401. Mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Join us for cookouts on the terrace on weekends and Wednesdays (weather permitting) and familystyle dinners on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Social hour starts at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Our bountiful family-style meals include prime rib, baked ham, and herb-baked chicken; cookouts feature steaks, ribs, chicken and pork chops, to name a few. Every dinner is complemented with an assortment of seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts, and we offer a fine selection of wine and beer. Breakfast is also served daily from 8 to 9:30 a.m., and lunch from 12 to 2 p.m. Please call for reservations.

CHEF’S TABLE

30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210

From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of” Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

CITY BAKERY

18 N. Main St. Waynesville 828.452.3881. Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Join us in our historic location for scratch made soups and daily specials. Breakfast is made to order daily: Gourmet cheddar & scallion biscuits served with bacon, sausage and eggs; smoked salmon bagel plate; quiche and fresh fruit parfait. We bake a wide variety of breads daily, specializing in traditional french breads. All of our breads are hand shaped. Lunch: Fresh salads, panni sandwiches. Enjoy outdoor dinning on the deck. Private room available for meetings.

CITY LIGHTS CAFE

Spring Street in downtown Sylva. 828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more. Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com.

COPPER LEAF CAFÉ & COFFEE

3232 Dellwood Rd., Waynesville. 828.926.4486. Open Monday thru Saturday 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Enjoy the atmosphere and charm of the Copper Leaf Café’s signature sandwiches and salads featuring Boar’s Head meats & cheeses. Home-made soups

served daily as well as “made from scratch” desserts. Full service Espresso Bar and a unique selection of gifts. Located next to High Country Furniture and Design.

CORK AND BEAN

16 Everett St., Bryson City. 828.488.1934

Open Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy organic, fair-trade, gourmet espresso and coffees, a select, eclectic list of wines, and locally prepared treats to go with every thing. Come by early and enjoy a breakfast crepe with a latte, grab a grilled chicken pesto crepe for lunch, or wind down with a nice glass of red wine. Visit us on Facebook!

CORNERSTONE CAFÉ

1092 N. Main Street, Waynesville. 828.452.4252. Open Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fresh meats purchased daily, great homemade breakfast, burgers made to order. Comfortable and friendly atmosphere, with curb service available. Make lunch easy and call ahead for to go orders.

COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT

3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley. 828.926.1820 Open Daily 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., closed Tuesday. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service.

FRANKIE’S ITALIAN TRATTORIA

1037 Soco Rd. Maggie Valley. 828.926.6216 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com

GUADALUPE CAFÉ

606 W. Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.9877 Open 7 days a week at 5 p.m. Located in the historic Hooper’s Drugstore, Guadalupe Café is a chef-owned and operated restaurant serving Caribbean inspired fare complimented by a quirky selection of wines and microbrews. Supporting local farmers of organic produce, livestock, hand-crafted cheese, and using sustainably harvested seafood.

J. ARTHUR’S RESTAURANT AT MAGGIE VALLEY

U.S. 19 in Maggie Valley. 828.926.1817

Lunch Sunday noon to 2:30 p.m., dinner nightly starting at 4:30 p.m. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome. Take-out menu. Excellent service and hospitality. Reservations appreciated.

JUKEBOX JUNCTION

U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

LOS AMIGOS

366 Russ Ave. in the Bi-Lo Plaza. 828.456.7870. Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner Monday through Friday and 11:30 a.m. to

tasteTHE mountains

10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy the

through

MAD BATTER BAKERY & CAFÉ

Located on the WCU Campus in Cullowhee. 828.293.3096. Open Monday-Thursday

7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Earth-friendly foods at people-friendly prices. Daily specials, wraps, salads, pastries, breads, soups and more. Unique fare, friendly service, casual atmosphere and wireless Internet. Organic ingredients, local produce, gourmet fair trade and organic coffees.

MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB

1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted.

MILL & MAIN

462 W. Main St., Sylva. 828.586.6799

Serving lunch and dinner. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Noon to 4 p.m.

Sunday. Pizza, pasta, outstanding homemade desserts, plus full lunch and dinner menus. All ABC permits. Take-out menus available.

MOONSHINE GRILL

2550 Soco Road, Maggie Valley loacted in the Smoky Falls Lodge. 828.926.7440

Open Wednesday through Saturday, 4:30 to 9 p.m. Cooking up mouth-watering, woodfired Angus steaks, prime rib and scrumptious fresh seafood dishes. The wood-fired grill gives amazing flavor to every meal that comes off of it. Enjoy creative dishes made using moonshine. Stop by and simmer for a while and soak up the atmosphere. The best kept secret in Maggie Valley. themoonshinegrill.com

MOUNTAIN PERKS ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ

9 Depot St., Bryson City. 828.488.9561

Open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. With music at the Depot. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Life is too short for bad coffee. We feature wonderful breakfast and lunch selections. Bagels, wraps, soups, sandwiches, salads and quiche with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.

OLD STONE INN

109 Dolan Road, off Love Lane. 828.456.3333. Classic fireside dining in an historic mountain lodge with cozy, intimate bar. Dinner served nightly except Sunday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Signature dinner choices include our 8oz. filet of beef in a brandied peppercorn sauce and a garlic and herb crusted lamb rack. Carefully selected fine wines and beers plus full bar available. Open year round. Call for reservations.

PASQUALE’S

1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Opend for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoor, outside on the patio or at the bar. Reservations appreciated.

PATIO BISTRO

30 Church Street, Waynesville.

828.454.0070. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Breakfast bagels and sandwiches, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches for lunch with homemade soups, quiches, and desserts. Wide selection of wine and beer. Outdoor and indoor dining.

RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR

Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center

828.926.0201 Bar open Monday thru Saturday; dining room open Tuesday thru Saturday at 5 p.m. Full service restaurant serving steaks, prime rib, seafood and dinner specials. Live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

SOUL INFUSION TEA HOUSE & BISTRO

628 E. Main St. (between Sylva Tire & UPS). 828.586.1717. Tuesday-Friday 11

a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday noon -until. Scrumptious, natural, fresh soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps and desserts. 60+ teas served hot or cold, black, chai, herbal. Seasonal and rotating draft beers, good selection of wine. Home-Grown Music Network Venue with live music most weekends. Pet friendly and kid ready.

SPEEDY’S PIZZA

285 Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.3800

Open seven days a week. Monday-Friday 11

a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Family-owned for 30 years. Serving hand-tossed pizza made to order, pasta, subs, gourmet salads, calzones and seafood. Also serving excellent prime rib on Thursdays. Dine in or take out available. Located across from the Fire Station.

TAP ROOM SPORTS BAR & GRILL

176 Country Club Dr. Waynesville

828.456.5988. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Enjoy soups, sandwiches, salads and hearty appetizers along with a full bar menu in our casual, smoke-free neighborhood grill.

THE TIKI HOUSE SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR

2723 Soco Road, Maggie Valley.

828.944.0445. Fresh seafood made to order. Oysters raw, steamed, or fried. Handcut steaks. Live music, cocktails, petfriendly patio dining with a nice fountain. Friday patio music starts at 7 p.m. and Saturday night after dinner. Live bands and a dance floor.

THE WINE BAR

20 Church Street, downtown Waynesville. 828.452.6000. Underground cellar for wine and beer, served by the glass all day. Cheese and tapas served Wednesday through Saturday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. or later. info@classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

VITO’S PIZZA

607 Highlands Rd., Franklin.

828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. The recipes have been in the family for 50 years (don't ask for the recipes cuz’ you won't get it!) Each Pizza is hand tossed and made with TLC. You're welcome to watch your pizza being created.

WExplore Australia, California, Spain, France & Italy with a 5 course dinner paired to match each wine. Thursday January 24th 2013 6 p.m.

$50 Per Person Call for Reservations

Wine Selected and Provided by The Classic Wine Seller

94 East St. • Waynesville

828-452-7837

For details & menus see www.herrenhouse.com SUNDAY BRUNCH 11-2 • Private Parties by Reservation 6 8585

All friends were strangers at one time

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER

John Driskell Hopkins was driving in his truck when it struck him.

It was a song. Radiating from his satellite radio, it sounded like a fond memory he once knew. The voices and melody were familiar, but he hadn’t ever heard it before, and had no idea who wrote it. He looked at the radio. A band name appeared in the digital display: Balsam Range.

“It was the song ‘Blue Mountain’,” he said. “It was really fabulous and beautiful. I noticed right away something was different about them.”

Hopkins was immediately impressed with the intricate harmonies and musicianship broadcast from the renowned Haywood County bluegrass ensemble.

“They don’t have a cookie-cutter sound, not like typical sound in most bluegrass setups,” he said. “They have a lot of musical influences from all over. It was different, and I was really attracted to that.”

No stranger to the music industry himself, Hopkins is a founding member and bassist for the Zac Brown Band, a renowned multi-platinum country group who has garnered numerous awards and sold-out arenas around the world. In his downtime between tours, Hopkins is a jack-of-all-trades musician, one who will pick up and learn any instrument he comes across.

Besides his specialized bass playing, he also is an accomplished singer-songwriter. When Hopkins recently found himself with several melodies of his own sitting on the shelf, he decided it was time to go into the recording studio and he knew exactly what group he wanted to back him.

He called the fiddler with Balsam Range, Buddy Melton.

“I asked them if they wanted to listen to some songs and put together a record. So, I came up here to Canton, played some gigs with them, then scheduled some recording time,” Hopkins said.

Melton and the rest of Balsam Range (which includes Darren Nicholson on mandolin, Marc Pruett on banjo, Caleb Smith on guitar and Tim Surrett on bass/dobro) soon found themselves in the midst of modern country music royalty.

“We were excited that someone from one of our favorite groups, a high-profile band, had heard us and liked our music,” Nicholson said.

Most of the album was recorded last February at Crossroads Studio in Arden, where Balsam Range records regularly. Vocals were captured at The Crow’s Next in Atlanta (Hopkins home studio), while final mixing was done at Southern Ground Studios in Nashville — a facility owned by Zac Brown. The final product, coming to fruition this past September, also included appearances by Zac Brown, Levi Lowrey, Joey + Rory, Jerry Douglas and Tony Trischka.

Not only was it high-profile, Balsam Range grew musically from the experience as well.

“Everyone in this band had their head opened up about different ways of recording things,” Nicholson said. “John does a lot of big production recording and had a lot of crazy ideas

that worked wonderfully, ideas that we would have probably never thought to try or had the nerve to.”

And as the recording unfolded, the learning process became a two-way street.

“They’re just so much better than me in everyway,” Hopkins chuckled. “It’s just amazing. They’re so humble and easy to get along with.”

“John loved the marriage of our organic roots side and these other mainstream ideas,” Nicholson added. “We blended these styles together for something unique. We’re really proud of how it turned out.”

Hopkins’ songs took on a new life with Balsam Range accompanying compared to rock-n-roll undertones of his own Zac Brown Band, said Caleb Smith, Balsam Range guitarist.

But that music connection between hometown and mainstream didn’t stop there. A talented guitar maker, Smith was asked by Hopkins to custom build two acoustic guitars, one for him and one as a surprise present for Zac Brown. Both guitars were dreadnought sized, made of highly figured Brazilian rose-

“Everyone in this band had their head opened up about different ways of recording things. John does a lot of big production recording and had a lot of crazy ideas that worked wonderfully, ideas that we would have probably never thought to try or had the nerve to.”

wood for the back and sides, with Adirondack spruce tops built to specs from mid-1930s Martin guitars. Smith was invited to present the gift at a recent Dave Matthews Band concert in Atlanta, where Zac Brown Band was opening.

“He played the guitar for about 20 minutes with a big smile on his face, so I took that as a good sign,” Smith said.

The musical cross-pollination between Balsam Range and Hopkins was embraced by the audiences of a recent sold-out performance at the Colonial Theatre in Canton this month.

Backstage at the theatre, the group ran through a couple of selections, fine-tuning an already stellar live act. There are hearty laughs ricocheting around the room. Conversation is lively. The crowd in the building is jubilant. Loud cheers echo down the hallway. It’s show time.

“We don’t ever want to stop collaborating or being around John. He’s like a brother or a sixth man after spending so much time recording, touring and being in his home,” Nicholson said. “This friendship and these windows to collaborate will probably go on for years to come.”

Folk duo comes to Sylva

Bryson City husband/wife singer-songwriters Liz and AJ Nance will be performing at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, and Friday, Feb. 22, at City Lights Café in Sylva. Both shows are free and open to the public. www.citylightscafe.com or 828.587.2233.

Jackson County

over-achievers yoga

“Yoga for Over-Achievers” with Chad Hallyburton will be from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee.

Are you motivated? “Type A?” Do you sometimes bite off more than you can chew? Spend a morning learning how to channel your “drive” in positive directions, rather than being “driven crazy” by a never-ending need to achieve and succeed. The class will include lots of movement, but also plenty of time for meditation, reflection and processing.

Free for members. $5 for non-members. Space limited. Pre-registration suggested. 828.508.2501 or centeringyoga@yahoo.com.

Global peace initiative offered in Sylva

A “Winter Feast” group observing a 40day period of spiritual practice open to all faiths and spiritual paths will meet bi-weekly at the Open Door Center for Spiritual Living and at Sylva Yoga.

The group will meet at 6 p.m. on Mondays at the Open Door Center and at noon on Wednesdays at Sylva Yoga.

The premise for the “Winter Feast” is derived from the idea that when people spend time each day focusing on stillness, they will discover a new landscape of inner peace.

828.226.6645 or www.opendoorcsl.org or 828.331.8994 or www.corinapia.com/YOGA.

WCU music faculty to perform free concert

The School of Music at Western Carolina University will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, in the Coulter Building recital hall on campus.

The concert features faculty members playing music from the Baroque period to the 20th century, concluding with a jazz trio. The event is free and open to the public.

828.227.7242.

Italian dining, music in Waynesville

Celebrate all things Italian as Musica Nostra performs a live concert with dinner and dancing at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. The evening includes specially prepared Italian dishes from Angelino’s kitchen in the Classic Wineseller. Musica Nostra is a unique ensemble that performs old Italian and Mediterranean mandolin music. The group is comprised of Dick Hull (first mandolin), Bob Kogut (second mandolin) and Joseph Hasty (guitar). Selections include old Italian pieces, classical selections, opera overtures, ragtime numbers, original compositions, marches and novelty pieces. The per-person advance price is $29.99 or $39.99 at the door. info@classicwineseller.com or www.classicwineseller.com or 828.452.6000.

WCU events to commemorate legacy of Martin Luther King

Western Carolina University will be hosting a week of events from Jan. 21 to 26 celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. World-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator Nikki Giovanni will be the keynote speaker for the university’s annual celebration in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Giovanni, who has been called the “Princess of Black Poetry,” will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, in the Grandroom of the A.K. Hinds University Center.

She also received the Langston Hughes Medal for poetry, was named the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award and was one of Oprah Winfrey’s 25 “Living Legends.” Her autobiography Gemini was a finalist for the National Book Award. The Inspirational Choir will perform two selections at the event, and Truthwriters, WCU’s spoken word group, will present a poem.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, and Saturday, Jan. 26, a range of service activities will take place at varying locations. The events are coordinated by WCU’s Center for Service Learning.

At 4:30 p.m. Jan. 21, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity will host a unity march on campus followed by a birthday party for King at Illusions in the University Center.

At 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, students will re-enact King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech from the University Center balcony. At 6 p.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority will

Workplace comedy group comes to WCU

Music/comedy group the Water Coolers will take the stage at Western Carolina University at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center on campus.

The group will present its unique blend of comedy, original songs and parody. Mining the workplace for laughs, the Water Coolers satirically celebrate everyday water cooler chatter –work, spouses, kids, vacations and more. From pretending you understand what the IT guy is saying to fending off parents hawking things for their children’s schools to the inflated inner dialogue of the office hottie, the Water Coolers reveal the underpinnings of workplace life in humorous and insightful songs and sketches performed by Broadway veterans.

The event is part of WCU’s 2012-13 Galaxy

Nikki Giovanni

host its annual open-mic night in Illusions as part of the celebration.

From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, a discussion about race will be hosted in the Cardinal Room of the University Center. The discussion will be followed at 7:30 p.m. with a performance by tap dancer, choreographer and actor Savion Glover, who will present his show “SoLe Sanctuary” at the Bardo Arts Center. The show is part of the Arts and Cultural Events Performance Series at WCU.

The Giovanni address and most King celebration events at WCU are free and open to the public. Tickets for “SoLe Sanctuary” are $10 for students and $15 for all others and are available by calling 828.227.2479 or visiting bardoartscenter.wcu.edu. jafelton@wcu.edu or 828.227.2276.

of Stars Series. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for WCU faculty and staff, and $5 for students and children.

828.227.2479 or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

One-man comedy show at HART in January

The comedy “21A” will be hitting the stage at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18-19 and 3 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Feichter Studio Theater at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.

The oneman tour de force features Tim Stoeckel playing eight characters on the Minneapolis 21A bus. Structured as a series of monologues, in which events occur simultaneously, this decidedly different work had the audience rolling in the aisles at the Actors Theatre of Louisville’s famed Humana Festival, where it won the Heidemann Award.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $6 for students. Holdover dates are Jan. 25/26/27. www.harttheater.com or 828.456.6322.

An America divided by class

For the past 80 years more and more Americans have linked themselves economically to the machinations of the federal government. Having come to depend so heavily on government regulations and monetary entitlements, and by this dependence having subsequently given so much power to Washington, we now rightly credit the government with having the power to bring boom or bust, to change a bad economy to a good one and vice versa, to alleviate the suffering of those caught up in a depression or recession.

Our tendency to view the federal government as a sow with millions of tits has repercussions which are daily becoming more evident. We now have a citizenry hooked on tax breaks for individuals and corporations, housing loans, educational loans, kickbacks and grants for entrepreneurs, unemployment benefits, disability payments, single-mother support, food stamps, and a host of other federal programs. Ironically, these entitlement programs — some for the wealthy, some for the poor — are eating the very economy which produced them.

According to Charles Murray in Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 (ISBN 978-0-307-45342-6, $27), this propensity to look to the government to solve our problems, along with a vast sea change in values and culture, has led us to a place “in which America is coming apart at the seams — not the seams of race or ethnicity, but of class.”

Using anecdotal evidence as well as statistics from the last 50 years — Coming Apart offers dozens of graphs and charts — Murray demonstrates that America is now divided less by race than by education, income, and

values. To make his case, he creates two fictional towns — Belmont, populated by upperclass and upper-middle class citizens, and Fishtown, a blue-collar neighborhood whose

fewer men work full-time jobs now than in 1960. Church attendance, volunteering for local charities, and a trust in one’s neighbor have all precipitously declined while prison recidivism, food stamp usage, and crime have sky-rocketed.

The wealthier citizens of Belmont have also seen great changes in the last 50 years. They earn more money and own more things than did their fathers or grandfathers; they are better educated; they are far more likely to marry and remain married; the majority of their children live in two-parent households. Many of the inhabitants of Belmont spend time in volunteer activities, and many of them regularly attend some form of religious worship.

left school early to help support their families. In contrast, many of today’s elite attend private schools, enroll in the better colleges and graduate schools, and share the same values, including a general contempt for those lesser beings who enjoy Oprah Winfrey, NASCAR, and hunting and fishing. In addition to his statistical evidence, Murray also offers a series of twenty-five questions designed to test people of the upper class on their knowledge of their fellow citizens and their involvement with the working class, questions ranging from “Have you ever walked a factory floor?” to “During the last month, have you voluntarily hung out with people who were smoking cigarettes?”

former virtues of hard work, family, and volunteerism have either vanished or become severely diminished.

In his descriptions of Fishtown, Murray offers the depressing scenario, based on real statistics, of a community in decline. Few of the inhabitants in Fishtown graduate from college. The majority of households with children are headed up by single mothers. Far

During his examination of this contrast between Fishtown and Belmont, between America‘s working class and what Murray calls the “new upper class,” Murray again and again points to the dangers inherent in the divisions. He fears that American civic culture, which was once marked both by individual responsibility and community life, including “vibrant civic engagement in solving local problems,” is unraveling in Fishtown. His evidence here is strong and reveals the hard, heavy impact of government programs on family life and neighborliness. (In the 1965 Moynihan Report, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat and later a liberal senator, correctly predicted the collapse of the black family under the new system of government welfare. This same phenomenon is at work in Murray‘s Fishtown today).

Murray also sees a growing division between the new upper class and the denizens of Fishtown. He aptly demonstrates that the upper class is different than it was 50 years ago. In 1960, many who made up the upper and upper middle classes had grown up working on farms, had served in the military, had

Murray’s point with these questions, and one of the chief arguments of the book, is that the American upper class, which purports to run the economy and the government, can no longer connect with the common people. This elite makes decisions and passes laws which they have deemed right and helpful to those citizens, but they are out of touch with the people themselves. They live isolated in certain communities — Murray analyzes the wealthy communities around Washington, D.C., in great detail — they send their children to expensive private schools, and they generally spend time with their own kind.

Finally, as Murray points out, this division by class affects not only whites, but all races living in the United States. “Differences in the fortunes of different ethnic groups persist,” Murray writes, “but white America is not headed in one direction and nonwhite America in another. We are divisible in terms of class.”

Though pessimistic in his conclusions, Murray does offer some possible solutions in the conclusion of Coming Apart. He focuses especially on the upper classes, calling on them to advocate a new awakening in American values, to “once again fall in love with what makes America different,” and to take the lead in promoting class American civic virtues.

Shuckstack, circa 1940. NPS photo

Saving Shuckstack

Age, weather and vandalism take their toll on Smokies’ firetower

BY ANDREW KASPER STAFFWRITER

Its bolts are rusting, floor planks are rotting, and its windowpanes shattered. The roof is pocked with holes that let in the rain and snow. Even the some of the guardrails have gone missing from the 60-foot-tall lookout tower — an unnerving thought for any person daring enough to climb it.

Since its construction in the 1930s, the Shuckstack firetower in the Fontana region of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the Appalachian Trail has been used as a proactive tool to spot wildfires and later a radio repeater tower. But the tower no longer serves a purpose — other than a historical landmark — and its future is bleak.

Will Shuckstack go the way most decommissioned firetowers do, or will the National Park Service undertake the time-consuming and potentially expensive task of restoring it as one of the staple landmarks — and one of the best views — along the A.T.?

Peter Barr, director of the N.C. chapter of the national Forest Fire Lookout Association, described the standard park protocol that comes with what he saw as the less desirable of those two scenarios.

“Over time, the tower will continue to deteriorate and become a increasing concern,” Barr said. “The Park will restrict access to it, take it down or remove a flight of stairs so people can’t climb it.”

It wouldn’t be the first time either, according to Barr. About three-fourths of the firetowers that once existed in the North Carolina have succumbed to a similar fate. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone had 11 towers at one time, seven of which were torn down in the 1980s. And one of the four remaining towers has

since been closed to visitors.

Barr has taken it upon himself to save the Shuckstack tower. For him, the tower holds a special place in the Park’s history as well his own personal history with wilderness areas.

Barr first encountered the tower as a teenager after he had headed out from Fontana Dam on the first overnight backpacking trip of his life. After an uphill slog of some 2,000 feet over just a few miles, Barr reached the base of the tower and climbed it.

From that vantage point, he understood the true beauty of Western North Carolina for the first time and decided to enter into a career in land conservation.

“It became important and symbolic spot for me,” Barr said. “The structure itself represents the essence of the National Park — it stands for preservation.”

In 2010, Barr hiked the A.T. in its entirety, and once again he climbed Shuckstack, but that time with the mission of saving it. As part of his trip, he took monetary pledges from donors in the name of preserving Shuckstack. He raised a few thousand dollars, and even more in the years that followed his hike. Currently, about $4,000 sits in an account, in care of Barr’s firetower organization, and has been designated to the restoration and repair of the Shuckstack tower.

deterioration — and it wouldn’t be the first time that the lack of basic repairs to historical structures in the Smokies has turned minor issues into major ones.

Kreusch acknowledged the park’s limited resources and admited it can seem slow moving. He was optimistic, though, that a historic designation would open new doors.

Currently the firetowers are not regularly maintained by park, Kreusch said. Even a receptionist in the Sugarland visitor center in the Park, when asked if the Shuckstack firetower was open for visitors, said that it was, but described it as a little “creaky.”

But the waiting game can create a Catch 22. So far, restoring Shuckstack has not been a priority for the park. And without some signal that the park is interested in saving Shuckstack, non-profit groups like Friends of the Smokies are hesitant to mount a fundraising campaign for the project.

The waiting game has also been disheartening for Barr, who has been in communication with the Smokies since 2008 about the state of the tower. Before Barr’s A.T. trip, he had sent a letter to Smokies Superintendant Dale Ditmanson, expressing his desire to help save Shuckstack. The response he received, even then, was not so promising.

In upcoming weeks, Barr will award $500 of that money to the Friends of the Smokies, a volunteer organization that works on park projects, to reverse some of the damage done by severe vandalism over the past year to the tower. Some vandalism is purely aesthetic, like names carved in the woodwork, but broken windows and damage to structural components will eventually take their toll if not addressed.

The money Barr has raised so far falls far short of what a full restoration would take. But any repairs to the tower must be OK’d by the Park — and so far, the park is still up in the air when it comes to rehabilitating the tower. Within a year, Shuckstack and the park’s two other metal firetowers could be placed on the National Registry of Historic Places, according to Ranger Erik Kreusch, an archeologist and cultural resource manager in the Smokies. That designation could draw more attention for the lookout towers.

But Kreusch said an engineer and other experts would have to evaluate Shuckstack before doing any major work.

“You don’t want to just go in and start mucking with these things without knowing the most important parts of the structure to preserve, and the historically significant parts,” Kreusch said.

Meanwhile, failure to even patch holes in the roof are exacerbating the tower’s

“Structures such as the tower at Shuckstack always present a special challenge as they no longer serve their initial purpose but still have a potentially important role in telling the history of the park,” Ditmanson wrote. “However, Park management must make decisions and set priorities with available funding and staffing capabilities in mind.”

To date, the Park has still not made a definitive decision to close the tower at Shuckstack, but neither has it invested in the structure’s future. Barr described the status of the tower as one lingering in limbo, while the structure deteriorates each day.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of movement on it,” Barr said. “I’m kind of in a stalemate with the National Park Service — who are not especially interested in restoring it. It’s not that they don’t want to, but it’s not a priority of theirs.”

What rubs salt in the wounds, Barr said, is that the Park has invested money and resources in maintaining other historic buildings and structures in the Park during the past few years, namely another firetower on Mount Cammarer, while neglecting Shuckstack.

Mount Cammarer’s firetower, also along the A.T. but at the opposite end of the Smokies in Haywood County, has become an icon. The stout, octagonal, stone structure perches on a

“It became important and symbolic spot for me. The structure itself represents the essence of the National Park — it stands for preservation.”

— Peter Barr, N.C. chapter of the national Forest Fire Lookout Association director

The Naturalist’s Corner

BY D ON H ENDERSHOT

Up in flames?

I sit this morning being bathed in luxurious rain. The kind of life-affirming, lifegiving rain the Smokies are noted for. A quick run to town watching the rain cascading down the asphalt, clear here and muddy red there, being sucked in circles down storm gutters or overrunning clogged ones — and a couple of thoughts came to mind.

It’s kinda sad to think about how the “built upon” landscape with all its concrete and asphalt is robbing our aquifers of precious water by collecting it and jettisoning it into creeks and streams and rivers and sending it on it’s way. Rain that used to settle in vernal pools to create breeding grounds and nurseries for frogs and salamanders and other aquatic creatures is directed through culverts or impeded by dams. Water that used to settle in wetlands is, instead, swallowed by storm drains and channeled towards the Gulf of Mexico.

And to think of January’s past and how moisture like this would have fallen, most likely, in the form of snow. And how snow packs sit stoically upon the mountains, reluctantly relinquishing their cold wetness slowly, letting it percolate through the soil into the aquifer.

Most climate change models predict warmer and drier climates across the Southeast. With even less rain falling and more rainfall being diverted to storm drains, etc. as population growth and urbanization continues it’s easy to see how the Smokies and most of the Southern Appalachian forests will become tinderboxes. If the leaves that begin to fall and cover the forest floor by mid-October don’t get their normal autumn soaking and don’t get their winter covering of snow, it will take only a lightning strike, a wayward match, an untended campfire, a brush pile burned in the wrong conditions, or some deranged pyromaniac and we will see the kind of catastrophic wild fires that plagued the droughtstricken West last year. And they will likely

high mountain bluff. A rallying cry to save Mount Cammarer in the mid-1990s ultimately led to the formation of the Friends of the Smokies group.

Barr had hoped to mirror that movement with the restoration of Shuckstack almost 20 years later, but his efforts have proven frustrating. In fact, a fundraising campaign is underway to make more improvements to Mt. Cammarer.

“I’ve been a bit frustrated in that the Park Service used their funding to make additional repairs to the Mount Cammarer tower,” Barr said. “Meanwhile Shuckstack was ignored.”

Shuckstack doesn’t have the architectural uniqueness of the tower at Mount

be more devastating in terms of human impacts because of denser population levels in the East.

Not all climate change models and/or climate change researchers predict a wholesale drying of all the peaks in the Southern Appalachians. Some believe that the phenomenon of orographic lift — where prevailing moisture laden winds from the Gulf

of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean run into the mountains and are quickly lifted up and cooled resulting in precipitation will create a refuge of cooler temperatures and wetter conditions at higher elevations in the Southern Appalachians.

But there are still a couple of reasons for concern. Recent research at Purchase Knob in the Smokies pointed out that perhaps as much as 50 to 60 percent of the region’s total annual precipitation is in the form of fog and/or mist, and that these tiny atmospheric droplets of water could dry from an increase in temperature. Plus, south and southeast facing slopes that are already dryer than their counterpoint north and northwest facing slopes may dry out more and once large hot fires become established, it’s amazing what they can burn through.

I look out into the grey, rainy woods again and, at least for now, am thankful for this sweet dampness.

(Don Hendershot is a writer and naturalist. He can be reached a ddihen1@bellsouth.net.)

Cammarer. Shuckstack is also remote in comparison.

Another factor possibly working against Shuckstack: it is nearly 40 feet taller than the one at Mount Cammarer. Barr said its height might cause the Park staff to view it as a liability and not an asset.

Regardless, Barr said, with enough public support behind the project the Park might be inclined to take action to preserve the tower.

“The most critical component to make that process successful is getting the word out,” Barr said. “I’m trying to raise public support to get members of the community and the region to realize importance and significance of tower.”

Lake

Junaluska a top spot for winter birding

The Highlands Plateau chapter of the Audubon Society will go birding at Lake Junaluska on Monday, Jan. 21, to mark the first watching excursion of the New Year. The lake is ideal for attracting winter birds and waterfowl. The group will circle the lake by car, with stops to scan and spot such specialties as ruddy ducks, gadwalls, american widgeon, osprey and others.

Participants should bring binoculars, scopes and cameras. Call for meeting time and place, or to carpool with other birders coming from Jackson and Macon counties. 828.526.1939 or croftess@brmemc.net.

Learn about weather from ‘Local Yokel’

A talk on “Local Weather Patterns and History” by Preston Jacobsen of the “Local Yokel” web site will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Jacobsen will discuss unique weather patterns within the region and shed light on why they occur. Jacobsen, a graduate of Western Carolina University, started Local Yokel Weather in 2007. He plans to expand the site to include all of the southwestern counties in the North Carolina mountains as well as upstate South Carolina and northern Georgia.

Haywood Waterways to launch endowment fundraising campaign

The Haywood Waterways Association has named their endowment fund the “Joetta Rinehart Endowment Fund” in honor of one of the organization’s supporters.

Rinehart was actively involved in Haywood Waterways, serving on its board of directors and as treasurer.

The Endowment Fund was established in 2007 to provide financial security and sustainability for the nonprofit, its programs, and the long-term protection of Haywood County waterways. The organization has been primarily

dependent on grants, comprising nearly 80 percent of its budget, but would like to raise $2 million for its endowment. It will begin a fundraising campaign this year.

877.700.7373 or info@haywoodwaterways.org

Deputy superintendent retires from GSMNP

Kevin FitzGerald, deputy superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park since 2006, retired this month after 34 years with the National Park Service.

While stationed at park headquarters on the Tennessee side of the park, he and his wife plan to eventually live in Western North Carolina now that he has retired.

FitzGerald began his career with the National Park Service as a seasonal fee collector on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then he worked for the Park service in the Everglades, Maryland, Cape Cod, and Colorado before returning to the Great Smoky Mountains. While at the Smokies FitzGerald played a key role in guiding the largest infrastructure improvement program in the park since the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps, overseeing $80 million in stimulus projects.

Workshop on ways to rein in goat parasites

Goat owners can learn the ins-and-outs of stomach and intestinal parasites during a workshop held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 25 in Sylva. The class will explore an integrated approach to controlling parasites for small pasture animals, from traditional treatments to non-chemical approaches like pasture management to alternative forages. Put on by the Jackson County Cooperative Extension Center. 828.586.4009 or robert_hawk@ncsu.edu.

AT hikers to converge on Nantahala Gorge

Appalachian Trail hikers, wannabe hikers and fans will descend on the Nantahala Gorge this weekend for the annual Southern Ruck Gathering. The Appalachian Trail get-together will be held at the Nantahala Outdoor Center Jan. 18 through Jan. 21. Events include group hikes, an A.T. thru-hike preparation clinic, a women hikers chat with “whine, cheese and chocolate.” Trail gurus will give talks and host video presentations. A silent auction, raffle and gear swap will benefit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association. www.soruck.net or hikertrash@gmail.com or 828.549.8820.

Thinking about an AT thru-hike?

A free trail clinic for hikers planning to go the distance on the Appalachian Trail will be held at the Nantahala Outdoor Center from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 19, with a more expanded version being repreated from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 16.

Former thru-hikers will help trail hopefuls prepare with the right type of gear, maps, packing tips and food and resupply planning. Bring your gear for a “pack shakedown” by the pros and get tips for lightening your load.

lauren.dieterich@noc.com and 828.488.7244.

Take the 60-mile AT Challenge with Nantahala Hikers

The Nantahala Hiking Club will lead a series of nine section hikes along the Appalachian Trail this year, covering all 60 miles of the A.T. that is maintained by trail volunteers with the club.

The first hike is coming up Jan. 26 — a five-mile section between Rock Gap and Winding Stair Gap along the Appalachian Trail in Macon County. Since the A.T. is linear, the hikers will use the “key-swap” method, allowing them to do longer trail segments at a time without backtracking to their starting point. In a “key-swap” hike, two separate groups of hikers start at opposite trail heads and walk toward each other and swap car keys along the way so neither group has to backtrack.

The club will start with the easier hikes first, allowing hikers to build themselves up and do some individual hiking preparation for the longer, tougher hikes toward the latter half of the year.

To participate call 828.369.1983 by Jan. 25.

Freeze your icicle off at winter bike race

Riders are invited to compete and spectators are invited to watch at the Icycle Mountain Bike Race at Fontana Village on Jan. 26. The seven-mile course consists of varied terrain with rocks, roots, creeks and open passing lanes that make up some of the most notable Western North Carolina singletrack.

There will be two waves of cross-country racing, starting at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. followed by a nighttime downhill race beginning at “dark-thirty.” There will be an event after-party, awards and a bonfire. The race will have a variety of skill levels and ages. Entry fees for one event is $30 and $50 for two events. www.icyclerace.com.

Fish

for

cash winnings in Cherokee Shiver

The Shiver in the River trout tournament will be held in Cherokee Feb. 1-3 with a shot at cash prizes for catching specially tagged fish. Hundreds of those specially tagged fish will be stocked in the

Cherokee public fishing waters. When a tagged fish is caught it can be redeemed for cash prizes ranging from $20 to $500, based on the color of the tag. The entry fee is $11 but there are $10,000 worth of tagged fish in the waters. Registration is necessary to participate.

amy@cherokeesmokies.com or 828.497.6700.

Haywood soccer club ups the competition

The Haywood County chapter of American Youth Soccer Organization has introduced two new tournament teams to the soccer line-up to meet demand from parents and players looking for a more competitive level of play.

The teams were developed after tryouts this past fall. The result was an under-12-years-old girls team, the Haywood Hurricanes, and an under-14years-old co-gender team, the Thunderbolts. The all-girls team remained undefeated throughout the season while the Thunderbolts, who competed against all-boys teams, won a majority of their games.

828.454.0628.

Devil’s Courthouse logging proposal criticized by environmental groups

Proposed logging below Devil’s Courthouse in the Pisgah National Forest is being widely decried among outdoor recreation groups and environmental advocates.

The towering rock spire of Devil’s Courthouse is one of the most popular and best overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway, straddling Haywood and Transylvania counties. The proposed logging would be visible from the top as well as impact popular hiking and biking trails.

On top of impacting views and recreation, environmental groups claim endangered species could also be hurt by the logging.

The forest service has attempted to dispel false visions of clearcut slopes below Devil’s Courthouse, however. Logging would be done on 472 acres — a small part of the more than 7,000-acre area on the southern slopes of the Parkway in Transylvania County.

It would only consist of selective thinning, not clear-cutting. Thinning means loggers cut only large trees, leaving behind small and medium trees, which then have more room to grow. Oak trees in particular will be spared and allowed to grow bigger. Pockets of “young forest” within a more mature forest can also benefit certain species of wildlife.

The selective logging is only one part of the overall forestry restoration of the area. The proposal also calls for:

■ Restoring native brook trout.

■ Removing invasive plant species.

■ Designating 127 new acres as official “old growth forest,” which protects it from ever being cut in the future.

■ Plant hybrid American Chestnut trees as part of long-range effort to return chestnut to Southern Appalachian forests.

But the prospect of logging at all in this high-use recreation area and Parkway viewshed is being adamantly protested. Send public comments by Jan. 18 to comments-southern-north-carolina-pisgah-pisgah@fs.fed.us.

Read the entire proposal at www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=36287.

Global warming series aims to inspire change

A six-week discussion course on climate change called “Global Warming: Changing Course” is being put on by the Western North Carolina Alliance Thursday evenings starting Jan. 24.

Learn about the history and science of global warming, personal values and habits as they relate to climate change, and individual actions that can curb the effects of global warming. The course will also cover issues related to energy use and what individuals and communities interested in promoting energy sustainability can do.

Held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Battery Park

Book Exchange and Champagne Bar in Asheville. $35 for WNCA members and $40 for non-members. Register by Jan. 18. 828.258.8737 or Rachel@wnca.org.

Get paid for your

old refrigerator

Duke Energy has launched a new program to pick up used refrigerators and freezers, providing customers across the Carolinas a convenient option for recycling outdated appliances The program targets older appliances typically kept in garages and basements for supplemental cold storage. The appliances must be in working

condition and between 10 and 30 cubic feet in size. A check for $30 will be given to participants.

“The program is simple, easy and effective,” said John Langston, Duke Energy’s program manager. “We are focused on helping customers abandon as many of these energy-wasting appliances as we can. It will save our customers money, reduce energy demand and help preserve our country’s natural resources.”

The technology inside older refrigerators and freezers is often so outdated it requires three times more electricity to operate compared to newer models. Unplugging these dinosaurs can save up to $150 annually on a customer’s energy bill.

Call Duke at 855.398.6200 or visit dukeenergy.com/recycle to schedule a pick-up.

WNC Calendar

B USINESS & E DUCATION

• Free business seminar, How to Write a Business Plan, 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, Student Center, Haywood Community College. HCC Small Business Center, 627.4512 to preregister.

• Free intermediate Excel class, 5:45 to7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, computer lab of the Jackson County Public Library, Sylva. Pre-registration is required, as space is limited to 16 participants. 586.2016.

• Free business seminar, EBay for Beginners, 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, Regional High Technology Center, Waynesville. HCC Small Business Center, 627.4512.

• Free 90-minute internet safety class 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, Jackson County Public Library Computer lab. Register at 586.2016.

• Free business seminar, Setting up your eBay Store, 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, Regional High Technology Center. 627.4512 to preregister.

• Professional Development Breakfast, 8 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, Bethea Welcome Center, Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, Waynesville. Hosted by Haywood Chamber’s Young Professionals of Haywood (YPH). Speaker Andrew Sanderbeck of People Connect Institute will speak on “The Power of Positive Thinking: Creating Your Strategy for Success.” $10 for YPH members or $15 for nonmembers. Fee includes breakfast, speaker session and networking. Or attend without breakfast for $5. Pre-registration required. Register online via YPHaywood.com, by phone 456.3021 or by email kgould@haywood-nc.com.

• Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce annual Awards and Installation Banquet and annual membership meeting, 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, Tartan Hall, First Presbyterian Church, Franklin. $25 per person, advance tickets required. 524.3161.

• Free seminar, Business Start-Up Issues A – Z, 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, Haywood Community College Student Center. HCC Small Business Center, 627.4512 to preregister. Beyond the Basics of Selling on eBay: Techniques for the Serious Seller

• Free business seminar, Beyond the Basics of Selling on eBay: Techniques for the Serious Seller, 1 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, Regional High Technology Center, Waynesville. HCC Small Business Center, 627.4512 to preregister.

• Sitebuilder video demonstration, 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, SiteDart Hosting, Franklin. $25Thursday, January 24 from 1 pm 4 pm in Franklin, NC Cost $25; alumni free. Pre-registration required, 877.790.7263 or email Lee Cloer at getanswers@sitedart.net.

• “Global Warming: Changing Course,” six-session discussion course offered by the Western North Carolina Alliance, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Jan. 24-Feb 28, Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, Asheville. $35 for WNCA members; $40 for non-members. Registration deadline: Friday, Jan. 18. Pre-registration is required. To register, contact course leader Rachel Moore, 258.8737 or email Rachel@wnca.org by Jan. 18.

• CuRvE annual meeting, 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, Cullowhee Café, old Cullowhee Road, Cullowhee.

• Southwestern Community College is offering a Basic Cake Decorating Class from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 28 through March 4, at Southwestern Community College, Macon Annex room 102. $35, Pre-register by calling Latresa at 339.4426

• Physics in a Whole New Light, workshop to help science teachers improve their physics instruction, 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Jan. 28, Cordelia Camp Building on the WCU campus in Cullowhee. $59 includes lunch.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted.

Professional Development Programs link at learn.wcu.edu, or call 227.7397.

• Southwestern Community College is offering a Beginner Spanish Level I Class, 2 to 5 p.m. Mondays, Jan. 28 – March 18, room 124, Founder’s Hall, Southwestern Community College Jackson Campus. $85 Gene Rainone, instructor. To pre-register, call Latresa at 339.4426.

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Panel discussion on how to respond to traumatic events in school communities, 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, A.K. Hinds University Center multipurpose room, Western Carolina University. Dale Carpenter at carpenter@wcu.edu or 227.7311.

• Fourth annual Cold for a Cause noon, Friday, Jan. 18 through noon, Sunday, Jan. 20. To raise awareness of the needs in Macon County. Patrick Jenkins will spend 48 hours suspended in a crane above his Farm Bureau office, 1866 Highlands Road, Franklin. Patrick will collect coats, jackets, blankets, canned goods, non-perishable food items, personal hygiene products, paper goods, etc. to be donated to CareNet and distributed in Macon County. Franklin Young Professionals will be on hand to accept donations.

• Jackson County Day of Service, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19. Take food donations and financial contributions for The Community Table and United Christian Ministries to the Jackson County Democratic Headquarters, 500 Mill St., Sylva. For a list of items needed: www.communitytable.org/.

• Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator, will speak at Western Carolina University’s annual celebration in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Giovanni, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, in the Grandroom of A.K. Hinds University Center. The address and most King celebration events at WCU are free and open to the public. For more information about the celebration and other events, contact James Felton, director of intercultural affairs, at jafelton@wcu.edu or 227.2276.

• Altrusa Soup and Cornbread Scholarship Fundraiser, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, First United Methodist Church, 566 S. Haywood St., Waynesville. $8 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under. Take out or eat in.

• Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society meeting, 10 a.m. Saturday Jan. 26, Haywood County Public Library downstairs auditorium. 564.1044.

B LOOD D RIVES

Haywood

• Longs Chapel Church Blood Drive, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14, 175 Old Clyde Road, Waynesville. Carol, 627-2808 or go to www.redcrossblood.org and enter Sponsor code Longs Chapel for more information or to schedule an appointment.

• Senior Resource Center Blood Drive, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville. Suzanne, 356.2816 or 452.2370, or go to www.redcrossblood.org and enter Sponsor code Sr Resource Center Haywood for more information or to schedule an appointment.

• Pigeon Fire Department Blood Drive, 2 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2412 Pisgah Drive, Canton, 800.733.2767 or go to www.redcrossblood.org and enter

Sponsor code Center Pigeon FD for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Macon

• Franklin Community Blood Drive, 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, First Baptist Church, 69 Lotla Street, Franklin. Kathy Hook, 369.9559.

• Tuesday, January 29 SCC Macon Campus-Macon Library Blood Drive, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, 149 Siler Farm Road, Franklin. Fairley Pollock, 306.7017 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

• Mountain View Intermediate School Blood Drive, 2 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, 161 Clarks Chapel Road, Franklin. Sandy Keener, 349.1325 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

H EALTH MATTERS

• American Lung Association Freedom From Smoking Program, six week program starting at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, hospital dining room, Angel Medical Center, Franklin. $25. Pre-register with Kim Watkins, 369.4181.

• Free information session on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, fellowship hall of Lake Junaluska First Baptist Church. Hosted by MedWest-Haywood Hospice and Palliative Care, in conjunction with Wells Care Connections of Wells Funeral Home in Waynesville. Speaker is Martha Teater, MA, a licensed marriage and family therapist. Robin Minick, 452.5039.

R ECREATION & FITNESS

• Yoga for Over-Achievers with Chad Hallyburton, 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 26, Jackson County Recreation Center, Cullowhee. Free for members. $5 for non-members. Space is limited. Pre-register at 508.2501 or at centeringyoga@yahoo.com.

THE S PIRITUAL S IDE

• Winter Feast, 40-day period of spiritual practice for all faiths and spiritual paths, noon Wednesdays, Jan. 16-Feb. 23, Sylva Yoga (above Lulu’s). Barbara Jefferys, 226.6445. www.winterfeastforthesoul.com.

S ENIOR ACTIVITIES

• Persons with disabilities discussion, 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, Senior Resource Center of Haywood County, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville. 452.2370. Refreshments, guest speakers. Anyone 18+ with a disability is invited. 452.2370.

• Parkinson/MS Movers and Shakers Club, 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, Senior Resource Center of Haywood County, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville. For those with Parkinson or MS and their spouse or caregiver. Guest speakers; receive free books from the Parkinson Organization. Every fourth Wednesday. 452.2370.

• Lake Junaluska Live and Learn Committee will present a program on exercise for seniors, 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, at the Bethea Welcome Center at Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. Speaker is Douglas Gregory, fitness coordinator at MedWest Health & Fitness Center. Dr. Kate Queen will talk about osteoporosis. Nancy Oates, clauser@charter.net.

• Deadline for Senior Art Contest is Tuesday, Jan. 29. Contest open to all seniors age 55 and older as of Feb. 28. Entries accepted at the Senior Center, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For details, call Bruce Johnson, 926.7478, brucemjohnson@bellsouth.net or Suzanne Hendrix, 356.2816, shendrix@mountainprojects.org.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for:

■ Complete listings of local music scene

■ Regional festivals

■ Art gallery events and openings

■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers

■ Civic and social club gatherings

K IDS & FAMILIES

• Voices in the Laurel Auditions – January 15, 2013 at First Baptist Church in Waynesville. Students wishing to audition should come to the regular rehearsal time for their age group: 1- 2nd grade, 4 p.m.; 3-5th grade, 5 p.m. and 6-12th grades, 6:15 p.m. Performance youth choir open to singers from any county in the area in 1st-12th grade. 734.8413. www.voicesinthelaurel.org.

• Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District’s contest, “Water… the Cycle of Life.” The contests and eligible grades are: Poster – 3rd, 4th and 5th graders; essay – 6th graders; PowerPoint – 6th graders; public speaking – 7th and 8th graders; and computer-generated poster – 9th graders. Contest deadline is Friday, Jan. 25. Submit entries to the District office at 589 Raccoon Road, Waynesville. Contact Gail Heathman at 452.2741, extension 3 or email gheathman@haywoodnc.net. www.haywoodnc.net/.

P OLITICAL G ROUP EVENTS & LOCAL G OVERNMENT

Dems

• Democratic Women of Jackson County meeting, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, Party Headquarters, Sylva. Bring a monetary donation and/or nonperishable food items for our project to relieve local hunger. Linda Fulk, secretary, 631.3106.

ON STAGE & I N CONCERT

• Christian comedian and songwriter Tim Hawkins, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, Franklin. Tickets start at $25 and VIP passes, which include a talk back session with the artist, are $40. GreatMountainMusic.com or 866.273.4615.

• HART Theater presents 21A, a comedy with some adult language, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18-19, and at 3 p.m. Jan. 20. By Kevin King, directed by Tim Stoeckel and Peter Savage. Stoeckel plays eight characters on the Minneapolis 21A bus. Structured as a series of monologues in which events occur simultaneously. Holdover dates: Jan. 25, 26, 27; $10 adults, $6 students.

• Western Carolina University School of Music faculty concert, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, Coulter Building recital hall. Music from the Baroque period to the 20th century. Free. WCU School of Music, 227.7242.

• “SoLe Sanctuary,” featuring tap dancer, choreographer and actor Savion Glover, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, Bardo Arts Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee. $10 for students and $15 for all others. Tickets available at the box office. 227.2479 or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• Music and comedy group the Water Coolers, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, Western Carolina University’s John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. The event is part of WCU’s 2012-13 Galaxy of Stars Series. $20 for adults, $15 for WCU faculty and staff, and $5 for students and children. Bardo Arts Center box office, 227.2479 or go online to bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

• Third annual Winter Concert Series, Balsam Range & Missy Raines and The New Hip, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, Colonial Theatre, Canton. Tickets available at the Colonial Theatre Box Office, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday, 53 Park St. Canton NC, 28716. Complete schedule at www.visitncsmokies.com/events, http://missyraines.com/.

• Season tickets on sale for “An Appalachian Evening” Concert Series at historic Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center. Performances for the 2013 season will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, June 29 through Aug. 31. General seating $120 adults, $40 students (K-12); season reserved seats are $50 rows A through E and $25 all others. www.StecoahValleyCenter.com or call 479.3364.

• Tickets are now on sale for a 60-minute radio show of Tarzan of the Apes, performed before a live audience at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. $10. Proceeds to fund scholarships in participating academic departments. Advance tickets suggested and can be purchased at the box office, 227.2479 or online at bardoartscenter.wcu.edu. Don Connelly, 227.3851 or dconnelly@wcu.edu.

ART/GALLERY EVENTS & OPENINGS

• “Fire & Ice: Pottery, Glass, and Metalwork” exhibit, Wednesday, Jan. 16 through Saturday, Feb. 9, Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery 86, 86 N. Main St., Waynesville. “Fire & Ice: Pottery, Glass, and Metalwork” celebrates the heating and cooling process involved in the making of pottery, glass, and metal work. Artist’s reception, 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25. www.haywoodarts.org.

• Deadline for Senior Art Contest is Tuesday, Jan. 29. Contest open to all seniors age 55 and older as of Feb. 28. Entries accepted at the Senior Center, 81 Elmwood Way, Waynesville from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For details, call Bruce Johnson, 926.7478, brucemjohnson@bellsouth.net or Suzanne Hendrix, 356.2816, shendrix@mountainprojects.org.

• HomeSchool/Afterschool Creativity Classes, (for children ages six to 12): 1 to 2 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m., Wednesdays, Claymates, 460 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 256.9595; Thursdays, Claymates, 31 Front St., Dillsboro, 631.3133. $10 per child if prepaid. www.claymatespottery.com/

• Ladies Night, 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, Claymates, 460 Hazelwood Ave, Waynesville. Ladies 14 and over get 20 percent off all pottery. Free hors d’oeuvre, bring your own beverage. Reservation only. $10 minimum purchase. 246.9595. www.claymatespottery.com/

• Wine & Dine, 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, Claymates, 31 Front St., Dillsboro. Chef Brian prepares pasta dishes to order while you paint your choice of a plate, mug, or bowl. $20 per person. Includes complimentary wine and dessert. Reservation only. 631.3133. www.claymatespottery.com/

FILM & S CREEN

• Free family movie, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22, Marianna Black Library, downtown Bryson City. Animated movie that takes place during the Ice Age. Production studio guidelines prevent library from including movie titles in its print advertising. 488.3030.

Outdoors

OUTINGS, H IKES & FIELDTRIPS

• Appalachian Trail Get-Together, Jan. 18-21, Nantahala Outdoor Center. Group hikes, women hikers gathering, backpacking and through-hiking clinics, gear clinics, video presentations and more. Silent auction, raffle and gear swap to benefit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association. Sly at hikertrash@gmail.com or 549.8820, www.soruck.net/.

• Nantahala Hiking Club, Saturday, Jan. 19, six-mile moderate hike from the Road to Nowhere on the Forney Creek Trail to Fontana Lake. Meet at 10 a.m. at Bi-Lo in Franklin. Gail Lehman, 524.5298, for reservations. Visitors welcome, no pets.

• Nantahala Hiking Club, Sunday, Jan. 20, moderate three-mile loop hike on the Appalachian Trail, starting at Winding Stair Gap and returning to the Gap with elevation change of 300 feet. Meet at 2 p.m. at Westgate Plaza in Franklin. Kay Coriell, 369.6820, for reservations. Visitors welcome, no pets.

• Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Planning Clinics, mini clinic 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19; comprehensive clinic 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, Nantahala Outdoor Center. RSVP at least 1 day prior to Lauren Dieterich, lauren.dieterich@noc.com, 488.7244; Outfitter’s Store Staff, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday through Fridays; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays, 488.7230.

• Audubon Society birding field trip Monday, Jan. 21, Lake Junaluska, Waynesville. Leave at 7:30 a.m. from Wendy’s in Cashiers. Dress warmly, including gloves, bring binoculars, scopes (if you have them), cameras and a good sense of humor. Call Romney, 526.1939 if you’re coming, so you won’t be left behind. Or email her at croftess@brmemc.net.

• Nantahala Hiking Club, Saturday, Jan. 26, from Rock Gap to Winding Stair Gap. Call Bill or Sharon Van Horn, 369.1983 by Jan. 25.

COMPETITIVE E DGE

• Icycle Mountain Bike Race, 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and the nighttime downhill race at dark-thirty, Fontana Village. Night racers must have a 10 watt / 150 lumens or greater night riding light(s) to participate. Participants: $30 one event, $50 for two. http://www.icyclerace.com/.

FARMER’S & TAILGATE MARKETS

• Seed order, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, Jackson County Farmers Market, Community Table, Sylva. Jenny McPherson, 631.3033, visit our facebook page or go to jacksoncoutyfarmersmarket.org.

• The Jackson County Arts Council is accepting applications for art program grants for the fiscal year 2012-2013. Applications are due by Jan. 20, 2013 for review at the February Arts Council Board meeting. Application is available online at www.JacksonCountyArts.org. Applications may be mailed to Jackson County Arts Council at 310 Keener St., Sylva, N.C. The grants will be distributed with availability of funding. Jackson County Arts Council, 507.9820 or Sylvia Smythe at 507.9531.

MarketPlace information:

The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

Rates:

■ Free — Residential yard sale ads, lost or found pet ads.

■ Free — Non-business items that sell for less than $150.

■ $12 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2.

■ $12 — If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type.

■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad.

■ $35 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold.

■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words.

■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

Classified Advertising:

Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 | classads@smokymountainnews.com

ARTS & CRAFTS

ALLISON CREEK

Iron Works & Woodworking. Crafting custom metal & woodwork in rustic, country & lodge designs with reclaimed woods! Design & consultation, Barry Downs 828.524.5763, Franklin NC

AUCTION

ABSOLUTE AUCTION -

Saturday, January 26 at 10am. 1 03 Locust Avenue, Locust, NC. (East of Charlotte). Complete liquidation of 4 year old Hardware Store. Forklifts, Paint Equipment, Shelving, Inventory. www.ClassicAuctions.com. 704.507.1449. ncaf5479.

FROG LEVEL AUCTIONS

Every Friday Night Auction at 6pm, Preview at 5pm. Starting January 26th we will have 2 auctions per week: Friday Nights at 6pm & Saturday Afternoon at 3pm Booked Dealer Sale

Antiques, Collectables, Tools, Furniture, House Wares, New & Old, This & That, Something for Everyone! See our Full Schedule with Photos, Info & Directions at: www.froglevelauctions.net

For more information or To Book A Spot Call 828.775.9317 or email: david@froglevelauctions.net

Terms: Cash or Credit/Debit Card Only, 13% Buyers Fee3% Discount For Cash Auction Firm NCAFL 9537, David Roland NCAL 9133 & Kai Calabro NCAL 9127 255 Depot St., Waynvesville, NC 28786

ANNUAL HOKE ROBESON GIN

Consignment Auction- Saturday, January 26, 2013, 9am. 7480 Old Maxton Rd, Red Springs, NC 28377. Call Aaron 843.858.0677 or 843.426.4255. Visit Us Online At worldnetauctionslive.com. Worldnet Auctions, 9988 Hwy 521, Greeleyville, SC 29056. NCAL#9176F. NCAL#9156.

$$$ WE WILL AUCTION $$$ Your Guns, Gold, Silver, Coins, Antiques, Estate or any Quality items for you. Reminisce Auction 828.369.6999.

GIGANTIC AUCTION

Friday January 18th at 4:30 p.m. Selling over 800 lots!!!

Partial Listing: Quality furniture, glassware, primitives, antiques, collectables, stone crocks & jugs, cast iron, household, box lots & TONS MORE! THIS AUCTION IS LOADED!! View pics & details @ www.boatwrightauction.com, Boatwright Auction, 34 Tarheel Trail, Franklin, NC 28734, 828.524.2499, Boatwright Auction NCAL Firm #9231.

LEE COUNTY OPEN

Consignment Auction- Saturday, February 16, 2013, 9am. Bishopville, SC. Auction Conducted By WorldNet Auctions. SCAL#3965F SCAL#1966. Call 843.426.4255 or Visit Us Online worldnetauctionslive.com

AUCTION17th Annual Winter Consignment Auction. Saturday, January 19, 9am. WorldNet Auctions, 9988 Hwy 521, Greeleyville, SC 29056. Call 843.426.4255 or Visit Us Online at worldnetauctionslive.com. SCAL#3965F. SCDMV35157.

BUILDING MATERIALS

HAYWOOD BUILDERS

Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned.

CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING

ATTENTION HOMEOWNERS

Needing siding, windows, roofs. 10 homes will be selected in your county this month for our showcase before/after remodeling program. Save hundreds. All credit accepted. $89/month 1.866.668.8681.

DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, INC Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions.

Owner/Builder: Dave Donaldson. Licensed/Insured. 828.631.0747 or 828.508.0316

$1,200 WEEKLY GUARANTEED, Mailing our company Loan Applications from Home. NO Experience Necessary. FT/PT Genuine Opportunity. FREE Information (24/7) Call 1.800.279.3313Today! SAPA

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AIRLINES ARE HIRINGTrain for hands on Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial Aid if QualifiedHousing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance. 1.866.724.5403. SAPA

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EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT

AVIATION CAREERSTrain in advance structures and become certified to work on aircraft. Financial aid for those who qualify. Call aviation institute of maintenance 1.877.205.1779. SAPA

CARPENTERS& TRADESMEN Needed! National Timber Bridge Company seeks carpenters and qualified tradesmen with 5 years of experience. Full-time $14 to $16 hr. Drug test required. Apply to: Application@ybc.com SAPA

TRUCK DRIVER/OTR

$1000 Sign On Bonus!! Competitive pay & home time, safety bonus paid quarterly, vacation and benefits. Family Environment. Applicant must possess CDL Class A. Contact Corney Transportation, 1.800.354.9111, ext. 7 (Judy).

TRUCK DRIVERS WANTEDBest Pay and Home Time! Apply Online Today over 750 Companies! One Application, Hundreds of Offers! www.HammerLaneJobs.com.

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DRIVER -

$0.03 quarterly bonus, plus $0.01 increase per mile after 6 and 12 months. Daily or Weekly pay. CDLA, 3 months current experience. 800.414.9569. www.driveknight.com

DRIVER -

Flatbed & Heavy Haul Owner Operators/Fleet Owners. Consistent year round freight. Avg $1.70 - 2.00 all miles. No forced dispatch. Apply at www.tangomotorotransit.com or call 877.533.8684.

DRIVERS -

Class-A Flatbed. Home Every Weekend! Up to 37c/mi. Both ways. Full Benefits. Requires 1 year OTR Flatbed Experience. 800.572.5489 x227. SunBelt Transport, Jacksonville, FL.

MEDICAL CAREERS BEGIN HERE -

Train ONLINE for Allied Health and Medical Management. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. SCHEV authorized. Call 1.877.206.7665 www.CenturaOnline.com SAPA

Puzzles can be found on page 29.

These are only the answers.

EMPLOYMENT

DRIVERS- REGIONAL RUNS.

North Carolina Drivers. Home Weekly! Start at .38 cents/mile. Class A CDL + 1 Yr. Exp. 1.866.269.2119. www.landair.com

FOSTER PARENTS NEEDED

The Bair Foundation, a Christian Foster Care Ministry, is looking for committed families willing to open their homes to local foster children & teens. Training, certification, reimbursement & support provided. Call Now 828.350.5197

NEED MEDICAL OFFICE TRAINEES!

Become a Medical Office Assistant at CTI! No Experienced Needed! Online Training gets you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. Careertechnical.edu/nc 1.888.512.7122

DRIVERS- CDL-A

$5,000 SIGN-ON BONUS For exp'd solo OTR drivers & O/O's. Tuition reimbursement also available! New Student Pay & Lease Program. USA TRUCK. 877.521.5775. www.USATruck.jobs

EMPLOYMENT

START THE NEW YEAR

With a Great CDL Driving Career!

Experienced Drivers & Recent Grads - Excellent Benefits, Weekly

Hometime, Paid Training. Call 888.362.8608 or go to: AVERITTcareers.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer.

TEACHER RECRUITMENT FAIR

To fill 2013-2014 Vacancies in 17 Virginia school divisions. Friday, Feb 1 - 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, Feb 2 - 9:00 a.m. to noon. Salem Civic Center, 1001 Boulevard, Salem, VA 24153. For details visit www.wvpec.org - Job Fair 2013. In the event of inclement weather, check our website for updates or call 540.831.6399. Sponsor: Western Virginia Public Education Consortium

FINANCIAL

$$$ ACCESS LAWSUIT CASH NOW!! Injury Lawsuit Dragging? Need $500-$500,000++ within 48/hours? Low rates. Apply Now By Phone! 1.800.568.8321. wwwlawcapital.com Not Valid in CO or NC. SAPA

JOB LISTINGS

ASSEMBLER JOB# 167931

PULL PARTS AND ASSEMBLE TRAILERS, DRILL HOLES, TIGHTEN BOLTS, ETC. TOOLS REQUIRED. WILL PROVIDE TOOL LIST.

TRANSPORTATION DRIVER JOB# 167827 CLASS A EXP & FAMILIARITY W/ TRANSPORTATION, SECUREMENT, LOADING & UNLOADING LARGE LOADS PER DOT REQS; FAMILIAR W/PRACTICES & PROCEDURES RELATED TO PROPANE OPS & THE TRANSPORT OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS; KNOWLEDGE OF UTILIZING TRUCK-BASES CRANE TO LOAD/UNLOAD TANKS & EQUIPMENTS; HS DIPLOMA OR GED OR EQUIVALENT TRNG & EXP; MUST HAVE A CDL CLASS A W/X ENDORSEMENTS INCL EXP W/OVERSIZED LOADS & ABILITY TO MEET APPLICABLE STATE & FEDERAL LICENSING & CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

ASSISTANT MANAGER JOB# 167841 WILL SERVE AS CASHIER, PERFORM DAILY ACTIVITIES TO RUN STORE, MAKE BANK DEPOSITS, UNLOAD TRUCKS, STOCK, SUPERVISE EMPLOYEES.

INTERIOR CLEANERS JOB# 167778

MUST HAVE NC DL AND GOOD DRIVING RECORD. MUST ME DEPENDABLE.

PATIENT SERVICE TECH JOB# 167718

NO EXP REQ. EMPLOYER WILL TRAIN. MUST HAVE HS DIPLOMA/ GED AND CLEAN DRIVING RECORD.

HVAC INSTALLER/ CREW LEADER JOB# 167271

MUST BE ABLE TO TAKE DIRECTTIONS AS WELL AS BE A SELF STARTER AND MOTIVATED. MUST BE ABLE TO LEAD A CREW INDEPENDANTLY ON SMALL JOBS. MUST HAVE MIN 3 YRS PRIMARILY DOING RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATIONS AND MIN 3 YRS SHEET METAL INSTALLATIONS. PREF 5 YEARS RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATIONS. SHEET METAL FABRICATION AND CREW LEADER EXP HELPFUL.

CLIMBER JOB# 166738

CLIMBER WANTED, MUST HAVE ONE YEAR EXPERIENCE. FULL TIME WORK WITH SOME WEEKENDS, WILL BE ON CALL FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES. PREFER HS DIPLOMA OR GED. MUST HAVE DL AND OWN TRANSPORTATION.

CNA JOB# 166364

DEPENDABLE AND RELIABLE CNAS WHO WANT TO WORK NEEDED. RESPONSIBLE FOR CARE OF RESIDENTS, ASSISTING RESIDENTS AS NEEDED. MUST HAVE OR OBTAIN CNA WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF HIRE DATE. DRUG SCREEN/BACKGROUND CHECK REQ. ALL SHIFTS AVLBL. APPLY IN PERSON.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION COORDINATOR JOB# 166138 BS IN SOCIAL WORK, COUNSELING, OR CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY REQUIRED; ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE AS A CERTIFIED SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION CONSULTANT OR SOMEONE WHO IS IN PROVISIONAL STATUS FOR CSAPC REQUIRED; EXPERIENCE IN MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBSTANCE ABUSE SERVICS REQUIRED. AVAILABILITY FOR LOCAL AND OUT OF AREA TRAVEL AND VALID DRIVERS LICENSE REQ. SOME BENEFITS APPLY.

Email us at: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com

- A very pretty and petite Treeing Walker Coonhound. She has the most expressive eyes and is a very gentle, sweet soul. Rosey wants nothing more than to be petted and to be by your side.

Haywood County Real Estate Agents

APT. FOR RENT UNFURNISHED

MEDICAL

CANADA DRUG CENTER

Beverly Hanks & Associates — beverly-hanks.com

• Michelle McElroy — beverly-hanks.com

• Marilynn Obrig — beverly-hanks.com

• Mike Stamey — beverly-hanks.com

• Ellen Sither — esither@beverly-hanks.com

• Jerry Smith — beverly-hanks.com

• Billie Green — bgreen@beverly-hanks.com

• Pam Braun — pambraun@beverly-hanks.com

ERA Sunburst Realty — sunburstrealty.com

Haywood Properties — haywood-properties.com

• Steve Cox — haywoodproperties.com

Keller Williams Realty kellerwilliamswaynesville.com

• Rob Roland — robrolandrealty.com

• Chris Forga — forgarentalproperties.com

Mountain Home Properties — mountaindream.com

• Sammie Powell — smokiesproperty.com

Main Street Realty — mainstreetrealty.net

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management

• Bruce McGovern — shamrock13.com

Prudential Lifestyle Realty — vistasofwestfield.com

Realty World Heritage Realty — realtyworldheritage.com

• Carolyn Lauter realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/1701

RE/MAX — Mountain Realty remax-waynesvillenc.com | remax-maggievalleync.com

• Brian K. Noland — brianknoland.com

• Connie Dennis — remax-maggievalleync.com

• Mark Stevens — remax-waynesvillenc.com

• Mieko Thomson — ncsmokies.com

• The Morris Team — maggievalleyproperty.com

• The Real Team — the-real-team.com

• Ron Breese — ronbreese.com

• Dan Womack — womackdan@aol.com

• Bonnie Probst — bonniep@remax-waynesvillenc.com

The Seller’s Agency — listwithphil.com

• Phil Ferguson — philferguson@bellsouth.net

2/BR 1/BA NEW APARTMENT

Close to downtown Waynesville. Porch overlooks small stream. Central heat/air, W/D hook-ups. $625 + deposit & lease. No Pets. 828.506.9559 or 828.506.3365

2/BR, 1/BA APARTMENT

In Beautiful Downtown Waynesville. 2nd Floor, W/D, Heat & Air, Clean & Ready to Live In, All Hookups Available. $750/mo. Move in with First & Last. Call 828.400.1040 or 828.400.1041

LOTS FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

20 ACRES FREE!

Own 60 acres for 40 acre price/ payment. $0 Down, $198/month. Money Back Guarantee, NO CREDIT CHECKS. Beautiful Views, West Texas. 1.800.343.9444. SAPA

EVER CONSIDER

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HOMES FOR SALE

BRUCE MCGOVERN

A Full Service Realtor shamrock13@charter.net McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112.

2.819 ACRE TRACTBuilding Lot in great location. Build your second home log cabin here. Large 2-story building. Was a Hobby Shop. $81,000. Call 828.627.2342

STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT

GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE

Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160. Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

MEDICAL

ATTENTION DIABETICS

With Medicare. Get a FREE Talking Meter and diabetic testing supplies at NO COST, plus FREE home delivery! Best of all, this meter eliminates painful finger pricking! Call 877.517.4633.

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DO YOU KNOW

Your Testosterone Levels? Call 888.414.0692 and ask about our test kits and get a FREE Trial of Progene All-Natural Testosterone Supplement. SAPA

FEELING OLDER?

Men lose the abilityto produce testosterone as they age. Call 888.414.0692 for a FREE trial of Progene- All Natural Testosterone Supplement. SAPA

MEDICAL ALERT FOR SENIORS24/7 monitoring. FREE Equipment. FREE Shipping. Nationwide Service. $29.95/Month CALL Medical Guardian Today 866.413.0771

NEED MEDICAL OFFICE TRAINEES!

Become a Medical Office Assistant at CTI! No Experienced Needed! Online Training gets you job ready! HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. Careertechnical.edu/nc 1.888.512.7122

VIAGRA 100MG AND CIALIS 20MG! 40 pills + 4 FREE for only $99. #1 Male Enhancement, Discreet Shipping. Save $500! Buy The Blue Pill! Now 1.800.491.8751 SAPA

ATTENTION SLEEP APNEA

Sufferers with Medicare. Get FREE CPAP Replacement Supplies at NO COST, plus FREE home delivery! Best of all, prevent red skin sores and bacterial infection! Call 888.470.8261. SAPA

WANTED TO BUY

CASH FOR Diabetic Test Strips Check us out online! All Major Brands Bought. Dtsbuyers.com 1.866.446.3009 SAPA

CASH FOR UNEXPIRED

Diabetic Test Strips! Free Shipping, Friendly Service, BEST prices and 24 hour payment! Call Mandy at 1.855.578.7477 or visit www.TestStripSearch.com SAPA

A UNIQUE ADOPTIONS, Let Us Help! Personalized adoption plans. Financial assistance, housing, relocation and more. Giving the gift of life? You deserve the best. Call us first! 1.888.637.8200. 24 hour HOTLINE. SAPA

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SUPER CROSSWORD IT’S A SMALL WORLD

ACROSS

1 Pizza-topping fish

8 Troglodytes

15 Drang’s partner

20 University of Wyoming city

21 Smelter input

22 Kayak’s kin

23 It includes a nucleus

25 Run up, as debt

26 Jet that last flew in 2003

27 Penta- plus three

28 X-ray dosage units

30 Injure with a horn

31 That fellow’s

33 “No - traffic”

35 Publisher owned by Random House

38 “ER” co-star La Salle

40 “Start the tune!”

42 “The Lady - Tramp”

43 Shoelace-receiving hole

44 What a very thorough description is given in

47 Snow glider

48 Fencer’s cry 49 Earth heater

50 Stair support

52 Left-winger, for short

55 - in “November”

56 Arctic diving bird

57 Bit of magic

59 - apso (terrier type)

61 Terrier type

66 Pilot a plane

69 Sailor

70 Toed the line

71 Histology 74 Stud’s game 75 “- Miller” (Verdi opera)

76 7-Down, in France

77 Very, very softly, in music

80 - as a fox

81 Kitten noise

82 Young kid 85 Michigan/Ontario border river

87 Bit of cotton on a stick

89 Sports group for tykes

91 Like laced punch 94 In times past 96 Esther of “Maude”

Pigsty 98 Don Ho hit

101 See 107-Across 102 Neighbor of Mich. and Ill.

103 Use a Kindle

104 Very small battery

105 Suffix with margin

107 With 101-Across, way up a slope

109 Extra Dry deodorant

111 Waterspout climber of song

117 Validate 118 Settle, as an issue 119 Slightly 120 Waste line

121 Pale lager

12 times per year

DOWN

1 Made in the manner of 2 “King” Cole’s first name

3 Points of intersection

4 Radio buffs

5 Fail to use

6 “Alice” actor Tayback

7 “That’s right!”

8 Motherboard components

9 In - (going nowhere)

10 Word stock, informally

11 Suffix with differ

Expresses grief

List of typos

“I - nap!”

- -fi flick 16 Did a certain ballroom dance

Like nerds 18 Mickey of movies 19 Most

62 Love, in Nice

Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

Answers on Page 26

believer 50 Resurrected

Largest city in Ghana 52 Like bums 53 “Oh, so that’s it”

Epic poet 58 Actress Sofer

Rodents in research

- Lewis & the News 61 Filly’s mother

to back

Diminisher

Vacant, as a stare

1993 Nannygate

Costly dark brown fur

The “L” of “SNL”

Go in circles

Vocalist Eartha

Article in Ulm

1903, for Bob Hope: Abbr. 113 Oft-candied tuber 114 - -pitch softball 115 Kay follower 116 San Luis -, California

Thecurfewtollstheknellofpartingday… Nowfadestheglimmeringlandscapeonthe sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds … Whereheavestheturfinmanyamould’ring heap, Each in his narrow cell forever laid, Therudeforefathersofthehamletsleep… Perhapsinthisneglectedspotislaid Someheartoncepregnantwithcelestialfire.

By Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

For some, graveyards are morbid places. When I was a boy, I never liked to pass by or walk through one … especially in the dark. These days I rather enjoy visiting them ... for awhile. They are generally quiet. And unlike most modern cemeteries, which don’t have any trees at all, graveyards usually have a variety of old sometimes ancient trees.

Trees attract the birds every graveyard requires. If there are oaks — as is usually the instance — there will be squirrels. If there are squirrels, there will be blue jays. And if there are squirrels and blue jays, there will always be something going on. Graveyards can be pretty lively places.

I like best to visit the graveyard overlooking Bryson City. The official name as proclaimed on a sign at the entrance is “Bryson City Cemetery” — but, in reality, it’s an oldtime graveyard. There are huge oaks, white

Looking out on a busy day in Bryson City

BACK THEN

cedars, yucca, and various shrubs. There are squirrels, blue jays, white-breasted nuthatches, and (in season) chipping sparrows. A red bird … the daughter of the sun in Cherokee lore … resides in the tangles on the lower slope of the knoll. Every graveyard needs a red bird.

I have a favorite place to sit where I can lean back against a white oak and observe the goingson in downtown Bryson City. The jays scream, and the squirrels scold. But soon enough they tire of watching me do nothing and go about their business.

What do I think about? Nothing much. I go there to sit and eat lunch and watch. Wednesday a week ago was an exceptionally busy day for Bryson City. Lots was going on down below. By way of prelude, the whistle of the excursion train on the far side of the river shrieked three times. I could see tourists waving from their windows the way real travelers never do when departing on a train that’s going somewhere.

From my vantage point, I watched a dog

hike his leg and piss on the Federal Building wall. A hiker came out of Bojangles and gave him a biscuit. He smiled the way dogs do as he watched her walk away. Then he yawned … wheeled counterclockwise as if chasing his tail … and lay down all curled up in the sun by his wall.

Ellison + Thomas Wolfe + Angel.”) Usually I just sit and glance over at her from a distance.

Twenty-six pigeons arose from under the lower bridge where they roost and circled the graveyard on flexed wings … the way pigeons do … before settling one by one on the gold copula atop the old courthouse where the clock was more or less accurate for a change.

Poised on one foot on a high foundation, she is almost life size. Her wings are just about to open but never do. Clasping a single stone lily in her right hand, she points upward towards the heavens with the other. Her eyes are turned slightly downward toward the earth. If you walk over to say hello, as I sometimes do, you look up into her eternal gaze. There is no “celestial fire” but she is the benevolent spirit of this graveyard and the surrounding mountains.

I should mention that this graveyard has a resident angel ... as every graveyard should. It was brought here long ago by Thomas Wolfe’s father. (I have written about the angel before and you can find her on the internet if you google “George

As I said … it was an exceptionally busy day in Bryson City. George Ellison wrote the biographical introductions for the reissues of two Appalachian classics: Horace Kephart’s Our Southern Highlanders and James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. In June 2005, a selection of his Back Then columns was published by The History Press in Charleston as Mountain Passages: Natural and Cultural History of Western North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains. Readers can contact him at P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, N.C., 28713, or at info@georgeellison.com.