Back the Badge’ rally comes to Waynesville

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT S TAFF WRITER

Last week, as demonstrations were taking place across the nation to call attention to police brutality and racial injustice, Canton resident Becky Trull was struck with an idea.

“I was on Facebook last Sunday night at midnight, and I saw some of the posts, and the Lord just laid it on my heart — you need to do something,” Trull said.

What she did, along with friend Amy Lynn, was organize a march and rally designed to let Haywood County’s law enforcement and first responders know they have community support.

“About a week ago, last Sunday night, one of my friends and I started text messaging each other, saying, ‘Hey, we see all these people posting on Facebook but what if we actually all got together to pray for our community, to pray for our law enforcement?’” Lynn said.

Less than a week later, Trull and Lynn were just two of more than 100 people who marched from Waynesville’s police department to the Historic Haywood County Courthouse, holding signs, banners and flags.

“We never imagined it would be a huge group, we just thought it would be a few friends. Everybody seemed to get very excited about something positive going on,” Lynn said. “So we got the support of law enforcement, we got permission for the courthouse and people came out.”

Lynn, who attends Cornerstone Fellowship Church in Waynesville, said that a number of area houses of worship were represented at the event.

“Many churches came together and contributed people,” she said. “No one church officially sponsored this event.”

Trull, who attends New Covenant Church in Clyde, said that the event was absolutely not a response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been holding events of its own across the region for nearly a month now — from Murphy to Canton, Bryson City to Waynesville, and places in between.

“This is through prayer. This is Christians saying, hey, we want to offer some hope,” she said. “This is not anti-anything. This is pro-laws, this is pro-love, and pro-loving others.”

Lynn agreed, and elaborated on the reason for the event.

“I have many friends whose family members are law enforcement, and they’ve been working thorough this whole shutdown, they just feel very beat down by the public sentiment against them,” she said. “They’re tired because they’ve been working non-stop while the rest of us have been home, so this was to show our gratitude and support of them. This is not counter or against any other group or any person.”

As the procession arrived at the courthouse, another two-dozen people who couldn’t march were already there, as was a small musical setup. Several religious leaders offered prayer in between worship songs.

Lynn said she hoped that people would depart with a greater sense of community than when they arrived. Trull lauded local law enforcement and wanted people to leave with the hope that the situation could be changed through Jesus Christ.

“We want to encourage our law enforcement. We are praying for them. We know they are not perfect, but we’ve got the best law enforcement in the world here in Haywood under the direction of Sheriff Greg Christopher and the other law enforcement agencies,” she said. “They’re the best.”

The event wasn’t widely publicized on social media, but was spread largely through word-of-mouth. It concluded peacefully about an hour after it had started, and no counterdemonstrators were present. Saturday, July 4, 2020 Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Town of Maggie Valley will not be hosting its Fireworks in Maggie Valley!

traditional Backyard 4th Celebration at the

Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. However, the Town will continue with its annual fireworks display--the same display that has amazed crowds year after year.

The Town encourages visitors and locals to view fireworks from a location that allows for social distancing. That may be your own backyard, a creekside park, sidewalk, parking lot, balcony or another location.

Good news is we plan to return to our normal Backyard 4th Celebration in 2021! Until then, enjoy our fireworks from wherever you can. For those of you who can only hear them, remember this--THE SOUND

YOU HEAR IS THE SOUND OF FREEDOM!

Happy 244 th

Birthday, Birthday,

America!

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said across the 43rd Prosecutorial District, in the state’s seven most-westernmost counties, court officials are identifying, examining and measuring large spaces for possible transformation into substitute courtrooms.

N.C. Chief Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley on May 21 ordered courts postpone all jury trials until August, because of COVID-19.

Many of the courtrooms in the far-west counties are too small to accommodate trials and maintain safe spacing – at least 6-feet apart – for those involved.

This week in Macon County, a group that included Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bill Coward, District Attorney Ashley Welch and Macon County Clerk of Superior Court Vic Perry toured the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.

They decided on a possible jury room, discussed courtroom security and debated how best to space people in the audience area. The murder trial of Paul Snow, 53, accused of killing his mother and sister, is set for the Oct. 26th term of Macon County Superior Court. At least 100 potential jurors will be called to form the jury pool.

Selection of sites for jury trials is occurring in Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties, too, Welch said.

Haywood man hits $1.3 million Cash 5 win

George Robble of Waynesville made a lastminute decision to buy a few Cash 5 tickets for the drawing on June 21 and ended up scoring a $1,327,872 jackpot prize.

Robble stopped at the Roadrunner on Dellwood Road in Waynesville so his wife could buy a few scratch-off tickets. When he walked into the store, he saw the Cash 5 jackpot amount and decided to try his luck with a couple of $1 Quick Pick tickets.

“I saw the amount that was up on the light up sign, and I said, ‘Oh, I’ll play it,’” recalled Robble.

And lucky he did. At home the next morning, Robble checked the winning numbers on his computer and realized he was a big winner.

“I thought, ‘Oh my god’ and then I went and woke up my wife and told her,” said Robble. “Neither one of us could believe it. I’m still having a hard time believing it!”

Robble claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Monday. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $939,470. With his winnings, Robble says the couple plans to renovate their kitchen. His win ranks as the fifth highest Cash 5 jackpot won in the

Tax-Aide sites will remain closed

The Macon County Public Library Tax-Aide site has determined that it will not re-open for this tax season.

Tax-Aide sites in Haywood County, Jackson County and the Murphy Public Library will also not be re-opening. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is offering online options to assist taxpayers affected by the suspension of in-person services. A self-prep option, providing taxpayers with free access to software so they can prepare taxes on their own, is available at signup.aarpfoundation.org/preparing-your-taxes-online/.

Visit www.aarpfoundation.org/taxaide for information and updates.

Grace Church receives $10,000 grant

Resourceful Communities, a program of The Conservation Fund, awarded $10,000 to Grace Church to meet emergent physical and mental health needs of unsheltered people in Haywood County.

Grace Church has been one of the Haywood County churches collaborating with the Open Door, the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition and others to provide emergency shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic to high-risk individuals and families. As funds for this emergency shelter dwindled, a grant opportunity through Resourceful Communities opened up to organizations who had previously been involved with this Conservation Fund program.

The grant includes funding for mobile mental-health and telehealth services through the purchase of wi-fi tablets for case workers to connect clients virtually with online health-care providers. Additionally, the grant will support food purchases for the those in need served by Open Door and Pathways — $5,000 will go toward extending the motel stays for the previously unsheltered individuals. Since this emergency shelter program opened, 23 people have received assistance including access to mental health care, lactation consultation, case management, medication-assisted treatment for substance-use disorders. None of them qualified for other shelter options for various reasons, including being a family or living with a substance use disorder. Of the 23, three moved into longer-term housing, two connected with the VA for longer-term support, one mother and child entered the Pathways program, and nine left for other reasons. Currently nine people are being sheltered.