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January 13-19, 2021 Vol. 22 Iss. 33
Cherokee may hold another alcohol vote Page 5 AT officials prepare for start of hiking season Page 22
CONTENTS On the Cover: Words matter, and the storming of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. building last week by insurrectionists has put a spotlight on what was coming out of the mouth of many elected leaders in the days and hours leading up to the tragic event. (Page 6)
News HHF Board to discuss beliefs of anti-vax member ....................................................4 Cherokee may hold alcohol vote — again......................................................................5 Were words the catalyst for Capitol tragedy? ............................................................6 Rules set for hearing on huge Cashiers development..............................................8 COVID negatively affects WCU student retention..................................................11 Education news ..................................................................................................................15
Opinion It’s horrible, yes, but this too shall pass ......................................................................12 Electoral College is ripe for a tyrant’s manipulation ................................................13
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Scott McLeod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . info@smokymountainnews.com Greg Boothroyd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . greg@smokymountainnews.com Micah McClure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . micah@smokymountainnews.com Travis Bumgardner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . travis@smokymountainnews.com Jessica Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessica.m@smokymountainnews.com Susanna Shetley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jc-ads@smokymountainnews.com Hylah Birenbaum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hylah@smokymountainnews.com Sophia Burleigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sophia.b@smokymountainnews.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jessi Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessi@smokymountainnews.com Holly Kays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . holly@smokymountainnews.com Hannah McLeod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hannah@smokymountainnews.com Cory Vaillancourt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cory@smokymountainnews.com Garret K. Woodward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . garret@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Singletary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . smnbooks@smokymountainnews.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jeff Minick (writing), Chris Cox (writing), George Ellison (writing), Don Hendershot (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing) Boyd Allsbrook (writing)
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A&E SoundSpace will become destination for musicians..............................................18 For what would you lay down your life?......................................................................21
Outdoors AT faces another COVID-affected hiking season ....................................................21
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Ingles Nutrition Notes written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath What are "ancient grains" and are they better for me if I have celiac disease?
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January 13-19, 2021
"ancient grains". Usually when marketing companies use this term on packaging they are referring to grains like einkorn, teff and spelt, farro, and sorghum. The idea marketers are trying to portray is that these grains are older than wheat and this makes them somehow better - but in fact wheat has been domesticated (grown specifically for cooking or baking purposes) for over 12,000 years. The reason that wheat has been grown and bred so extensively around the world is because of the versatility of the grain. For individuals with celiac disease the key is to avoid gluten containing grains. Just because a product is labeled "ancient grains" does not necessarily mean that grain is gluten-free. For example, einkorn, spelt and farro all contain gluten and would not be safe for someone with celiac disease to consume.
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Sources: On ancient grains: https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/whats-wholegrain/ancient-grains On history of bread: http://www.historyofbread.com/bread-history/history-of-wheat/#:~:text= Cultivated%20wheat%20came%20to%20Greece,had%20reached%20England%20and%20Scandinav ia.&text=Today%20we%20have%20many%20species,widely%20cultivated%20in%20the%20world. On celiac disease and "ancient grains" - https://www.beyondceliac.org/gluten-free-diet/is-it-glutenfree/ancient-grains/
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Bottom Line: If you enjoy the different taste or texture of products that contain "ancient grains" that's great - but this doesn't necessarily mean they are more nutritious or safe for someone with celiac disease.
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HHF trustees to discuss Presson’s views Anti-vax, anti-mask advocacy raises questions BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR nonprofit health care foundation serving Haywood County is set to discuss whether one of its trustee’s anti-vaccine, anti-mask advocacy is relevant to her position on its board. The Haywood Healthcare Foundation’s nominating committee held a special called meeting on Jan. 11 and decided the issue should come before the full board. “A trustee brought a concern and request for removal as per bylaws,” said Anthony Sutton, chairman of the HHF. “There were a couple of outcomes from the meeting and one was to move it to the full board of trustees.” Sutton was talking about Janet Presson, a nurse who’s been very active in publicly spreading debunked theories about vaccines and masks. Shortly after Presson was appointed to the board in April 2019, she helped host an anti-vax movie screening at the Haywood County Public Library in Waynesville featuring a documentary film full of misinformation and studies by discredited former medical professionals. Presson also attempted to ban members of the local media, including The Smoky Mountain News, The Mountaineer and WLOS-TV from recording or filming during the event. Since then, Presson has spoken during public comment sessions at several municipal government meetings in Haywood County, advancing theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are in direct contradiction to the opinion of national, state and local public health professionals. After her most recent appearance before the Town of Waynesville Board of Aldermen on Dec. 8, 2020, readers began writing letters demanding her removal from the HHF Board of Trustees. “Ms. Presson is an extremist, and her discredited views can have a detrimental effect
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January 13-19, 2021
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on the health and lives of our residents,” wrote Bethel resident Tom Tomaka. “Janet Presson needs to be removed from her position on the Haywood Healthcare Foundation at once.” The HHF is a non-profit charged with administering the proceeds of the sale of Haywood County’s once-public hospital — around $13 million. While that initial seed money can’t be spent, the investment income earned from it can be. Additionally, HHF does some minor fundraising of its own, and normally doles out more than $300,000 annually to other local nonprofits in support of its mission “ … to improve the health status of Haywood County, its individuals and families through
Per HHF bylaws, the request to remove Presson will now move to the full board of trustees. Two-thirds of the board, or 14 people, are now needed to remove her. educational programs, grants, scholarships and leadership opportunities … quality healthcare is essential to a productive life. It is our goal as a foundation to assist individuals and agencies in a number of ways, all with the ultimate goal of fostering a healthier community for our present and future generations.” Foundation Trustees were asked for statements by SMN on how Presson’s views align with HHF’s mission. Only three of 21 responded. The board’s newest trustee, Haywood Chamber President CeCe Hipps, said she’d been to one meeting of the board and since nothing was discussed regarding Presson, she didn’t have much to say. Teresa Liner, however, did respond. Liner is a member of the four-person nominating committee that approved sending the request for Presson’s removal to the full board.
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“HHF’s main mission is to focus on the unmet healthcare needs of individuals and families of Haywood County,” Liner said. “My personal belief is that masks are effective in keeping this virus from spreading. As soon as I can get the vaccine I’m ready! However, I’m not going to judge people that think otherwise. It is up to each of us to educate ourselves and do what is right to get this pandemic under control. I’ll leave it up to the HHF board and their bylaws to handle this issue to get this behind us so we can focus on the unmet healthcare needs of Haywood County citizens.” Neil Budde was the only other trustee to respond. “I do not share the same views as Janet Presson on vaccinations and the wearing of masks,” Budde said. “There is a process outlined within the HHF Bylaws regarding the removal of any HHF Board Member and I prefer to withhold any additional comment until after that process is completed, should it occur.” Dr. Charles Thomas, chair of the nominating committee didn’t respond, and Sutton — the fourth member of the committee —
said last week that although he had a viewpoint on Presson’s presence, he didn’t feel comfortable sharing it until board processes had been completed. Sutton also said he was a supporter of mask usage, and would get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as he could. Kirk Kirkpatrick, a Haywood commissioner who also serves on the board, said last week that although his views differ from Presson’s, he wouldn’t push for removal. Per HHF bylaws, the request to remove Presson will now move to the full board of trustees. Two-thirds of the board, or 14 people, are now needed to remove her. The board will meet on Feb. 22, via Zoom. HHF trustees who did not respond to SMN’s request for a statement include Dr. Barbara Parker, Julie Davis, Hylah Birenbaum, Julia Freeman, Jennifer Heaberlin, Jonathan Key, Linda Nulsen, Carmine Rocco, Phyllis Prevost, Charles Thomas, Allen and Cassie Braswell, Peggy Melville and Judy Ross. Janet Presson declined multiple opportunities to participate in a recorded telephone interview with The Smoky Mountain News.
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Alcohol has long been a polarizing issue in Cherokee, which operated its casino dry for a full 12 years before its members finally voted in 2009 to allow alcohol sales on casino property — but nowhere else.
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Tribal law states that “no decision approved or denied by the voters on an issue shall be reconsidered by Tribal Council for two years.” Because the last referendum vote on the issue took place in May 2018, that two-year waiting period has been satisfied. The text of the resolutions asks that a “special election referendum” be conducted to ask the questions. However, there are already two elections planned for this year, and any referendum question could potentially piggyback on one of those. Combining the elections could boost voter turnout for the referendum — in 2017, the last non-chief election year, Primary Election turnout was 43 percent. General Election turnout typically exceeds that of the primary. Tribal law requires that any referendum vote be carried out within 90 days of ratification of the resolution approving the question. If Tribal Council approves the referendum questions Jan. 14 and Principal Chief Richard Sneed ratifies them immediately after the 10-day waiting period ends Jan. 24, then the election would need to be held by the end of April. That would put the deadline ahead of the June 3 Primary Election and Sept. 2 General Election already scheduled for this year, but the deadline could easily move forward should Tribal Council table the resolutions for a future meeting rather than voting on them this month — that is, assuming the body approves them at all.
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January 13-19, 2021
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER wo years after tribal members voted down a similar referendum, the Tribal Alcohol Beverage Control Commission is seeking to place a trio of questions aimed at legalizing off-casino alcohol sales on an upcoming ballot. The agenda for the Jan. 14 Tribal Council meeting contains three separate resolutions submitted by the TABCC that contain suggested ballot language to be placed on a special election referendum ballot. If approved as presented, tribal members would be asked to vote on the following three questions: l • Do you support allowing the Tribal ABC Commission to operate an ABC package store to permit the sale of alcoholic bevf erages on tribal lands? • Do you support expanding the sales of malt beverages at retail establishments (grocery or convenience stores) within the t Qualla Boundary? • Do you support expanding the sales of malt beverages and wines at restaurants, hotels and other business establishments f within the Qualla Boundary? Alcohol has long been a polarizing issue d in Cherokee, which operated its casino dry for a full 12 years before its members finally voted in 2009 to allow alcohol sales on casino property — but nowhere else. However, despite tribal members repeatedly striking down additional referendums seeking to expand its availability, an increasing number of restaurants located off of casino property have begun offering alcoholic beverages in recent years. This is due to the combination of a 2011 tribal law and a 2015 state law, which together meant that the TABCC could grant permits to establishments located within 1.5 miles of a Blue Ridge Parkway onramp, and for one-time events such as festivals, among other select situations. In 2018, the tribe held a special election in which members were asked to vote yes or no on whether “to allow ABC permits to be issued to allow retail sales of alcoholic beverages on tribal trust land at a tribally owned package store and ABC store.” The referendum failed on two fronts. Only 47.4 percent of voters said yes to the question, and turnout clocked in at only 25.56 percent. Tribal law requires a turnout of at least 30 percent with no fewer than 51
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Alcohol referendum proposed for Cherokee
percent of voters approving the referendum in order for it to pass. Notably, the referendum earned a majority yes vote in only two communities — Big Y and Birdtown — and the communities with the lowest approval rates also had the lowest turnout rates. In Cherokee County, for example, turnout came in at a meager 7.81 percent, and only 35.5 percent of those who did vote said yes. A similar referendum was held in 2012. The three questions posed in that vote were very similar to those currently before Tribal Council, but at least 60 percent of voters said no to each. Allowing a tribal ABC store and alcohol sales in restaurants were the most palatable, with 40 percent and 39 percent, respectively, voting yes. However, only 34 percent said they’d be OK with beer and wine sales in grocery and convenience stores.
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news Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-Hendersonville, speaks at a “stop the steal” rally on the morning of Jan. 6. C-SPAN screenshot
January 13-19, 2021
Words matter Rhetoric became rage in D.C. insurrection
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ast week, as elected members of the House of Representatives and the Senate gathered in their respective chambers to certify electoral votes, Western North Carolina’s newly-elected Republican congressman began to notice that something wasn’t quite right. Indistinct radio chatter. Restlessness from elected officials. Tension among law enforcement officers. Doors locking. Representatives donning gas masks. Staffers crouching on the floor behind bulletproof seats. “Wow, this is real,” Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-Hendersonville, said to himself. The insurrection that ensued was indeed real, born of an alternate reality where feelings matter more than facts. President Donald Trump has felt all along that the Nov. 3 election was “stolen” from him; in the weeks after his loss, he encouraged supporters to travel to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 to “stop the steal,” despite a stunning string of courtroom losses — more than 60 — and officials from his own party and administration contradicting him with 6 factual evidence.
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Before the shock of seeing democracy’s greatest monuments befouled by a violent swarm had even worn off, condemnation of the president began to emerge over his role in inciting the violence by pushing discredited election fraud theories since before the election itself. Days later, after calls for his resignation, Trump was banned from Twitter and is again facing impeachment, or removal through constitutional process, with less than a week remaining in his term. Trump now sits quietly at the nexus of culpability, but those who supported his false election narrative are also facing great public disdain, or worse, and elected officials from Cawthorn on down are being called upon to decide — do words really matter? awthorn was hustled off the floor of the House but it wasn’t easy, as the 25-yearold mobilizes with the aid of a wheelchair. He told The Smoky Mountain News less than 24 hours after it happened that fellow North Carolina congressmen Ted Budd, R-Greensboro, and Richard Hudson, RFayetteville, helped him navigate some steps and move furniture that had been used to blockade doors.
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“I contested [electors from] five different states, and it wasn’t because of fraud, because I can’t personally prove fraud and I have really not seen an overwhelming amount of evidence for it, but what I can prove is that the Constitution was definitely subverted and circumvented.” — Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-Hendersonville, following the Jan. 6 riots
Sheltering in a congressional office, Cawthorn looked out the window. “I opened the blinds — and not to make a pop culture reference — I felt like I was watching Lord of the Rings when the orcs were taking over the last stronghold of man,” he said of the mob he later called disgusting and pathetic. “I have no problem calling that out, even though a lot of those people probably would’ve voted for me. No problem calling that out, because I just, I can’t support that.” Fortunately, Cawthorn said, he was armed, although he’s not yet said where or how he came to be. Laws on gun possession by members of Congress on Capitol grounds are
rife with loopholes, but Cawthorn’s probably most lucky he didn’t actually have to use it. At that very moment, a horde of insurrectionists had already penetrated the Capitol building. Barreling down hallways. Rummaging through empty offices. Smearing their own feces on the walls. President-elect Joe Biden subsequently delivered remarks from Delaware. “At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Biden said. “You’ve heard me say before in different contexts, the words of a president matter, no matter how good or bad that president is. At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite. I call on President Trump to go on national television now, to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.” Trump responded with a backhanded plea for peace that focused more on his feelings about the election than the fact that a shirtless man wearing a horned fur cap and brandishing a spear was currently lording over the Senate rostrum. “I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time,” Trump said in a video that’s since been pulled from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us – from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraud-
were silent then. Cawthorn has condemned the abhorrent violence on January 6,” it says. “He has criticized President Trump for directing protestors toward the Capitol and repeatedly told protestors that the legal pathway to address their concerns was through debate on the house floor, by their elected representatives, not violence in the streets of the Capital. Principled conservatives disagreed about the 2020 election. But debating whether Congress should accept or reject electoral votes in states that may have ignored their own laws was entirely appropriate and legal under our Constitution.”
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“We pledged our lives and our sacred honor to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. We honor our institutions by respecting them.” — Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Franklin
“I will forever feel this election was not conducted fairly in the United States, however that doesn’t change the outcome,” said Pless. “I feel we as residents of Western North Carolina should set an example for North Carolina and our nation to follow. The election is over. Time to focus on the needs of the people.” As a weary nation now looks towards healing, the debate over facts and feelings won’t be settled by any one person, any time soon. Regardless of which side prevails — evidence-based information or amateur YouTube machinations — the words spoken in defense thereof won’t soon be forgotten. “The events at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., this past Wednesday, Jan. 6 highlight what we have been taught since childhood — words have consequences,” said Canton Alderwoman Gail Mull. “Once said, they cannot be unsaid. Compare it to toothpaste — once it is out of the tube, it cannot be put back. The rioters were there because they had been told a lie — that the election had been stolen through massive voter fraud. This lie has been disproven dozens of times in the weeks since the November election.” In the interest of transparency, all responses from local officials regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection have been published online, in their entirety. Find them at www.smokymountainnews.com/ news/item/30588.
Smoky Mountain News
ate on the evening of Jan. 6, after the building was cleared, Cawthorn returned to the House floor with colleagues to complete the task that had begun hours earlier, pre-insurrection — the certification of electoral votes. As promised, Cawthorn objected to Pennsylvania’s submission. “We were using every legal means necessary available to us,” Cawthorn told SMN the next day. “I contested [electors from] five different states, and it wasn’t because of fraud, because I can’t personally prove fraud and I have really not seen an overwhelming amount of evidence for it, but what I can prove is that the Constitution was definitely subverted and circumvented. We were fighting that legal battle and then I think a lot of the rhetoric that’s been used for the past couple of months has led to people being ready to get up and go and try and take things into their own hands.” With Biden’s certification coming in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 7, it quickly became clear that the insurrectionists, fed a steady diet of QAnon-level conspiracy theories by Trump and others, had failed to subvert the democratic process. Now, the focus shifts to the local level. On Jan. 7, elected officials from across Western North Carolina were asked to weigh in on what transpired, what caused it, and where we — as a nation — go from here. “I ask every person of honor and faith in our constitutional republic to repudiate these acts in the strongest terms,” said Sen. Kevin Corbin, R-Franklin. “We pledged our lives and our sacred honor to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. We honor our institutions by respecting them.” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, a Democrat, likewise condemned the insurrection and demanded prosecution to “the fullest extent of the law,” but was the only elected official to call out Cawthorn’s role in the mayhem. “I believe in giving people chances. I especially believe in honoring elections and giving folks a fair shot. That is the attitude that I had when our new congressman, Madison Cawthorn, took to the capital,” Smathers said. “Unfortunately, it seems our new representative is more comfortable dealing in division and falsities rather than uniting and truths. Representative Cawthorn rallied supporters to come to Washington saying the very ‘fate of the nation’ rested on their shoulders, telling them they needed to come show backbones made of steel and fight. He reveled when he spoke to the crowd that stormed the Capitol,
when he observed they had ‘fight in them.’ He can try to pass the buck all he wants but we heard his words, we saw his actions. Leaders lead, leaders unite, leaders understand the power of their words, leaders take responsibility. I am asking Representative Cawthorn to do better.” While leaders like Corbin and Smathers — local elected officials from both sides of he aisle — came together to propose a path forward, others continue to advance the rhetoric that led to the insurrection in the first place. “While I believe our local media is fairly balanced, the national media is not,” said Kevin Ensley, Republican chair of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners. “The Hunter Biden story, biased coverage of President Trump and ignoring valid election irregularities have added to the mistrust of the mainstream media from conservative Americans.” Republican Rep. Mark Pless, a former Haywood commissioner who’s just been elected to the North Carolina General Assembly, echoed Ensley’s “election irregularity” sentiments, but also said it was time to move on and accept the results.
January 13-19, 2021
“I think you’d have to be pretty ignorant to say that they didn’t play a role in it,” he said. When asked about his own remarks at the very same rally and their role in the insurrection, Cawthorn was a bit more ambiguous. “I don’t necessarily think it did because I think what I was doing was saying, ‘Although most Republicans are not going to fight for you, you do have someone who’s defending you and I am fighting for you within the Capitol right now,’” he said. “The main purpose of that was to say that the reason you elect representatives like me is so that you don’t have to go take things into your own hands.” Like Trump, Cawthorn has recently lost support from some longtime allies. Former Henderson County Sheriff George Erwin Jr. was slated to become Cawthorn’s district director, but backed out and told Blue Ridge Public Radio’s Lilly Knoepp that he’d heard “no calming words” from Cawthorn. “You can’t talk about you support blue lives Rep. Mark Pless matter and support the blue when you are firing up people who are harming law enforcement officers,” Erwin said. Also like Trump, Cawthorn is now facing calls to resign, or to face removal. A petition on www.change.org had Zeb Smathers more than 16,000 signatures as of Jan. 12, and another one on www.moveon.org had more than 3,000. Neither are significant in terms of the number of votes Cawthorn received last November, but a letter from the Democratic Sen. Kevin Corbin chair of his North Carolina district to Speaker Nancy Pelosi may carry more weight as it attempts to tie Cawthorn’s behavior to Trump’s. “On behalf of the Democratic Party of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, we respectfully request action to address the seditious behavior of our newly elected Congressman, Madison Cawthorn, on or before the insurrection of January 6, 2021,” reads the letter, signed by District Chair Kathy Sinclair and others. The letter goes on to mention Cawthorn’s tweets and his speech at the rally and asks for an ethics investigation followed by expulsion from the House, or censure. A request for comment from Speaker Pelosi’s office by SMN went unanswered, but Cawthorn’s office did respond to the letter, telling WLOS-TV in a statement that unlike Democrats, Cawthorn condemns violence no matter who’s behind it. “NC-11 Democrats were silent when leftwing mobs attacked civilians, businesses and law enforcement in Asheville. They have no moral authority to speak up now when they
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ulent election. But we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated – that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace.” Five people are now dead, including an insurrectionist who was shot in the throat by U.S. Capitol Police as she attempted to climb through a shattered window, and a Capitol Police Officer, Brian Sicknick, who was dragged from an archway and beaten with the pole of an American flag. Scores were injured and arrests around the nation continue, but the transformation of the otherwise peaceful demonstration into a murderous throng is being blamed on Trump’s continuing denial of his election loss to Biden. On Dec. 19, 2020, Trump tweeted out a call to action. “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” he said. “Be there, will be wild!” Several more times before Jan. 1, he repeated this invitation. Cawthorn signaled early on that he’d contest the Jan. 6 certification results, and issued a tweet of his own shortly before he was forced to flee for his life. “I was elected to serve the people of Western North Carolina, on January 3rd I took an oath to protect the Constitution. Today I will fulfill both obligations when I object on the House Floor to the electoral y votes from key states.” He’d been on the job three whole days at the time, but had spent almost his entire caml paign aligning himself with the president. That didn’t end with Trump’s loss and Cawthorn’s victory on Nov. 3. On Jan. 6, Trump held a “stop the steal” y rally in a park just south of the White House. Along with other speakers, Cawthorn decried what he felt was election fraud on the part of Democrats before Trump took the stage. “Our country has had enough,” Trump f said at the outset of his 70-minute speech. “We will not take it anymore, and that’s what this is all about. To use a favorite term that all y of you people came up with, we will ‘stop the steal.’ Today, I will lay out just some of the evidence proving that we won this election and we won it by a landslide. This was not a close election.” Trump’s closing remarks are now being intensely scrutinized in the form of an article of impeachment presented by House Democrats on Jan. 11, alleging incitement of g insurrection. “So we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I love Pennsylvania Avenue, and we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give … The Democrats are hopeless. They’re never voting for anything, not even one vote,” Trump said. “But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones — because the strong ones don’t need any of our help — we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” When asked the next day about whether y or not he thought Trump’s remarks contributed to the violence that occurred after the rally, Cawthorn was succinct.
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Cashiers Council prepares for development hearing
Smoky Mountain News
January 13-19, 2021
Renderings for housing units in the proposed development show multi-story stone buildings with plentiful windows. Lew Oliver Inc rendering
Board makes standing decisions, schedules hearing date BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he future of a massive development proposed for the Cashiers crossroads is still up in the air following a Jan. 6 meeting of the Cashiers Area Community Planning Council. During the three-hour session, board members sifted through 31 applications from community members seeking recognition as parties with standing during the quasi-judicial hearing that will determine if the development moves forward. Of the 31 applicants, 11 received standing, 11 were admitted as witnesses but not as parties, six were denied admittance as either witnesses or parties and one voluntarily withdrew. Two applications were tabled for later action.
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The evidentiary portion of the hearing is now scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 25, and according to County Attorney Heather Baker it could easily require an additional day to complete. At issue is a special use permit request from Atlanta-based Macauley Investments. The developer is proposing a project that would bring 726 residential units and 158,557 square feet of commercial space to a 55.5-acre area in the northeast corner of the N.C. 107 and U.S. 64 crossroads. The devel8 opment could easily double the community’s
year-round population, which is currently estimated at 1,500, though it swells up to about 30,000 during the summer. The proposal has spurred widespread opposition on the plateau, with a community-funded legal defense fund raising more than $50,000 and a petition to stop the development gathering more than 21,000 signatures so far. To decide whether to grant the permit, the Cashiers Council must conduct a quasi-judicial hearing — a proceeding with rules and format very similar to a formal court hearing — and vote as to whether the proposal meets each of six criteria. A majority of the seven members must vote yes on each of the six for the permit to be granted. Those criteria are: • That the development will not endanger public health or safety. • Is reasonably compatible with the site’s natural and topographic features. • Won’t substantially injure values of adjacent properties. • Will be in harmony with the community’s scale, bulk, coverage, density and character. • Is appropriately located with respect to transportation, water, fire, waste disposal and police resources. • And will not cause a traffic hazard or undue congestion. Appealing the decision will require filing a case in Jackson County Superior Court. If the Cashiers Council approves the proposal, it will then go to the Jackson County Planning Board to ensure compliance with the county’s major subdivision ordinance, triggered for projects containing more than eight lots. No public hearing is required prior to that vote, but there will be opportunity for informal public comment.
DETERMINING STANDING The hearing before the Cashiers Council was originally scheduled for Nov. 16, but attorney John Noor, who represents five adjacent property owners, asked the board to reschedule so as to allow him time to secure the witnesses necessary to make his case against the proposal.
Get informed To watch meetings of the Cashiers Area Community Planning Council online, visit http://bit.ly/2LJOIBH. For agendas, meeting dates and more, visit the Jackson County Planning Department website at www.planning.jacksonnc.org. During the Jan. 25 hearing, parties with standing will be able to participate as official parties to the action — such as by having counsel represent them or calling in witnesses, for example — and would be named on any lawsuit originating from the hearing’s outcome. Non-party witnesses would be allowed to ask questions and present evidence, but they would not be legal parties to the action and would not be noticed regarding any further proceedings. State law narrowly defines who can be granted standing in such a proceeding, Baker told the board Jan. 6. That definition includes someone with a legal interest in the property, such as an owner or tenant; the applicant; the county where the hearing is conducted; an association that has at least one member who has standing; and a person who will suffer “special damages” as a result of the decision.
“One of the best ways to look at a party with standing is to say, ‘Is this person’s potential damages different from someone in the community as a whole?’” Baker instructed the board. “If anyone in the Cashiers area can say, ‘Yeah, I can say the same thing,’ it’s probably not special damages.” Over the course of the three-hour meeting, board members wrestled with that definition as they heard from resident after resident claiming that the development would wreak havoc on an already out-of-control traffic situation, damage their property values and endanger their water supply. Often, the right decision wasn’t crystal clear, with the two attorneys — Noor and the developer’s attorney Craig Justice — passionately arguing opposing viewpoints on how to handle individual applications. “One of the things that’s most important is that you’re consistent in who you allow in with standing,” Baker said.
TRAFFIC CONCERNS Overall the board tended to grant standing to adjacent property owners who were downhill from the proposed development — resulting in worries related to landslides and stormwater — or who relied on a water supply potentially threatened by the proposed development. Traffic was also a consideration, though board members tended to put more weight on concerns related to property access via secondary roads than on worries related to congestion on U.S. 64 and N.C. 107. Everyone in the community relies on those highways, so general impacts to their utility would not constitute “special damages.” There was some disagreement between Noor and Justice as to what level of evidence
WATER WORRIES In addition to traffic, fear of restricted water supply was a common theme among the applicants. “Our biggest concern is we’re on a private well,” said Monte Vista Road resident Mary Ellis, who was admitted as a party with standing. “In fact, during a period of drought we even had to drill a second well, which subsequently went dry, so water availability is a big concern.” “The eight residences that’s on our property are on a spring, not a well,” added Gana Sita Circle resident Brent Mills, who was also admitted as a party. “I feel it will be directly affected by a couple thousand residential homes being built next door.” A 2018 McGill Associates report commissioned by the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority indicates that these fears could be valid. “Despite unusually high levels of precipitation for the state, the groundwater supply in the Cashiers area is limited and has historically proven to be difficult to access due to
the underlying geology,” the report reads. Of the region’s 84 inches of annual precipitation, 41 inches evaporate, 7 inches leave the area as surface runoff and 36 inches leave as groundwater runoff. That leaves 36 inches per year for groundwater recharge, the report shows. Most wells on the plateau rely on fractured bedrock aquifers to stay wet. “When the region of affected groundwater for two or more wells overlap, i.e., those wells are in competition with one another for the same aquifer, those wells are said to be exhibiting well interference,” the report states. “Since many of the wells in the study area are located on common fractures, there
is often a high degree of interference between wells that otherwise might appear to be spaced adequately to prevent interference.” Other applicants expressed concerns about noise and light pollution, as well as about the potential for landslide activity. “The proposed five buildings behind my house are multifamily houses, so large, and they are on the steep incline, and so I do believe that that type of topography is wrong for those types of buildings,” said Bustle Lane resident Yvonne Johnson, who was admitted as a party with standing. “I’m afraid of a landslide down onto my property and furthermore the properties directly below me.”
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prospective parties were required to have at this stage of the proceedings. Noor told board members that at this stage, applicants are required only to allege damage, with the evidence portion coming into play at the actual hearing, but Justice said that even at the application stage certain types of allegations require expert testimony, especially statements about traffic or property value. Baker said that Justice was correct, and determinations of standing must be based on what applicants could present or prove at the time. However, Noor pointed out that any applicant can testify as to what they’ve seen and heard firsthand. Steve Johannessen, who owns a business across N.C. 107 from the proposed development and was ultimately admitted as a party with standing, was one such example of that. “Even though I’m not an expert, I’ve been in business for 15 years in the same location, and I know the traffic patterns on this road intimately,” he said. “They’re seasonal, but it’s really, really important to note that there’s a chokepoint at Frank Allen Road for the left turn lane. The more traffic there is, the less business we get, because people cannot turn onto our property.” While Johannessen could testify to conditions that he’d witnessed firsthand, expert testimony was required to back up his assertion that the proposed development would “dramatically” increase that congestion, which would in turn compress the value of his property during the five to 10 years it will take to build the development — just as he’s looking to sell out and retire.
The town center, the first section of the development to be built if approved, would feature a combination of residential and retail spaces. Nequette Architecture & Design rendering
January 13-19, 2021 Smoky Mountain News 9
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Haywood records INC. 191 new cases
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Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 191 new cases of COVID-19 in the last four days. As of Jan. 11, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has recorded a total of 2,684 cases in Haywood County since the pandemic began. There are currently 391 people isolating with COVID-19. The health department is continuing to track the trend of people who refuse or ignore case monitoring or contact efforts. There are 44 such uncooperative positive cases now who may be ignoring the advice to isolate from others. Since it started tracking this number, there have been 64 such cases considered released, meaning all attempts to communicate with them have been exhausted and the isolation period based on positive result date has passed. “Although we all wish it were not so, COVID19 is still very much present in our community. Increased vaccinations will eventually begin to ease this burden, but we are a long way from that time. Please continue to stay vigilant, wear your mask anywhere you go outside your household and take every precaution not to expose other people,” said Interim Health Director Garron Bradish. “Hospital impacts remain very high this week, which affects everyone because overwhelmed hospital systems may mean that if you have an emergency your care may be delayed due to hospital wait times worsened by COVID caseloads. We must continue to take this pandemic seriously,” said Bradish. Vaccinations started this week in Haywood for those over 75 people who pre-registered last week. Appointments will be scheduled in groups as the vaccine is available. If you or a loved one still need to register,do so at www.haywoodcountync.gov/vaccine or by calling 828.356.2019. As the vaccine rollout continues, groups of individuals eligible to begin pre-registering for the vaccine will be notified through the health department’s weekly vaccine information updates.
Smoky Mountain News
COVID-19 vaccine requests overwhelm phone system
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Macon County Public Health was overrun with phone calls to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments and testing appointments on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 11-12. In the past 24 hours, officials say they received over 500 live calls and an additional 300 voicemails requesting testing or vaccinations. “We apologize for the difficulty you may be experiencing with our phone system. The volume of calls for COVID-19 testing and vaccination has overwhelmed the county phone system,” said Health Director Kathy McGaha. Macon County IT is working with Frontier to resolve the system capacity in hopes of having the issues resolved as quickly as possible. The Macon County Health Department can be reached at 828.349.2517. The call center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., closing daily for lunch from noon-1 p.m. until further notice.
Student grades, retention slip at WCU news
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ith the first full semester of pandemic instruction now in the books, preliminary numbers at Western Carolina University show dips in fall-tospring retention and student grades compared to previous years. “We’re kind of playing without a playbook,” Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Richard Starnes said in an interview. “All of our statistical data is based on historical trends. So when you have a once-in-a-lifetime type of event such as the pandemic, it kind of throws all your assumptions out the window.” Last year, 92.9 percent of freshmen who enrolled for the fall semester returned in the spring, and while statistics for the 20202021 school year won’t be final until midFebruary, the figure has been fluctuating around the 88 percent mark since early December. Starnes said the decrease was disappointing, but expected. “At this point in time in the semester, we’ve been at 92 percent in the preceding years,” Starnes told the WCU Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs and Personnel Committee Dec. 3. “That is concerning to me, but it is also something that stands to reason that with the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 we would see a softening.” Despite the pandemic, WCU set a new enrollment record this fall, with the 12,243 students attending last fall representing a slight increase over the 12,167 who enrolled for the fall 2019 semester. However, the number of first-time, full-time freshmen actually fell significantly over the same timeframe, with the 1,780 who enrolled for fall 2020 representing a 14.5 percent dip from fall 2019. An all-time high retention rate and increase in graduate and distance learning students was responsible for the overall enrollment increase. WCU is also seeing more students struggle academically than had been the case in previous years. While no specific figures on student grades are yet available, Starnes told trustees that there were “significant numbers of students who were not achieving course standards by week eight.” “Students are struggling,” he told trustees. “I think our faculty have been real dedicated, but we’re also trying to keep high standards too, so we’ll see more students this year go through academic action around probation, suspension — those kinds of things.” Final statistics on student success last semester are delayed in part because the Faculty Senate voted 16-9 on Nov. 18 to
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— Richard Starnes
“Individual student health concerns, the health concerns of their families. Parents losing jobs. It’s almost analogous to the economic downturn. In 2008, ’09, ’10, we began to see a lot of students who were doing fine, and then the economic downturn hits and their performance lapses. What we often found was that was the result of family economic dynamics.” WCU used a blend of face-to-face, online and hybrid instruction last semester in an effort to give students the benefit of a residential university education while taking precautions against COVID-19. Various calendar changes, activity restrictions and requirements such as mask wearing and social distancing also made the past semester much different than the typical experience. Since July 1, the university has reported 519 cases among students, employees and contractors, of which 474 are recovered and
45 are active. No deaths have been reported. Positivity rates for COVID-19 tests have wavered between 13.2 percent the week of Aug. 31 and 0.9 percent the week of Sept. 28. By comparison, Jackson County is now reporting a 19.7 percent positivity rate with 2,648 cases and 18 deaths since the pandemic began. The spring semester will begin on Monday, Jan. 25, two weeks later than normal. It will include an abbreviated midterm break and no spring break, and like the fall semester it will use a blend of face-to-face, online and hybrid course delivery. Students living in residence halls will be required to submit documentation of a negative COVID-19 test taken three to five days before leaving their permanent residence in order to move in. WCU updates its coronavirus dashboard Monday through Friday at www.wcu.edu/coronavirus/reporting.aspx.
Smoky Mountain News
allow students to request satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading for the fall semester, extending an option first approved for the spring semester. Under the policy, approved in response to a student-led petition, faculty members will provide traditional letter grades at the end of the semester, and students may either accept that grade for incorporation into their GPA or ask to be graded on the satisfactory/unsatisfactory scale instead. According to the Office of the Registrar website, students can submit requests for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading through March 31. From conversations with faculty, Starnes understands that student performance has been “all over the map” this semester. “It seems like at this point in the fall semester, more things entered into individual student performance than would otherwise be the case,” he said in an interview.
January 13-19, 2021
“Students are struggling. I think our faculty have been real dedicated, but we’re also trying to keep high standards too, so we’ll see more students this year go through academic action around probation, suspension — those kinds of things.”
Franklin Chamber delays annual awards banquet The Franklin Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet will be postponed until later in the year after a vote by its board of directors. “This decision was not made lightly. Our plans are to reschedule the banquet as soon as conditions allow. Invitations will be mailed and a notice in the local newspapers will announce the date. We look forward to celebrating these individuals and groups in the safest way possible” said Linda Harbuck, Franklin Chamber Executive Director. The 2020 nominations for Citizen of the Year, Duke Citizenship Award, Youth Citizen of the Year, Organization of the Year, and Chamber Member of the Year have been received and winners will be decided soon. Winners will be announced and awards presented later this year when the banquet can be rescheduled.
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Webster endorses Jackson County namesake change BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ith the Jackson County Board of Commissioners’ first public discussion about changing the county’s namesake scheduled for Jan. 12, the third of Jackson’s four municipalities has approved a resolution asking commissioners to make the change. “I think that this is a unique time in history where we’re starting to take into consideration our history and look at it with open eyes and see what we can do to be respectful of minorities and their challenges,” said Webster Mayor Tracy Rodes. “A change like this is something that will get attention, but it’s not something that comes at a high cost, so I really think it’s a no-brainer to support it.” The Town of Webster voted unanimously Jan. 6 to approve a resolution urging commissioners to replace the county’s current namesake, Andrew Jackson, with former Principal Chief Walter S. Walter S. Jackson Jackson instead. Born in 1923, Chief Jackson was a World War II veteran. Upon returning home he served as the tribe’s chief of police and then as a Tribal Council member for 12 years before completing a four-year term as vice chief and winning the 1967 election for principal chief. Jackson died in 1971 while still in office. He was only 47 years old, but according to the 2007 book A Cherokee Encyclopedia by Robert J. Conley, his accomplishments while in tribal government included instrumental roles in developing the Cherokee Boys Club, improving reservation roads, reopening the tribal rolls, securing a new gym and elementary school and establishing a new hospital. Meanwhile, President Jackson never lived in Western North Carolina, and his main legacy in the region is the Indian Removal Act and the resulting Trail of Tears. The movement to instate Chief Jackson as the county’s new namesake stems from a unanimous vote the Cherokee Tribal Council held in October, requesting the change. Sylva and the Village of Forest Hills subsequently passed resolutions endorsing that request, but action from the Jackson County Board of Commissioners is required to enact it. Dillsboro Mayor Mike Fitzgerald said last month that his board does not intend to address the issue, as it’s a county decision over which the town has no jurisdiction. County commissioners’ first public discussion on the matter was on the agenda for their Jan. 12 work session, just after The Smoky Mountain News’ press time. The board hadn’t previously addressed the issue due to a change in membership resulting from the November elections. New board members were sworn in Dec. 7.
Smoky Mountain News
January 13-19, 2021
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Smoky Mountain News January 13-19, 2021
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Education
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Donation to support agribusiness To support training of area agriculture-centered businesses, Carolina Farm Credit recently awarded $5,000 to Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center. SCC is using the funds to support a pair of educational opportunities this winter. The first, an Agribusiness Summit, was completed on Dec. 7. The second, SCC’s annual Appalachian Farm School, starts on Jan. 11 and runs through March 1. “This is the second time we’ve been awarded a grant from Carolina Farm Credit, and I am personally very thankful for their support,” said Tiffany Henry, Director of SCC’s Small Business Center. “Without the financial assistance we receive from community-minded organizations like this, we wouldn’t be able to offer the quality of training that our area agriculture-based businesses need to succeed.” This will be the sixth annual Appalachian Farm School, which Henry launched with the goal of providing local farmers the skills they need to thrive. There is no cost to participate. Registration deadline is Jan. 6. For more information or to sign up, visit https://bit.ly/AFS2021 or contact Henry at 828.339.4211 or t_henry@southwesterncc.edu.
Tribe offers COVID relief funding The Harrah’s Cherokee Tribal Scholarship Fund has announced emergency COVID-19 funding made available to qualified educational institutions in the seven surrounding counties bordering the Qualla Boundary (Jackson, Swain, Haywood, Macon, Graham, Cherokee and Clay). Organizations may apply for emergency funds related to personal protective equipment, screening supplies, sanitization chemicals/equipment, safe food transportation, and other qualified needs resulting from COVID-19. Funding will not be provided for staffing, payroll, gift cards, or any items not specifically related to safety. For an application and full qualification criteria, contact: Yona Wade at yona.wade@ccs-nc.org or 828.554.5032 or Sherri Booth at sbooth@harrahs.com or 828.497.8753.
SCC inducts 88 into Technical Honor Society Although the pandemic kept Southwestern Community College from holding an in-person ceremony this fall, SCC officials welcomed 88 new members into the college’s chapter of the National Technical Honor Society with an induction video. SCC President Dr. Don Tomas joined Dr. Thom Brooks, Executive Vice President for Instruction & Student Services, and Mathematics Instructor Vicki Todd to produce a virtual ceremony for the most-recent inductees. NTHS members hold at least a 3.5 Grade Point Average. They were nominated by a teaching faculty members and rank among the top 20 percent of active students in their respective programs. “We would love to have welcomed all these students into our Burrell Conference Center to celebrate their achievements, because they deserve to hear the applause of family and friends,” Dr. Brooks said. “Just because we weren’t able to do
that doesn’t lessen their accomplishments. We are extremely proud of every single one of these inductees, and we look forward to seeing what each of them accomplishes in the years ahead.”
HCC presents service awards Haywood Community College recently presented service awards to several employees. Employees were recognized for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years of service with the State of North Carolina. The awards were designed and handcrafted on campus with assistance from student Kelsi Mulock and faculty members Doug Cabe, Hilary Cobb, James Holton and Brian Wurst. Employees recognized for five years of service include Cody Ferguson, Darrell Frizzell, Pamela Hardin, Karen Lawrence, Sarah Mathis, Polly Amanda Mills, Heather Patterson, Randall Warren, and Scott Yager. HCC employees recognized for 10 years of service include Larry Davis, Wendy Davis, Mark Hicks, Susannah High, William Kinyon, Jeremy Phillips and Lisa Rhodarmer. Employees who received a 15-year service award included Tyler Beamer, Eliza Dean, and Wayne McCrary. Marc Lehmann and Patricia Smith were recognized for 20 years of service.
SCC introduces Teacher Prep pathway To help prepare the next generation of educators, Southwestern Community College is introducing an Associate in Arts – Teacher Preparation pathway this spring. “Aspiring teachers can get the first two years of college credit while staying close to home and saving thousands of dollars at Southwestern,” said Dr. Barbara Putman, SCC’s Dean of Arts & Sciences. “Teachers touch all of our lives. They are vital to our communities and to our future. We hope anyone who’s been inspired to pursue this
fulfilling profession will enroll this spring.” There’s still time to enroll for SCC’s spring semester, which starts Jan. 11. Prospective students can start the application process at www.southwesterncc.edu/register-online.
Pepsi donates to SCC student fund Pepsi-Cola of Whittier presented a donation to Dr. Don Tomas, Southwestern Community College President, on Monday, Dec. 14, in Sylva. Every year, Pepsi employees forego their annual holiday party and instead give $1,000 to the SCC Foundation. The money goes into SCC’s Student Emergency Fund, which helps deserving students who encounter unexpected financial emergencies so that they can remain at SCC and continue working toward their degrees, diplomas and/or certificates. For more info about the Student Emergency Fund and the SCC Foundation, call 828.339.4241, email b_woods@SouthwesternCC.edu or visit www.southwesterncc.edu/foundation.
WCU to offer facilitation workshop Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment will be offering an online workshop entitled, “Facilitation: An Essential Leadership Skill,” from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21, with live, interactive instruction. Kimerly Hinkelman of Hinkelman & Associates and Kathleen Osta of Vital Clarity will serve as instructors for the workshop and John Bourke of Bourke Associates, content expert on the ToP Facilitation Methods, and other business topics, will serve as technology assistant. Participants will learn leadership skills for facilitating a focused conversation that invites and honors all perspectives; and experience a con-
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sensus-building brainstorm approach that elicits and organizes a diverse range of ideas in a way that reveals areas of alignment. The registration fee for the course is $149 and SHRM credits are available at the completion of the workshop. Visit pdp.wcu.edu and click on “Forprofit and Nonprofit Professional Development Workshops.”
Jackson schools receive educational grants The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina recently awarded $2,955 to Jackson County schools from the Learning Links grant program. The grants include $1,350 to support classroom teachers and $1,605 to Jackson Community School for integrated literacy and healthful living programs. Smokey Mountain Elementary School was awarded two classroom grants. The grant to Jackson Community School will fund programs addressing key activities for student learning. One focuses on healthful living to provide students opportunities to learn about exercise and nutrition to create lifelong behaviors. The literacy program explores career interests, financial literacy and student dreams and goals. Learning Links grants are made possible by the Ben W. and Dixie Glenn Farthing Charitable Fund, the Cherokee County Schools Endowment Fund and the Fund for Education. For more information, contact The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina at 828.254.4960 or visit www.cfwnc.org.
Higdon finalist for Teaching award Teachers from across North Carolina have been selected as finalists for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) 2020 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year Award in honor of their dedication, innovation, and ability to inspire students to achieve. Macon County teacher Emilee Higdon has been selected as a finalist. One of these talented educators will be named the 2020 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year. The award will be presented on April 15, 2021, at the NCCAT Cullowhee Campus. “We appreciate the enthusiastic response from all over the state for the Beginning Teacher of the Year Award,” said NCCAT Executive Director M. Brock Womble. “These finalists provide a snapshot of the lasting impact great teachers have on our students from the first to the last day they step into a North Carolina public school. We are excited about this opportunity to honor teachers for the important work they do in our state.” The award winner will receive $5,000 cash prize, participation in a GoGlobal N.C. trip and instructional supply funds for the teacher’s school. The runner-up will receive $2,000 cash prize and all finalists will receive travel expenses to participate in NCCAT professional development and leadership development. More information about the program is online at www.nccat.org/btoy.
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Opinion
Smoky Mountain News
Just remember, this too shall pass I
Are fixed-period pardons legal? To the Editor: In 1974 Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he committed, may have committed, or may have taken part in during the period from Jan. 20, 1969, through Aug. 9, 1974. A vast majority of the citizens were greatly disturbed by President Ford’s action. They contended that Nixon must be indicted, tried, and convicted before being exonerated. Today the question still arises: How can you be pardoned if you haven’t been convicted? The Supreme Court has never ruled on the legality of these so-called fixed-period pardons. Later presidents must have been under the assumption that the reprieve by President Ford set a precedent. The Honorable Sen. Sam J. Ervin of North Carolina was picked by the Senate to chair a select committee to investigate the Watergate affair. Sen. Ervin was adamantly opposed to the Nixon pardon unless charges were carried out through court proceedings. It appears the easiest and quickest way to receive amnesty or commutation is to be a crooked crony of the president. The leniency President Trump bestowed on Joe Arpaio, Roger Stone, and Michael Flynn are excellent examples. Before an everyday American can apply for a pardon they must receive a crimi-
you will live in distress.” There is a lot going on our world that’s causing legitimate distress — and it seems things continue to escalate — but if we can’t control our own minds and feelings, what can we control? Over this past year, I’ve found it helpful to step back and look at 2020 and the start of 2021 with a wider angle. There is a greater purpose for what is happening in our world right now. We can’t see what that is, but I know it’s there. One day we’ll look back on this two-year segment with perspective and see some good that came of it. Politics has overtaken everything lately. It permeates numerous facets of Columnist our lives. Our editor Scott McLeod said something profound in his column last week. He wrote, “Those who view the entire world through the lens of politics seldom see clearly, no matter the issue or which side you’re on.” If everyone, collectively, could stop viewing matters from the right or left, if people could step back and realize that political agendas don’t make us who we are as humans, that laws are not meant to be personal attacks. If we could put gratitude, neighborly kindness, intellect and love above politics, most turmoil would settle organically. In fact, some of history’s greatest leaders held these characteristics in highest esteem.
Susanna Shetley
recently saw a funny political sign that said, “Presidents are temporary, Grateful Dead is forever.” Did you know that less than one-percent of Americans can name every U.S. president? That being said, I bet anyone you stop on the street can name a musician or song that’s contributed something powerful to one’s life. The maker of this yard sign was a Grateful Dead fan, but the same slogan would work with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Elvis, Prince, David Bowie, Tom Petty and on and on. The point is, presidents come and go, but that which gives meaning to our lives sustains. The past 14 months have felt like an eternity, like this frustrating new normal is going to continue indefinitely. Yet, in the grand scheme of history, it’s a dot on the radar. I like reading psychological thrillers or watching shows and movies in this genre. I’m also interested in parapsychology, such as the belief in reincarnation or the after life. Holding my mom’s hand as she took her final breath stretched my psyche to other places. Grief will wear you down if you don’t believe there is more out there than the here and now. We can be our own worst enemies. Psychology Today says, “Nothing causes more emotional distress than the thoughts we think. We must do a better job than we usually do of identifying the thoughts that don’t serve us, disputing them and demanding that they go away, and substituting more useful thoughts. Thinking thoughts that do not serve you is the equivalent of serving yourself up emotional distress. Only you can get a grip on your own mind; if you won’t do that work,
LETTERS nal conviction in U.S. District Court. If sentenced to probation there is a fiveyear waiting period, beginning when sentenced, until an application for a pardon can be submitted. The waiting period for those confined is also five years, beginning on the day of their release. After the pardon application is returned to the U.S. Department of Justice it may be two years before it is adjudicated. If the pardon request is refused there’s a two-year waiting period before it can be resubmitted for consideration. Charles Miller Waynesville
Cawthorn is off to a bad start To the Editor: As one of Mr. Madison Cawthorn’s constituents in the 11th District, I wish to inform him that I find his recent words and actions with regard to the presidential election to be beyond troubling. It appears to me that Mr. Cawthorn has been an active participant in promoting blatant falsehoods about “voter fraud” in America, and that he has supported all of the clearly — and repeatedly — debunked claims by President Trump that the election was “stolen” from him, that he actually won in a landslide, that election officials in select states cheated and participated
While working to ease poverty, expand women’s rights, build religious and ethnic harmony and eliminate the injustices of the caste system, Gandhi applied the principles of nonviolent civil disobedience, playing a key role in freeing India from foreign domination. Martin Luther King Jr. was well spoken and intelligent. He wasn’t considered extraordinarily handsome, but he had a presence and commanded a room with ease. He used his oratory skills and ability to connect with people to nonviolently advance civil rights for Blacks. Jesus Christ led from strength and compassion, as opposed to weakness or greed. Jesus was an exceptional listener and truly heard people, no matter their status. He told them “Do what I do” instead of “Do what I say,” then he modeled impeccable behavior. He was selfless and loved with a perfect love. According to polls, if you ask people to name five presidents, most will say George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. The point is, history documents all leaders but only the best are revered or remembered. Furthermore, whether a president is grand or grotesque, they are all temporary. Breathe deeply and think of your favorite musician or tune. Know that this tumultuous season shall pass and when that time comes, your song will still be playing. (Susanna Shetley is a writer, editor and digital media specialist with The Smoky Mountain News, Smoky Mountain Living and Mountain South Media. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com)
in some sort of massive conspiracy to cheat Trump — and Trump alone — out of a win. Those are all lies, but Mr. Cawthorn has willingly trumpeted those lies, and I wonder why? It is understandable why Trump would want to whine and lie about the fact that he lost. After all, he was the one who felt the agony of defeat and simply couldn’t accept the fact that he had lost — fair and square — after appealing to the courts, after demanding and obtaining recounts and state audits, after exhausting all legal means of demonstrating that he actually won. Trump is just a sore loser, obviously. But, why does Mr. Cawthorn wish to make such egregious claims? There are only two possible truthful answers to that question: • He actually believes all of the convoluted, ridiculous conspiracy theories (Qanon, etc.). • Or, he is making a political calculation that supporting Trump, regardless of the truth of anything, will pay dividends for him in his nascent political career. As an older member of Mr. Cawthorn’s constituency I will suggest to him very strongly that neither of those answers will play out very well for him. If he currently does believe in the existence of a massive, decades old, “deep state” conspiracy, then that will become his all-consuming issue, and his base of support will eventually consist of no one other than a narrow sliver of Qanon true believers. Oh,
they’re here in the mountains, for sure, but there are a lot more of us who find their beliefs nutty at best. And if he made the political calculation that it would serve him well to be closely linked with Trump, I think that’s already starting to blow up in his face. I see this morning, for example, that Mr. Cawthorn is now trying to shift the blame for the horrendous actions of the mob on Jan. 6, 2021, away from himself and onto Mr. Trump alone, even though both of them proudly egged on the protestors to do more than just stand there — to “fight.” Madison Cawthorn isn’t going to be any more successful at having things both ways than Donald Trump is. It was Abraham Lincoln who allegedly said that all the people can’t be fooled all of the time. It was true then. It’s still true today. So, at this very early point in his political career — at a point when most people his age are just entering the workforce and learning valuable lessons in real life — Madison Cawthorn is dealing with the heady thrill of being a member of Congress. What he does in the next few days and weeks, however, is going to determine his ultimate fate as a member of that body and as a political figure in North Carolina and the nation. A healthy dose of humility, an admission of culpability for his part in spreading the mistruths and outlandish conspiracy theories that helped turn a “protest” into a mob scene, a bit of sincere remorse (maybe starting with a public apology to
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FREE
Scrapping Electoral College could stop a tyrant
his fellow members of Congress for calling them “cowards” while encouraging the crowd to “fight”), and a statement of his determination to focus on and to do his best to represent ALL of his constituents (followed by some concrete actions demonstrating the sincerity of that statement) might
help Mr. Cawthorn survive his shambolic entrance into government. Failing in that, Mr. Cawthorn’s allotted 15 seconds of fame will be reduced to less than a nanosecond, and deservedly so. John Sanderson Canton
Martin Dyckman
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Smoky Mountain News
stolen election. It’s probably the latter. Either way, his first votes were a disgrace to his office, this district and himself. It’s a pity that there are not recall elections. What Cawthorn did achieve was to help perpetuate the poisonous myth that Democrats stole the election — a concocted lie rejected by judges in more than 60 court cases. Ironically, the Republicans can thank that, and themselves, for losing the two Georgia Senate seats that are tipping the chamber to Democratic control. That the Democrats didn’t win a larger majority outright and lost much of their edge in the House certainly gives the lie to the stolen election myth. But the myth remains in the propaganda arsenal of the fifth column. There is an urgent need to look at how America elects its presidents, but not in any way related to myths of election fraud. The Electoral College has already produced five presidents, including Trump, who didn’t win the popular vote. And if just 21,461 votes in three key states that Biden won had gone the other way, Trump would have won the presidency against despite losing the popular vote by more than 7 million nationwide. Those states are Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona, the three swing states where the Biden-Harris ticket won by the smallest margins. Losing them would have meant a 269269 electoral vote tie, forcing the election into the House. Each state has only one vote in such a situation, and Republicans control more delegations than the Democrats do. Trump appears to know enough about how the Electoral College really works that the significance of those three states stoked his rage and subversive attempts to overthrow the election by intimidating state officials and the Congress itself. The bizarre telephone call demanding that Georgia’s secretary of state “find” him another 11,780 votes demonstrates the danger of staking the presidency on 51 separate elections. It would be much harder to challenge the national popular vote. One way or another, that’s why we need to replace the Electoral College before the Fifth Column has any more opportunities to subvert America. (Martin Dyckman is a retired journalist who now lives in Western North Carolina. dyckmanm@bellsouth.net)
HaywoodBuilders.com 100 Charles St. WAYNESVILLE
January 13-19, 2021
uring the Spanish Civil War, which the Fascists won, one of their generals said there was a “fifth column” inside Madrid that would capture the capital before any of their four advancing formations could reach the city. Ever since, the phrase has stood for any group of disloyal people aiming to subvert their own country. There is now a fifth column in the United States of America. You probably saw elements of it on television Jan. 6, capturing and desecrating our national Capitol, the symbol of our democracy, causing five fatalities — including the Guest Columnist murder of a police officer — and disrupting the Congress as it was certifying the results of the presidential election. The mob’s purpose was to overturn the vote count and keep Donald Trump in the White House, where he would become a dictator in the manner of Spain’s Francisco Franco or Italy’s Benito Mussolini. It was Trump with his tweets who summoned the mob to Washington, promising that it would “be wild,” and it was Trump’s spoken words that sent them to attack the Congress. He is the most prominent fifth columnist. But as the mob carried out his command, there were already fifth columnists at work inside the Capitol. They were the 138 Republican members of the House and seven in the Senate who were poised to throw out millions of votes that had been legally cast in Arizona and Pennsylvania for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They, too, were willing to make Trump a dictator, and they cast those votes after the mob attack had demonstrated so vividly why they shouldn’t. Among those fifth columnists: Madison Cawthorn, the new congressman from our 11th North Carolina district. Earlier, he had helped Trump whip up the mob. They failed to overturn the election, but that does not diminish the morbid evil of their intent. It isn’t clear whether Cawthorn was just playing along, so as to keep the support of this district’s numerous Trumpists, or whether he is really stupid enough to believe Trump’s staggering lies about a
ESTIMATES
1819 Country Club Drive, Maggie Valley, NC
M AG G I E VA LLEY C LU B . CO M OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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Venturing down the melodic rabbit hole Rehearsal studio opens in historic former Asheville motel BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER n internationally beloved musician, Claude Coleman, Jr. would often find himself in Asheville while on tour drumming with his band, iconic rock juggernaut Ween. Each time wandering through, he would become more enamored with this region. So much so, Coleman relocated here from New Jersey in 2012. Upon putting down deep roots — personally and artistically — in Asheville, Coleman found it frustrating at times to find the right space to rehearse his projects and collaborations. Though the bustling music scene in the city includes the storied Echo Mountain Recording Studio, where were the spots to plant and cultivate musical ideas before one ventured into a state-of-the-art facility for harvest? And for the better part of the last decade, Coleman has been roaming Asheville in search of the ideal property to launch a public access music rehearsal studio and multi-use artist space. After several dead ends in their quest, Coleman and his business partner, Brett Spivey, came across the historic Rabbit’s Motel on McDowell Street. Though the property had seen better days and was pretty rundown, it was home to the renowned Rabbit’s Motel, a Black-owned establishment that was a source of pride and a cultural meeting hub for the once-vibrant neighborhood that, sadly, has been largely displaced and forgotten in recent decades. Purchasing the property and renovating it during the current shutdown and pandemic, “SoundSpace @ Rabbit’s” had its grand opening last month. Filled with several rehearsal rooms and backline equipment, the studio will eventually reintroduce a soul food eatery onsite (which once operated inside the motel for over 50 years), as well as other events, workshops and programs aimed at preserving and perpetuating the arts in our own backyard.
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Smoky Mountain News: With the enormous music scene in Asheville and Western North Carolina — people that want to live here, visit here, and record here — SoundSpace will become a creative, culinary and cultural beehive. Claude Coleman, Jr.: It’ll be a beehive for [all of] that. It will be like a super hub. We’re creating a landmark destination that’s going to connect a lot of people to the history of this place, the history of the neighborhoods and all these communities, which is really rich and profound.
Want to jam?
Claude Coleman, Jr. The historic Rabbit’s Motel (right). (photos provided by Victory Lap Publicity)
And with the kitchen [reopening], tourists are going to want to come when it’s up and running. I mean, that’s going to attract a whole other class of people around the area. That’ll bring folks from Atlanta, the Bronx, Harlem or wherever, you know? It’s creating a super destination to appeal to a wide swath of people and a huge cross section of cultures. We wanted a jam spot and a place to rock out and work. But, it’s become this mission to create this landmark and to reconnect people to this history, to bring this history into the modern narrative of Asheville, because it’s really missed — it’s been lost and covered over. SMN: And with the long, storied Black history in our region, a lot of it has either been pushed aside or forgotten… CCJ: Yeah. I mean, it’s called supremacy. First, it’s the red lining of the neighborhoods and the programs of urban renewal, which red lined and eviscerated these totally thriving, prosperous neighborhoods and communities. “The Block” in downtown [Asheville] was one of the largest Black-owned business districts in the South. It was identical in so many ways to the “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, [Oklahoma], which experienced the massacre there [in 1921]. Asheville had its own massacre, but it was this slow, systemic sort, [where] government and state sponsored programs [would] basically acquire, steal, take land and kick everyone out. It’s an important point of pride for other folks to get in touch with [this forgotten history], for young black residents to get in touch with their history here, too. SMN: Do you think that finding the property was serendipitous? CCJ: Oh, it’s so serendipitous — everything about it. It was like the property was waiting for
If you’re interested in learning more about SoundSpace @ Rabbit’s and/or to rehearse in one of the rooms, call 828.552.3534 or visit www.soundspaceavl.com. SoundSpace is located at 109 McDowell Street in downtown Asheville. Operating hours are noon to midnight seven days a week.
A rehearsal room in SoundSpace @ Rabbit’s.
us to find it. And when we did, the owners, in a sense, were waiting for us to find them, waiting for the right people to come in and find it. And it happened. Once we got the idea that we wanted to recreate a soul food kitchen, we met some business folks from downtown. Stephanie Swepson-Twitty, who runs the Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation, she does a lot of advocacy for minority entrepreneurship. And she introduced us to our chef, Clarence Robinson. [Clarence] grew up behind Rabbit’s and spent his whole life [in and out of there]. All of his family is connected to it, relatives that lived there or worked there. And he was just sitting across the table, listening to me explain what we were trying to do and his eyes started welling up with tears. He just couldn’t even
believe it, more so to understand how it happened — but it did. We said, “We want you to run this kitchen.”
SMN: Although the property is still a work in progress — and it’s also going to continually evolve — what’s it like to see the space come to fruition? CCJ: That’s a great question. I was just talking [to someone] about how amazing, wonderful and magical it is. I stand outside two rooms when there’s two bands going at it — you’re just hearing these great sounds and sounds reverberating. It’s an amazing feeling just to hear music kind of peripherally like that, and to provide the chance and opportunity for people to make music — there’s almost no words for it.
This must be the place BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
Sometimes the righteous win; most times, it’s a losing battle
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Smoky Mountains National Park. Emerging from the vehicle, a crisp air and serene silence greeted me, this sense of solitude much needed and always chased after. Heading into the woods, I trotted up Chestnut Branch to where it intersects with the Appalachian Trail, from there along the AT to TN 32 at the state line and back down the dirt road to the Big Creek parking lot. Just around five miles total. Hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., and my thoughts couldn’t stray far from the images witnessed the day before on national television. Thousands charging up the steps of the Capitol Building. Hundreds pushing their way in and demanding their voices be heard and their stances be taken seriously. The same faces who were utterly offended by Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem, now standing and yelling atop the dais of Congress in a bison costume and face paint, heavy boots of another planted firmly atop the desk of the Speaker of the House — this bizarre modern world that proves the old adage: “truth is
stranger than fiction.” Like probably most of you reading this, I was shocked (although not surprised this was the culmination of four years of rhetoric and conflict) to watch the events unfold in D.C. last week. And I can say most of this country is, too. Most of us want peace, but how? Most of us harbor compassion for fellow man, but when will all of our efforts and goodwill be the sum of great things to come? The fringe elements of both sides of this country are the squeaky wheels getting the grease. And yet, where to from here? How do the vast numbers of us walking along the middle of the road proceed into the New Year, not to mention this new administration? As I got back to my truck at Big Creek, covered in sweat and dirt, I raised my head and let out a humble sigh. New Year, but the same shit, eh? I’m tired, emotionally exhausted, but I won’t stop trying to understand, to find common ground with others and champion the idea of compromise. I remain optimistic. I do. Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
January 13-19, 2021
inishing up my second cup of coffee at Orchard in Waynesville, I gazed out the large bay window onto Depot Street. There’s the historic Haywood County Courthouse, a few vehicles parked on the hill. Snowflakes fluttered down from high above on this Friday morning. Right when I started to get lost in the sight of the mesmerizing snowflakes amid memories of my childhood back in the North Country, that train of thought was broken when a large truck flew by the window with an enormous Trump “Make America Great Again” flag waving proudly from the tailgate. And it was also in that moment where I also noticed the newly placed dumpster on Depot Street for the current building renovations going on next to Orchard. Those two objects in the same space within my field-ofvision conjured a flood of images from the past year — hell, the past four years — now forever written in the pages of American history, for good or ill. I’m a middle of the road guy, politically speaking. As a journalist and an open-minded person who travels extensively, I see both sides of the coin when it comes to real deal Democrats, Republicans and Independents (or folks who subscribe to no party). Every single day, I chase after conversations, interactions and experiences with any and all: in an effort to better understand the human condition — especially of those within the borders of this country — and to better understand myself in the grand scheme of things. Over the course of Trump’s 2016 campaign and the last four years of this current administration, I’ve seen and covered it all. I’ve stood in the middle of a capacity crowd at the Asheville Civic Center (7,000+ folks) in
September 2016 and watched Trump in his element: ripping and roaring up and down a laundry list of finger-pointing and pandering. And I remember how I felt immersed in that audience, as stated in my reporting from the event for this publication in 2016: “But, like Trump himself, the crowd was more subdued than what’s been seen in previous rallies. Sure, there was shoving and even a punch thrown, but, for the most part, those in attendance stood and listened, hoping for something, anything of substance that would come from the man at the podium who actually stated, ‘Take a chance on me — it can’t get any worse.’ No matter who wins the presidential election, both Trump and Clinton come out the victors. They’re playing with house money and they’ll only continue to get richer and have more political influence as the years go along. The real losers this election season are, well, all of us, seeing as we’re seemingly angrier with our neighbor than at our politicians or those behind the scenes running the show.” Skip ahead to August 2020 and there I was, reporting and walking alongside Black Lives Matter protesters (and by counter-protesters) moving up and down Soco Road in Maggie Valley: “Both sides were mostly peaceful and respectful, truth be told. Yes, I heard some vile things shouted at the protesters here and there. And yes, there were countless motorcycles revving their engines to drown out the protest chants. But, I also witnessed incredible compassion and unity among those marching, many of which are folks who live in Haywood County and who I’ve called friends for several years. While I observed and photographed those familiar faces in the march, I didn’t see or experience people trying to upend their own backyard. Nobody was there to physically destroy local businesses in a riot-like scenario. Nobody was there to fight and disrupt peace. If anything, it was a display of courage and personal conviction to seek out a better tomorrow, perhaps today.” Skip ahead to last Thursday afternoon. After finishing up some writing in Orchard Coffee, I jumped into the truck and cruised to the Big Creek entrance of the Great
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arts & entertainment
On the street Haywood art studio tour The Haywood County Arts Council invites all Haywood County studio artists to participate in the annual Haywood County Studio Tour scheduled for June 26-27, 2021. The Haywood County Studio Tour is a two-day, self-guided, free event in which Haywood County artists open their studios to the public. To participate, the studio must be in Haywood County. Artists may choose to open their Haywood County studio or to join with another studio host. The HCAC will act as a liaison between artists needing a host site and studios that have space for additional artists.
The artist/studio application and policies for participation may be found on the Haywood County Arts Council website or picked up from HCAC Gallery & Gifts at 86 North Main Street in Waynesville. Email completed forms to artist@haywoodarts.org or mail to P.O. Box 306, Waynesville, NC 28786. The deadline for the completed studio tour application is Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. The Haywood County Studio Tour Exhibit Opening Reception is on Friday, June 4, 2021, if feasible. The HCAC will follow the NC Governor’s mandates regarding COVID. For more information, visit www.haywoodarts.org.
Lazy Hiker welcomes Americana act
Waynesville potter Christina Bendo.
The Waymores.
Smoky Mountain News
January 13-19, 2021
Atlanta-based duo The Waymores will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Sylva. The duo will also perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin. Kira Annalise and Willie Heath Neal are The Waymores and they’re the epitome of acoustic country music. He was born in a cop car, lived in and out of foster care and served in the Navy. She used to get stage fright until she was swept up by his charm and grit, started writing country songs and never looked back. Now, they travel the world together, writing songs from the road and bringing their intimate and fun stage presence to audiences around Southern Appalachia and beyond. Both shows are free and open to the public. For more information, click on www.thewaymores.com.
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com.
• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.elevatedmountain.com.
• The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville will hold its annual meeting via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. The meeting is open to the public. If you wish to attend, email harttheater@gmail.com for the login information.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host David Flowers Jan. 16, The Waymores Jan. 23 and Anna Victoria 3 p.m. Jan. 24. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade Jan. 16 and The Waymores Jan. 22. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise 20 noted. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
ALSO:
• The “New Year’s Market” will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Canton Armory at 71 Penland Street. Over 30 vendors and food available onsite. Handmade crafts, wall art, native crafts, woodworking items, chakra healing, and much more. • There will be a free wine tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
WNC CELEBRATES MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. The 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend will be celebrated differently than it has in the past. Visit the Haywood County MLK Committee Facebook page @haywoodcountymlk throughout the weekend for education, entertainment, history and worship. There will be a MLK Commemorative Zoom Service at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, with a Virtual Prayer Breakfast Service after 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18. The keynote speaker for the prayer breakfast is Rev. Dr. Daran H. Mitchell, pastor of Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church in Greensboro. For more information and/or to find the Zoom link, go to the committee’s Facebook page.
At Cannae the Carthaginians enslaved some of their captive Romans, but often the defeated either went down fighting, commit-
We have lived nobly, let us die nobly, Give the entire world an example by it; Today we bring dignity upon our names, This gilds all past actions. Walsh then asks: “Does anyone in the West still think and talk like that? Do we still have a concept of what it is like to live — and die — nobly? ... Who still believes in going to eternal joy? Or is self-sacrifice a fool’s errand, a suicide charge into oblivion, which the world will little note and not long remember? If nothing is worth dying for, then what are we living for?” His questions set me to thinking about our own time. The firefighters who raced to their deaths in the Twin Towers on 9/11, the men aboard United Airlines Flight 93 who on that same day charged the terrorists on board that aircraft, the military personnel who have exhibited bravery in our never-ending conflicts in the Middle East: yes, people still exist who willingly give their lives for others. But Walsh’s questions made me ask questions of my own. Are there enough of those people who still believe in the value of sacrifice to carry our country through a major conflict? More importantly, what are the things worth dying for? I think I can say with assurance I would lay down my life for my children and grandchildren, and for a few friends. With much less surety, I hope I would die in defense of my religious faith. Given the political chasm that today separates so many of Americans and a culture fractured by decades of bickering and arguing, I then wondered how many of us would still be willing to take up arms in defense of our nation. “Only the dead have seen the end of war” runs the old adage. If true, what will our response be should war come to us? (Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust On Their Wings, and two works of nonfiction, Learning As I Go and Movies Make the Man. minick0301@gmail.com)
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“But what most drew the attention of all the beholders was a Numidian who was dragged out alive from under a dead Roman, but with a mutilated nose and ears; for the Roman, unable to hold a weapon in his hands, had expired in a frenzy of rage, while rending the other with his teeth.”
and the Chosin Reservoir, but the siege of Szigetvar in Hungary was completely unfamiliar to me. Here Walsh blends evidence from an epic poem, The Siege of Sziget, with historical facts about this clash. He recounts the driving forces behind this battle between the Muslims and Christians, shows that both sides had great respect for the military prowess of the other, and tells us of the conflict’s importance on a large scale. “The Ottomans,” Walsh writes, “won the monthlong battle, but at very great cost — upwards of 20,000 men — so great, in fact, that they abandoned their push toward Vienna.” One theme running throughout Last Stands is why soldiers sacrifice themselves in this manner and whether we today would do the same. Regarding the Battle of
Szigetvar, Walsh cites these lines from The Siege of Sziget, attributed to the leader of the Christians shortly before the massacre of his soldiers:
and
Jeff Minick
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ted suicide — the Jews at Masada, some of Custer’s men at the Little Big Horn — or were executed on the field of battle, like the defenders of the Alamo. Walsh does his readers a great service by laying out the background of these contests. Over the years, I have read a good bit of military history, and know of the history behind such conflicts as Shiloh, Hastings,
Library letter exchange program The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva is starting The Library Letters Exchange. For those interested in exchanging letters with a pen-pal from the Poughkeepsie Public Library in Poughkeepsie, New York, sign-ups will run through Jan. 16. This program will rekindle (or just kindle) a love for the handwritten letter and “snail” mail. The Library Letters Exchange is free and all participants will receive a welcome kit full of cool stationery and accessories to get started. Register today to find new connections with fellow book lovers. To register, call the library at 828.586.2016 to register. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).
January 13-19, 2021
ot everyone will enjoy Michael Walsh’s Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost (St. Martin’s Press, 2020, 358 pages). His thoughts in the Introduction regarding masculinity and traditional reasons why men have fought wars since the dawn of history — to protect their women and children, their homes and homeland — may offend some. Remarks such as “The only culture that won’t defend itself is one bent on suicide” will rouse the ire of the cancel culture crew. He points out the dangers when heroism in war becomes politically incorrect or when we Writer denigrate our Western democratic institutions, which will anger those who wish to see those laws and governments dumped in history’s trashcan. This is unfortunate, for in addition to asking some provocative questions Last Stands brings to life some of the most savage battles ever fought. Thermopylae, Masada, Rorke’s Drift, and 15 other engagements. Walsh puts his readers on these battlegrounds, describing the terrain and the weather, the opposing forces, the weapons possessed by both sides, and the kind of men who carried those swords, spears, and guns. He also recreates the brutality of these fights to the finish when warriors battle against overwhelming odds, savagely struggling with all their strength while knowing that their cause may well be lost. In his account of the Battle of Cannae, for example, when Carthaginian forces surrounded and slaughtered an entire Roman army, Walsh includes this description from the Roman historian Livy regarding the aftermath of the battle:
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a shelter that’s empty when you fall asleep won’t be full by the time you wake up, individual tents and hammocks are the safest bet. “Basically, everyone needs to be careful,” said ATC Regional Director Morgan Sommerville. “They need to practice physical distancing. They need to use face masks when they’re around other people, and things like tents and hammocks and tarps and so on have become not just shelter but personal protective equipment.” The ATC is also asking hikers to avoid sharing food or congregating at picnic tables and to dig catholes or carry bags for their waste rather than using privies — the questionable availability of volunteers to maintain these privies is a large part of the reason for this — and is providing online prep classes covering various aspects hiking readiness, including COVID-19 protocols. Hikers experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on the trail are asked to submit a form detailing their situation to the ATC. “We just keep emphasizing to people that you may be out on the A.T. You may be in the middle of nowhere. But you’re going to be meeting strangers, you don’t know what their situation is and you need to be careful,” Sommerville said.
THRU-HIKER RECOGNITION SUSPENDED Joe ‘Triton’ Schmidt, founder of the Facebook group Still on the A.T, crosses the James River during an 800-mile section hike last year. Donated photo
UNCERTAIN SEASON ATC issues 2021 thru-hiking guidance as pandemic continues BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ppalachian Trail thru-hiker season was already in full swing when coronavirus fears prompted widespread lockdowns in March, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy was swift to react. On March 17, the ATC — the nonprofit organization tasked with protecting and managing the trail — asked long-distance hikers to postpone their adventures, and in the following days it suspended all new thru-hike registrations and asked day hikers and weekend warriors to stay off the trail as well. As of March 16, 1,229 people had started the trail in Georgia.
A
LONG-DISTANCE HIKING DISCOURAGED Now 2021 has arrived, thru-hiking season is just around the corner, and though vaccine
distribution is in progress, the pandemic is raging stronger than ever before. In recently published guidance looking toward the upcoming trail season, the ATC asked thruhikers to defer their departure yet again but also announced resources to help those who choose to hike do so more safely. “The rising number of COVID-19 cases continues to make long-distance hiking a potential contributor to the spread of coronavirus along the trail and in trailside communities,” reads the document, published Nov. 30, 2020. “The best way to ensure you and others remain safe is to postpone your hikes. However, if you are planning a hike of any length in 2021, please reduce the spread of COVID-19 by preparing appropriately for your hikes.” The ATC is encouraging anyone planning a hike of any length to register their start date on its website www.ATCamp.org so that hikers can spread out and reduce crowding on the trail. The suggested limit on hike starts per day has been reduced from 50 to 38 in order to reflect guidance that hikers avoid sleeping in shelters. Many of these shelters are officially closed, and because there is no way to ensure
Perhaps most controversially, the ATC will continue suspending its recognition program for hikers completing at least 2,000 miles of the trail until the Centers for Disease Control “has deemed the pandemic ‘under control’ and/or a COVID-19 vaccine or effective treatment is widely available and distributed.’” It first instituted that suspension in March. Sommerville admits that there is some ambiguity imbedded within the criteria for reinstituting the program but said that’s largely due to the overall uncertainty of the pandemic itself. After the crisis emerged, the ATC formed an Adaptive Recovery Task Force composed of representatives from the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service units the A.T. passes through, A.T. clubs and ATC staff. The group initially met every two weeks and then revised its schedule to convene monthly. Everything ultimately published to the website has been “thoroughly hashed through” in an attempt to “come up with a balance between being too strict and not strict enough,” Sommerville said. “We just don’t know what’s going to happen, and we’re not being encouraging to do thru hikes in particular, but certainly long hikes that require resupply because of the potential interaction with A.T. communities and lots of other hikers,” he said. Among past and prospective A.T. hikers, the withholding of 2,000-mile recognition has been a source of controversy. Over the course of the last year, members of the 2,300-member Facebook group Still on the AT — founded last year to help hikers navigate the logistical challenges caused by COVID-19 — have
often expressed their displeasure over what they see as ATC attempts to control their hike. Some have sought alternative recognition through the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association instead. Group founder Joe “Triton” Schmidt said he’s worked hard to keep anti-ATC chatter to a minimum so the group can remain focused on its actual purpose — serving as a community of long-distance hikers helping each other navigate the intricacies of the hike. “There’s a lot of people who don’t like the ATC, who don’t like authority, and the trail ends up getting sucked into our national debate,” he said. “I try to stay clear of that.” Schmidt, 46, hiked the trail northbound in 2011 and did 500 miles of its southern portion in 2014. He wasn’t planning a 2020 excursion but ended up walking from the northern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, about 800 miles, after his job fell victim to the pandemic, forcing him to live on unemployment for a while. He opted to live on the trail for a few months rather than spending his check on rent. COVID-wise, Schmidt said, he felt quite safe — much safer than when he returned home to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and volunteered to help with door-to-door political campaigning. However, he said, he understands why the ATC is trying to discourage thru-hiking during the pandemic and views the suspension of 2,000-miler certifications as “a very minor thing.” The ATC does not have the power to actually close the trail, he noted — that power lies with the U.S. Department of Interior. “A lot of hikers don’t appreciate how necessary the ATC is to protect our trail,” he said. “Ultimately what I’m concerned with is after COVID-19 is over, that the ATC and the hiker community can coexist functionally, because we need each other.”
A SEASON OF UNKNOWNS The big question mark, though, is just how many thru-hikers will set out for Katahdin this year. Last summer, the ATC sent out a survey to hikers who registered for a 2020 thru-hike to gauge the pandemic’s impact on their plans. The survey had a 46 percent response rate, with 59 percent of respondents — 461 people — saying that the virus interrupted their hike but that they planned to resume their quest “once conditions allow” — ostensibly, 2021. Of course, a lot has happened since September, when the survey was conducted. With virus numbers taking off exponentially this winter, some of the people who reported planning a 2021 hike may reversed that position in the intervening months. However, the trail has proven a perennially popular challenge, with hiker use increasing by about 10 percent each year during the 2010s. While Sommerville said that curve flattened a bit in 2018 and 2019, the last several years have seen roughly 4,000 people start
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Panthertown marked milestones in 2020
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As 2020 shifts to the rearview, Friends of Panthertown is celebrating a slew of accomplishments earned despite an ongoing pandemic. Creation of a Trail Stewardship position in 2019 to address maintenance and conservation needs in the area created a springboard for Friends, and once the U.S. Forest Service lifted volunteer restrictions on May 15, work began in earnest. In 2020, Friends of Panthertown held 26
public trail workdays involving 153 volunteers who contributed 884 hours of labor to maintain 20 trails on 6,311 acres. Two bear boxes were installed, 65 tons of gravel were placed at the Salt Rock Entrance and one Eagle Scout project was completed with five more in the works. This help was especially welcome due to the explosion in visitation Panthertown received, as it was one of the few outdoor recreation areas in the region to remain open throughout pandemic restrictions. This use, combined with storm damage during the early part of the year and heavy rain over the summer, caused significant erosion on the trails.
As the pandemic emerges in mid-March, thru-hikers Greg Boului and Cricket Cote wait for a shuttle at Winding Stair Gap with their dog Roux. Holly Kays photo
Smoky Mountain News
marker, often plan robust event calendars to coincide with the thru-hiker season. During March and April, Franklin typically offers multiple festivals, an Olympics-esque competition for hikers, Easter weekend trail magic, the Thru-Hiker Chow Down and the much-loved pancake breakfast at the First Baptist Church in Franklin — not to mention a month-long series of outdoor-themed library programs. As the official A.T. Club for that section of trail, the Nantahala Hiking Club hosts several of these events and helps support many others. This year’s schedule is up in the air and will likely remain so for some time, said NHC President Katharine Brown. “We’re hoping to be able to find a way to offer the things that we’ve done in the past and find a way to do them that is COVIDsafe,” said Brown. “Because it’s just January we haven’t sat down with our committees to make any final plans yet.” NHC’s volunteers are committed and experienced at throwing these A.T. events year after year, so Brown has no doubt that things could come together fairly quickly should the club decide whether to pull the trigger. But for now, there’s no telling whether that will happen. “Certainly by early March decisions are going to have to start being made,” she said.
January 13-19, 2021
a thru-hike from Springer Mountain each year. As of Jan. 11, 1,873 people had registered to start a hike in Georgia between Feb. 1 and April 30. Additionally, 80 had registered for a southbound hike from Mount Katahdin between June 1 and July 31 and 87 had planned a flip-flop hike originating at Harpers Ferry between March 1 and May 31. “We think there are more people that will be out this year than last year,” Sommerville said. According to the September survey, only 8 percent of respondents — 74 people — continued hiking the A.T. after the virus hit last year, and 81 percent of those finished the trail. However, there’s no way to know the total number of people who completed a thru-hike last year. It appears that people are taking COVID-19 into account when planning their hikes this spring, Sommerville said. For instance, some people planning a 2021 thru-hike seem to be picking later start dates than usual. “Unless the agency partners actually close the trail again, each individual hiker has to make their decision about what they want to do,” said Sommerville. Hikers aren’t the only ones having to make decisions. Trailside communities such as Franklin, located near the trail’s 110-mile
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Bridge work prompts Greenbrier road closures Two road sections in the Greenbrier area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are closed for bridge replacement through Friday, March 26. Ramsey Prong Road and the portion of Greenbrier Road past the picnic area are included in the closure, which applies to all motorists and pedestrians. The picnic area will remain accessible throughout the closure period. Ramsey Cascades Trail, Porters Creek Trail and Backcountry Campsite 31 will also be closed through March 26 due to lack of trailhead access. Old Settlers, Brushy Mountain and Graveyard Ridge Trails will remain open, but hikers will
The newly conserved property offers a stunning view of Linville Gorge. Nicky Doty photo
not be able to access them from the Greenbrier area and should plan their routes carefully. The full closure is necessary to safely and efficiently replace the Ramsey Prong Road Bridge. Crews will be operating heavy equipment along the roads and using road sections as staging areas for materials. The effort is part of a larger Federal Highway Administration project to replace seven bridges and repair seven others across the park. For more information about temporary road closures, visit www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm.
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Pisgah National Forest grows at Linville Gorge
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More than 200 acres have been added to the Pisgah National Forest at Linville Gorge thanks to a recently completed project by The Conservation Fund. The nonprofit purchased the 205-acre property in 2018 and transferred it to the U.S. Forest Service at the end of 2020. Support from the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Conservancy and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, together with funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Fred and Alice Stanback, made the protection possible. “The Forest Service is grateful to The Conservation Fund and all of our many partners for the addition of this critical tract of land at Linville Gorge,” said James Melonas, Forest Supervisor for the National Forest in North Carolina. “The
addition of Long Arm Mountain will protect views and enhance access to Linville Gorge for current and future generations, as well as protect wildlife habitat and water quality.” An iconic destination in North Carolina, Linville Gorge is one of the deepest, most rugged and scenic gorges in the eastern United States. Sitting atop Long Arm Mountain, the newly conserved property is visible from Linville Gorge and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Its protection will conserve stunning natural viewsheds as well as Bull Branch Creek, which starts on the property and flows into Linville River. It also secures public access on the east side of the gorge and will expand protected habitat for black bear, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, neotropical migratory birds and federally endangered plant species.
Parkway section closed for Linville bridge work
Pineola. Both lanes will be closed to all activity, including biking and walking, during the length of the closure. The project requires workers and equipment to remain in the travel lanes. The rehabilitation will include repairs to the bridge’s drainage system, installation of a new waterproofing system, reconstruction of the paving, walks and curbs, and rehabilitation of the extensive stonework on the bridge and guard walls. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.ht m.
A section of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Linville Falls will be closed through summer for a bridge rehabilitation project at the Linville River Bridge. Detours will be in place around the closed section from Milepost 316.5 to Milepost 317.5, with park visitors asked to use N.C. 181 and U.S. 221 instead. Linville Falls Visitor Center, as well as camping and hiking activities, can be accessed from the north via N.C. 181 near
Registration is now open for the 18th annual Business of Farming Conference, which will be held Feb. 25-27 using a virtual format. Presented by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, the conference will focus on the business side of farming, offering beginning and established farmers financial, legal, management and marketing tools to improve their farm businesses and make new professional connections. It will feature more than a dozen
workshops led by farmers and regional professionals, including several that address COVID-19’s continued effects on the industry. It will also include a business planning track and the ever-popular Grower-Buyer Meeting. Register at www.asapconnections.org. Cost is $95 per person before Feb. 1 and $115 thereafter. Farm partners registering together will receive a discount, and Appalachian Grown certified farmers will receive a 30 percent discount.
An online class offered 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Jan. 19, will offer insight into the basics of vegetable gardening. Led by Master Gardener Volunteer Jim Janke, the course will cover starting plants from seeds and dealing with common garden pests. It is the first in a series of seven classes planned in the Haywood County Cooperative Extension’s “Extension Gardener: Gardening in the Mountains” series. Classes are $10 apiece, and space is limited. Sign up at http://bit.ly/35nm3Jq. For more information, contact mgarticles@charter.net.
January 13-19, 2021
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An online agritourism series currently underway is offering sessions from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays through Jan. 26. Topics will include defining “agritourism,” helping participants determine if their personality is suited for agritourism and examining pricing, marketing, legal issues and business plan development. Each session will include presentations from N.C. State Extension agents and specialists, panel discussions including small business consultants, credit service consultants and farmers currently in the agritourism business. Free. Offered through Haywood County Extension, Register for the Zoom link at
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Curator Ashlee Lanier designed an exhibiA new photography exhibit will open at tion in celebration of the collective work. the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville on Jan. 16. On display at the Baker Exhibit Center “The Enveloping Landscape: A Contemplative Photographic Journey,” started in 2016 as a project from documentary photographer Susan Patrice. Using contemplative photography practices and hand-built cameras designed to produce round images, Patrice captured the same 3 square miles of forest for two years, both in and around the Arboretum. In 2020, Patrice was slated to offer a year-round workshop at the Arboretum in tandem with her own documentary photography project. Unfortunately, the pandemic forced that Documentary photographer Susan Patrice spent two years producing in-person, on-site proround images such as this one in forest surrounding gram to morph into a the N.C. Arboretum. Susan Patrice photo virtual citizen photography workshop in through May 2, “The Enveloping which participants joined Patrice online, Landscape” shows Patrice’s photographs turning their cameras toward their most alongside those of 25 workshop particifamiliar surroundings. The resulting photopants. Free with regular Arboretum admisgraphs were so moving in their honesty, vulsion. nerability and subtle beauty that Exhibit
Science programming offered for students The Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard is now offering virtual education programs for students in public, private and homeschool. The free programs are tied to the N.C. Essential Standards for Science curriculum and led by an education specialist from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Class dates and times are flexible to meet classroom needs. To schedule a program, educators can contact 828.877.4423.
Time to talk water rights An interactive online panel discussion on drought, water rights, water supply and other themes present in the Statewide Read novel The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi will be offered 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. The panel for “Whose Water is it Anyway?” will include award-winning writer and N.C. State Professor John Kessel, author Jacqui Castle and North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council member Klaus Albertin. Charlotte Readers Podcast host Landis Wade will moderate the fast-paced discussion. The program is part of “Watershed Moments,” a two-year initiative exploring
our relationships and experiences with the environment. Learn more or register for the program at www.nchumanities.org/content/watershed-moments.
WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • The Haywood County MLK Committee will be holding its Martin Luther King Day Service virtually this year at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17. The keynote speaker will be Rev. Dr. Daran H. Mitchell, pastor of Trinity A.M.E. Zion Church, Greensboro. There will also be a Virtual Prayer Breakfast Service available after 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18. Visit the Haywood County MLK Committee Facebook page for more information. • The Jackson County NC chapter of the NAACP, along with Reconcile Sylva, Down Home NC, Change NC and Indivisible Common Ground WNC will be sponsoring a Zoom event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event will start at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18, and will be hosted by Dr. Enrique Gomez and Dr. Dana Murray Patterson. There will be a Land Acknowledgement by Sky Sampson. Email jcnaacp54@gmail.com to receive instructions to join this event online. The public is welcome to join this special event. • The Jackson County Public Library, the Department on Aging, and the Department of Social Services are collecting new blankets for people in need. New hats, scarves, and gloves can also be donated. Items can be dropped off at Jackson County Public Library’s Atrium, the Jackson County Department of Aging's front desk and the front desk of DSS. Items should be new and in their packaging. Blankets and other items will be available for those in need through January 15 at the three locations listed above. For more information, call the library at (828) 586-2016. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org). • The Jackson County Branch of the NC NAACP will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 online. On the program Sylva Mayor Lynda Sossamon will administer the oath of office to the newly elected president and officers of the branch. Email jcnaacp54ab@gmail.com to receive instructions to join online. The public is welcome to join this meeting. • There will be a New Year’s Market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Canton Armory, 71 Penland St. There will be more than 30 local vendors as well as food on site.
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n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com p.m. Jan. 24. All shows begin at 7 p.m. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade Jan. 16 and The Waymores Jan. 22. All shows begin at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • The Haywood County Arts Council invites all Haywood County studio artists to participate in the annual Haywood County Studio Tour scheduled for June 26-27, 2021. The artist/studio application and policies for participation may be found on the HCAC website or picked up from HCAC Gallery & Gifts at 86 North Main Street in Waynesville. Email completed forms to artist@haywoodarts.org or mail to P.O. Box 306, Waynesville, NC 28786. The deadline for the completed studio tour application is Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. The Haywood County Studio Tour Exhibit Opening Reception is on Friday, June 4, 2021, if feasible. The HCAC will follow the NC Governor’s mandates regarding COVID. For more information visit the Haywood County Arts Council website at www.haywoodarts.org.
Smoky Mountain News
on Wednesdays from Jan. 13 through Feb. 17 at Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley. Women on Wednesdays will begin each week with a two-hour clinic starting at 10 a.m., with the opportunity to practice afterward through 4:30 p.m. Cost is $110 for lessons only, with an option to pay an additional $60 for a lift ticket and $40 for equipment rental. Sign up at www.cataloochee.com or contact 828.926.0285 or info@cataloochee.com with questions. • Registration is now open for the 18th annual Business of Farming Conference, which will be held Feb. 25 to 27 using a virtual format. Register at www.asapconnections.org. Cost is $95 per person before Feb. 1 and $115 thereafter. Farm partners registering together will receive a discount, and Appalachian Grown certified farmers will receive a 30 percent discount. • The Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard is now offering virtual education programs for students in public, private and homeschool. The free programs are tied to the N.C. Essential Standards for Science curriculum and led by an education specialist from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Class dates and times are flexible to meet classroom needs. To schedule a program, educators can contact 828.877.4423. • The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy has issued a challenge to complete its 60 miles in 60 days Virtual Hiking Challenge, kicking off New Year’s Day. To complete the challenge, participants must walk, run or hike 60 miles by March 1. Registration ends Feb. 1, but earlier registration means more time to log the miles. The basic cost to join is $25, with Level 2 registration priced at $50 and Level 3 registration at $100.
Outdoors
• An online class offered 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Jan. 19, will offer insight into the basics of vegetable gardening. Led by Master Gardener Volunteer Jim Janke, the course will include starting plants from seeds and dealing with common garden pests. It is the first in a series of seven classes planned in the Haywood County Cooperative Extension’s “Extension Gardener: Gardening in the Mountains” series. Classes are $10 apiece, and space is limited. Sign up at http://bit.ly/35nm3Jq. For more information, contact mgarticles@charter.net.
• The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva is starting the Library Letters Exchange. For those interested in exchanging letters with a pen-pal from the Poughkeepsie Public Library in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.,, sign-ups will run through Jan. 16. To register, call the library at 828.586.2016 to register. The Jackson County Public Library is a member of Fontana Regional Library (www.fontanalib.org).
• An interactive online panel discussion on drought, water rights, water supply and other themes present in the Statewide Read novel The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi will be from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. The program is part of “Watershed Moments,” a twoyear initiative exploring our relationships and experiences with the environment. Learn more or register for the program at www.nchumanities.org/content/watershed-moments.
•This year the Taste of Scotland Society of Franklin invites visitors and townspeople to celebrate the life, poetry, and songs of the poet Robert Burns on Saturday, Jan. 16, at First United Methodist Church in Clayton, Georgia. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets are $35 for adults and children 12 and under cost $15. For more information, email Merrilee Bordeaux at merrilee.bordeaux64@hotmail.com.
• An online agritourism series currently underway is offering sessions from 1- 2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays in January, ending Jan. 26. The series is free. Offered through Haywood County Extension, register for the Zoom link at www.eventbrite.com/e/western-north-carolina-agritourism-workshop-series-tickets129725649911.
• The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville will hold its annual meeting via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. The meeting is open to the public. If you wish to attend, email harttheater@gmail.com for the login information.
• A new photography exhibit will open at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville on Jan. 16. On display at the Baker Exhibit Center through May 2, “The Enveloping Landscape” shows Susan Patrice’s photographs alongside those of 25 workshop participants. Free with regular Arboretum admission.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host David Flowers Jan. 16, The Waymores Jan. 23, and Anna Victoria 3
• A six-week winter sports program aimed at women who learn better with female instructors will be offered
27
Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: n n n n
Complete listings of local music scene Regional festivals Art gallery events and openings Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings All proceeds help support SAHC’s ongoing land and water conservation efforts. Sign up at appalachian.org/event/sahcs-winter-hiking-challenge60-miles-in-60-days/ • A series of horticulture classes aimed at home gardeners will be offered in the New Year through Haywood County Cooperative Extension. Planned sessions are: Jan. 19, Vegetable Gardening; Feb. 17, Lawn & Weeds; March 2, Introduction to Home Food Preservation; March 18, Landscaping with Native Plants; April 13, Pruning Trees & Shrubs. Classes, taught by extension agents and experienced Master Gardener volunteers, will last for approximately two hours and be held via Zoom until face-to-face training is possible. Sign up by emailing mgarticles@charter.net. Cost is $10 per class. • The Assault on BlackRock trail race is set for Saturday, March 20, and proceeds will benefit the Southwestern Community College Student Emergency Fund. Registration is $25 in advance or $30 on race day. The Student Emergency Fund proceeds will benefit helps SCC students who encounter unforeseen financial emergencies. Register at www.ultrasignup.com.
Market WNC PLACE
MarketPlace information:
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FTCC - Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Military/Veterans Services Specialist, Instructional Lab Tech, Computer Integrated Machining, Career Coach (Grant Funded), Parttime Baseball Coach, Part-time Softball Coach. Please visit our employment portal at: faytechcc. peopleadmin.c om / Hu PDQ 5HVRXUFH 2IÂżFH 3K 910-678-7342 EOE
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SPACIOUS PROFESSIONAL OFFICE SUITE AVAILABLE TO RENT $1595 Featuring 4 private offices and conference room on main level. 3 private offices with conference room on ground level. Includes 2 restrooms and kitchenette. Available NOW 256 N. Main Street, Waynesville
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*Single independent office available top floor $300 - 258 N. Main Street
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Find Us One mile past State Rd. 276 and Hwy-19 on the right side, across from Frankie’s Italian Restaurant
Jerry Lee Mountain Realty • Jerry Lee Hatley- jerryhatley@bellsouth.net • Pam James - pam@pamjames.com
Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com • Darrin Graves - dgraves@kw.com
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January 13-19, 2021
• Ron Rosendahl - 828-593-8700
McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com
RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com • • • • • • • •
remax-maggievalleync.com The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com Ron Breese - ronbreese.com Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net Juli Rogers - julimeaserogers@gmail.com Amy Boyd Sugg - amyboydsugg@gmail.com David Willet - davidwillet1@live.com
WNC Real Estate Store • Melanie Hoffman - mhoffmanrealestate@gmail.com • Thomas Hoffman - thoffman1@me.com
TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com WNC MarketPlace
29
SUPER
CROSSWORD
21 AND SINGLE ACROSS ACROSS 1 Alcatraz Island locale, for short 6 Info-filled 11 Subjective paper pieces 16 Yeshiva student, e.g. 19 Land, in Italy 20 Fast Amtrak service 21 Salsa singer Cruz 22 Pal, in Nice 23 Concerning the effects of drugs on the mind 27 Maestro -- -Pekka Salonen 28 12:00, half of the time 29 South, in Spanish 30 Flinch in fear 31 Squid feature 34 "Chill out!" 37 Amply skilled 38 Belief in a national power structure 42 Acting signal 43 Blarney Stone's land 44 "Sometimes you feel like -" 45 Get moving 48 Org. for tooth drillers 50 Lid 52 Bullfight yell 55 Official endorsement via an amendment, say 61 Savings acct. addition 62 Days before holidays 63 Rises 64 Heaps 65 Ornamental hairnets 67 Jogged 69 -- Pointe, Michigan 71 Gazpacho, e.g., in
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7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 24 25 26 32 33 34 35 36 39 40 41 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 56 57 58 59 60 66
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68 69 70 72 74 77 78 79 80 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 104 105 107 110 111 112 113 114
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ANSWERS ON PAGE 26
Real Estate Announcements SAVE BIG On HOME INSURANCE! Compare 20 A-rated insurances companies. Get a quote within minutes. Average savings of $444/year! Call 866414-8635! (M-F 8am8pm Central) ATTENTION SENIORS 62+! Get a Reverse Mortgage Loan to access tax free cash & no monthly mortgage payments as long as you live in the home. Retire with more Cash! Call 888-704-0782 GOT LAND? Our Hunters will Pay Top $$$ to hunt your land. Call for a FREE info packet & Quote. 1-866-309-1507 BaseCampLeasing.com SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your MORTGAGE? Denied a /RDQ 0RGL¿FDWLRQ" ,V WKH bank threatening foreclosure? CALL Homeowner’s Relief Line now! FREE CONSULTATION 844-359-4330
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30
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January 13-19, 2021
WNC MarketPlace
NEWSPAPER ADS WORK.
6 10 out of
newspaper readers who read an eyewear ad took action after seeing the ad.*
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Smoky Mountain News
Nobody delivers a more engaged audience than we do. Our growth online, combined with print, is impressive as more readers turn to us for local news.
NEWSPAPER POWER. Print, Digital & Social Solutions for our advertisers. 31
2020 FORD F-150 XL & XLT 1.9% APR for 60 mos. + $1,500 Bonus Cash
January 13-19, 2021
$1,500 Bonus Cash (PGM #13892). Not all buyers will qualify for Ford Credit financing. 1.9% APR financing for 60 months at $17.48 per month per $1,000 financed regardless of down payment (PGM #21212). Not available on Raptor. Residency restrictions apply. For all offers, take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by 3/31/21. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.
2020 FORD EXPLORER 0% APR for 72mos. + $3,250 Bonus Cash
Smoky Mountain News
$2,500 Bonus Cash (PGM #13876, #13908) + $750 Ford Credit Bonus Cash (PGM #13878) which requires Ford Credit financing. Not all buyers will qualify for Ford Credit financing. 0% APR financing for 72 months at $13.89 per month per $1,000 financed regardless of down payment (PGM #21212). Residency restrictions apply. For all offers, take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by 2/1/21. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.
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$2,000 Ford Credit Bonus Cash (PGM #13878, #13912) requires Ford Credit financing. Not all buyers will qualify for Ford Credit financing. 0% APR financing for 60 months at $16.67 per month per $1,000 financed regardless of down payment (PGM #21212). Residency restrictions apply. For all offers, take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford dealer’s stock by 2/1/21. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.
I-40 EXIT 31, CANTON, NC
833-680-1155 www.kwford.com kenwilsonford@kwford.com
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