Smoky Mountain News | March 18, 2020 by Smoky Mountain News

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March 18-24, 2020 Vol. 21 Iss. 42

INSIDE: CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

CONTENTS

STAFF

On the Cover: Now is the time for parents to begin making plans for the summer and deciding which camp they want their children to attend. Western North Carolina offers a vast variety of camps with a focus on outdoor activities, personal growth, fine arts, academics, athletics and more. (Page 3) Waynesville Art School offers several different summer camp options for youth in Western North Carolina. Donated photo Summer Camp Guide The art of teaching art ........................................................................................................3 Camp Folkmoot connects kids and dance ..................................................................6 Camp with critters in Cashiers ........................................................................................7 Camp explores earth, space and in between ............................................................8 Junaluska offers discounts for local youth groups ....................................................9

News WNC health officials prepared for Coronavirus ......................................................11 Local service industries brace for COVID-19 impact ..........................................12 WCU, community colleges adjust plans ahead of virus ......................................13 Public, private organizations step up to fight pandemic ......................................14 Major expansion proposed for former Belk building ..............................................16 Macon approves broad 2A, constitutional amendment ........................................17 Feds clear the way for Catawba casino ....................................................................18

EDITOR/PUBLISHER: ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: ART DIRECTOR: DESIGN & WEBSITE: DESIGN & PRODUCTION: ADVERTISING SALES:

CLASSIFIEDS: NEWS EDITOR: WRITING:

ACCOUNTING & OFFICE MANAGER: DISTRIBUTION: CONTRIBUTING:

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 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), Gary Carden (writing), Don Hendershot (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing).

Opinion On main street, things won’t ever be the same ......................................................21

A&E

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Frog Level Brewing finds new owners ......................................................................24

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Canton likely to receive 448 acres for outdoor rec ..............................................34

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The art of teaching art Waynesville Art School offers year round, summer instructional opportunities

Summer camps at Waynesville Art School Beginning Monday, June 1, summer at camps at the Waynesville Art School will take place on a weekly basis through the week of Aug. 10. All camps begin at 10 a.m., but end at different times based on the camper’s age. Pricing also varies based on the camper’s age. This year’s weekly camp themes include: • • • • • •

For more information, visit www.waynesvilleartschool.com, call 828.246.9869 or email waynesvilleartschool@gmail.com. The school is located at 303 N. Haywood Street in Waynesville.

Petrova persevered, and came to the United States in 1992. In 1997, she was awarded a scholarship to attend The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a private college in Manhattan founded in 1859 and modeled after the École Polytechnique in France. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 2001.

Smoky Mountain News

may disagree with me, the downside of this approach is that pretty much you are expected to be very serious, to follow a certain path and the measuring stick is very, very high. So you either you are a genius and you can play like Mozart, or they are going throw away your drawing because it’s not up to certain standards.” That actually happened to Petrova when she was 10 years old. “We were supposed to paint some landscape and I remember that mine had horses in my landscape,” she said. “When the instructor saw my landscape, he said, ‘This is absolutely unacceptable, go and throw it away.’ I was paraded in front of the entire group.”

• • •

Fairies and robots Printmaking and bookmaking Unicorns and dinosaurs Landscape painting Dragons, baby Yoda and princess warriors Self-expression in drawing, painting and printmaking Pirates and mermaids Mixed media and the art of collage Shadow puppetry

March 18-24, 2020

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER s a professional multimedia artist and photographer living in Western North Carolina since 2002, Luba Petrova still remembers the first piece of art she ever created. “I was 4,” said Petrova, founder and director of the Waynesville Art School. “There’s a very famous Russian fairy tale about a golden fish and if you catch it, it can make all your wishes come true. So I had a golden fish and a very deep, dark blue sea.” That was a very different time, in a very different place, in a very different kind of educational system; Petrova is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, and at the time she’d made her golden fish painting, the Soviet system was renowned for identifying and cultivating talented youngsters in the arts and sciences as well as Olympic sports like hockey and wrestling. “If we were to embark or sign up for any of the classes, be it music or figure skating or ballet, we were treated basically as professionals,” she said. “We were expected to train and study for many hours. My cousin who is a professional violinist from age 4, she was expected to play five hours a day, and she was not an exception.” Petrova studied at the prestigious St. Petersburg Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, which was founded in 1757 by Russia’s first Education Minister

Ivan Shuvalov as The Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Although this educational system did produce world-class talent in a number of fields — most of Russia’s greatest painters, especially during the 1800s, are alumni of the Academy — today the rigorous methodology and strict standards are looked back upon as somewhat stifling. “I’m very grateful to the system because in a way, whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You can look at this this way. And we were really given very serious, very professional training,” she said. “From my perspective now, and some of my friends

Given her broad range of experience at some of the world’s most important centers for arts and arts education, Petrova has given a lot of thought not only to making art, but to how to teach people to make art. “Not every single person will become an artist or musician or a dancer or figure skater,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that you cannot explore it, you know, just participate in the activity without having the pressure to perform.” That’s the mission at Petrova’s Waynesville Art School, which offers yearround programs for aspiring artists of all ages and abilities. There’s a young artists program, a paint night of the type now seen at bars and restaurants across the country and a family art hour, as well as classes for adults. Of course, those offerings also include an assortment of summer camp programs for kids; Petrova is joined in her instructional duties by former Haywood County Schools art teacher and Western Carolina University alum Julie Buchanan, a 20-year veteran of elementary arts education and wife to Sylva newspaperman Jim Buchanan. Weekly camps run from June through mid-August and offer a varying lineup of projects that explore different materials and techniques, including drawing, painting, sculpting, collages and construction, both individually and in group settings. Themes this summer include a fantastical array of subjects from Baby Yoda to bookmaking, fairies to robots, unicorns to dinosaurs, pirates, princesses and puppets. The way the classes are taught, according to Petrova, is reflective of her own journey through two very different methods of instruction. “What I walked away with is that we’re all at different places in life and we need different things and we all need to be allowed to experiment and explore,” she said. “Even if we never ever sing again in our life or dance again in our life or paint again in our life, it does give us some experience. We benefit from it and we grow from it.”

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Find your camp:

WNC CAMP GUIDE

Smoky Mountain Sk8Way offers day camp all summer for ages 6 to 14. Donated photo

Students can partake in tennis and other sports at Laurel Ridge Country Club this summer. Donated photo

HAYWOOD COUNTY

March 18-24, 2020

• Camp Henry at Lake Logan. A co-ed, overnight, faith-based camp for second to 12th grade students. Weeklong sessions offered in June and July for different age groups. Cost $395-$705. Financial aid available. www.lakelogan.org or 828.646.0095. • Youth Environmental Stewardship Camp offered by Haywood County Soil and Water Conservation District. Two week camp for rising 8th and 9th graders who are passionate about the environment. Two week long sessions — July 20-23 and July 27-30. The cost is $50. Applications are due on May 1. Visit www.haywoodcountync.gov/682/YESCamp. • Haywood County Library Summer Reading Programs. Offered at Waynesville and Canton branches. Visit www.haywoodlibrary.org or call 828.452.5169.

Smoky Mountain News

• Skyland Camp for Girls. Skyland will not be offering summer camps in 2020 because of construction projects. • Camp Daniel Boone - Boy Scouts of America. Weeklong sessions offered June and July. Open to female and male campers. Cost is $375-$550. www.campdanielboone.org or 828.254.6189. • Summer Enrichment Program at Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center. Cost is $500. Scholarships available. Visit www.pcmdc.org or 828.452.7232.

• Laurel Ridge Country Club. June 22 through June 26. Campers will enjoy golfing, swimming, games, crafts and learning with their peers. For ages 6-13. Cost is $145-$300 for the week. Email info@laurelridgegolf.com or call 828.452.0545. 4

• Youth for Christ Buddy Camp. June 21-27 at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Cost ranges $150 to $700. www.outdoormissioncommunity.org or 336.583.9932.

• SOAR. Outdoor adventure camps for kids with ADHD / ADD and LD. Weeklong sessions offered in June and July. Cost is $2,000 to $5,600 depending on the camp. Visit www.soarnc.org or call 828.456.3435.

• Camp Folkmoot. A one-day dance and crafts camp Friday, July 24, for kids and teens from 4th through 12th grades. The cost is $30. www.folkmoot.org/events/camp-folkmoot2020/ or 828.452.2997.

• Fun 4 Kids Day Camp. An eight to nine week program during the summer months held at both the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee, and the Cashiers/Glenville Recreation Center. For K-6. Early June to early August. Cost is $700 at the Cashiers/Glenville Recreation Center and $625 at the Recreation Center in Cullowhee. https://www.rec.jacksonnc.org/camps.

• Smoky Mountain Sk8Way. A nine-week day camp program that runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Weekly sessions are June 8 to Aug. 7 for kids ages 6 to 14. This camp features a variety of activities and strives to keep the whole child active. Cost is $100-$150 a week plus a $60 enrollment fee. Register at www.smokymountainsk8way.com. • Waynesville Art School. Weeklong sessions offered June through August. For ages 5 and older. Cost is $185-$235. www.waynesvilleartschool.com or 828.246.9869. • Created for a Purpose at Vine of the Mountains Church. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 15-19. A creativity camp for rising third through eighth graders. Cost is $150. Scholarships available. www.vineofthemountains.com/cfap. • Land of Sky Wilderness. Blacksmithing camp. Ages 8 and up. July 4-5. $300 per person. Drone Camp Aug. 2-7. Ages 8-21. Cost is $750. www.lotswild.com/courses or 828.280.0847. • Piked Antler Project’s Survival Skill Center. Survival Summer Camp. For ages 10-17. June 1-5. June 15-19. Cost is $315. www.survivalskillcenter.com or 828.989.0209. • Camp Ability. Campers are any child aged 5 to 22 who has a disability or a sibling of a

child who has a disability. Two weeklong sessions offered June 29-July 2 or July 6-10. Register at www.campabilitywnc.org/camper. • Lake Junaluska Youth Events. Weeklong sessions in June and July. Local youth groups offered a special rate of $100 per person for any week. More information about speakers, bands and entertainers is available online at www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth. To register, call 800.222.4930. • Carolinas Mountain Soccer Club. Weeklong sessions for soccer players of all ages and skill levels, usually in the evenings. Dates are being determined. Be sure to follow CMSC on Facebook and check their website for further information. • Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church. Long’s Chapel is offering a variety of summer camps including sewing, guitar, robotics and amigurumi. These camps run through the months of June and July. Detailed information can be found on the Long’s Chapel Facebook page.

JACKSON COUNTY • Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society Critter Camp. For 2020, this camp has expanded to cover seven weeks. Each week of camp features fun, immersive and interactive experiences with animals at the no-kill shelter. More information and registration can be found at https://chhumanesociety.org.

• Western Carolina University offers a variety of summer camps for arts, swimming, music, science and more. www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/camps-and-programsfor-kids/index.aspx

• Cullowhee United Methodist Summer Day Camp. Preschool camp is for children ages 25 (not yet attended kindergarten) and elementary camp is for children who have completed kindergarten-5th grade. Space is limited. June 8 through July 31. Cost is $75 per child or $100 per family if registering more than one child or $15 per week. $800 for entire summer or $120 per week. www.cullowheeumc.org/summer-camp-2020/ • SCC STEM. https://www.southwesterncc.edu/STEM

MACON COUNTY • New Vision Training Center. Summer day camp opportunities for gymnastics, ninja training, bouldering, outside play, arts and crafts, games and much more. Full days and half days. Snacks will be provided. Bring your own lunch. Ages 3-12. www.newvisiontrainingcenter.com or 828.524.1904.

• Bascom Art Center in Highlands. Summer art camp for ages 7-14. Sessions begin June 19 through Aug. 14. $175 a week. www.thebascom.org or 828.526.4949. • Danny Antoine’s Martial Arts & Fitness Academy in Franklin. Monday through Friday starting May 28 through Aug. 23. $135 per week. Each child must be sent with a packed lunch, two snacks and a bottle of water. To register, call 828.332.0418. • Nantahala Learning Center Summer Program. $25 per day Monday through Friday. Registration fee is $50. All field trip admission, transportation expenses and materials budgeted into the registration fee. Call 219.689.3443 for more info. • Boys and Girls Club in Cashiers Summer Camp. 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily June 3 through July 26. $415 per student/$350 for additional family members. info@bgcplateau.org or 828.743.2775. • Summer Edventure Camp http://www.macon.k12.nc.us/sec/ June 8-July 31. 7:30 am – 5:30 pm. South Macon Elementary, 855 Addington Bridge Road, Franklin. Ages 5-12 years. For information, call Lenora Clifton at 828.524.4414 ext. 324.

SWAIN COUNTY

• Nantahala Outdoor Center. Whitewater kayaking camp. Five-day sessions in June and July. For ages 9 to 17. $850 to $1,500. 828.785.4977 or www.noc.com/lessons-training/paddling-school/kids-kayaking-camp. • Camp Living Water Christian camp. June 30

CHEROKEE • Cherokee Youth Center (Boys and Girls Club). Email Patrick West at pwest9557@yahoo.com or call 828.497-3119.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY • Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association. Weeklong sessions from June to August. For ages 4-14. $135 a week for half days and up to $285 a week for full days. www.abysa.org or call 828.299.7277. • University of North Carolina-Asheville. Weeklong sessions for music, athletics, writing, STEAM, pre-college programs, dance, running and more. For youth of all ages. Cost ranges from $400 to $1,200 a week depending on the program. www.camps.unca.edu or call 828.251.6991. • Discovery Camp at North Carolina Arboretum. Weeklong sessions from June to August. For pre-K through 8th grade. Cost is $235 for a week. Visit www.ncarboretum.org or call 828.665.2492 ext. 624. • Asheville Music School Summer Camps: Offer many different weeklong day camps for ages 4-18. Campers learn different styles of music in a fun, team-oriented group setting. Weeklong sessions June through August. Price range: $190-$350. Contact programs@ashevillemusicschool.org. Full details at ashevillemusicschool.org.

Spend your summer at

• Forest Floor Wilderness Camp. Weeklong sessions June through August. For ages K10. Cost is $295. Full details at www.OnTheForestFloor.org.

Camp Hobbit Hill

• Crossfire Basketball Camps: Basketball camps for children ages 6-19. Camp dates run from mid-June to late July. These camps are great for basketball players of all skill levels. The full brochure can be found at https://crossfireministry.com.

Horsemanship • Riding • Arts & Pottery Leadership • Overnight Girls’ Camp

March 18-24, 2020

• YMCA Camp Watia. Weeklong sessions from June 16 through Aug. 4 for ages 7 to 15. Limited space still available. $450-$750. Financial assistance available. www.ymcacampwatia.org.

through July 12. For ages 13-17. $490 per camper. www.camplivingwater.com or 828.488.6012.

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• Macon County Schools Summer Edventure Camp. 8-week day camp. Call Lenora Clifton at 828.524.4414, Ext. 324 or www.macon.k12.nc.us/sec.

and many more...

Local youth groups can take advantage of special summer camp rates at Lake Junaluska. Donated photo Smoky Mountain News

Ages 7-17

www.CampHobbitHill.com 223 Cody Embler Road • Alexander, NC • 828-808-7929

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Camp Folkmoot connects kids and dance BY HANNAH MCLEOD CONTRIBUTING WRITER t’s not at every summer camp that kids get to meet and interact with folks from countries all around the world, but at Camp Folkmoot in Waynesville, kids will get to do just that. Camp Folkmoot is a one-day dance and crafts camp for kids and teens from fourth through 12th grades. The camp is an extension of the Folkmoot Festival, a nine-day international festival that invites dance groups from around the world to come share their culture and perform traditional folk dances around Western North Carolina. According to its mission statement the festival “fosters the vibrancy of many cultures into one community. Folkmoot programs are based on cultural exchange and designed to build global relationships, foster cultural understanding and develop community prosperity.” Camp Folkmoot 2020 will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, July 24. The early part of the day will be occupied by dance lessons. Performers from the dance troupes participating in the Folkmoot festival will teach campers traditional folk dances from their home countries. Lunch is served during a midday break in the Folkmoot cafeteria. Following lunch, kids will have the opportunity to learn even more about the visiting cultures by partaking in make-and-take handicrafts native to the countries of those visiting Folkmoot. They will also have the chance to learn and share the culture of Western North Carolina with internationals in a traditional Appalachian square dance lesson. When the day of activities wraps up, there will be a matinee performance by all dance groups beginning at 2 p.m. in the Sam Love Queen Auditorium of the Folkmoot Friendship Center, where parents

March 18-24, 2020

and community are welcome.The performance will last about an hour and a half. By the camp’s own description, “participants will learn basic concepts and movements, gain an appreciation for the similarities and differences between cultures and hear captivating stories behind the dances of each international group.”

Dancers from Hungary, Egypt and the Bahamas dance with kids from across the mountain region at Camp Folkmoot at the Folkmoot Center. Natalie Ruth Ballard photo

Camp Folkmoot takes place the same day as the Folkmoot street dance in downtown Waynesville. Participants are encouraged to go eat dinner and join Folkmoot again for the street dance festivities, having already learned a great deal about the performances, and performers, they will see at the street dance. The international experience is what sets this camp apart from so many others. “This is an annual opportunity for youth and families to experience about half a dozen international cultures right here at home” said Fokmoot Executive Director Angie Schwab. “There’s an opportunity to learn not only folk dance, but also handicraft from the countries we’re featuring this year.” In its third year running, Camp Folkmoot has improved each year, learning from children and parents. “We’ve moved from just having dance to adding the handicraft and the matinee, so it’s a real value to families and it feels like an interactive opportunity that you won’t get

“We’ve moved from just having dance to adding the handicraft and the matinee, so it’s a real value to families and it feels like an interactive opportunity that you won’t get anywhere else in Western North Carolina.” — Angie Schwab, Folkmoot Executive Director

anywhere else in Western North Carolina,” Schwab said. Camp Folkmoot costs $30 per student and $10 for accompanying adults. The costs of Camp Folkmoot are absorbed by ticket sales to the festival and entrance fees for the camp. Additionally, the Cherokee

Preservation Foundation helps to provide scholarships to campers. With this assistance, Schwab said, “we make it possible for lots of people to attend whether they’re able to pay or not.” Folkmoot has a track record of making big impacts on the futures of youth who are able to participate. Schwab has seen how “most of the kids who have participated in Folkmoot activities over time have become world travelers, or have gone on to pursue international studies like political science and international business.” Through Camp Folkmoot, the organization hopes to not only continue this valuable tradition, but also expand upon it. “All kids who participate in Folkmoot gain a curiosity for other cultures, and I think they see for themselves that there’s a bigger world out there for them to engage with,” Schwab said. More information is available at www.folkmoot.org/events/camp-folkmoot2020/ or call the Folkmoot center at 828.452.2997.

Smoky Mountain News

Lake Junaluska offers discounts for local youth groups outh groups in sixth through 12th grade from Haywood and Haywoodadjacent counties are invited to experience a Lake Junaluska Summer Youth Event at a special program-only price for local commuters. Each year, Christian youth from many denominations travel to Lake Junaluska from across the Southeast for world-class speakers, entertainment, spiritual growth and fun. Middle school and high school youth groups may sign up for one of five multi-day events to be held in June and July. Each event features morning and evening worship sessions as well as small spiritual growth groups, a spiritual practice workshop and

evening prayer. New to the event lineup this year is Mission Week in which groups participate in 2.5 days of mission work. The theme for the 2020 Summer Youth Events is centered on John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” “We’re excited for our summer youth participants to grow closer to God as they explore the stages of spiritual nourishment,” said Director of Youth Programming Wilson Booth. “Supported by our speakers, worship bands and small groups, the youth will root themselves in Scripture and blossom in their service to Christ.” The Mission Week event fea-

Local youth groups can take advantage of special summer camp rates at Lake Junaluska. 6

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Nutrition Facts serving size : ab out 50 p ag es

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tures the Rev. Andy Lambert, senior pastor at Oak Ridge United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem. Lambert has proclaimed the Gospel across the United States and abroad at such venues as comedy clubs, churches and colleges. The first event will bring to Lake Junaluska the Rev. Juan Huertas, pastor of Houma First United Methodist Church in Houma, Louisiana, and a contributor to Ministry Matters and Day1.org. During the second event, the guest speaker will be Charlie Conder, an Orange Student Specialist who coaches youth pastors on maximizing the Orange strategy in their ministries. Speaking at the third event will be the Rev. Jason C. Stanley, Coordinator of Church Revitalization for the UMC Virginia Conference Elizabeth River District and a long-time youth and children’s minister. The closing summer youth event will feature Justin Warner, associate service programming director at North Point

Am ount per Serving

Uke Camp Rock Camp Pop Rock Fiddle Camp and MORE

Private Lessons | Bands | Outreach

Calories 0 % Daily Value * Tot al Fat 0g

Reg ional New s

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Outd oors

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Entert ainm ent

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* Percent Weekly values b ased on Hayw ood, Jackson, M acon, Sw ain and Buncom b e d iet s.

Go to camp

Smoky Mountain News

Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. His love for God and the local church has led him to leverage creativity to bring the Gospel to students and adults. “Each one of these gifted speakers has spent time building their roots in Scripture, and they are passionate about serving youth with a message fed by the Word,” said Booth. The special program-only rate for Haywood and Haywood-adjacent county youth groups to attend any of the five events is $100 per participant. This rate includes morning and evening game and worship sessions, four small groups, a workshop, evening prayer, a volleyball tournament, and a one-day pool pass. This rate does not include lodging or meals. Groups of 10 or more will receive a $100 discount when the group is registered by April 8. More information about speakers, bands and entertainers is available online at www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth. To register, call 800.222.4930 or visit www.lakejunaluska.com/summeryouth. Lake Junaluska is a place of Christian hospitality where lives are transformed through renewal of soul, mind and body. For more information about Lake Junaluska programs and events, visit www.lakejunaluska.com.

March 18-24, 2020

• Mission Week Event: June 14-18 – Rev. Andy Lambert with worship band Jimmy Atkins • Event 1: June 18-21 – Rev. Juan Huertas with worship band Jimmy Atkins • Event 2: June 23-27 – Charlie Conder with worship band Jimmy Atkins • Event 3: July 10-13 – Rev. Jason C. Stanley with worship leader Abbye West Pates • Event 4: July 15-19 – Justin Warner with worship leader Abbye West Pates

ow in its second year, Critter Camp at the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a win for kids and critters alike. The week-long sessions give kids a chance to interact with the animals, but also to learn how best to care for them and about all the ways that adult animal lovers have found to earn a living working with their favorite creatures. “It’s really interesting to see how the kids react to the animals and how the animals react to the kids,” said Jodi Henkel, assistant shelter manager. “I think a lot of people underestimate just how caring and loving kids are. They do really well with animals. We haven’t had any issue as far as them being rough with the animals. Overall they’ve been really amazing with them.” Each session of camp accommodates 12 children, with elementary sessions for rising first through fifth graders and middle school sessions for rising sixth through eighth graders. Every day includes an opportunity to interact with the shelter animals and learn about how to care for animals with classes on responsible pet ownership, pet safety and other topics. Animal-themed arts and crafts and guest speaker sessions round out the program. Past speakers have included Steve O’Neil, a wildlife biologist who talks about reptiles; Rob Gudger, who brings one of his wolves as part of an education session about the wild

A camper enjoys the chance to cuddle a shelter pup. CHHS photo

Go to camp All camp sessions accommodate 12 children and run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Remaining session dates for rising elementary schoolers are June 15-19, July 13-17, and Aug. 3-7. Session dates for rising middle schoolers are June 22-26 and July 20-24. Cost for one week is $250, with some scholarships available. Contact Jodi Henkel at 828.743.5752 or jodi@chhumanesociety.org.

canines; and a Jackson County sheriff ’s deputy who introduces the campers to his K9. During that session, Henkel will put on a bite sleeve and let the kids see her get bitten — it’s always a hit, she said. Then, as a grand finale, the campers will spend Friday afternoon taking the shelter dogs for a hike. It’s safe to say, that excursion is a favorite for the pups. “Anytime a dog can get out and socialize with people, that’s great for them,” said Henkel. “It’s also great to be able to tell an adopter this is a dog that our campers took on a hike, and they did great with the kids.” The program gives the dogs a track record that shelter workers can report on, boosting their adoption profile.

March 18-24, 2020

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Camp with the critters

For many people, when they think about careers for people who love animals, they automatically go to veterinarians. But there are many other options for becoming a career animal lover — camp gives kids a chance to see what those are, said Henkel. “Kids are the future of animal welfare, and they’re like little sponges,” she said. “They soak up information so much more than anybody would realize, so they really get involved in the humane education lessons. I can’t tell you how many parents have

signed up their dog to get them fixed because we talked to them about overpopulation.” Last year was the first year for Critter Camp, but the feedback was so strongly positive that CHHS decided to increase the number of sessions from four to seven. For instance, said Henkel, last year as one of the sessions wrapped up, a little girl who had already done two camps that year spoke up. “As we were walking back, she said, ‘This is the best week of my life,’” said Henkel.

New Pre-College Programs Coming Summer 2020

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Exact dates TBD. Check our Facebook and website for more info!

Week-long immersion programs introduce intellectually curious high school students to college-level study, university life, and career options in a dynamic learning environment.

19025 Great Smoky Mountains Expy, Waynesville 828.246.9124

camps.unca.edu

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Camp explores earth, space and in between Campers work together to dissect a fish. Donated photo

ASTROcamp will be held 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 15-26 and is open to rising fifth through eighth graders. The program is free, thanks to collaboration from Southwestern Community College and Jackson County Public Schools, and hosted at Smokey Mountain Elementary School. Breakfast and lunch are provided each day. No registration link is yet available, but interested parents can contact Randi Neff, program coordinator for the Smoky Mountain STEM Collaborative, at r_neff@southwesterncc.edu.

backgrounds to design their pitch for going to the moon. That was last year, because it was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing.” Parent feedback has been extremely positive, said Neff, with parents excited about the opportunities their kids are having at camp. “Children expressed that they didn’t want to leave their projects and they were sad on the last day of camp,” read one comment from last year. “They would gladly come back for another week.” Comments like that spurred camp organizers to expand this year’s camp from one week to two. “That’s what we’re doing this year is giving them an additional week of stuff,” said Neff. “It’s a low-stakes setting, so the children are getting to explore and do things that they can’t really do within the confines of school.” Along with expanding camp’s duration, SCC is working to expand its capacity, hoping to attract 50 campers this year — about double last year’s participation. It’s been a success, and Neff hopes to see that success continue. It’s now the last year of the fiveyear grant, but she’s working on a grant extension application seeking another five years of funding.

Sports and Activities Camp CAMP 1: JUNE 22-26 CAMP 2: JULY 27-31

A Place to Live, Love & Play

Experience a camp with classic sports education and fun for all ages! Meals included, swimming, Bricks4Kids & WNC Nature Center, and of course sports skills training from professionals.

CALL TO REGISTER YOUR CHILD 828.452.0545 ext. 131

Smoky Mountain News

some really valuable skills on how everybody has to work together.” The projects are collaborative in nature, mimicking what happens with actual NASA teams. “Everybody has a particular job, but they also back each other up so it’s not like you’re doing just this one task,” said Neff. “You have to understand and be a part of all the tasks so you can run backup for your teammates.” The exact activities vary, as it’s up to the teachers to pick the activities they want to lead. However, past activities have included designing a mission patch, building a rocket, performing dissections, using microscopes and exploring robotics. “One of the things they really enjoyed doing is the green screen that they used to make informational videos about what to pack if you’re going to the moon,” said Neff. “They video-taped themselves on different

Go to camp

March 18-24, 2020

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ids with a penchant for learning and exploration will have the chance to see where their curiosity takes them during ASTROcamp this summer at Smokey Mountain Elementary School. The camp is one of a menu of programs funded by a five-year grant that Southwestern Community College landed from NASA in 2015, and that connection shows. “The NASA-inspired summer camps have the advantage of being very future-oriented and very possibilities-oriented, and really spark the imagination of young people I think,” said Randi Neff, project coordinator for the Smoky Mountain STEM Collaborative. “On top of that, they learn

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5 weeks featuring interactive experiences with animals, humane education programs, and exciting guest presentations by wildlife biologists, law enforcement K9’s and animal welfare experts.

Each week is limited to 12 children and runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Cost for the entire week is $250 and scholarships are available. To register please see the application at chhumanesociety.org or call 828-743-5752 for more information.

CASHIERS-HIGHLANDS HUMANE SOCIETY

Smoky Mountain News

March 18-24, 2020

200 GABLE DRIVE · SAPPHIRE · NORTH CAROLINA

WNC health officials prepared for COVID-19 J

Protect yourself from COVID-19 • • • • •

Avoiding close contact with people who are sick Avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth Staying home when you are sick Covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in the trash Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces, including your phone, computer, remote controls and doorknobs • Washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing • Using an alcohol-based sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not readily available. • Practicing social distancing behaviors, including working from home, avoiding public gatherings and unnecessary travel, and maintaining a distance of approximately six feet from others when possible.

If you experience COVID-19 symptoms • If you are having a medical emergency, you should call 911 or go directly to the Emergency Room. If possible, notify the dispatch agent that your emergency involves symptoms possibly related to COVID-19. • For non-emergency needs, if you need medical attention due to respiratory illness symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and plan to visit our hospital, your primary care provider or an urgent clinic, call ahead before you go and let them know that you are experiencing symptoms that may possibly be related to COVID-19. This will allow providers to properly prepare for your visit and take the necessary precautions to keep others from being infected or exposed. adult dental services and emergency child dental services. For those in the WIC program, the state has allowed the health department to waive the physical presence requirement to ensure no interruptions in benefits.

VISITATION LIMITED AT HOSPITALS

TO COMMUNITIES The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, in partnership with the Dogwood Health Trust, announced the activation of its Emergency and Disaster Response Fund to accept and strategically disburse funds to address COVID-19 pandemic response and relief efforts in 18 counties of WNC including the Qualla Boundary. “The Fund will provide flexible resources to organizations with deep roots in communities and experience addressing basic needs and filling public health gaps. The goal is to help regional front-line nonprofit organizations quickly meet increasing demands for help,” according to a press release. Some proactive grants will be awarded. Other nonprofits will use a simple, expedited process to access funds with grants awarded on a rolling basis, as fundraising continues throughout the outbreak and recovery phases of the pandemic. “COVID-19 may have long-term impacts on the health and wellness of our region that extend far beyond physical illness,” said Brian Myers, Chief Strategy Officer and Interim VP of Impact at Dogwood Health Trust. “Because no one yet understands what those impacts may be, we want to be ready to respond quickly and flexibly according to the needs of communities and nonprofit partners in the region.” Vaya Health, which funnels state funding for behavioral health to local providers in WNC, has a 24/7 Access to Care Line available to residents experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis while the agency responds to coronavirus. Anyone in crisis can call 800.849.6127 for help from trained behavioral health professionals. For strategies to cope with anxiety and overwhelming emotions in yourself or your child, visit www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019ncov/about/coping.html. 11

Smoky Mountain News

Hospitals, including Harris Regional in Sylva, Swain Community in Bryson City and Haywood Regional in Clyde, have limited visitation and are implementing new screening guidelines. “We have limited access to two points of entry for patients and visitors: the Main Entrance and Emergency Department,” said HRMC Spokesperson Lindsey Solomon. “Our hospitals and clinics have begun screening all individuals who enter our facilities, per CDC guidelines — including patients, visitors and staff — based on potential respiratory symptoms and travel history. Out of an abundance of caution until further notice, we are allowing only one well visitor per patient.” All visitors should be 18 and older and visiting hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Exceptions will only be made for pediatric, OB and end-of-life patients. HRMC closed other public facilities, including the cafeteria and the health and fitness center. Cardiac Rehab and Physical Therapy located in the health and fitness center will remain open unless otherwise notified. Visitation for the inpatient unit at Swain hospital has been suspended until further notice. Harris is asking the commu-

RESOURCES, GRANTS AVAILABLE

March 18-24, 2020

While the canceling of events and social distancing is occurring quickly, Johnson said these measures shouldn’t be mocked as a sign of panic but as reasonable decisions to decrease the spread of the virus. “Clinicians should use their judgment to determine if a patient has signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and whether the patient should be tested,” he said. “Decisions on which patients receive testing should be based on the local epidemiology of COVID-19, as well as the clinical course of illness.” Most patients with confirmed COVID-19 have developed fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness — cough or difficulty breathing. Clinicians are strongly encouraged to also consider and test for other causes of respiratory illness, including infections such as influenza. Johnson said commercial laboratory testing to detect COVID-19 is now available, but testing should not be done for asymptomatic persons. “Prior authorization by public health for testing is not required for commercial lab testing but patients being tested will be considered PUIs (Persons under Investigation) and must be isolated either at home or in a hospital based on their need for care,” Johnson said. Macon County Health Department is limiting non-essential services until further notice to allow staff to focus more on the COVID-19 response. The health department will still be providing maternal health, including pregnancy testing and prenatal services; symptomatic STD, communicable disease and TB testing; family planning (problem visits only); primary care (sick visits only) non-travel vaccinations; normal

nity to voluntarily restrict visitation with family members or friends currently in the hospital. “While COVID-19 is new, effectively responding to other infectious diseases is not. We have tested processes and plans in place to respond to situations involving infectious disease year-round,” according to a press release from Harris and Swain hospitals. “We have a robust emergency operations plan in place and are reviewing and proactively completing a number of preparation checklists out of an abundance of caution. We are screening patients in our emergency department, inpatient units and outpatient clinics based on CDC guidance.” Group homes and assisted living facilities are also restricting visitation to protect some of the more vulnerable populations. Phone calls, video conference calls and sending care packages to loved ones during this time is strongly encouraged.

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BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR ust in the last week, the number of COVID19 cases reported in North Carolina has grown from seven cases to 40, but as of March 17 no confirmed cases have been reported in Western North Carolina. However, Macon County Public Health reported on Monday that a New York resident who tested positive for the virus was currently being isolated in Macon County. “The patient is doing well and is in isolation. The patient is a resident of New York State and traveled to Buncombe County, where they became ill and were tested, and then traveled to Macon County,” according to a press release. “Since cases are reported under the state of residency, this case will be identified as a New York State case, not a North Carolina case. Therefore, this case will not show up on the North Carolina maps as a Macon County case.” While awaiting confirmation of results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and Macon County Public Health will treat presumptive cases as positive and follow CDC guidelines to protect public health and limit the spread of infection. In the meantime, Macon and Buncombe County health departments are working to identify who might have come into close contact with the patient. Based on information provided by the individual, county health officials will assess risks of exposure, determine which if any additional measures are needed such as temperature and symptom checks, quarantine and/or testing. On Monday, the CDC awarded North Carolina $13.8 million to support state and local health officials in their response to COVID-19. Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC, who supported the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, applauded the CDC’s award. “The next few weeks are critical for our efforts to flatten the curve and stop the spread of coronavirus,” he said in a press release. “We can do this by ensuring our state and local public health officials, who have been working on the frontlines of this outbreak day and night, have the resources they need to protect our communities. This funding will help coordinate and deploy needed supplies throughout the state and increase our ability to test, identify and track coronavirus cases.” Local health departments are at the top of the chain of command in each community when it comes to taking precautions and dealing with the pandemic. “Now is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19 in North Carolina when certain measures can potentially impact the spread of the disease and protect the public’s health. My message is that we should expect the next two months to be difficult in terms of what we all need to do to manage this situation,” said Patrick Johnson, director of Haywood County Public Health.

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Local entertainment and service industries brace for change

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER mid the current coronavirus pandemic overtaking our world and our daily lives, local businesses and organizations in Western North Carolina are now thinking about how to deal with cancellations and shutdowns — changes that could drastically impact the regional economy moving forward. “What a difference a few days make,” said Steven Lloyd, executive director of the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. “Last Thursday, the world was still humming along in ‘normal’ mode, then Broadway was closed, Las Vegas shutdown and within 24 hours everything changed.” As of this week, HART will postpone all of its current and upcoming productions through the end of April. Lloyd noted that HART will do whatever it takes to preserve what reserve funds it has to ensure the future of the organization. “[This is so that it’s] possible that we can restart when the time comes and hopefully bring back everything we’ve taken off the calendar,” Lloyd added. “The arts always live on a narrow margin and this is going to take a heavy toll on all of us who work in this field across the country.” Those sentiments are also shared by the Folkmoot Executive Director Angie Schwab. The multifaceted cultural organization in Waynesville has had to cancel all upcoming musical and artistic performances on the calendar through April. “The community can rest assured that Folkmoot will follow the guidelines by local public health officials and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and that we’ll do our part in maintaining good health,” Schwab said. “We’re [also] concerned about the artists who depend on performances as their main source of income and hope there are some good ideas that come out of this health crisis.” Some of those new ways and means for musicians and artists to survive financially involves live streaming shows from their homes and studios, with “virtual tip jars” available through services like PayPal and Patreon. “We’re very thankful for a good internet connection to keep in touch with folks, a website setup for downloads as well as shippable sales, and lots of music to work on,” said Allie Lee, who is one-half of Frank & Allie Lee, a traditional string act from Bryson City. “We will be streaming [concerts] for fun, [and] partly to stay ‘in shape’ musically, and partly to test the waters for more streaming concerts in the near future.” Aside from seemingly every live music 12

Smoky Mountain News

March 18-24, 2020

concert disappearing from venues, breweries and restaurants for the foreseeable coming weeks and months, all spring and early summer festivals have either been canceled and postponed, too. This also includes the massively popular MerleFest in Wilkesboro, which was to hit the stage in late April. “Alternative revenue streams, creativity with merchandising, live streaming, and digital media use can help bridge the financial gap until the ‘new normal’ resumes,” said Steve Johnson, formerly of MerleFest, who now is behind the inaugural Earl Scruggs Music Festival set to take place in Tryon on Labor Day Weekend. “Artistic philanthropic support is more critical now than ever with many still reeling from the Nashville tornado damage and now cancellation of shows. Everyone needs to pull together and use those creative minds for developing paradigm shifting solutions.” “We were going to play our first MerleFest,” added Caroline Miller, bassist for Americana/indie group The Maggie Valley Band. “We had been so shocked and over the moon that we’d been invited. We’ve lost many gigs [throughout this pandemic], but that one is a soul crusher.” With recent mandates and curfews to close restaurants, bars, breweries, wineries and other high-volume gathering spots occurring state-by-state as this pandemic unfolds, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper followed suit on Tuesday by closing “restaurants and bars for dine-in customers, but [allowing] them to continue takeout and delivery orders,” effective immediately. The executive order also included an expansion of unemployment insurance to provide aid to those workers being affected by the closures. “This is a very scary time for our business, staff and community. Our main goal going forward is to protect the health of our staff and community,” said Nicole Dexter, coowner of Innovation Brewing in Sylva. “And try to sustain the livelihoods of the 23 people we employ during this time of potentially no income for the business. We’ll be doing everything in our power to achieve these goals, but there are many unknowns to prepare for currently.” And as the shutdown of the service industry now overtakes North Carolina, small business owners are concerned what this could mean for the far western counties of the state — a place where the service industry is a huge economic driver within a region that relies on tourism. “We expected a mandatory shutdown of all bars, restaurants, taprooms, breweries and wineries,” said Joe Rowland, co-owner of Nantahala Brewing, which has locations in

The Southern Porch.

Innovation Brewing. Bryson City and Sylva and a staff of 40. “This will help reduce the curve of this unprecedented pandemic, but it will also bankrupt nearly all of us as a result.” Though it may be an incredibly difficult position, restaurant owners are already considering layoffs and other options to keep businesses afloat for the time being. “We want to provide the opportunity for our staff to make money, but at the same time, [we’re] worrying about hopefully breaking even or losing money — it’s a tough situation,” said Nathan Lowe, co-owner of The Southern Porch in Canton. “We’re torn on what to do. We want to provide a place for people to feel safe and comfortable, but we also worry about the number of people gathering together in one building and putting others at risk.” “It’s scary thinking of the economic effects this may have on our own livelihood as well as our staff of five. It’s really hard to tell right now. But, we’re preparing for the worst,” added Hannah Moore Edwards, co-owner of Yonder in Franklin. “We’re taking extra precaution within our establishment and holding extra meetings with our staff members

and outlining just how serious this is.” With a staff of 34, The Sweet Onion in Waynesville is also implementing similar measures as it prepares for a severe ripple in the financial stability of the business. “As of now, it’s just a matter of trying to figure out how much we can sustain as a business — we’ll see what the future holds and how all of this plays out,” said Dan Elliot, coowner of The Sweet Onion. The Small Business Administration announced Monday that it would be able to provide small businesses impacted by COVID-19 up to $2 million in low-interest disaster assistance loans. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. The interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses without credit available elsewhere; businesses with credit available elsewhere are not eligible. The interest rate for nonprofits is 2.75 percent. For additional information, contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center at 800.659.2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER tudents at Western North Carolina’s institutions of higher learning will see impacts to their spring semester experiences as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

and for your patience as we deal with this global health crisis.” WCU will post updates at www.wcu.edu/coronavirus/index.aspx.

SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Southwestern Community College announced at 5 p.m. Thursday that it would extend spring break for one week, with instruction resuming March 23 for seatbased classes. The delay will allow faculty to transition to remote instruction, with makeup dates for most labs to be scheduled later in the semester. Online classes, clinicals and work-based learning assignments continued as scheduled on Monday, March 16. All SCC campuses and locations will remain open and operational during this time, though events with 10 or more people are cancelled immediately until further notice. Café 64 is closed until further notice, and all Student Life and Career Services events have been cancelled through April 3. Decisions regarding commencement, awards, pinning ceremonies and other events will be announced after April 3. Employees will be allowed only essential travel for clinicals or instructional purposes. Housekeeping and facilities services employees have been expanding their efforts, taking advantage of the quiet days of spring break to thoroughly disinfect hightouch services, said Public Relations

Harrah’s announces two-week closure lowing announcement of its intentions at 2 p.m. Monday. When asked about the reasoning behind the lapse between the announcement and the actual closure, Saunooke reiterated that the closure overall is a precautionary measure, as no cases have been reported in the casinos at this time, or in any of the counties surrounding them. The casino is not aware of any guests or employees who have been tested for the virus, he said. “This was a precautionary response. We have already begun the process of closing parts of the operation,” he said in a statement Monday night. The closure will last for two weeks. Employees will continue to receive pay and benefits during that time. Caesars Entertainment, of which Harrah’s is a part, has appointed a senior

management team to meet daily and make decisions about how best to manage the situation. The company has implemented enhanced cleaning and sanitizing protocols throughout its facilities based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control. The casino’s closure came on the heels of a series of cancellations and changes in response to the unfolding pandemic. It began with cancellation of the Sebastian Maniscalco show slated for March 13 and escalated with the March 15 closure of the Chefs Stage Buffet. The April World Series

of Poker Circus events have been cancelled. Harrah’s is not alone. Casinos currently operate in 41 of the 50 states. In 28 of those 41, all or some of the casinos are currently closed, according to the latest update from CDC Gaming Reports as of press time. That organization is unrelated to the Centers for Disease Control. The closure is extremely significant, as casino revenues account for the bulk of the tribal budget, as well as for per capita payments issued to tribal members twice per year. The casino does not publicly disclose its profits or revenues, but it’s safe to say that it’s responsible for providing tribal members and tribal government with hundreds of millions of dollars each year. In 2018, the tribe paid out nearly $200 million in per capita checks to tribal members. The casino has never closed before, though on its opening night in 1997 operations did pause for two hours. Guests were still allowed on the property at that time, however.

Smoky Mountain News

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER For the first time in its 23-year history, Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos is closed. The announcement came on Monday, March 16, three days after President Donald Trump’s March 13 declaration of a national emergency and five days after the World Health Organization’s March 11 declaration of a global pandemic in response to the worldwide proliferation of COVID-19. “This has been an evolving situation that we monitored closely,” said Brian Saunooke, regional vice president for marketing at Harrah’s. “The decision to close was a precautionary measure, to ensure the safety of our employees, guests and local communities.” The casinos in Cherokee and Murphy closed at 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 18, fol-

HCC moved its spring break forward to take place March 16-20 rather than in April as planned. Instruction will resume Monday, March 23, with all seated curriculum classes taught online. However, the campus will remain open at this time. The college has established a Response Team to meet on a regular basis and provide direction and support as the pandemic unfolds. The eight-member team includes President Shelley White, Vice President of Business and Finance Karen Denney, Director of Communications Michelle Harris, Vice President of Instruction Wendy Hines, Vice President of Student Services Michael Coleman, Director of Campus Development Brek Lanning, Director of Human Resources Marsha Stines and Director of Information Technology George Rolland. Out-of-state, college-related travel is cancelled for both students and employees. Instate travel requests will be reviewed and approved by White on a case-by-case basis, and teleconferencing is encouraged as an alternative to travel. All events with 100 or more people are canceled or postponed for the next 30 days, including Open House, Celebration of Giving/Scholarship Luncheon and Grad Day. All community group use of HCC buildings is cancelled through March. HCC is working with its custodial provider to take increased cleanliness measures on campus. Updates will be posted at w w w. h ay w o o d . e d u / s e c u r i t y - a n dsafety/coronavirus.

March 18-24, 2020

Western Carolina University students will be learning remotely until further notice, and all gatherings have been canceled following a decision the University of North Carolina System announced March 11. Spring break began last week, and that break was extended one week to last through Monday, March 23. The extension aims to give faculty time to transition from in-person teaching to distance learning so that students won’t have to gather for face-to-face classes. This new regimen will begin on March 23 and continue indefinitely. From March 18 to April 30, gatherings of 50 or more people will banned, and gatherings of more than 10 people will require supervisor approval. A decision regarding commencement ceremonies will be forthcoming. Interim UNC System President Bill Roper has directed that all UNC System institutions recall students who are studying abroad and suspend any study abroad programs scheduled to start between now and July 1. All visits to health services, counseling or psychological services at the Bird Building will be by

scheduled appointment only, and providers in the Bird Building may ask screening questions before an appointment is confirmed. Effective Wednesday, March 18, students who live on campus will be required to vacate unless the university grants an exception. Details on exceptions were still forthcoming as of press time. Regarding cleaning and sanitation, residence hall staff have been reviewing housekeeping practices, staff are participating in additional training and normal cleaning routines will be reviewed and updated. Regarding dining, frequency of surface and utensil cleaning has increased, and a deep cleaning of all facilities will be conducted during the extended spring break. Additional cleaning supplies have been ordered. Only takeout service will be offered. WCU’s Cat Tran service continues to run, but the shuttles will be wiped down regularly with cleaning supplies in compliance with Centers for Disease Control recommendations. Roper, a physician who once served as director of the Centers for Disease Control, said in a video released March 12 that he has been working closely with a small group of university administrators and public health experts to help craft an informed approach to the pandemic. “I recognize that these are challenging times,” Brown wrote in a March 15 update. “It is our civic duty to do everything that we can to help limit and mitigate the transmission of and exposure to the coronavirus illness. Thank you for your role in helping safeguard the health of our campus community

HAYWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

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WCU, community colleges adjust plans ahead of COVID-19

Director Tyler Goode. SCC will post updates at www.southwesterncc.edu/news/college-update-regardingcoronavirus.

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Workers at Junaluska Elementary school had handed out more than 160 to-go meals for students by 1 p.m. on March 17. Cory Vaillancourt photo

A heart full of hope March 18-24, 2020

Organizations step up the fight against COVID-19 BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER Of all the socioeconomic and educational weaknesses lain bare by the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 perhaps none is more disturbing than the fact that the closure of public schools has resulted for many children not just in a loss of education, but also a loss of nutrition. Each day, 30 million American schoolchildren — some 60 percent of all students — rely on free or reduced-price lunches. That number is likely higher in rural Western North Carolina, where more than

20 percent of children under 18 are already food insecure anyway. Thankfully, a number of public and private organizations have stepped up to ensure that the community’s most overlooked populations don’t become the community’s most underserved populations in this time of social distancing and selfimposed isolation. “I started the group because it was what I could do in the middle of the night other than worry,” said Nicole Conner, founder of the Haywood County Coronavirus Community Assistance group on Facebook. “We live in an amazing community where people always want to help. I am well aware of all the community agencies we have that offer assistance. This is not meant to replace

that but to be more of a community when face-to-face community is limited, where people don’t feel alone and we can offer our small services and goods on a personal level.” Although Conner’s Facebook group was only three days old as of press time, it had already accumulated more than 2,400 members. Aside from sharing critical information on the local availability of resources like milk, bottled water and yes, toilet paper, dozens upon dozens of people have made posts in the group offering to help in a number of different ways. Some are teachers, offering specific instructional assistance to students — and parents — hoping to minimize disruption to the school year. Others are medical professionals, offering surplus equipment like test strips and needles for diabetics and diapers and formula for infants. Still others are ordinary citizens, offering to cook, clean or shop for those who can’t perform such activities themselves. “I know our county cares, but I’m beyond overwhelmed with the response,” Conner said. “My heart is full of hope.” That’s not to say that Haywood’s schools haven’t done their part — as a critical source of nutrition for more than 7,000 children, school officials knew the difficulty Gov. Roy Cooper’s order closing K-12 public schools across the state would have on some families and sprang into action. “The decision came from the administration,” said Chuck Francis, chairman of the Haywood County Schools board. “We know a lot of kids go home and don’t have food available, and that has been a big concern of our board in the past. The decision was really about concern for kids who don’t have food at home.” Starting on Tuesday, March 17, HCS began a food distribution operation designed to alleviate hunger in children under 18. Right now, parents can pick up meals at

Need help? Want to help? WNC social service agency Mountain Projects has set up a hotline for vulnerable populations in need of emergency assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. Over the next two weeks, people who need help with the pickup/delivery of supplies and/or medications in Haywood or Jackson counties can call 800.627.1548 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Those wishing to volunteer should also call the same number.

many of the county’s public school buildings, including Bethel Elementary, Clyde Elementary, Hazelwood Elementary, Jonathan Valley Elementary, Junaluska Elementary, Meadowbrook Elementary, North Canton Elementary and Waynesville Middle School. Meal service includes breakfast and lunch, and it will take place in a drive-thru fashion to avoid gathering large groups of people in the school’s buildings. Children need not be Haywood County Schools students nor need they be present for meal pick-up, which will take place from 11 a.m. through 1 p.m. for the rest of this week. Children also need not necessarily be a student at the aforementioned schools to take advantage of HCS’ meal service. Dr. Bill Nolte, superintendent of the HCS system, said the meal service could be expanded next week. “We will continue educational support and food support as long as we’re out of school unless directed otherwise,” Nolte said. Crowdsourcing and government support through the public school system aren’t the only ways in which Western North Carolina residents are trying to do their part. A number of private business owners have taken the extraordinary step of offering free food, with the costs coming directly out of their pockets.

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truck, Clyde’s, Firefly Taps & Grill, Kornerstone Kafe and Shoney’s in Waynesville, as well as Black Bear Cafe and Southern Porch in Canton. Churches and social service organizations are also reacting to the situation. Waynesville’s Open Door, in Frog Level, has food boxes and will serve bagged lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Haywood Pathways Center in Waynesville will provide dinners for pickup to anyone who calls 828.246.0332 before 5 p.m. Waynesville’s First United Methodist Church has nonperishables available for pickup on Wednesdays and Sundays from 3 to 5 p.m. Mountain Projects will also offer cold sandwich meals for those age 60 and up to those who reserve them 24 hours in advance by calling 828.452.7029 in Waynesville, or 828.648.8173 in Canton.

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Down Home to host Haywood meeting On March 21 Down Home Haywood will host its monthly community organizing meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at First United Methodist Church, 566 S Haywood St., Waynesville. “We will welcome all newcomers with a brief introduction to Down Home and then will review the status of our current work on projects concerning food insecurity in Haywood, the local elections in November, efforts to expand Down Home’s reach, and more,” said Chelsea Hoglen, Haywood Chapter organizer. This event is open to anyone interested in helping create a Haywood County that works better for all of our neighbors. We meet on the third Saturday of each month. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Children accompanied by parents are also welcome. Transportation can be arranged by emailing chelsea@downhomenc.org or calling/texting 828.476.8189.

All Fontana Regional Library locations in Macon, Jackson, and Swain counties will be closed to the public through March 31, although phone calls will be answered. In evaluating information that indicates that aggressive early social distancing can stop the coronavirus from exponentially spreading, library leadership is making this difficult decision. Currently the plan is to reopen April 1, but staff will be continually assessing the situation to determine if this date will be extended. Overdue fines for materials due during this time will be waived. Additionally, eBooks and eAudiobooks remain available, and streaming video via Kanopy and NCLive is also available at www.fontanalib.org. Wi-Fi also extends around the perimeter of library buildings and can generally be picked up from sections of the parking lots. To further serve the public during the time, the libraries plan to offer curbside pickup of materials that have been placed on hold. For more information and details, call the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva, at 828.586.2016.

Smoky Mountain News

Mike Graham, owner of The Jukebox Junction in Bethel, told CNN on Monday that he didn’t want people in his community to be worried about feeding their families. “Right now, we are not charging people when they come in,” Graham said. “As long as I get deliveries, I will feed them. I may go bankrupt [but] the people in the community supported me for 17 years. I love them to death, I can adapt.” Graham isn’t the only one — more than a half-dozen other restaurants are offering free meals to children and/or seniors. Although some of the offerings were initially dine-in only, a subsequent March 17 order by Gov. Roy Cooper closing bars and limiting restaurants to take-out services will certainly alter that. Locations currently offering free meals as of press time on March 17 included Bro’s Bowls and Burritos food truck, Fuego food

Fontana Regional Library branches closed

March 18-24, 2020

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR s schools shut down across the state as part of Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order, public school systems are trying to mitigate the impact on local families. While Dr. Bill Nolte, superintendent of Haywood County Schools, thinks the closure is premature, the school system has been preparing for weeks. “We began making preparations for such a closure some time ago. We are concerned that we may be closing prematurely since there are no known cases in Haywood County,” he said in a press release. “We are fearful that our local cases will peak later this spring, causing extended time out of school for our students. With that said, we respect the governor’s decision and trust he, public health officials and other state-level decision makers are making the best possible decision in a very difficult situation.” Closures mean more than students not

Macon County Schools also started food distribution sites on March 17, which are located at Franklin High School, Mountain View Intermediate School, South Macon Elementary School, Highlands School and Nantahala School. Parents and students may pick up food from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. In addition, buses will be running their regular routes during the hours of 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to deliver meals to those who cannot pick them up. These meals will be free of charge. Macon schools are also focused on athome learning during the school closure. Wireless access at all Macon County Schools locations will be available for students. District-provided student devices will automatically connect when in range. Wireless access will be available at Franklin High School this week with the other schools to follow. For assistance with technology during this time, call 828.524.3314 ext. 1044 or email support@macon.k12.nc.us. School bus drivers in Swain County will be running their regular school routes to deliver free meals to children. They will make all regular stops to see if there are children that need meals. The buses will be on routes between 10 a.m. and noon. The bus driver will stop at each bus stop, blow the horn and wait several minutes to see if someone comes out to pick up meals. Send adults or older children out if possible to pick up the meals. Meals will still be available at school cafeterias to eat onsite or for pick up from 7:20 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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Schools mitigate COVID-19 closures

getting an education. For many students it means not getting vital services and nutrition. Jackson County Public Schools provided breakfast and lunch for anyone age 1-18 beginning March 17. Meals are being distributed from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Blue Ridge School, Cullowhee Valley School, Scotts Creek School, Smokey Mountain Elementary School and Smoky Mountain High School. Home delivery was made available Tuesday and Wednesday for students who couldn’t get to a distribution site. Individuals who do not have transportation should complete the online form at www.jcpsnc.org/food no later than 10 a.m. on the day they want food delivery to start. School Nutrition Director Laura Cabe expects delivery for everyone to begin on Thursday, March 19. “We’re still working on the logistics right now,” said Cabe. Community volunteers are also needed. Anyone interested can sign up at www.jcpsnc.org/food. To volunteer, contact Cabe at 828.586.2311 ext. 1936 or email lcabe@jcpsmail.org. “We will plug in any volunteer where they are needed,” said Cabe. “We’re going to need people to deliver meals and possibly even prepare them depending on our own staff and who is able to work. We’re always requesting volunteers.” Haywood County Schools is also doing a drive-thru food pick up from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at many of its schools throughout the county for free.

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Major expansion proposed for former Belk building BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER aynesville’s Russ Avenue Ingles already has one of the largest commercial footprints in Haywood County, but if plans filed with the Town of Waynesville’s Development Services Department by the regional grocer come to fruition, it will get even larger. Right now, the Ingles occupies 98,377 square feet. The existing shops adjacent to the grocery story occupy about 10,135 square feet, and the Ingles Gas Express takes up about 2,300. The former Belk building, long empty, encloses more than 50,000 square feet. All told, that’s more than 161,000 square feet of retail space. Site plans show up to 14 new retail spaces will occupy what are now mostly vacant parcels adjacent to or in front of the existing structures, totaling more than 98,000 square feet of new retail space. That figure doesn’t include the redevelopment of the Belk building; plans show a series of retail spaces of varying sizes will be constructed in front of the current façade of the building and the Belk building itself being divided into two large retail spaces with entrances planned for what is currently the rear of the building.

Smoky Mountain News

March 18-24, 2020

A large parking lot is also planned for that spot, which is currently a forested tract home to what’s called the “Barber orchard” property. A car wash is also planned behind the existing gas station on a vacant tract that backs up to the Belk building. As currently constituted, only about 110,000 square feet of the existing retail space is being utilized at the site, but if Ingles’ plans are approved by the Waynesville Planning Board — and then by town aldermen after a subsequent public hearing — and all of the buildings experience full utilization, the total retail square footage would total almost 260,000. The town would likely see an impact from the associated job creation that would come with the new retail space, as well as increases in sales tax and property tax revenues.

PROJECT DELAY? Like almost every other aspect of public life in the county, the state, the country and the world, the Ingles project has been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus. A required public hearing on the Ingles project that was slated for March 16 was canceled earlier that day due to the lack of a quorum on the Planning Board; a number of

other town meetings, including the first meeting of the Homelessness Task Force and a regular meeting of the Waynesville Public Art Commission, were also canceled. Given that public hearings of the type sought by Ingles must by law be advertised in advance, it’s likely that public hearing won’t take place for a week to 10 days, or more. Waynesville Town Manager Rob Hites said March 17 that he didn’t anticipate canceling the Board of Aldermen’s regularly scheduled March 24 meeting. “Practically, I think the worst is yet to come, and I’ve got some things that need to be approved,” Hites said. “If I wait two weeks or four weeks, there may be more [COVID-

19] cases, and there will be more business to address in these meetings.” Hites also said that he was hopeful that the March 24 Board of Aldermen meeting would occur as scheduled. “We kind of feel that we need to show the public that the government can continue to run,” he said. “We also need this as a forum for board members to bring up concerns, and to give the board and the public a chance to make any statements they want to make.” The town will follow direction from Haywood County that attendees at meetings should stay at least six feet apart, and that the doors remain closed during the meeting, according to Hites.

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Macon County commissioners Paul Higdon (left) and Karl Gillespie confer during a meeting March 10. Lilly Knoepp photo

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Ronnie Beale and Gary Shields, along with Chairman Jim Tate, voted against it. Once his resolution was voted down, Holden and several others in attendance walked out of the meeting. Beale then made a motion to consider the resolution drafted by Jones, cumbersomely titled, “Resolution fully supporting and maintaining the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as the entire United States Constitution and the laws of the United States and the entire North Carolina Constitution and the laws of the State of North Carolina which are not inconsistent therewith.” That resolution, which didn’t contain the impactful language contained in Holden’s, was passed by a vote of four to one, with only Higdon in opposition. Jones’ resolution recognizes that commissioners could be sanctioned for taking “actions inconsistent with or in violation of their respective oaths of office,” reaffirms those oaths, and declares that “courts of proper jurisdiction, and not Macon County or its commissioners or its sheriff, shall resolve for the county all legal questions and issues of whether or not a given gun regulation does or does not violate the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution” per the rule of law. It also implores elected officials in the U.S. Congress and the North Carolina General Assembly to remember their oaths of office “as they consider any law whatsoever which does or may tend to interfere with or abridge any fundamental right guaranteed by the United States Constitution or the North Carolina Constitution.” The resolution closes with strong encouragement to citizens to “peacefully petition the appropriate legislative bodies regarding any reasonable concerns which they may have concerning any proposed law whatsoever … [that] may interfere with or abridge a fundamental right” guaranteed by the Constitution. To date in Western North Carolina, only Swain and Jackson counties have yet to entertain such resolutions.

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March 18-24, 2020

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER ince the beginning of the year, the Second Amendment sanctuary movement has swept through North Carolina, with the majority of counties passing resolutions in opposition to any potential measures that might infringe upon the right to bear arms. On March 10, Macon County became the most recent Western North Carolina county to vote on the issue, after citizens packed the Macon County commission meeting for the third month in a row. But the process hasn’t gone as smoothly in Macon County as it has in other jurisdictions. Around the beginning of the year, Macon County resident Donnie Holden emerged as the leader of a group that wanted commissioners to pass such a resolution. They told him to draft one. What he brought back wasn’t quite acceptable to some commissioners or to Macon County Attorney Chester Jones. “With all due respect to Donnie Holden, I believe there are potential issues under that ordinance,” Jones said. Titled “Resolution Declaring Macon County, North Carolina a Second Amendment support county resolution,” Holden’s document proposes that the county not “authorize or appropriate government funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings or offices for the purpose of enforcing … [laws] that infringe on the rights of the people to keep and bear arms.” Such declarations are problematic, because no one at a county level has the authority to determine which laws, exactly, “infringe” on the rights of the people. Jones drafted a resolution of his own on behalf of the county that wasn’t quite as forceful as Holden’s and was far more broad — similar to one adopted in Haywood County last month. Commissioner Paul Higdon thought Holden’s resolution at least deserved a vote. Commissioner Karl Gillespie seconded Higdon’s motion, but commissioners

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If approved, the casino would be built on a 16-acre property in Cleveland County, employing an anticipated 3,000 people. Catawba rendering

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EBCI will sue over decision BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians plans to sue the federal government in protest over a March 12 decision that will allow the Catawba Indian Nation to move forward with plans to build a casino in Kings Mountain. The Cherokee are claiming that the decision is flawed and that the government violated the law by not consulting the EBCI during completion of the associated Environmental Assessment. “The federal government has no right or authority to create a new reservation for the Catawba Nation across state lines, into Cherokee historical territory, just to build a casino,” said EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed. “This decision creates a dangerous precedent for all federally recognized tribes that empowers corrupt developers and their lobbyists to use politicians to determine what laws and precedents are followed and which ones are ignored. This decision cannot and will not stand.” The Catawba are a federally recognized Indian tribe with a reservation in Rock Hill, South Carolina, which is 34 miles southeast of the 16.57-acre property where the casino is to be built. It is unusual, even unheard of, for a tribe to receive permission to build a casino across state lines from its main reservation. However, said Catawba Chief Bill Harris, his tribe’s case is unusual as well. The Cherokee response is unwarranted. “It is unfortunate that the EBCI continues to perpetuate this narrative of tribe versus tribe,” he said. “The Catawba Nation has reached out many times to the leadership of EBCI to try to work together. In the past Chief Sneed has asserted that he isn’t against federally recognized tribes going into the gaming industry, but he wants all tribes to follow the DOI established regulations. In Catawba’s decision letter from the Department of Interior, it clearly outlines that Catawba followed the process from beginning to end, and

the decision also demonstrates our cultural and historical ties to this area. Eastern Band has the right to react however they want to the decision from DOI, but we have done and will continue to do all we can for the betterment of our nation as well as extend the hand of friendship and cooperation to other Native nations.” About 30 percent of customers who visit Harrah’s casinos in Cherokee and Murphy live closer to the Kings Mountain site than to either of the EBCI establishments, so the Catawba casino would likely cause a negative economic impact in WNC. Meanwhile, Virginia is considering legislation to allow casinos at a limited number of cities in its jurisdiction, including Bristol. The EBCI has been lobbying for a version of the bill that would open the door for it to develop the casino in Bristol, but the bill that passed the legislature this month would likely favor a different developer instead. Like Kings Mountain, Bristol is geographically closer to about 30 percent of Harrah’s Cherokee customers, though there is likely some overlap between that population and the 30 percent who are closer to Kings Mountain.

A MULTI-PRONGED EFFORT The U.S. Department of the Interior issued its March 12 letter in response to a Sept. 17, 2018, application the tribe submitted requesting that the Kings Mountain site be taken into federal trust for gaming. However, the DOI application was not the only strategy the tribe had explored in its quest to gain approval for the casino project. In 2019, South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham introduced a bill that, if passed, would have allowed the DOI to take the land into trust without going through all the administrative steps typically required before coming to such a decision. North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr signed on as co-sponsors to the bill, but Sneed made his opposition abundantly clear. So, too, did the N.C. Senate, when 38 of its 50 members signed a letter on May 16, 2019, opposing the bill as

a “last-ditch effort to game the system on a flawed application” and an “unprecedented overreach.” The state senators took issue with the bill’s intent to bypass the typical administrative process required to consider offreservation lands for gaming purposes,” saying that it would “skirt the formal input process that has worked for decades.” However, they also opposed the very concept of establishing a casino on the proposed site. Doing so would encroach on historically Cherokee territory and deal an economic blow to the western counties, where Harrah’s Cherokee Casino employs 5 percent of the workforce, the letter said. Additionally, at least 16 counties and municipalities in the western region passed resolutions opposing the bill. Perhaps that opposition had some impact, because the bill never made it out of committee. However, while the Senate was dragging its feet, the BIA was moving through its own process. This was the second time that the Catawba had submitted a BIA application in hopes of someday building a casino on the site. In 2013, the tribe applied to have the property transferred into federal trust under the mandatory acquisition provisions of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993, but that didn’t work. On March 23, 2018, the Deputy Secretary of the Interior issued a memo stating that the Settlement Act’s mandatory acquisition provisions didn’t apply to the site, because the provisions resulted from negotiations between South Carolina and the tribe — they couldn’t be applied to a state that was not a party to the agreement, the deputy secretary ruled. But the Catawba didn’t give up. Less than two weeks later, the nation withdrew its mandatory application and on Sept. 17, 2018, submitted a discretionary application under departmental regulations guided by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a different framework from the Settlement Act. Generally, IGRA prohibits tribes from building casinos on lands

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The most direct allegations contained in a press release from Sneed’s office announcing the impending lawsuit concerned purported violations of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. The press release also objected to the Department of Interior allegedly ignoring federal laws that prohibit the Catawba from gaming under IGRA. The Settlement Act requires that South Carolina gaming laws be applied both on and off reservation lands, and casinos are prohibited in that state. In its final decision, the BIA listed the entities it had reached out to in order to arrive at its decision. In correspondence dated Oct. 31, 2018, the BIA solicited from Gov. Roy Cooper, the Cleveland County Tax Collector, the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners and the mayor of Kings Mountain comments on how the acquisition would impact regulatory jurisdiction, real property taxes and special assessments. It received responses from all of the above — except for Cooper. Those responses led the BIA to believe that the proposed casino would benefit the regional economy, generating $208 million in direct economic activity once operational and directly creating 2,600 new jobs for a total annual economic impact to Cleveland County of $428 million. This process included completion of an Environmental Assessment to analyze the potential physical, environmental, cultural and socioeconomic impacts of transferring the site for use as a gaming facility. The EA identified some potential impacts but entered into an intergovernmental agreement with Cleveland County laying out measures to mitigate them. The EA concluded that with mitigation all environmental effects of the proposed alternative could be reduced to acceptable levels. However, the EBCI cried foul at that conclusion, saying that the BIA did not consult the Cherokee regarding potential cultural protection measures despite acknowledging that archeological artifacts and resources could be discovered during site construction. Developing a casino on historic Cherokee land without consulting the EBCI violates the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Protection Act, the press release claimed.

March 18-24, 2020

The BIA’s finding that the Catawba meet the first three requirements surrounding federal recognition is unsurprising, as the facts are simple. The tribe was originally recognized by the federal government in 1944, but in 1959 Congress enacted legislation that terminated the United States’ government-to-government relationship with the Catawba. That status was restored with the 1993 Settlement Act. However, Sneed has continually disputed the claims that led to the BIA’s finding that the land in question meets the definition of “restored lands.” According to the BIA, the site meets the requirement of being located in a state where the tribe has both a governmental presence and a tribal population because tribal rolls show a population of 253 Catawba members in North Carolina, and Cleveland County falls within the tribe’s service area, meaning that various governmental services — such as Indian Child Welfare Act case assistance, access to Indian health services and child care assistance — are offered to Catawba members living in an area of North Carolina that includes Cleveland County, where the site is located. Sneed, meanwhile, has said that justification is not valid. “We have a five-county service area, but that doesn’t mean I can build a casino in Sylva,” he said in an April 2019 interview with The Smoky Mountain News. To meet the second requirement, the tribe has to demonstrate a significant historical connection to the site. According to the BIA, archeological evidence shows that the Catawba “continuously used and occupied the lands within the vicinity of the site” and that “the network for ancestral villages formed the core of the historic Catawba Indian Nation.” The EBCI has consistently claimed that the land in question is Cherokee’s historical territory, not the Catawba’s. An 1884 map filed in the Library of Congress shows that the eastern edge of the Cherokees’ former territorial limits include modern-day Cleveland County. The BIA response directly addressed that objection.

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THE ‘RESTORED LANDS’

“Though the site falls within an area where another tribe may assert aboriginal ties, that fact does not detract from the nation’s ties to the land,” the decision reads. The tribe met the final requirement of the restored lands definition by submitting its application in September 2018, 24 years and 11 months after the October 1993 Settlement Act restored the tribe’s status — just barely inside the 25-year limit. All of this led the BIA to conclude that the tribe should be allowed to take the Kings Mountain property into federal trust. Further, the agency found that gaming should be an acceptable use of the land.

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acquired after Oct. 17, 1988, but there are several exceptions. The Catawba sought to fall under the restored lands exception, which applies only if a tribe was at one time federally recognized, lost its government-to-government relationship and later had it restored. The land in question must also meet the definition of “restored lands.” According to that definition, the land must be within the state or states where the tribe is currently located, the tribe must demonstrate a significant historical connection to the land, and the tribe must show that the land was included in its first request for territory after restoration of federal recognition or that it submitted an application to take the land into trust within 25 years of restoration. In the latter case, the tribe must show that it is not gaming on any other lands.

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER The numbers are in for what an indoor pool might cost to build and maintain in Jackson County, and commissioners are set to vote April 7 on a resolution to move forward with a related referendum question on the November ballot. If the resolution is approved, the next step would be a public hearing, which will likely be held June 2. According to a recently completed report from Asheville-based Clark Nexsen, construction and closing costs will total nearly $20 million, with a projected annual operating cost of $612,000. Paying down debt on a $20 million bond would require an additional 2.2 cents per $100 of property value on Jackson County’s existing 38-cent tax rate, and operational costs would require an additional 0.4 cents, for a total increase of 2.26 cents per $100. If enacted, such a tax hike would bring Jackson’s total tax rate to 40.26 cents per $100. Jackson County residents have long clamored for an indoor swimming pool, with 86.4 percent of 638 survey respondents in a 2013 recreation master plan update saying that a centrally located indoor swimming pool is “important” or “very important.” A follow-up survey in 2019 saw 93.7 percent of 1,709 people say they would support an indoor pool, with 68 percent saying they’d support such a project even if it meant raising taxes. Commissioners are still discussing exactly what language the referendum question should contain, though options are limited by law. The two things commissioners must decide are what dollar amount to request for the bond and what the stated purpose of the bond should be. The cost projection of

$20 million includes roughly $2 million of cushion, but because the bond amount can’t be adjusted upward once the referendum passes, commissioners kicked around the idea of pushing it up to $21 or $22 million. Secondly, they must decide whether the question should state that the money is specifically for an aquatics facility or more generally for recreation facilities. Commissioners seemed to favor the more restrictive wording, though County Manager Don Adams pointed out the argument for a looser version. “If needs popped up outside that, depending on what the need is, it could restrict you only to that aquatic center versus other needs on that campus,” he said. Plans call for an aquatics facility that would include separate competition and leisure pools. Voters will weigh in on the referendum question during the Nov. 3 General Election. If they vote yes, then commissioners will adopt a resolution to formally approve the election results and get to work on the necessary processes to issue debt. It’s expected that any associated tax increase would go into effect for the following fiscal year beginning July 2021. While no debt will be issued unless the referendum passes, getting the question to the ballot doesn’t come free. To date, $40,500 has been spent on studies and research to arrive at a master plan and projected cost. An additional $30,000 is requested to cover a bond application to the Local Government Commission, legal fees and voter marketing and education materials. There will also be additional costs for printing and coding at the Board of Elections.

Deeper cracks delay opening Nantahala Gorge The underground issues at a slide location in the Nantahala Gorge are evolving. Over the past week, tension cracks and a new escarpment have developed above the slide location along U.S. 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge. A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will hire a subcontractor to loosen and remove additional rock near Ferebee Memorial Picnic Area in order to prevent dangerous boulders, rocks and trees from reaching the road. Additional drilling and blasting is required to remove debris. This work will require the highway to remain closed for about three weeks. Drivers will continue to be routed through Robbinsville, which adds about 20 minutes to a one-way commute. Drivers heading longer distances through the gorge — between Sylva and Murphy — may choose to use U.S. 441 and U.S. 64. “The highway is not safe for the traveling public during the upcoming operations

due to the unstable nature of the area and dangers associated with the work,” Division 14 Engineer Brian Burch said. “We realize the disruption to traditional travel will continue, and we want to open the highway as soon as possible. But we have to do so when conditions are safe.” The highway will reopen in the one-lane pattern with a traffic signal at the site following this operation. Crews will then spend the following two to three weeks installing rock bolts and steel netting to stabilize the slide area and prevent additional dirt and debris from entering the highway. During the closure, the detour will direct westbound traffic from U.S. 19/74 to N.C. 28 to Stecoah, N.C. 143 to Robbinsville and U.S. 129 to Topton and U.S. 74. Eastbound traffic will go to Robbinsville and then Stecoah en route back to U.S. 19/74. Visitors may still access the Nantahala Outdoor Center from the east.

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

On main street, things won’t ever be the same T

Demand nuclear disarmament now To the Editor: In September 2019, I attended a meeting “Nuclear Disarmament Now: What can we do?” Prior to this meeting, this issue was not at the top of my agenda. However, after hearing the speakers and reviewing the information provided, I became aware of the urgency of taking action and informing others about an impending crisis that impacts us as individuals and our earth. In January 2017, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reset the hands of the Doomsday clock to two minutes to midnight. “The danger cannot be overstated,” said the scientists. A growing number of military and policy experts including those from the far right are calling for the United States to take concrete steps toward complete nuclear disarmament. They are saying our nuclear arsenal makes us less secure, not more secure. On July 7, 2017, on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly, 122 nations voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty bans the use, threatened use, possession, development, production, testing deployment or transfer of nuclear weapons under international law. It will enter into legal force once 50 nations have signed and ratified it. As of November 2019, 80 nations have signed the treaty and 34 have ratified it. The United States has not signed

f i n d

paying workers, keep paying their suppliers, keep paying rent or mortgage and keep paying off debt when there is no cash coming in the door. So yeah, we’ll come out of this. The main streets in Western North Carolina and the country over will still be there when the crowds come back and the cash registers and credit card machines are whirring again. But the guy I’ve known for years who runs the restaurant down the street could very likely be in another town doing something different. The woman who runs the gallery where I get my wife gifts for her birthEditor day and holidays may be stocking grocery store shelves somewhere because the owner of her business just couldn’t find a way to keep the doors open. It’s a frightening future when hard-working people all over the country are having to count on politicians to get them through a hard time. We’ve often heard people accuse them — the politicians — of not knowing anything about Main Street and how it works. As I look down the road and see at least four to eight weeks of shutdowns and definite slowdowns, I’m hoping we’re wrong. I’m hoping those leaders in Washington D.C. and Raleigh

Scott McLeod

he world changed over the weekend, especially on main street. And it likely won’t ever again look the same as it did on Friday, not with the Covid-19 hell storm unleashing its fury. I’m the eternal optimist if ever there was one. But, what I’m picking up these last two days are fears that are so strong they are palpable, pulsing down the street and into everyone’s psyche. This is not about the health care side of this pandemic and how many will die and how many will get sick. That’s an extremely important story, and you can find plenty of news about that on other pages in this issue. I’m talking about the economic disaster barreling down on main street, Anytown USA, as a result of the pandemic. The street with restaurants, galleries, lawyer’s offices, accountants, breweries and furniture stores, with bartenders and servers dressed in black headed to work mid-mornings, professional workers grouping up for lunch at the local eateries, teachers laughing and talking about their days while gathered after work at their favorite pub. Because a lot of those Main Street businesses — and those in the suburbs and in rural areas — aren’t going to survive this. Shutting down for a few days or a few weeks will be the death of far too many entrepreneurial dreams. Those who work in government at the local, state or federal level don’t have a clue about how many small businesses can’t just keep

the treaty. While many think North Korea (or maybe Iran in view of recent events) may be the most imminent nuclear threat to us, the greatest threat to our security is our nuclear weapons, which we use to threaten others and they use to justify their own nuclear ambitions. Recent legislation that has been introduced includes a resolution “Embracing the Goals and Provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” (HR 302) calls on the president to align U.S. policy with the goals of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of national security policy. “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019” (HR 669 and SB 200) would require a declaration of war from Congress in order to launch a nuclear first strike. The requirement would not apply in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States or its allies. HR 921 and SB 272 would establish U.S. policy to not use nuclear weapons first. For more information, contact Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (www.ananuclear.org) or Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (www.orepa.org). Please contact your legislators in Congress asking whether they support any of the proposed legislation and urge others to do the same. Now is the time; we must stand up to be heard. Our future demands an end to

a t :

get this right and provide help not only to the large industries owned by their fat-cat donors, but to the workers soon to lose their jobs and the small entrepreneurs who employ those workers and who are the bedrock of this economy. My son works at UNC Charlotte’s swimming pool, but he is effectively laid off because the campus shut down the pool. For him, it was extra spending money. For a whole lot of students at campuses all over the country, those jobs pay rent and tuition and buy food. They need help. When economic downturns loom, the ripple effects are easy to predict: restaurant closes, employees laid off, all of a sudden rent, car payments, groceries, insurance, school tuition, etc., all of it crashes at once or perhaps slowly, over a couple months. I have hope those most at-risk survive the coronavirus, that local workers aren’t devastated by the economic fallout, that the small business owners I call friends make it to the other side of whatever this is we’re in. Right now what we have are a multitude of scary questions and very few answers. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com)

nuclear armament now.

LETTERS

u s

OK, so things are looking bad throughout the region after Tuesday’s mandatory closure of restaurants and bars. Do what you are able to support local businesses. They need it now more than ever.

Mary A. Herr Cherokee

Trump’s pardons tell a story To the Editor: Is it possible Donald Trump and the Republican Party he seems to have successfully hijacked have (together) made corruption the political norm in the United States? I’m asking for a friend. Joel Stein (Los Angeles Times) asked a similar question. “Why did President Trump pardon a rogue’s gallery of white-collar criminals?” Stein went on to state: “… many people assume he commuted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s sentence and pardoned junk bond king Michael Milken, tax cheat Bernard Kerik, and others, simply because they were friends or because he owed them a favor.” In Trump’s world view (which we Americans have witnessed with our own eyes and ears), cheating is neither here nor there, it’s irrelevant and these white-collar crooks he pardoned had been unfairly persecuted for doing what everybody else does, it’s no big deal. Blagojevich is calling himself a “political prisoner” even though he was caught, among other crimes, demanding that the CEO of a children’s hospital give his campaign $50,000 or see its public funding cut off.

Stein states succinctly in layman’s terms, “it’s clear who benefits from accepting corruption as normal and inevitable — the strongmen trampling democracy around the globe.” Clearly Donald Trump fits that genre; in fact, it’s not only characteristic of Trump, he excels at it. In Trump’s world (and that of those he surrounds himself ), truth is inconsequential, totally unimportant. Conversely Trump seems to take extraordinary pride in his own lies, the number and severity of which are legend. It was a severe blow to our system of checks and balances that Trump remained in office following his impeachment, dodging justice by disregarding the Constitution and refusing to comply with subpoenas. Our government’s inability to oversee the executive branch coupled with Trump’s distain for truth and justice has substantially crippled our government and contributed significantly to making corruption normal and acceptable. This is a severe threat to our most fundamental institutions and to the very foundations of our democracy. By remaining silent, or by supporting Donald Trump in any way, shape or form, we become (either knowingly or unwittingly) accomplices, co-conspirators in the devaluing and ultimate death of America’s most cherished and treasured moral standards and guiding principles. Are you willing to let that happen? God help us. David L. Snell Franklin

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f it feels like we’ve seen this all before, it’s because we have. All of a sudden, we are all characters in our very own dystopian movie, with a virus on the loose that has already killed thousands of people around the world and has the potential to kill millions, a feckless President whose utter ineptitude has made a bad situation much worse, and a country that by the beginning of this week was on the verge of complete lockdown. In an effort to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading at a catastrophic level, the country has resorted to measures most of us could not have imagined just a Columnist month ago. Schools are either closing or desperately trying to transition classes to an online format. Many workplaces are doing the same. Travel has been throttled, vacations canceled, the entire entertainment industry crippled. In the same week, the NBA suspended play indefinitely, the NCAA canceled its annual basketball tournament, and Major League Baseball postponed the beginning of the season for several weeks, if not months. Music festivals around the country have been canceled, including MerleFest, a crushing blow to the economy in Wilkes County and to Wilkes Community College. This year’s lineup included Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss, John Prine, Melissa Ethridge, Mavis Staples, and dozens of others. According to Dr. Jeff Cox, president of Wilkes Community College (full disclosure: he’s my brother), tickets were selling for this year’s festival at a record pace. There are stories like this everywhere, with devastating repercussions not only for the economy, but for all of those people whose livelihoods depend on these events. Even so, leaders across the country are doing what President Trump could not and has not, which is to make tough decisions for the public good, while also expressing sympathy for those affected by those decisions and appealing to everyone for unity in a difficult, frightening time. Because that’s what leaders do. By contrast, let’s examine what Trump has done, and not done. In 2018, his administration fired members of the Pandemic Response team and did not replace them, while also slashing the CDC budget to fight

Smoky Mountain News

March 18-24, 2020

Chris Cox

HaywoodBuilders.com 828-456-6051 | 100 Charles St. | Waynesville

In trying times, the cream rises to the top I

global pandemics. He has, from the beginning, downplayed the potential threat of the virus, saying it is like the flu (it isn’t — the mortality rate of the coronavirus is 10 times higher, according to actual experts in the field), while also flatly lying that “we’ll have a vaccine in a fairly quick manner” (experts project 12-18 months), among dozens of other misleading statements. Obviously, the virus is not the president’s fault, but at a time when authentic leadership might have made a difference not only in meeting the public health challenges and slowing the spread of the virus but also in calming the fears of a frantic nation, we have a president whose narcissism makes him about as poorly cast in that role as one could possibly imagine. In the end, everything is always about him. Which is why it’s a good thing that other, more genuine and effective leaders have filled the vacuum and did what had to be done to contain the virus. Predictably, Americans are all over the place in their own attitudes and responses to the rapidly changing landscape of the past couple of weeks. Some people have been hunkered down for a week or more already, surrounded by a makeshift fort of toilet paper rolls and bottles of hand sanitizer, as if they are not expecting to leave the house (or their Y2K bunkers) again until around Thanksgiving, if then. Others are carrying on as usual, going to restaurants, the theater, the gym, or anywhere else they please as if the entire threat is either exaggerated or a hoax, as some conspiracy theorists suggest. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, washing our hands eight times a day, making daily decisions about when and where to venture out, trying to practice “social distancing” without isolating altogether — at least not yet — and staying as positive and as centered as we can in such unsettling times. As you find your own way, remember this: for every jerk out there buying up all the hand sanitizer in six counties and then trying to sell it online for a profit, there are five people out there taking groceries to shut-ins, donating money to strapped charities, and looking for any chance they can find to make a difference. As Fred Rogers once said, “Look for the helpers.” That’s the America I remember, the great one. Even in these troubled times — especially in these troubled times — it’s good to see her again. (Chris Cox is a teacher and writer. jchriscox@live.com)

@SmokyMtnNews 22

tasteTHE mountains Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slowsimmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts. Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily. Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available. BOOJUM BREWING COMPANY 50 N Main Street, Waynesville. 828.246.0350. Taproom Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday & Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Gem Bar Open Tuesday through Sunday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks at Boojum’s Downtown Waynesville restaurant & bar. Choose from 16 taps of our fresh, delicious & ever rotating Boojum Beer plus cider, wine & craft cocktails. The taproom features seasonal pub faire including tasty burgers, sandwiches, shareables and daily specials that pair perfectly with our beer. Cozy up inside or take in the mountain air on our back deck."

COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT 3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley. 828.926.1820 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service. FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde. 828.476.5058. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Sunday. Real New

MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB 1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine. Open seasonally for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted. MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT 2804 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. 828.926.0425. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Daily specials including soups, sandwiches and southern dishes along with featured dishes such as fresh fried chicken, rainbow trout, country ham, pork chops and more. Breakfast all day including omelets, pancakes, biscuits & gravy. facebook.com/carversmvr; instagram @carvers_mvr.

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SOUTH PHILLY ITALIAN PASTA & SUBS 2768 Asheville Hwy., Canton. 828.593.3580. Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Pick-up or carryout only. Call in orders. Pasta and subs. Large portions! WATAMI SUSHI AND NOODLES RESTAURANT 33 S. Main Street, Waynesville. 828.231.3476. Open 7 days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. Healthy, fresh, delicious and high-quality Asian food such as Sushi and Sashimi, Hibachi and Teriyaki, Pad Thai, Wok Lo Men and Thai Coconut Noodle Soup. Sushi, Hibachi and Teriyaki lunch specials every day. Gluten free options available. Full sushi bar and new chocolate wine bar. New party room available for weddings, birthdays or special occasions. Live bluegrass Sundays from 6-9 p.m. with Sons of Ralph. Reservations and online ordering available. www.watamisushinoodles.com WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville. 828.246.0927. Open Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Opened in May 2016, The Waynesville Pizza Company has earned a reputation for having the best hand-tossed pizza in the area. Featuring a custom bar with more than 20 beers and a rustic, family friendly dining room. Menu includes salads, burgers, wraps, hot and cold sandwiches, gourmet pizza, homemade desserts, and a loaded salad bar. The Cuban sandwich is considered by most to be the best in town.

Grab a cup of joe and start your day with our e-newsletter that hits your inbox every Friday morning We’ve got New Stories and some from The Vault, along With Entertainment and Outdoor Suggestions for Your Weekend.

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

MAD BATTER KITCHEN 617 W. Main St, Downtown Sylva. 828.586.3555. In collaboration with Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. Open 7 days a week; Saturday & Sunday Brunch until 2 p.m. Hand-tossed pizza, local grass-fed beef and rice bowls. Scratch-made and beer inspired menu with lots of vegetarian, vegan & gluten free options. Free live music and movies. Visit madbatterkitchen.net for this week’s events.

TAKE OUT

March 18-24, 2020

CHEF’S TABLE 30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of” Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza. A full service authentic Italian pizzeria and restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Dine in, take out, and delivery. Check out our daily lunch specials plus customer appreciation nights on Monday and Tuesday 5 to 9 p.m. with large cheese pizzas for $9.95.

Win a $50 gift card to Boojum Brewing! Must sign up before March 18 to be entered.

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Frog Level Brewing finds new owners n a move that’s been a year or so in the making, 7 Clans Brewing has recently purchased Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. “Seven Clans are already aware of the brewing industry,” said Clark Williams, founder/owner of Frog Level Brewing. “They want to keep the name the same, [as well as] the staff, recipes and overall vibe. They’ll also add new beers and fresh ideas to the place.” Based out of Cherokee, 7 Clans Brewing, owned by Morgan and Travis Crisp, has had its ales crafted onsite at BearWaters Brewing in Canton until the business was able to find its own home for production and a taproom. As of the last calendar year, Frog Level Brewing produced 225 barrels, with production expected to increase in 2020. Its taproom currently has 10 employees. For Williams, who launched the brewery in 2011 (the first Haywood County brewery of the modern craft beer era), seeing the business he created change hands is bittersweet. But, he’s ready for new adventures and endeavors in this next chapter of his life. “My goal was to always make a place where I could expand people’s knowledge of Waynesville, make us a destination to come back to,” Williams said. “Seeing [all these old] photos of people enjoying our beer at the lake and at the beach or on a mountain or hike means more to me because those people choose to have fun and include our beer.” www.froglevelbrewing.com or www.7clansbrewing.com.

“My goal was to always make a place where I could expand people’s knowledge of Waynesville, make us a destination to come back to.” — Clark Williams, founder/owner of Frog Level Brewing

Folk School offers ‘Local Standby’ program Western North Carolina residents are now eligible for halfoff tuition for all 2020 classes at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. The Local Standby program provides full and part-time residents 50 percent off any full-tuition course on a space-available, standby basis. Students can participate in an array of week-long and weekend classes including blacksmithing, pottery, jewelry, woodworking, and cooking. Nineteen counties are eligible for the Local Standby program, including Cherokee, Clay, Buncombe, Henderson, Macon, Jackson, Swain, Madison, Graham, and Transylvania counties in North Carolina including the Qualla Boundary; Fannin, Gilmer, Rabun, Towns, and Union counties in Georgia; and Polk and Monroe county in Tennessee. In its 95th year, John C. Campbell Folk School is expanding on a newly finalized strategic plan to strengthen local community relations and enhance programming to diversify its student base. Created with the help of instructors, students, and local communities, the plan also includes improvements to

infrastructure, development of staff and resident artists, and continued financial strength. All students interested must request a “Local Standby” discount at the time of registration and will be confirmed 14 days before the class start date. Students must present a valid driver’s license, voter registration card, or tax bill showing their local address. For more detail on class information and descriptions, visit www.folkschool.org or call 800.FOLK.SCHOOL. Founded in 1925, John C. Campbell Folk School is a not-forprofit 501(c)(3) organization offering adults over 850 week-long and weekend classes year-round in traditional and contemporary craft, music, and dance. The Folk School is a Historic District and a landmark on the National Registry of Historic Places. Through values of joy, kindness, and stewardship in a noncompetitive environment, the Folk School hopes to transform lives and bring others together for experiences in learning that spark their self-discovery.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Jamming with friends. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)

If your favorite restaurant is doing takeout service, be sure to purchase a gift card (and tip well). Any support for local businesses will ensure survival in the long run.

ell, it appears we’re If you have (or know of) an elderly person (family, currently in the “new friend or neighbor), call them and see if they normal,” eh? need anything, whether it be getting groceries or My apartment in downsimply chatting over the phone about nothing town Waynesville is about a and everything. mile or so from our newsroom. It’s a drive that I make Take time to go for a hike or anything that involves every morning, usually amid an immersion in Mother Nature, a slight busy streets and hurried folks disconnection and distraction from all of the on the sidewalks just starting noise. Clear your head and take a deep breath. their day. But, today (Tuesday mornKindness breeds kindness. Don't forget that. Look ing or “press day”), the streets around and see how you can help within your were somewhat silent. community. It all adds up. Nobody on the sidewalks Above all, remember that we truly are all in this either. And it’s never been together, and together we will prevail for the beteasier to find a parking spot terment of humanity. in downtown. Some of the businesses along Main Street humanity. Remember: the government is are closed until further notice, as are estabalways weird and uncomfortable, no matter lishments where we all go to eat and drink the situation. when the day is over and we just want to And yet, I believe in the power of unity kick back and relax. in dark times. Hunker down and ride out It’s a surreal scene overtaking our daily the storm. Looking around society, we're lives, where each moment we’re not really actually at a standstill in our modern sure what will happen next. This invisible world, probably for the first (and maybe enemy has such a power and grip over only) time amid our current technological what you and I will do for the foreseeable future. Confusion and misinformation, and bombardment. We're actually sitting still, if but for this yet this eerie and calm solitude blanketing moment and crossroads in our history. the planet remains. What creativity will flourish from this? What One wonders how all of this will shake beautiful music and art will come to out. Creepy as hell? Definitely. But, I'm an fruition? Shit, people are going to finally eternal optimist. I hold out hope for

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dust off that "to do list" book on the shelf and flip to page one. Perhaps new hobbies will emerge in people’s lives who now have time to try other things, the trails that will be hiked to clear one's head, the friendships strengthened, the family bonds tightened, the love solidified between two souls, and so forth. I also think of the countless folks that will seize this moment to drop the monotony and oblivious nature of their everyday lives and see this as an opportunity to pursue their wildest dreams. What do you (and all of us) have to lose at this point? Regardless, this is my focus now: quality time with loved ones. I live alone in a small apartment in a downtown. And it's been awful quiet lately here in the normally tourist packed mountain town of Waynesville. My lifeblood is human connection, conversation and music. I crave it constantly, always have and always will. And I've been starving for those three things as of late, I think we all have for good measure. So, on Monday evening, I spent the evening amid a homemade dinner, conversation and jamming at my dear friend's cabin atop a mountain in the depths of the Balsam Mountains on the Haywood and Jackson County line. I even was up there rocking out my ukulele (beginner style) with two incredibly talented musician friends (and brothers in arms). With bellies full of stir-fry and cold craft ales, the three of us started toying around with whatever songs were on our minds. The works of quirky rock act Ween kept popping up, which led to a “Roses Are Free” jam. It’s a melody that holds a special place in my heart, as seen by its cover in performances by jam-band Phish, a group that is a pillar of my musical existence. And when I think of Phish, I think of back home in Upstate New York and Vermont. That band and its music are part of the foundation of where I grew up, and where the ensemble formed: the Champlain Valley. Memories of my native North Country, of faces I dearly miss all the time, but seemingly more so in these uncertain times. I hope they are finding solace in holding steady through all of this. But, mostly, I hope they know that each of them is on my mind, usually within moments held close in my thoughts. Standing in a jam circle in the cabin, it felt wild to learn a couple new chords and how to play "Franklin's Tower" (Grateful Dead) on the ole uke. What was even more wild? In my four hours or so up there on the mountain, I didn't think once about the outside world. It was the first inner peace I've felt all week, that heaviness in my journalist heart of genuine love and compassion. Stay safe out there. Seek good company. Pick up that instrument. Write that poem. Grill that burger. Sip that drink with gusto. Lay low and aim high with your heart and soul. Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

Confession is good for the soul ome bare their souls to priests and ministers. Some seek out therapists and counselors. Some look for help from friends and family members. And some write books. Saint Augustine of Hippo is the granddaddy of all such written confessionals. In his Confessions, he writes with unblinking eyes of all the wrongs he has done in his life, from stealing apples as a child to his mistresses and his wayward path before becoming a Christian. From him are descended the likes of Thomas De Quincy and his Writer Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Whittaker Chambers of Witness fame, and Sylvia Plath’s account of her mental illness in The Bell Jar. Writers who undertake such a journey, who are prepared to dissect themselves and examine the pieces, undoubtedly seek to heal, to set the record straight, to look for deeper meaning as to who and what they are, and to perform last rites over a past gone wrong. The best of these memoirs are well-written, unclouded by self-pity or by narcissism, and hopeful in their quest to inspire readers facing similar trials. In Deep Cover: A Memoir of Hiding While Dying to be Seen (Author Academy Elite, 2019, 202 pages) Nadia Dean hits the bull’s eye on this target. Here she tells of her decades-long struggle with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), and the numerous means — therapy, medication, alcohol and men — she employed to fight against a condition that for a long time remained hidden from her. Here, too, she tells of her erratic forays into the world of work: singing, photography, flight school, television news and filmmaking. But the main thrust of her story has to do with the abusive men who for so long held

Jeff Minick

power over her. She sums up this situation in this way: “It is one thing to recognize that you have been betrayed by your father, your brother, your husband, your culture, and your

country. It takes a deeper level of insight to see that you have also betrayed yourself.” Dean grew up in an American home divided by culture and religion. Her father was Lebanese and Muslim; her mother was American and Christian. Her well-educated

father earned a good living as a professor, but was domineering, erratic in his mood swings, and often berated his wife and two children for minor failings. As an adolescent, Dean lived in fear of her older brother, Sami, who frequently beat her simply for the pleasure of tormenting her. A narcissist and a psychopath, he stole money from Dean and from his mother, spent wildly on drugs, and was murdered in his twenties for the money in his wallet. Dean’s husband was a chronic liar — he told her, for example, that he was Lebanese when he was actually Palestinian — a thief since boyhood, and a narcissist like Dean’s brother. He tricked her into marrying him so that he could enter the United States, was fired from job after job for on-site theft or from sheer incompetence, slept with other women, and may have become involved with a terrorist cell. After Dean finally threw him out of the house and out of her life, he stalked her for several years. She approached the federal government, asking repeatedly to have him deported for fraud, and became aware he had become an FBI informant and would remain in the United States. Other men, especially a boyfriend, Cody, and a fiancé, Aswad, also abused Dean, both

physically and verbally. In Dean’s statement above, she mentions being “betrayed by her culture.” This part was a little confusing, as Dean is a product of two cultures: American and Middle Eastern. If she means her Islamic culture, then the men in her life — her father; a fiancé; her first husband; an avuncular older man, Zachariah Oweiss, an Egyptian Muslim, and Dean’s friend and physician who murders his wife Marianne in an honor killing, beating her head in with a mallet — seem to reflect customs and attitudes very much in line with their background and culture. Insistent on dominating their wives and children, these fathers and husbands give real meaning to the phrase “toxic masculinity” that some people fling about so carelessly these days. As we follow Nadia Dean’s story, our admiration for her mother grows. She is a rock in Dean’s life, always there when she needs her, always ready to give advice or help when she is able. “My amazing mother,” Dean writes, “became my anchor, many times saving my life.” At one point, her mother, little loved in her own marriage, tells Dean, “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” Her illnesses, her fears of abandonment from a tender age, clashes in the home growing up, always trying to please her father, playing into the hands of narcissistic men, looking, as the old country song would put it, “for love in all the wrong places:” Nadia Dean endured many challenges, and in the end overcame them. Deep Cover should inspire not just women who are in similar circumstances, but is a reminder to all of us to pick ourselves up when we are knocked down, dust ourselves off, and continue marching along the path of life. At the end of Deep Cover, on her way home from her father’s funeral, Dean recollects the men in her life who have hurt her and thinks, I have survived my tormentors. Sometimes mere survival is a triumph. (Jeff Minick is a writer and teacher. minick0301@gmail.com)

Kathryn Byer Memorial Poetry Contest The Kathryn Byer Memorial Poetry Contest contest celebrates our mountains and our connection to them in our everyday lives. It is open to all Jackson County students, K-12. The contest is now dedicated to the memory of Kathryn Byer, whose devotion to poetry was an invaluable asset to our mountain community. The poets are divided into three categories: K-4th grade, 5th-8th grade, and 9-12th. Three winners, in addition to Honorable Mentions, will be chosen in each category. Poems should be no longer than 40 lines, but can be much shorter, of course. The deadline for submission is April 10. Poems should be submitted to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, either in person, by snail mail or by email to more@citylightsnc.com. Include “Poetry Contest” in the subject line. Teachers may submit poems written by their students, or the poets or family members may do so on their own. Include the name and age category of the poet. The winners in each category will receive gift certificates to City Lights Bookstore and will be invited to read at Greening up the Mountains at 3 p.m. April 25 at City Lights Bookstore. Winners will be announced by April 20. For more information, contact at 828.586.9499.

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

The Chestnut Mountain property will offer hikers some beautiful vistas. SAHC photo

Keeping the doorstep green Canton likely to receive 448 acres for outdoor rec BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER f all goes as planned, Canton will soon have a 448-acre park for hiking, mountain biking and other outdoor recreation activities just a mile from town limits. The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy hopes to close on the property, known as the Chestnut Mountain Tract and currently owned by Canton Motorsports LLC, within the next couple months. “It’s amazing what’s going to happen, not just for quality of life and economic development, but also at the end of the day we preserve 450 acres which could have been developed by who knows what,” Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers said during a March 12 town meeting. “We kept that the way God intended it, and now we’re using it.” SAHC has been working on the purchase for much of the past year, applying for grants and working with donors to pull together the funds needed to buy the property outright. In September, the land trust was awarded $1.2 million from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, with the Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina contributing $25,000 with a grant announced in November. However, it wasn’t until last week that the land trust publicly announced the project, following a $150,000

N.C. Department of Justice Environmental Enhancement Grant. “It’s great news,” said Hanni Muerdter, conservation director for SAHC. “We’re really thankful for all the funding that’s happening around this project.”

The eastern box turtle is one of the many wildlife species to find a home on the property. SAHC photo

GIFT TO THE TOWN SAHC is still in the due diligence phase of the purchase and had hoped to close by the end of the month. However, a contract extension was necessary to resolve some details of the transaction. The land trust has secured private gifts for approximately half of the purchase price and grants for most of the remainder, said Muerdter, but it is currently fundraising for about $350,000 to complete the purchase and cover transaction costs. The Conservation Fund has offered a bridge loan to allow SAHC to go through with the purchase as it continues to fundraise the final dollars. A native of Bethel, Muerdter said that she remembers being in high school when plans were being laid to turn the property into a speedway. Those dreams never came to fruition, and the property was never developed. “Now that we’re working to secure the property for conservation, my hope is that the permanent protection of this land will protect wildlife habitat and water, while also allowing a place for the community to enjoy,” she said. The Chestnut Mountain Tract is one of the

“It is the intent of the town with assistance from Haywood County and with some of the other partners you’ll hear about over time to turn this into a major outdoor recreation venue concentrating on mountain biking, hiking, walking.” — Zeb Smathers

last large-acreage properties left along the Haywood-Buncombe county line, and conserving it is important for several reasons, said Muerdter. It’s already been shown to be an important corridor for wildlife movement, and with Asheville-associated development pushing ever outward it’s important to protect these last swathes of undeveloped acreage while it’s still possible. “If you live in the Town of Canton or Clyde or Waynesville, you have to go to the edges of the county to get to public trails or the Blue Ridge Parkway, Shining Rock, the Smokies,” said Muerdter. “There’s not much large acreage if you live close to town. But this could potentially provide that opportunity.” SAHC plans to gift the land to the Town of Canton, with Haywood County collaborating on management. The transfer will likely take place about a year after the sale to give SAHC time to, among other things, determine what types of conservation easements to place on the property and where to locate them. As a land trust, SAHC shies away from owning places that are for public recreation, preferring instead to transfer them to public entities. Luckily, both Canton and Haywood County are excited about the opportunity. It’s a “gamechanger,” a “tremendous opportunity,” Smathers told his board. “It is the intent of the town with assistance from Haywood County and with some of the other partners you’ll hear about over time to turn this into a major outdoor recreation venue concentrating on mountain biking, hiking, walking,” he said. “There are a lot of things it could be. We will take this slow. We’ll have a lot of public input. I want to hear a lot of thoughts. We’ll also be applying for a lot of grants over time.” “One of the things that the county was looking at doing with their recreation program was moving more out of a brick-andmortar and sports teams into a more outdoor recreation aspect, and this project came along at just as perfect timing as you could get,” said Haywood County Program Administrator David Francis. “Being up there, you can see a lot of potential.”

AFTER THE PURCHASE Right now, the plan is to develop trails for hiking and mountain biking on the property, with an emphasis on accessibility for all ages and skill levels. The property has some topography, but it’s not crazy steep — elevation varies between a low elevation of 2,365 and a high of 2,555. While SAHC plans to give Canton the land outright, it won’t be providing the funds needed to turn the property into a recreation destination. Planning, building and maintaining the trails, parking areas, picnic spots or whatever else ends up being built on the land will take time and cost money. “The idea is to try to leverage and lean on a lot of different resources to help make a thing like this happen,”

Riley Howell race postponed

Celebrating a $150,000 grant from the N.C. Department of Justice are (from left), Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, SAHC Conservation Director Hanni Muerdter, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein and Haywood County Program Administrator David Francis.

written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath

PLAN… DON’T PANIC… Whether you’re planning for a hurricane, a blizzard or to be quarantined for a pandemic it doesn’t hurt to have some emergency food supplies on hand that can easily be turned into meals. As long as you have power and water you’ll still be able to cook meals and store your fresh and frozen foods. What are some things you might want to have on hand for easy meals for your family? Suggestions from some of my twitter friends: • Carina Venter, PhD, RD – “…I always have dried pasta and pesto in my pantry…and of course baked beans” • Lisa Wheeler, PAC - “Kraft macaroni and cheese..” • Alyssa Haberman, RDN – “…frozen entrees… frozen meats… frozen veggies…” • Eleni Gatsios, MA, RDN, CNSC, FAND – “…all kinds of grains, nuts/nut butters, dried fruit, honey, teas…” • Elizabeth Campa – “…Individually packed scrambled egg mix…” 5 EASY MEAL IDEAS: 1. Boxed Macaroni and Cheese + frozen or fresh vegetables like broccoli or mixed vegetables 2. Baked potato topped with canned chili and grated cheese 3. Scrambled eggs or omelet + cheese + fresh or frozen vegetables 4. Frozen cheese pizza topped with fresh, frozen or canned vegetables 5. Quesadilla stuffed with mashed canned black beans, cheese & salsa

#QUARANTINEKITCHEN Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN

Smoky Mountain News

Chestnut Mountain Property is ecologically important, but it doesn’t have these super significant plant communities, so the Chestnut Mountain Project is actually a pretty suitable one for conservation and recreation working together.” Canton isn’t the only town in Western North Carolina to be getting into the outdoor recreation business. Since the 1990s, Sylva’s 1,088-acre Pinnacle Park has offered several high-exertion, high-reward hiking trails. Like Rough Creek, the area once served as the town’s water supply but is now used for recreation. Last year, Sylva increased that holding by 40 percent when it purchased the 441-acre Blackrock Creek tract, which abuts Pinnacle Park. Like Canton, Sylva is partnering with county government on the project, though no public planning process has yet begun. Similarly, development of the Chestnut Mountain property will take time, said Francis. “It’s a pretty exciting project that we’re working on, but the thing is that we need to remember we still haven’t bought the property,” he said. “We’re in the planning phase right now, so this is a project that is not going to be ready to go as soon as we buy the property.” It will require public input, engineering studies, planning and fundraising to pull off. “If we got something done in three years,” he said, “I’d think it’s great.”

Ingles Nutrition Notes March 18-24, 2020

said Muerdter. However, once developed, recreational opportunities on the tract could prove pivotal for the town’s future. In his comments, Smathers compared the possible impact to that of DuPont State Recreational Forest opening in Transylvania and Henderson counties, spurring the birth of various biking shops, outdoors stores and breweries in the area. “We are at the forefront of this,” said Smathers. “As Asheville comes our way, something we hear is we’re looking for quality of life, we’re looking for recreation. We’re putting it at the doorstep.” If the purchase and transfer go through, the Chestnut Mountain Property would not be the only large, forested tract owned by the town. Canton also manages the Rough Creek Watershed, an 870-acre property that once served as the town’s water source. Containing a diverse plant and animal community similar to that found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it contains a lightly used network of hiking trails and was home to a community of pioneers from the 1800s through the early 1900s. According to Muerdter, the properties will compliment each other nicely. “Rough Creek Watershed is really beautiful, but it’s also hard to get to,” she said. “This property is so much more accessible, and the Rough Creek Watershed also has these high-elevation glade communities that are really ecologically significant. This

outdoors

A race scheduled for April 4 honoring hometown hero Riley Howell has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. Both the Mighty Four Miler, which would have raised money for the Riley Howell Foundation Fund, and the Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon, will no longer take place as scheduled. These races will instead be held in Waynesville on Saturday, Oct. 24. Runners who are not able to race in October will be allowed to credit their entry fees toward the 2021 races.

The Riley Howell Foundation Fund seeks to help people affected by gun violence in honor of Howell, who died on April 30, 2019, after he charged a gunman who opened fire in the classroom where he was a student at UNC Charlotte. Investigators said that Howell’s actions undoubtedly saved multiple lives, but he lost his own in the process. Donations to the fund can still be made online at www.rileyhowellfoundation.org/donate or by mailing checks with “Riley Howell Foundation Fund” in the memo line to CFWNC, 4 Vanderbilt Park Drive, Suite 300, Asheville, NC 28803.

Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian

@InglesDietitian Leah McGrath - Dietitian 800.334.4936 Ingles Markets… caring about your health

outdoors

New book takes note of nature

Become a Master Gardener Participants are wanted for the 2020 Macon County Master Gardener Volunteer Program, with the first session slated for 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, April 3. Classes will be held during the same time period every Friday for 11-12 weeks at the Environmental Resource Center in Franklin. Students will receive 38-42 hours of training in subjects such as bulbs, vegetables, fruits, herbs, berries, pruning, grafting, native plants, organic gardening, disease and more. Master Gardener certification will be given to those who complete training, pass a take-home exam and participate in a sufficient amount of volunteer service. The $120 course fee covers all materials, with applications due Friday, March 27. Call 828.349.2046 to request an application.

March 18-24, 2020

FACES

Local writer Brannen Basham will present his new book, A Guide to the Wonderful World Around Us: Notes on Nature, at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva.

The book covers 60 different naturebased topics, many of which focus on the mountains of Western North Carolina, with chapter titles including The Natural World, Fantastic Plants, Our Animal Friends,

Strictly Insects (Mostly Pollinators), Human Impact & Innovation, and A Look to the Future. “This guide is a collection of notes on nature covering flora, fauna, and the fantastic wonders of the world around us,” Basham writes in the book’s introduction. “There are some special highlights of the Southeastern United States, and even more specifically, of the region where I currently call home in the mountains of Western North Carolina.” Basham is a regular contributor to Smoky Mountain Living Magazine and The Sylva Herald, with his work most recently featured in the pollinator-focused publication 2 Million Blossoms. He and his wife Jill Jacobs own Spriggly’s Beescaping, a nature education and habitat restoration business dedicated to increasing environmental awareness. The book is available at regional bookstores, as well as Amazon, Etsy and Audible. www.sprigglys.com.

Grow some fruit trees Learn how to manage a home orchard during a workshop offered 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 26, at the Macon County Extension Center in Franklin. The program will cover the cultural needs of apple, pear, peach and other fruit trees. Topics will include site selection; differences between dwarf, semidwarf and seedling trees; proper soil conditions; pollination requirements; differences in cultivars; chilling requirements; fertility needs; tree spacing and general pruning principles. Common disease and insect problems — and possible control options — will also be discussed. Sign up at www.eventbrite.com/e/managing-your-home-orchard-registration-97618632959. For more information, contact Christy Bredenkamp at 828.349.2046 or clbreden@ncsu.edu.

HAYWOOD

Stanberry Insurance Smoky Mountain News

C HASE K RESS & G ORHAM B RADLEY

tanberry Insurance Agency is an extremely proud member of The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce. For over 40 years Stanberry Insurance has supported individuals and businesses of Western North Carolina. The Haywood County Chamber has greatly assisted us by creating advertising opportunities and networking events to promote the products and services we offer. As an Agency who has experts in personal, business, and benefits insurance, we feel our partnership with The Haywood County Chamber has played a critical role in our ability to serve the citizens of the region.

828.456.3021 HaywoodChamber.com 30

Jackson County TDA photo Logo courtesy of SCC Graphic Design Students. All proceeds beneﬁt the Jackson County Humane Society.

Visit us on Facebook or email barwatt@hotmail.com for more info

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outdoors

Explore in silence See what silence can do during a 7-mile hike of the Bartram Trail on Thursday, March 26. The group, led by Alarka Expeditions, will hike from Wayah Bald to Lake Nantahala in utter silence, with breaks for observation and a chance to compare notes

at the end of the day. It’s recommended to read Zen on the Trail by Christopher Ive before attending, but not required. $35 per person, with the hike leaving at 9 a.m. and returning by 4 p.m. The hike is mostly downhill, but can be steep in places. Limited to 12 attendees.

National forest burns planned

NOC opens new outpost

er trek than the scenic drives and river crossings required to get to the previous location by Horn’s Creek. In addition to offering a brand new building and more accessible location, NOC

Laura S. Miller, FNP-C

NOW OFFERING:

828-631-3181

Coronavirus testing SICK VISITS: Flu, colds, sore throat, ear pain

90 E. Main Street Ste. 2 | Sylva

DOT physicals On-site lab services & X-ray Much more! Serving ages 2 years and up will also partner with Rock/Creek, which will operate a 1,200-square-foot retail shop offering a variety of gear and equipment.

Across from Dunkin’ Donuts HOURS:

Smoky Mountain News

Nantahala Outdoor Center will mark the 2020 season by opening a new Ocoee location complete with a brand new outpost building. “We’re all really excited about the move to a new location and the newly built facility,” said Ocoee River Manager Jesse Wilson. “This move is really a guestfocused decision for us. It will allow us to make the operations that much more convenient for them and allow for more interaction with their guides.” Several years in the making, the new location is located directly on U.S. 64 in Benton, Tennessee, resulting in a much easi-

URGENT CARE — NOW OPEN!

March 18-24, 2020

Prescribed burns are planned for the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest over the coming months, aiming to create healthier, more diverse and more resilient forests that better support wildlife. Burn areas in the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest are: n Balds, 550 acres in Haywood County. n Sams Knob, 200 acres in Haywood County. n Pink Beds, 2,000 acres in Transylvania and Henderson counties. n Bear Pen, 1,500 acres in Transylvania County. n Bent Creek, 117 acres in Buncombe County. Burn dates and number of units burned will depend on weather conditions. Prescribed burning will only occur when environmental conditions related to wind and relative humidity permit.

Mon-Thurs: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Fri: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat & Sun: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Learn More at www.mountainparkuc.com 31

outdoors

Estate Planning Estate Administration Trustee Services If you have limited mobility, contact us about an in-home visit. The Law Offices of

Jeffrey W. Norris & Associates, PLLC

828-452-2221

Norris Professional Building 177 North Main St., Waynesville www.norrisandassoc.com www.norriselderservices.com

Easter Brunch

Maggie Valley Club & Resort April 12th | 11AM - 2 PM

BREAKFAST ITEMS Florentine Eggs Benedict, Rocky Road Pancakes & Maple Syrup, Cheesy Stone Ground Grits, Biscuits, House Baked Breads, Jellies

Nominations sought for small game award Nominations for the Lawrence G. Diedrick Small Game Award are open through 5 p.m. May 1, seeking individuals or organizations whose actions have significantly and positively impacted N.C.’s small game populations. The nomination period was extended from the original deadline of May 1 due to the incorrect email address listed originally. Nominations should be submitted to stacey.thorp@ncwildlife.org or mailed to N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Wildlife Management Division, c/o Diedrick Small Game Award, 1722 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1722. Winners are selected by the Commission’s Small Game Committee and will be recognized formally at the Commission’s business meeting in October with a plaque and wildlife print. Nomination forms are available at www.ncwildlife.org/portals/0/news/documents/diedrick_award_form_1-fillable.pdf. Nominations should include a written explanation two pages or less detailing why the nominee should receive the award.

Wildlife experts wanted Nominations are wanted for three seats on the Nongame Wildlife Advisory Committee to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. This board advises the commission on nongame wildlife conservation issues across the state. Nominations are sought for expert and at-large seats. Nominees for expert seats must have extensive expertise or experience in matters dealing with nongame wildlife conservation in North Carolina, and at-large nominees should come from organizations that provide a stakeholder voice in wildlife resource conservation. The 19-member committee meets four times per year, typically at commission headquarters in Raleigh. New members will be appointed in July. A nomination form is available at www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/News/documents/NWAC_Nomination_Form_%20202 0.pdf. Email nominations to shauna.glover@ncwildlife.org or mail them to the Nongame Wildlife Advisory Committee, Attn: Shauna Glover, Wildlife Management Division, MSC 1721, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1700.

SALADS Spring Green Salad, Caesar Salad, Dressings & Condiments, Ambrosia Salad, New Potato Salad, Seafood-Shrimp Salad, English Pea Salad, Deviled Eggs, Fruits & Cheeses

March 18-24, 2020

SIDES Broccoli-Havarti Cheese Casserole, Herb Roasted Baby Spring Vegetables, Buttermilk Potato Mash

ENTREES MVC Fried Chicken and Chicken Tenders, Grilled Whole Salmon Sides, Blackberry Beurre Rouge, Maple & Brown Sugar Glazed Spiral Ham, Prime Rib AuJus with Beefeaters Sauce, Rosemary Leg of Lamb with Mint Jelly

DESSERT Grande Dessert Bar, Chocolate Bread Pudding, Cheesecake, Banana Pudding, Eclairs, Cakes, Cookies & More!

$32.95 adults | $12.95 kids, 12 & under

Smoky Mountain News

Reservations are required, please call to RSVP 828.926.4848

Puzzles can be found on page 38 These are only the answers.

@SmokyMtnNews 32

Lake Junaluska cleanup a success A young volunteer helps collect litter from the shoreline. Lake Junaluska photo

Changes include: n The number of permits for the Atlantic Flyway in North Carolina will be reduced from 6,115 to 4,895 due to a decrease in the population of eastern tundra swans. n Scaup hunting days will be restricted due to federal frameworks. States can choose between multiple options to accomplish this. n Federal frameworks will increase the brant hunting season from 30 to 50 days with a two-bird daily bag limit. n The framework ending date for rails, gallinules and moorhens will be extended from the last Sunday in January to an ending date of Jan. 31. Find more information or submit comments through March 27 at www.ncpaws.org/paws/wrc/publiccomments/publiccomments.aspx.

FIND US AT:

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Mission: Support a safe community by implementing prevention activities, promoting safe choices, and reducing unsafe conditions for our children and families.

JOIN US FOR OUR QUARTERLY MEETINGS

NOON-2PM at Swain Health Department • JUNE 4

WANT TO GET INVOLVED? Contact Trish Hipgrave (828) 488-3198 ext. 2027 trish.hipgrave@swaincountync.gov

• SEPTEMBER 3 • DECEMBER 3

Smoky Mountain News

WAYNESVILLE TIRE, INC. Tires Brakes Alignment Road Service Tractor Tires

March 18-24, 2020

Coalition for a Safe & Drug Free Swain County

• • • • •

Public comment is wanted on migratory game bird hunting seasons in North Carolina, and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission also wishes to inform hunters of several important changes for 2020-21.

outdoors

The local community rallied to clean up Lake Junaluska during the annual Lake Cleanup Day Saturday, March 7, collecting 184 bags of trash. “We are grateful for a large number of volunteers this year who came to help us with our clean up effort,” said Lake Cleanup Day Project Coordinator Jim Pearson. “The huge turnout also allowed us to clean County Road, Highway 19 and Access Road. These roads surround our lake, and need cleaning regularly. Trash carelessly thrown along Highway 19 easily migrates its way into the lake, with the assistance of a westerly breeze.” Despite frigid temperatures and brisk winds, 112 volunteers worked the 3 miles of shoreline, hailing from Waynesville, Clyde, Maggie Valley and Asheville. Efforts were led by 71 Junaluskans and included groups from Boy Scout Troop 370, the Tuscola Key Club, Haywood Waterways Association, First United Methodist Church’s Clean & Green team and youth group and the Smokey Mountain Hiker’s Club. Much of the trash contained in the 184 bags was Styrofoam, with other common materials including plastic bottles, broken glass, fishing lures and line, plastic straws and aluminum cans. Volunteers also removed more than 40 cubic yards of logs, driftwood and construction debris from the shoreline.

Comment on bird season

Authorized Motor Fleet Management Maintenance

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WNC Calendar

Smoky Mountain News

PLEASE CHECK WITH ORGANIZERS TO ENSURE EVENTS HAVE NOT BEEN CANCELED BEFORE TRAVELING TO AN EVENT LISTED BELOW.

COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Down Home NC will host a Public Town Hall for Municipal Government at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, at the Down Home Office, 301 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. • The Evergreen Foundation will host information sessions in each of the seven western counties for nonprofit organizations and agencies on March 25-26 at the following times and locations: 10 a.m. on March 25 at Moss Library in Hayesville; 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, at Cherokee Public Library in Murphy; 1:30 p.m. on March 25 at Graham County Library in Robbinsville; 9 a.m. on March 26 at Haywood County Public Library in Waynesville; 10:30 a.m. on March 26 at Macon County Public Library in Franklin; 12:30 p.m. on March 26 at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City; 2 p.m. on March 26 at Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Info and registration: dcoleman@evergreennc.org or 421.7483. • Down Home Haywood holds its monthly community meetings at 1 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month at First United Methodist Church, 566 Haywood St., in Waynesville. Tackling issues like healthcare, wages, housing and more. chelsea@downhomenc.org. • Cashiers Area Chamber is seeking feedback to improve visitors’ experiences to the area. Take the survey at: tinyurl.com/y6w4uqyo.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “How to Write a Business Plan,” which will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, in Clyde. Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Registration is underway for “Marketing Your Business,” a seminar that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:308:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31, in Clyde. Info and Registration: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Haywood Community College’s Workforce Continuing Education Department is offering a wide variety of courses. For a complete listing: www.haywood.edu. Info: 627.4669. • Concealed carry handgun is offered every other Saturday 8:30am-5pm starting at Mountain Range indoor shooting range. Lunch provided. Class $60. 452.7870 or mountainrangenc@yahoo.com. • Small business owners can find materials and services to support business growth at Fontana Regional Library’s locations in Macon, Jackson and Swain Counties. Computer classes and one-on-one assistance available. 586.2016 or www.fontanalib.org.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Great Smokies Eco Adventure, a multifaceted fundraising event for Discover Life in America set for April 19-21 near Gatlinburg, Tenn. Includes glamping at A Walk in the Woods’ luxurious off-grid camp near Cosby, gourmet food and drink, guided nature hikes and live music. Cost: $1,500. Proceeds support DLiA, which coordinates the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in the park. www.dlia.org. • Stonehouse Pottery (Waynesville) will be doing an Open Studio Tour and Sale the first Sunday of each month to help support our local nonprofits. Each month

n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com highlights a different artist and that artists chooses his or her nonprofit. Stonehouse Pottery and the artist then give a portion of the proceeds as a donation to that nonprofit.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS • There is an open call currently underway for artisans, vendors and environmentally-themed booths at the 23rd annual Greening Up the Mountains, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in downtown Sylva. Applications can be downloaded at www.greeningupthemountains.com and will be accepted through March 15. greeningupthemountains@gmail.com.

and live auctions; refreshments. www.Macongop.com or Maconrepublicans@gmail.com. • The Swain County Democratic Party Convention and Potluck Lunch is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, at the Historic Calhoun Hotel, 135 Everett St., in Bryson City.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • Haywood Community College’s Library will hold a Book Sale from March 23-27 in Clyde. Sale hours are 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday. Info: 627.4551 or wrkinyon@haywood.edu. • City Lights Bookstore will host an event Saturday, March 28 for Brannen Basham, Sylva Herald weekly nature writer and contributor to Smoky Mountain Living magazine, release of her book “A Guide to the Wonderful World Around Us: Notes on Nature”. The event will feature a reading, native bee talk and Q&A at 3 p.m. www.sprigglys.com

• The historic Shelton House in Waynesville is currently in need of volunteers for an array of upcoming events. Alongside help for events and gatherings, the organization is also seeking a docent, gift shop attendee, data entry person, landscaper, handyperson, and other positions. Upcoming main events include the Blue Ridge Heritage Festival June 19-21, Shelton House Halloween “Haunting on the Hill” Oct. 27-31 and Shelton House “Tinsel Trail & Appalachian Christmas.” www.sheltonhouse.org or 452.1551.

• A poetry reading is held at 2 p.m. on the last Saturday of each month at Panacea in Waynesville. Bring poetry, essays and writings. poevampyre@gmail.com.

• Haywood Vocational Opportunities is seeking donations of goods, services, time and support for the second annual “HVO Stans Up to PTSD Veteran Community Resource, Education and Job Fair,” which will be held on June 27. 454.6857.

• “Nature Nuts: Skunks” program will be offered for ages 4-7 from 9-11 a.m. on March 25 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

KIDS & FAMILIES • Storytime for children is held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Mondays at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Info: 488.3030, ext. 130.

• Feline Urgent Rescue is seeking volunteers and sponsors. Info: 422.2704, www.furofwnc.org, www.facebook.com/furofwnc or 844.888.CATS (2287).

• “Eco Explorers: Compass” program will be offered for ages 8-13 from 1-3 p.m. on March 25 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• Cat adoption hours are from noon-5 p.m. on Fridays and noon-4 p.m. on Saturdays at 453 Jones Cove Road in Clyde. Adoption fee: $10 for cats one-year and older. Check out available cats at www.petharbor.com. 452.1329 or 550.3662.

• “Party with the Panthers for Sports Injury Prevention Month” is set for 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, in the high school gym. Info available for yearlong youth sports programs and sign-up deadlines.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • Sylva Yoga is offering Intro to Belly Dancing at 6:15 p.m. and Belly Dance Skills & Choreography at 7:15 p.m. on Fridays in Sylva. • Registration is underway for “The Artist’s Way” – a three-hour paddle trip on the Cullasaja ending below Currahee Brewing. Trip is set for April 23. Cost: $58 to rent a kayak or $35 if you bring your own. Register and get more info: www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcomingevents. • Sylva Yoga is offering a Mountains Songs for Soul Workshop from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, in Sylva.

• Registration is now open for the spring/summer PGA Jr. League team for players age 13 and younger of all skill levels. Team captain is Charlie Carswell, PGA golf professional. Deadline is April 30. Fee: $190 per player, includes practice sessions, matches, home and away jerseys, bag tag and more. Register: www.pgajrleague.com/sign-up. Info: 456.5777 or ctcarswell@lakejunaluska.com. • Registration is underway for the Challenger International Soccer Camp, which will be offered to ages 3-14 from July 20-24 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Costs vary based on age group from $90-197. Separate goalkeeper and scorer program is $25 for ages 6-14 from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday. Register: challengersports.com. Info: 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

SPIRITUAL • East Fork Baptist Church will hold a service at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 29, featuring Renewed Hope Ministries. Especially for those experiencing drug or alcohol addiction or families affected by addiction. More info on the church’s page on Facebook.

POLITICAL • Macon County Republican Party’s annual convention and precinct meetings are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, 1028 Georgia Rd., in Franklin. Silent

A&E CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • Gamblers Anonymous meets from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Grace Episcopal Church, 394 N. Haywood St., in Waynesville. Meet in the Community Room. 476.5054.

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 • James Lyle will be offering a “Sequential Art Class Series” running through May 23 at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. In this session, the class will participate in a group exercise dealing with the process of creating a “superhero” (or any other type of character in any media, really). Make your reservation and pre-payment today. Class fee is $20 for HCAC members or $25 for non-members. Cash and Checks made payable to James Lyle. Please call 828.452.0593 for more information. www.haywoodarts.org. • “Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope” – an award-winning film about Adverse Childhood Experiences – will be shown at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, at the Bethel Community Organization, 664 Sonoma Road in Waynesville. Brief discussion afterward. Info: 648.1358. • All women and teenage girls are invited to a presentation entitled: “Human Trafficking: In Our Shadows” scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 21, at First Baptist Church of Waynesville, 100 South Main Street. Speaker is Lt. Chris Chandler of Waynesville Police Department. • Alarka Expeditions will offer “The Artists Way” with James Nave from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on March 21, at Cowee Arts and Heritage Center in Franklin. Read more about Nave at www.jamesnave.com. To register: www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events. • Alarka Expeditions will offer “Seven Miles of Silence” from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 26 on a stretch of the Bartram Trail. Consider what you think of and what you observe when you’re alone in the forest. To register: www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events. • Registration is underway for the ninth annual Heritage Life Skills event offering classes in a variety of survival-related skills from May 8-10 at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. Bread-making, harvesting medicine plants and more. Cost: $135 or $60 for 18-under. Carolinareadiness.com. • The Weekly Open Studio art classes will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville, Instructor will be Betina Morgan. Open to all artists, at any stage of development, and in the medium of your choice. Cost is $25 per class. There will also be a Youth Art Class from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. Cost is $15 per class. Contact Morgan at 550.6190 or email bmk.morgan@yahoo.com. • Encouraging art classes for beginning through advanced adults are offered by the Inspired Art Ministry at the following times and dates: Drawing classes from 1-4 p.m. on Mondays; painting classes from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesdays. Info: 456.9197, charspaintings@msn.com or www.iamclasses.wbs.com. • Waynesville Art School offers “The Joy of Drawing,” Still Life in Color: Acrylic & Pastel and “Relief Printmaking” classes for adults at 303 N. Haywood Street. Info: 246.9869, info@waynesvilleartschool.com or WaynesvilleArtSchool.com. • Uptown Gallery will offer free open studio times from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Thursdays at 30 E. Main Street in Franklin. 349.4607, franklinuptowngallery@gmail.com or www.franklinup-

towngallery.com.

• Watercolor classes are set for 1:30 p.m. every third Saturday at the Creative Thought Center on Pigeon Street in Waynesville. Cost: $25 or $20 if you bring your own equipment. theHouseArtist@gmail.com. • The Dave Drake Studio Barn offers a variety of ceramic and raku classes by appointment as well as weekly drawing, writers and community knitters groups. Info: 787.2865.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • Botanist Tim Spira will present photographs of “Wildflowers of the Smoky Mountains” from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, in the Waynesville Library Auditorium. • Art exhibit, “Time and Again” – a glass works exhibit by Kit Paulson and SaraBeth Post – will take place through May 1 at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center in Cullowhee. arts.wcu.edu/museum or 227-ARTS. • A display featuring more than 50 pieces of art focused on generating public attention surrounding the unintended consequences of human interaction with nature will be on display through May 10 at the Baker Exhibit Center within the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. www.ncarboretum.org.

• The Museum of the Cherokee Indian has recently opened a major new exhibit, “People of the Clay: Contemporary Cherokee Potters.” It features more than 60 potters from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation, and more than one hundred works from 1900 to the present. The exhibit will run through April.

Outdoors

• Motion Makers Women’s Group cycling rides will be offered at 6 p.m. on Mondays and 10 a.m. on Wednesdays in Asheville. Monday rides meet at Ledford Parking Lot; Wednesday rides meet at Rice Pinnacle. Rides are 6-to-8 miles. Info and to RSVP: www.facebook.com/groups/977882092306563. • Registration is underway for the 10th annual Three River Fly Fishing Festival, which will be held April 30-May 2 in Highlands. Entry: $500 after. For info, to register or sponsor: hilary@highlandhiker.com or 526.0441. • Intro to Fly-Fishing will be offered to ages 12-up from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 23 and 31 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in

• The Nantahala National Forest, Tusquitee District is accepting public comments on a proposed weekly closure of Panther Top Shooting Range through March 20. Proposed closure would be from sunrise to noon on Thursdays starting April 1 for critical maintenance. Send comments to: sm.fs.r8nctuscom@usda.gov. • A program on “Winter Tree Identification” will be presented from noon-2 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, at Balsam Mountain Trust. Register: mskinner@bmtrust.org or 631.1062. • The U.S. Forest Service will hold a public meeting for Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest plans from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on March 24 at the First Presbyterian Church’s Tartan Hall, 26 Church St., in Franklin. Proposed plan at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/nprevision. • Registration is underway for the Landmark Outdoor Educator Semester, which is offered May 14-June 30, through Landmark Learning. www.landmarklearning.org. • An “Outdoor Skills – Fire & Shelter building” program will be offered to ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on March 30 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq. • Sons of the American Legion will present a Turkey Shoot at 9 a.m. every Saturday through April 11 at 171 Legion Dr. in Waynesville. $2 per round; refreshments provided. Weather permitting. 456.8691. • An easy cycling ride aiming to help people ease into a healthier lifestyle through cycling is offered in the Canton area, typically covering 8-10 miles. Road bikes are preferred, and helmets are required. Nobody will be left behind. A partnership of Bicycle Haywood N.C., the Blue Ridge Bike Club and MountainWise. For specific start times and locations: mttrantham@hotmail.com. • Volunteers are being sought to help re-pot native azaleas from 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays through Thursdays at the Southern Highlands Reserve in Lake Toxaway. For info, and to schedule a shift: anorton@southernhighlandsreserve.org. • A cycling ride leaves at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, with alternating starts at Smoky Mountain Bicycles and South Macon Elementary School in Franklin. Routes vary. Road bikes only. A no drop ride. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles, 369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com. Check the “Macon County Cyclists” Facebook page for updates. • A no-drop relaxed cycling road ride will roll from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays through the end of October from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva. Routes vary and are open to cyclists of all levels. Organized by Motion Makers, 586.6925.

MADELYN NIEMEYER REAL ESTATE BROKER

& Junie

• A weekly nighttime mountain bike ride is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Mondays from the Ledford Branch Trailhead at Bent Creek in Asheville. Organized by Motion Makers Bicycles. 633.2227. • Starting in June, a cycling ride will leave at 8 a.m. on Saturdays from South Macon Elementary School in Franklin. Routes vary with distances typically 15-25 miles. Road bikes only. A no drop ride. Organized by Smoky Mountain Bicycles, 369.2881 or info@smokymtnbikes.com. Check the “Macon County Cyclists” Facebook page for updates.

madelyn.niemeyer@nestrealty.com | 828.782.3257 NestRealty.com/Asheville

• A 25-mile cycling ride covering the back roads from Sylva to Balsam leaves at 6 p.m. Tuesdays from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva. The route includes 1,600 feet of elevation gain. Organized by Motion Makers, 586.6925. • An easy cycling ride aiming to help people ease into a healthier lifestyle through cycling is offered Thursday mornings in the Canton area, typically covering 8-10 miles. Road bikes are preferred and helmets are required. Nobody will be left behind. A partnership of Bicycle Haywood N.C., the Blue Ridge Bike Club and MountainWise. For specific start times and locations: mttrantham@hotmail.com. • A beginner-friendly social cycling ride for women will begin at 6:15 p.m. on Mondays from the Bent Creek Ledford Parking Lot, covering 5-to-8 miles of mountain bike trails. Start back in the fall. Organized By Motion Makers Bicycle Shop. 633.2227. • The Nantahala Hiking Club holds a Saturday Work Hike on the fourth Saturday of each month. 369.1983. • Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting volunteers to assist the Trails Forever trail crew for a rehabilitation project on the Rainbow Falls Trail from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. every Wednesday. Sign up or get more info: 497.1949, Adam_Monroe@nps.gov or https://friendsofthesmokies.org/trailsforever/v olunteer.

Dan Womack BROKER

828.

243.1126 MOUNTAIN REALTY

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• North Carolina residents are invited to participate in the “NC’s Candid Critters” – the largest camera trap survey ever. Residents of Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties can participate in a brief online training process then borrow a camera trap from any Fontana Regional Library location. Info: NCCandidCritters.org or www.fontanalib.org.

FARM AND GARDEN • A “Small Ruminant Workshop” will be held from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, March 21, in the Macon County Fairgrounds in Franklin. Topics include Parasite Control and Strategic Deworming; Reproduction and Breeding in Small Ruminants; and Forage and Pasture Management. Register: https://tinyurl.com/vetwqxq.

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• A program entitled “Backyard Birds: Keeping Chickens” will be offered from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, at the Waynesville Library Auditorium, 678 S. Haywood St. • Garden workdays are held from 3 p.m. until dusk every Wednesday at Cullowhee Community Garden, 65 S. Painter Road. Weeding, mulching, general garden maintenance. 587.8212.

Smoky Mountain News

• The Highlands Plateau Greenway will conduct its monthly workday from 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday, March 21, on the Greenway Trail. If interested, contact jward@ward-scott.com. Meet at large upper parking lot behind the Recreation Center.

• State officials will host a public hearing at 6p.m. on March 19 at A-B Tech Community College in Asheville to gather comments on the application for a 401 water quality certification submitted to the N.C. Division of Water Resources from Biltmore Farms, LLC. Written comments accepted through April 20: PublicComments@ncdenr.gov. View application online: https://tinyurl.com/s788ob8.

READY TO MOVE BOLDLY?

March 18-24, 2020

• Applications are being accepted for artists who want their work included in monthly gallery exhibits or retail spaces through the Haywood County Arts Council. HaywoodArts.org or GalleryGifts@HaywoodArts.org.

• “Casting for Beginners: Level I” will be offered to ages 12-up from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 18 at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education in Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

• A group road cycling ride will leave at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays through the end of October from Motion Makers Bicycle Shop in Sylva to tackle a 40-mile “race” to the Balsam Post Office, climbing 1,600 feet of elevation gain. Organized by Motion Makers, 586.6925.

wnc calendar

• Open Studio Wednesdays are from 6-10 p.m. at Waynesville Art School, 303 N. Haywood Street. $15 per session. Embrace your creativity while making art alongside other artists. Registration required: 246.9869 or WaynesvilleArtSchool.com.

Brevard. Online registration required: https://tinyurl.com/y53o5ddq.

147 Walnut St. • Waynesville 828-456-7376 • 1-800-627-1210

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Market WNC PLACE

Announcements

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Automobiles

2000 ACURA INTEGRA Reduced! $600 She was my daily driver for 5 years. Needs some work to run. Great for mechanically inclined person or use for spare parts. Clean title. 263,000 miles. Must pick up. West Waynesville. More pics on wncmarketplace.com. Call or text. 828.246.8092. Leave message if no answer.

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Employment FTCC - Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Department Chair for College and

March 18-24, 2020

Career Readiness/ AHS Senior Secretary - Corporate and Industry Training. PartTime Student Athletics Technician Department Chair - Medical Laboratory Technology. Department Chair for Mammography and Radiography Instructor. Funeral Service Instructor. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: faytechcc.peopleadmin.com/ Human Resources OfÂżFH 3KRQH 7342 Internet: www. faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer

FTCC - Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Accounting Technician - Curriculum and Continuing Education. Instructional Lab TechQLFLDQ )LWQHVV &HQWHU For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: faytechcc. peopleadmin.com/ HuPDQ 5HVRXUFHV 2IÂżFH 3KRQH Internet: www.faytechcc.edu. An Equal Opportunity Employer MEDICAL BILLING & CODING TRAINING. New Students Only. Call & Press 1. 100% online courses. Financial Aid Available for those who qualify. Call 833-990-0354

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THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT Of Social Services is recruiting for a Processing Assistant III. Duties will include reception, FRS\LQJ ÂżOLQJ VFDQQLQJ receiving and providing information to the public, data entry, and other related clerical tasks. Applicants should have excellent customer service skills, good computer skills, the ability to communicate effectively in person and by telephone, a general NQRZOHGJH RI RIÂżFH procedures, and the ability to learn and apply a variety of guidelines. The starting salary is $25,340. Applicants must have completed high school and have at least one year of clerical experience or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Applicants should complete a NC State PD-107 application and submit it to the Jackson County Department of Social Services 15 *ULIÂżQ 6WUHHW 6\OYD 1& 28779 or the NC Career Works Center by March 20, 2020. THE JACKSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT Of Social Services is recruiting for a Foster Care Social Worker in Child Welfare. This position will work with foster children and provide services to families where needs have been LGHQWLÂżHG 5HTXLUHV limited availability after hours as needed. The starting salary is $39,310.99, if fully TXDOLÂżHG 0LQLPXP TXDOLÂżFDWLRQV LQFOXGH a four year degree in a +XPDQ 6HUYLFH ÂżHOG Preference will be given to applicants with a Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s or Bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Degree in Social Work and/or experience providing Social Work services. Applicants should complete a NC State application form 3' DQG VXEPLW LW to the Jackson County Department of Social 6HUYLFHV *ULIÂżQ Street, Sylva, NC 28779, or to NCWorks Career Center by March 20, 2020.

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Lost & Found

LOST ROTTWEILER FAMILY MEMBERS Levi and Synn, brother and sister Rottweilers. They have been missing since 3/10 when they got away without their collars. Synn has a birth defect so her tail shorter than normal, Leviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tail is intact. Synn is EXTREMELY skiddish of strangers, and panics in strange places. Rabies shots current. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re vital family members and loved immeasurably. We will come anytime, day or night, to pick them up. 828-7725637 Warren Creek Road, Candler, NC haynie278@gmail.com

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ANSWERS ON PAGE 32

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www.smokymountainnews.com

March 18-24, 2020

WNC MarketPlace

And, as mentioned above, physical exertion does not have to be part of the equation. Here are Shinrin-yoku instructions

The naturalist’s corner BY DON H ENDERSHOT

Social distancing ne hears a lot, in these trying times about “social distancing,” “… a term that epidemiologists are using to refer to a conscious effort to reduce close contact between people and hopefully stymie community transmission of the [COVID-19] virus …” according to The Atlantic. This has such a negative vibe to it., I would posit a more positive action, one that would serve the same purpose, but with added benefits — “personal immersion.” I’m not setting out to avoid society, I’m setting out to embrace nature. Remember it’s spring. And with spring comes the migration of millions of neotropical migrants, while the brown-gray forest floor erupts in a kaleidoscope of colorful spring ephemerals. Need an excuse to get in the woods and enjoy this spectacle, well, now ya got one. Activities like birding, botanizing, paddling, hiking and more are great avenues for personal immersion in the wonderful and healing arms of nature. Activities that can be enjoyed solo or with a close friend or with — gasp! — family. The health benefits (physical and mental) of nature are widely recognized. Some of

from one Japanese author: “First, find a spot. Make sure you have left your phone and camera behind. You are going to be

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decisions we've ever made. Pamela's skilled marketing plans and the results she consistently achieves speak for themselves, and she did not fall short of the mark in the presentation of our home. She was punctual, articulate, completely prepared, and knocked the socks off of the competition. Professional photography showcased our property, and her marketing plan was well crafted with considerable time and effort involved. Her dedication paid off handsomely...she produced an acceptable offer within 48 hours of listing. In a transaction that presented numerous challenges, Pamela handled both sides of the transaction with great skill and transparency for all parties involved. Pamela is exemplary of the gold standard reputation of Beverly-Hanks within our local real estate community. We will hire her services again, without hesitation, for our future home sales and purchases." - Mr. Chastain

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Pamela Williams

Smoky Mountain News

Maggie Valley • $265,500

chose Pamela Williams to represent the listing of our “ Wehistoric home and, suﬃce to say, it was one of the best

March 18-24, 2020

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those benefits listed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation include boosting the immune system, lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, improving mood, increasing the ability to focus (even with children diagnosed with ADHD), accelerating recovery from illness or surgery, increasing energy levels and improving sleep. And it doesn’t take a 10-mile forced march through the woods to achieve these benefits. Simply sitting in a forest or in a park or on a greenway can reduce blood pressure and/or relieve stress. And these benefits are known round the world, making personal immersion especially applicable in the face of a pandemic. The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries coined a term — Shinrin-yoku — in 1982. The term basically translates as “forest bathing.” According to the Grow Wild blog, “Researchers, primarily in Japan and South Korea, have conducted studies on the health benefits of spending time amongst the trees, demonstrating that forest bathing positively creates calming neuro-psychological effects through changes in the nervous system, reducing the stress hormone cortisol and boosting the immune system.”

walking aimlessly and slowly. You don’t need any devices. Let your body be your guide. Listen to where it wants to take you. Follow your nose. And take your time. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get anywhere. You are not going anywhere. You are savoring the sounds, smells and sights of nature and letting the forest in.” These are trying times. One of the best ways to blunt the herd mentality is to reduce your own stress and anxiety. If you’re calm it has a calming effect on people. So get outside and practice some personal immersion; oh, and leave a loaf of bread and a roll of toilet paper for your Enjoying a little neighbor. You’ll feel personal immersion. better, I promise. (Don Hendershot is Don Hendershot photo a writer and naturalist. His book, A Year From the Naturalist’s Corner, Vol. 1, is available at regional bookstores or by contacting Don at ddihen1@bellsouth.net)

RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL BROKER ASSOCIATE EMAIL: PAMELAWILLIAMS@BEVERLY-HANKS.COM CELL: (803) 528-5039 OFFICE: (828) 452-5809 39

Smoky Mountain News March 18-24, 2020

Smoky Mountain News | March 18, 2020

Articles inside

Macon approves broad 2A, constitutional amendment

Feds clear the way for Catawba casino

Outdoors

Opinion

Major expansion proposed for former Belk building

A&E

Public, private organizations step up to fight pandemic

Camp with critters in Cashiers

Camp explores earth, space and in between

WCU, community colleges adjust plans ahead of virus

Camp Folkmoot connects kids and dance

The art of teaching art

Junaluska offers discounts for local youth groups

Local service industries brace for COVID-19 impact

WNC health officials prepared for Coronavirus