It’s been almost a month now since Hurricane Helene rampaged throughout Western North Carolina, leaving several counties forever changed. Among the biggest changes to come will involve a four-mile stretch of Interstate 40 through Haywood County, much of which slid off the mountain and into the Pigeon River. Although the permanent fix isn’t yet known, state and federal officials are promising their full support. (Page 4) Cory Vaillancourt photo
News
Tax cuts, vouchers, abortion drive western legislative races..................................6 Cooper, Tillis pledge joint response to Helene’s economic impact......................9 Officials break ground on new FHS............................................................................10 Jackson increases occupancy tax rate........................................................................11 State and feds look to head off economic disaster from Helene......................12 Haywood schools face repair work, shifting student enrollment........................14 Macon selects interim county manager......................................................................16
Opinion
We’ll get through this, but we’ll need help................................................................18 Inflation, deflation and the presidency........................................................................23
A&E
All-star music compilation to benefit flood victims..................................................24 Bluegrass legend comes to Glenville..........................................................................26
Outdoors
In the park, Cataloochee saw Helene’s worst..........................................................32 Pisgah Ranger District on the Pisgah National Forest reopens..........................35
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Hurricane Helene was and continues to be a traumatic event for our region, but even within the worst of it, there are stories of resilience and ingenuity in ways that many had to deal with making or getting meals while having no power or water for days. Here are a few of those accounts:
“…When our electricity went out, we began sharing resources. I had the gas grill and the outside deck space for a number of us to eat together. Every evening by candlelight, everybody would come over with what they had and we laughed and cooked and ate together in community…” – Dawn W.
“…I used part of a chocolate protein shake for a creamer…Peanut butter and jelly I seldom eat was a staple…” – Lynn B
“I had “Jenn’s Central Kitchen”, cooking for neighbors for two weeks straight….the refrigerator in the RV kept food cold. I had to get very creative and never made the same meal twice! But folks ate well and the communal dining was very therapeutic…” – Jenn N.
“I started a distribution center in my community. I learned one of the
brought a brand new gallon of melting vanilla ice cream…ice cream – Kristen H.
“…The entire (apartment) complex came together, grilling out and magical.” – Jonathan A.
Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN
Ingles Market Corporate Dietitian
@InglesDietitian
Leah McGrath - Dietitian
NCDOT begins process toward massive I-40 repairs following Helene
BY KYLE PERROTTI N EWS E DITOR
As the rain from Hurricane Helene mercifully subsided around noon on Sept. 27, smaller creeks in Haywood County receded fairly quickly, the extra water from each flowing into larger tributaries before combining into the Pigeon River as it heads through a narrow gorge into Tennessee.
But as residents in some flooded areas breathed a sigh of relief, the nightmare was just beginning for motorists on I-40, which runs right alongside the Pigeon River for the last four miles or so before reaching Tennessee.
As the waters in the gorge raged, several parts of the crucial artery for interstate commerce fell off the steep ledge, leading to an emergency effort from N.C. Highway Patrol and NCDOT to get all motorists to safety. Miraculously, there were no deaths on that road, but now, anyone looking into the Pigeon River from the edge of the gorge will see chunks of asphalt and massive steel netting once tasked with holding the slope in place strewn about the gorge below. While emergency responders had used both westbound lanes for the first week or so after the flood, on Oct. 3 word came down that the left-hand west bound lane — the lane closer to the river — was compromised, and now there is only one safe lane of travel through parts of that four-mile stretch, making I-40 the top priority out of
thousands of necessary repairs required across Western North Carolina.
“Damage estimates from what we have been able to assess to this point are up to several billion dollars, and we’re not done,” said state Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins. “The damage to our roads and bridges is like nothing we’ve ever seen after any storm, and this will be a long-term recovery operation. But we will be here until Western North Carolina can get back on its feet.”
Officials estimate the share of that expense that will be directed to the I-40 project will be well over $1 billion.
The massive task that lies ahead for NCDOT when fixing I-40 received the notice of folks at the highest levels of the state and federal government. Last week Gov. Roy Cooper, Sen. Thom Tillis and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg all paid a visit to Haywood County and took questions from members of the media right in front of the largest washout the highway suffered.
“It’s one thing to see a photo; it’s another to stand here and look at just the shocking destructive power of this storm,” Buttigieg said. “It’s almost impossible to believe that water and wind alone could have torn apart rock and asphalt and the literal ground near where we’re standing right now.”
The section of I-40 through the gorge has long been a problem due to its steep walls, as explained by NCDOT engineer Wanda Payne, who works in the state’s 10 westernmost counties. Payne, who’s been in her current role four years now, said that in previous years, engineers and other NCDOT decisionmakers compared any weather event in
repairs were relatively quick. This time, entire sections of the slope on which the highway sits have been washed away and won’t be easily replaced.
Payne said no one is certain what the ultimate fix will be for the highway. In fact, NCDOT put out a call for engineers far and wide to pitch potential solutions. There has been plenty of speculation of multiple kinds of solutions. While Payne said she and other engineers aren’t attaching themselves to any one idea, the prevailing theory among amateurs is that a viaduct is most likely. Payne said it’s certainly being considered.
One viaduct spanning a river that could be looked at as an example is the Hanging Lake Viaduct that carries I-70 along the Colorado River through a steep, narrow portion of Glenwood Canyon.
NCDOT hired the design firm RK&K, which began working Monday to first figure out how to safely get two-way traffic back on I-40.
“I would hope by the end of this year we’ll have an idea of when we could open up,” Payne said, adding that the firm is also considering what the big fix might be.
One thing everyone seems to agree on is that the process to bring I-40 back in whatever form or fashion will be long — and expensive. At this point, it’s clear the federal government, which has already put $100 million toward initial road repairs in the region, will play a crucial role.
the region to the previous high-water mark left in the wake of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan. She said the damage done from Helene is much more severe.
“We had all that rainfall leading up to the Friday event, so a lot of creeks were already high,” she said. “It made the river higher than it normally runs, and we saw a 1,000-year flood and in some river basins a 2,000-year flood.”
With Helene, once the Pigeon River started rising and rushing, erosion began.
“The water in the gorge couldn’t find a place to go, and it was such a high volume,” Payne said. “Once water gets into a weak place on a slope, it just keeps eroding.”
The first step in the repair process will be to stabilize the two westbound lanes. NCDOT has already signed an $8 million contract with Wright Brothers Construction out of Tennessee to stabilize those lanes by drilling soil nails deep into the earth. NCDOT hopes that process will be completed in January 2025.
While that shoring up will likely open the westbound lanes, in its current state, that doesn’t equate to opening up a westbound and eastbound lane of travel because one of those lanes would essentially turn into a construction zone. While there is a shoulder on the highway, Payne noted that it isn’t built to sustain a regular flow of traffic. However, she said they are looking at different solutions and that establishing traffic flow in both directions is the immediate priority.
Next comes the big fix. In the past — like following a 2009 landslide that shut the highway down for seven months — these
“The timeline has to be dictated by safety and led by engineering, but our role will be, above all to make sure that funding is not a barrier toward arriving at that answer for the future,” Buttigieg said.
When it comes to funding, Tillis is hoping his colleagues in Washington, D.C., refill the coffers that have been emptied by the initial response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton sooner than later. A letter signed by Tillis; fellow North Carolina Republican Sen. Tedd Budd; Georgia Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof; and Virgina Democratic Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine urges the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to submit a detailed supplemental appropriations request that considers the full cost of recovering from the disasters so Congress could expedite the supplemental appropriations needed.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency will require significant additional funding to ensure it has the resources it needs for Hurricane Helene and Milton recovery, and additional federal funding will be required to support states and federal agencies’ emergency response efforts,” the letter reads.
In Haywood County, the visiting officials also talked about the need to build back in a more resilient way in the face of climate change. Experts predict there will be more severe storms every year considering warmer weather in the Gulf of Mexico causes hurricanes to pick up more moisture before making landfall.
“I’d say it’s clear that to do right for the 2030s and 40s and 50s, we can’t have the same assumptions that led us in the 1950s,” Buttigieg said. “I hope and pray that nothing like this is visited F
Massive soil nails are being drilled into the earth to shore up the westbound lanes of I-40. NCDOT photo
upon this community ever again. But the reality is, the United States is in for more frequent and extreme weather events.”
Cooper and Tillis both agreed.
“We’ve got to stop this nonsense of trying to weaken building codes and understand that we are living in an environment influenced by climate change, where these storms are going to be more ferocious and more frequent,” Cooper said.
“We may need to rethink how we build those back for more resiliency in the future, versus just assuming we’re pushing dirt back into the existing roadbeds and putting bridge structures back where they once were if it no longer makes sense and it’s not in the longterm best interest of the communities,” Tillis said.
Once challenge no matter how I-40 is rebuilt will be prioritizing resources and manpower for that crucial repair against other necessary fixes that will allow access to communities that are isolated due to storm damage.
ten to that level yet,” Payne said.
Meanwhile, communities built around a tourism economy wait nervously. A 2010 report from the Appalachian Regional Commission outlined the economic impact of the closure of I-40 due to the 2009 landslide, which included hotel and motel revenue dropping by 50% to 80%.
“The negative economic effect of the rockslides is measurable for the communities in closest proximity to the rockslide site. Business revenue has decreased, employees have been laid off, and businesses are experiencing transportation cost increases,” the report reads.
In that report, it’s noted that business owners interviewed were “thankful” that the slide occurred after leaf season and the repairs occurred during winter, which is the slowest time for the tourism economy. That’s not the case this time around, and this situation is expected to take far longer to recover from — on the order of years, not months.
“That’s a significant amount of damage, and so even though it’s a top priority of ours, it will take a long time to fix that,” said Joey Hopkins of the N.C. Department of Transportation on Oct. 1. “We’re probably talking months at best. We’ve still got to evaluate that and do some assessments out there before we can determine what that solution is.”
Last week, Hopkins said that there are over 500 bridges damaged across the region with about 100 in need of replacement.
“We will prioritize those based on things like traffic volume, singular access, access to communities, and we will work in a priority to do that, because there’s not enough resources to do all that at one time,” he said.
Payne said that a challenge when prioritizing repairs is that, because of how widespread the damage was, there may be material scarcities when it comes to things like rocks, boulders, gravel and asphalt and even pipes.
“We even talked about going to South Carolina or Tennessee, but we haven’t got-
And the detrimental impact on industry is already being felt. Following the closure of I-40 and I-26 after Helene, Premier Magnesia, now Haywood County’s fifth largest employer, reported its transportation costs have risen between $90,000 and $100,000.
It’s true the stakes are high, but that didn’t seem lost on the bipartisan delegation that visited I-40 last week.
“We want everybody in impacted communities to know that we are in it for the long haul, that there is an entire family of federal agencies working to keep President Biden’s promise that we’re going to be here every step of the way,” Buttigieg said. “We know that’s not going to happen overnight. We’re working to do the things that have to happen immediately, advancing the funding for that … Other parts of this will take billions of dollars and months, if not years, but we’re already underway on that. We won’t rest until that new normal is available and stable for the people in these communities who had their lives upended through no fault of their own.”
From left, NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Gov. Roy Cooper surveyed the damage along I-40 and took some questions from the press. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Tax cuts, vouchers, abortion drive western legislative races
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR
North Carolina’s four westernmost state legislators are all seeking reelection this year, but their campaigns are about much more than just their individual races. Each one of them is an integral part of the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, which has a long-term view of what the state should look like in 10 years.
“The end game is for the citizens of North Carolina to have more money in their pocket at the end of the week, end of the month and the end of the year,” said Karl Gillespie, who represents Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon counties in the North Carolina House. “Because of a robust economy and people working, they’re going to make more, they’re going to spend more and therefore there’s going to be more tax dollars. The plan is to continue to cut taxes and offset that with revenues that we gain from a very vibrant economy.”
Republicans will indeed continue their ambitious tax policy plans, but Democrats say it’s too much, too fast, and that expanded school voucher spending — along with a litany of social issues, like abortion — could put an end to that supermajority on Nov. 5.
The Republicans
When Republicans took control of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time since 1896 back in 2010, the party began to pursue a regular schedule of individual and corporate tax cuts that have contributed to the state being named the best in the U.S. for business in 2022 and 2023, and second-best in 2024.
The corporate rate, 6.9% when Democrats were in control, was first cut by the GOP majority in 2014 to 6%. Currently, it’s 2.5% but will drop to 2.25% next year, 2% in 2026, 1% in 2028 and zero in 2030.
The individual rate, between 7% and 7.75% in 2010 (depending on bracket and filing status), was stepped down to 4.5% for taxable year 2024 and will drop to 3.99% for 2025.
“The end game is to continue the route and path we have been on, trying to reduce the income tax for individuals so at some point hopefully it will become zero, and then with the corporate taxes, when they have more money to reinvest in their businesses that opens up more job opportunities for them to hire more people, and so that’s what we’ll continue,” said Mike Clampitt, who represents Swain, Jackson and Transylvania counties in the House.
Clampitt said he’s been trying to recruit microchip manufacturers to his rural district and that tax cuts certainly won’t hurt.
Beyond 2025, a series of revenue triggers will activate halfpoint individual tax cuts each year through 2034 until the rate reaches 2.49%.
“I think government needs to operate leaner,” said Mark Pless, House rep for Haywood and Madison counties. “I don’t believe we can do that if we just continue to tax and find things that we spend our money on. I think by lowering the tax, that kind of puts a barrier there to what we know what we can count on.”
The state’s 2023-24 fiscal year revenue was certified at $33.69 billion. If the revenue triggers, which begin at $33.04 billion for fiscal year 2025-26 and grow to an even $39 billion in 2034, aren’t met, the rate cuts won’t be activated.
“If you look at other states that have cut their tax rates, they’ve gone in the red because they’ve cut their income. With North Carolina, what we’re looking at has been a growing state as far as population, a growing state as far as business,” said Sen. Kevin Corbin, who represents the eight westernmost counties in the state. “If you look at the health of our economy right now, if North Carolina were a country, we would be the 22nd largest economy in the world.”
Gillespie argues that lower personal tax rates will actually
produce more revenue for the state, a position shared by Corbin.
House District 119
Voter performance, 2016-2022
“Hopefully, you’ll put a little bit of it in savings, you’ll give a little bit of it away and then you’re going to spend a certain amount of it that’s going to have taxes associated with it, whether you buy a new car or go out to eat,” Gillespie said. “That will fuel that economy and continue to keep it growing. The key is it will keep the economy growing. If the economy stalls, then that plan will struggle.”
D: 42.9%
R: 54.5%
Earlier this year, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians legalized recreational cannabis sales — a new revenue stream. Clampitt recognizes that statewide legalization would help offset revenue loss due to lower tax rates, but as probably the most prominent anti-DUI advocate in the state, he is still a solid “no” on the issue.
$44.8 million and will grow from $191.5 million this fiscal year to $625,000,000 in 2025-26 and $825 million in 2032-33 and thereafter.
“The voucher thing, to be honest with you, that had really not been a big issue to me,” Corbin said. “I voted for it, but in my district, it’s not been that big a deal. Percentage wise, it’s just not been.”
Corbin believes that the state’s natural population increase over the next decade will help meet revenue triggers. An insurance company owner who served as a Macon County commissioner for a decade, Corbin knows how the local economy works. He also served as a member of the Macon County School Board for 20 years, so he knows how public schools work.
Although technically unrelated, appropriations enacted by the General Assembly for expansion of the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program — private school vouchers — run roughly parallel to the personal tax rate revenue triggers each year. Even if the triggers aren’t met, voucher spending will increase each year, dramatically.
Voucher appropriations began in the 2017-18 fiscal year at
Corbin has, however, been more of a proponent of public schools than some of his General Assembly peers, perhaps due to his five terms as a school board member. He fought for teacher supplements that help rural counties retain qualified instructors and in the last budget cycle alone shepherded tens of millions of dollars for new public schools in Graham, Macon, Jackson and Swain counties.
Along with Gillespie, Clampitt was a sponsor of the voucher bill, but Clampitt said his goal over the next two years will be to get school funding for Transylvania County. Pless, who secured an appropriation to rebuild Bethel Middle School’s football field, thinks the voucher program holds another benefit — counties are largely responsible for facilities, and if vouchers depress public school enrollment, counties can save money on those facilities. F
Four western legislators are key to maintaining Republican supermajorities in the North Carolina General Assembly. Cory Vaillancourt photo
“It may cause some consolidation, whether we like it or whether we don’t, to where we’re getting into new buildings that are able to handle the number of students that we actually have on a regular basis,” he said.
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the voucher bill on Sept. 20; however, Republican lawmakers appear ready to use their veto-proof supermajority to override Cooper’s veto on Oct. 24.
When revenue triggers are met, taxes get cut, but with voucher spending increasing each year and the direction of labor and material costs generally trending upwards, the NC Budget & Tax Center — a non-partisan, non-profit fiscal watchdog — warns that the tax cuts are too aggressive, and the state budget could spiral out of control quickly within the next decade.
According to a report from October 2023, the tax cuts will result in the loss of $2.6 billion in revenue in the 2025-26 fiscal year, $4.3 billion in 2026-27, all the way up to at least $13.7 billion in fiscal year 2030-31.
That may not be a bad thing. Waste and fraud are inherent in any massive corporation, which the state essentially is. But when steep declines in revenue and steep increases in voucher spending fully manifest, that could leave only two choices — cut services or raise taxes.
Republicans don’t want to be the party that has to take school vouchers away from parents who will undoubtedly grow quite comfortable with them, and based on past performance Republicans don’t appear amenable to raising taxes, either.
But just weeks before the election, Mother Nature dealt Western North Carolina a wildcard so rare that it’s being called a once-in-a-thousand-year event.
The state has a substantial “rainy day” fund, and boy, did it rain when Hurricane Helene moved inland from the gulf on Sept. 27 — up to 30 inches in some places. The state quickly appropriated $273 million from its $4.7 billion reserve on Oct. 8, and on Oct. 24 will take up another, more substantial appropriation bill, likely from that same pot of money. Corbin told The Smoky Mountain News on Oct. 19 that the bill would likely be in the billion-dollar range (see STATE, p. 12).
Corbin, Clampitt, Gillespie and Pless were all in the General Assembly when deadly flooding struck Canton in 2021, and Pless, as the chair of the House disaster recovery and homeland security committee, has additional experience with extreme weather events like hurricanes Florence and Matthew, which impacted counties down east several years ago.
It’s worth drawing comparisons to wartime leaders, to changing canoes midstream, to fixing an airplane while flying it. Sure, Britons booted prime minister Neville Chamberlain eight months after Adolf Hitler started World War II in September 1939, but significant leadership changes during inopportune moments are rare. The bulk of recovery work in 2021 fell squarely on Pless and Corbin.
“You saw the meeting today I had with local leaders,” he said of the Oct. 19 huddle with the Haywood County Commission chair
and vice chair, and Haywood County Schools’ chair and superintendent. “I’m sitting there with the school board chairman. I’m sitting there with the chairman of the county commissioners. I’ve been both of those guys. I’ve sat where they sit for multiple terms. So I get it. There’s such a learning curve for anybody going into the General Assembly. To me, it’s
break the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, it’s widely expected that Republicans will maintain their majorities in each chamber, which would make Tebrugge and any other Democrats who win a member of the minority party.
Tebrugge has been critical of that supermajority, especially regarding tax cuts, but
Dobbs case, which kicked the abortion issue back to the states. North Carolina subsequently decreased the state’s abortion limits from 20 weeks to 12. Corbin has defended the bill, calling it a moderate measure compared to other states that have effectively banned the procedure.
almost insurmountable if you haven’t had local government experience.’
The Democrats
Adam Tebrugge, a lawyer who lives in Cullowhee, is running against Corbin in Senate District 50 and thinks now is the perfect time for change.
heard about him from several different leaders, along with regular people,” Tebrugge said. “That being said, I believe I can be as effective an advocate for the area or maybe even a better one.”
Tebrugge’s strongest suit may just be his ability to advocate for people in dire need; he spent 17 years as a defense attorney for death penalty cases in Sarasota and Bradenton, Florida, while teaching capital case law to other attorneys in the state.
None of his trial clients, he said, were ever executed, but doing a better job of advocacy in the General Assembly than Corbin could be a tall order; while Democrats hope to
also on the increasingly opaque budget process that led to funding for crisis pregnancy centers and the expansion of vouchers.
“What that shows me is that the Republican supermajority, 30 senators, of which Senator Kevin Corbin is a part, have not been very responsive to the people of North Carolina, and especially to Western North Carolina,” he said. “We are going to really have to look at this budget over the next two years, make sure there’s money to help all of our friends who are affected here in Western North Carolina, and we’re going to have to make sure that the revenue streams are appropriate.”
Concerns around vouchers include that they allow taxpayer money to be spent on schools that, unlike public schools, can discriminate against students for any number of reasons — race, religion, disability — and are unaccountable, performance-wise. And, at a time when public school advocates decry funding levels and teacher pay, voucher monies could be used to strengthen public schools in rural areas, where there aren’t as many schools that can accept the vouchers. In short, critics say, money needed in rural districts is being used to send rich kids to private schools in major cities.
In addition to concerns about the Republican Party’s approach to government funding, particularly in public education and social services, Tebrugge said that the 50th District needs mental health services currently unsupported by poor budgetary priorities.
“When I’m out there talking with people, they start telling me, ‘Hey, Adam, we need mental health services. We need birthing centers. We need firefighting equipment. We need extra pay for teachers and staff, because Georgia pays better and we lose all of our teachers down to Georgia,’” he said. “I want to fund all of those things, but also I understand we have a balanced budget in North Carolina. We’ve got to keep the revenue and the expenditures roughly equal.”
And then there’s Senate Bill 20, which could be a dagger through the heart of the party in 2024, much as it was in 2022; the bill, written largely by Corbin, came on the heels of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the
Tebrugge has been working hard out on the campaign trail, trying to get that message out, but he says he’s not getting much help.
“Even if [abortion is] not their number one issue, people don’t like the idea of losing rights,” Tebrugge said. “But one thing that upsets me a little bit — lot of money has been raised in opposition to Senate Bill 20, and a lot of money has been raised in opposition to Sen. Corbin’s sponsorship of that, and very little to any of that has been spent out here in the west getting that message across. If that message was out there, I think that it would help my campaign.”
Mark Burrows is trying to get that same message out in his race against Clampitt.
“Mr. Clampitt is an extremist in terms of the Republican Party. And what I mean by that is that he is voting against women having their own reproductive rights and healthcare, and if not more importantly, a right to privacy,” Burrows said. “We now have a supermajority in both the House and the Senate. They’re dictating privacy and healthcare for women and I think the majority of women in North Carolina, and certainly from what I’ve heard within District 119, don’t agree with that.”
Burrows retired in 2018 after 28 years as the Transylvania County planning, economic and community development director, helping to land companies like Gaia Herbs and Oskar Blues.
His campaign focuses on addressing economic challenges and supporting public education while emphasizing the need for greater government transparency.
Economic development of the sort Clampitt mentioned — microchips — would be welcome, but recruiting such companies has historically been difficult, given the west’s lack of developable land, sparse transportation infrastructure now made more precarious by Helene and a general bias toward large metropolitan areas. Burrows was heavily involved with a nonprofit created by the legislature, called AdvantageWest, that sought to focus development initiatives in the 23 western counties. It was highly successful, Burrows said, but it was defunded in 2015 in favor of the current, centralized approach that seems to leave the west always a bridesmaid.
“The significance for me on this is we as Western North Carolinians lost having that local impact for economic development and working on ways to expand manufacturing at the appropriate level here, as well as entrepreneurship across the mountain counties,” he said.
It seems a scenario similar to the school voucher play.
“When they first initiated [voucher fund-
ing], there was an income cap. With this last legislative session, they’ve removed that cap, so now the wealthiest people can still get this,” said Burrows. “In most instances, it’s going to be coming out of public monies from rural school systems and going to urban areas.”
Like the abortion issue, Burrows said the voucher issue has caused some Republicans to lend him their support.
Nancy Curtis, a Western Carolina University alum and the former mayor of Andrews in Cherokee County, expressed similar sentiments. She’s running in the 120th District against Gillespie, who she says is too closely aligned with Corbin, and not just because they are Macon County neighbors.
“He’s voted for everything that Corbin has been for, and the two things specifically that I have a problem with is the taking money out of public education and giving it to people for the vouchers to go to charter schools and religious schools, and a woman’s right to choose,” Curtis said.
But Curtis has some other unique positions not specific to her race against Gillespie. She wants term limits in the General Assembly but also wants age limits, and suggested that the state professionalize its legislature by paying legislators more — the annual salary is $13,951 plus a $104 per diem while in session. Corbin and Gillespie, who live closer to five state capitals than to their own, spend most of that on gas and
lodging.
Curtis believes that a higher salary would make it easier for people who aren’t business owners and retirees, or lawyers and doctors with flexible schedules, to get involved in politics.
“We’ve got to make it conducive for a young person to want to run for office. We need young people in the legislature,” she said. “I’m 72 years old, and I totally think
Curtis is also a proponent of some throwback educational initiatives, including a greater focus on physical fitness among the digital generation and an emphasis on civics instruction.
Evelyn Davidson, a nurse at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility in Black Mountain, lives in Madison County and hopes to unseat Pless, despite his storm recovery experience. Davidson believes that
that we need to be passing something on to the next generation. We’re not giving them any reason to be there.”
Gerrymandering, said Curtis, must be eliminated — a state won in 2020 by Donald Trump by 1.3% is very likely to send 12 or 13 Republicans and only one or two Democrats to Washington next year, which could affect control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“This isn’t democracy at all,” she said. “They are picking their voters, and that’s wrong.”
Pless, who lives in Haywood County, treats Madison County like “a redheaded stepchild.”
She couldn’t point to any specific piece of legislation upon which she disagreed with Pless’ position, despite the likelihood that there are many, however, she did accuse Pless of not listening to their concerns and of being demeaning to women.
“I really don’t like dishing out third-hand information because I wasn’t exactly there, so I don’t want to say something out of turn,”
said Davidson, who when asked added that she’d never spoken to Pless personally. “Sure, I believe in giving people a fair shake, but overall, he has been very disrespectful to women.”
She also criticized Pless, known since his days on the Haywood County Board of Commissioners as blunt and brutally honest, for his tone of voice and general demeanor.
If she wins, Davidson promises to be more present and engaged, and uses the phrase, “If not me and you, then who?”
All four Democrats — Burrows, Curtis, Davidson and Tebrugge — face an uphill battle in heavily Republican districts. Some of them, however, think that Republican candidates further up the ballot may end up being a drag on Republican candidates further down the ballot.
Tebrugge called 34-time felon Donald Trump, along with scandal-prone Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson “very weak” candidates who could affect Republican turnout. Burrows mentioned Department of Public Instruction candidate Michelle Morrow, who was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and has called for the execution of presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well as Gov. Cooper.
“I have said all along that the North Carolina Republicans have given Democrats the gift of Mark Robinson and Michelle Morrow,” Burrows said. “They are not individuals that are competent to be running for the positions that they’re running for, and it’s unfortunate that the Republicans as a party allowed them in the primary process to be put forward.”
Cooper, Tillis pledge joint response to Helene’s economic impact
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT
P OLITICS E DITOR
Western North Carolina’s small businesses, even those that suffered no damage, now occupy an unenviable position — struggling to rebuild and retain employees amid disruption to the transportation infrastructure that drives the tourist trade while still paying off COVIDera loans. Canton’s mayor is calling for help to avert a larger economic catastrophe.
North Carolina’s governor and senior senator appear to be listening.
said.
Cooper has already taken action, via an executive order increasing the state’s maximum weekly unemployment benefit from $350 to $600 until the state of emergency ends — currently slated for March 1, 2025 — or until it the executive order is rescinded. But Cooper still thinks there’s more to be done.
“So my answer to that question is yes, we certainly want to work with federal authorities, because they’ve got little deeper pockets than we do,” he said.
Sen. Thom Tillis (right) joins (from left) Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, Waynesville Town Council Member Anthony Sutton, Gov. Roy Cooper and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Canton Oct. 17. Cory Vaillancourt photo
“Loans may be part of the solution, but most small businesses — especially those that have already weathered COVID and another disaster three years ago — cannot
take on more debt,
no
matter how favorable the terms.”
— Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers
“Federal and state recovery plans must include direct grant assistance for small businesses,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers in an Oct. 16 Facebook post. “Loans may be part of the solution, but most small businesses — especially those that have already weathered COVID and another disaster three years ago — cannot take on more debt, no matter how favorable the terms.”
Smathers was referring to loans provided by the Small Business Administration.
On Oct. 17, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg toured hard-hit areas in Western North Carolina, starting in Asheville’s River Arts District before moving onto Canton and the Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line. With him were Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who both addressed Smathers’ request.
“I think that the legislature is going to need to look at some kind of small business grant program to help them get on their feet, to encourage them to stay here,” Cooper
Tillis, who like Cooper has been to Canton at least a half-dozen times since deadly flooding affected the town in 2021, cited BearWaters Brewing as a prime example; the riverside brewery was gutted three years ago, and again last month.
“I was talking with the owners of this brewery. I’ve been here since 2021 [when] we had Fred. That was a 100-year event three years ago. They have experienced a global pandemic, a 100-year event. They experienced Fred in 2021, now they’ve experienced Helene and they sought assistance, including, I believe, paycheck protection,” Tillis said. “We’ve got to figure out how we can take all of those disasters and maybe some of the relief that they’ve gotten, consolidate it, and let them restructure.”
Tillis added that state relief will also be important, because some communities would only qualify for narrowly construed federal funding, which alone may not be enough to bring some businesses back.
“We’ve got to work together on it,” Tillis said.
Officials break ground on new FHS
STAFF WRITER
Construction on the first phase of the new Franklin High School is officially underway after years of advocating and planning by large swaths of the community.
“Today we honor our legacy as we look into the future,” said Superintendent Josh Lynch. “We are preparing the next generation of leaders, thinkers and innovators.”
On Friday morning, Oct. 18, more than 100 people gathered in the Panther Pit to mark the historic day. Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Macon) and Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Macon) were both present for the occasion, as well as representatives from the county, Town of Franklin and Town of Highlands.
“We’re the caretakers of today, we’re the guardians of tomorrow,” said Corbin. “There are going to be new traditions built here, new memories made by people we don’t even know yet.”
While the project has been more than a decade in the making, planning for this iteration of the high school began back in 2021. Some commissioners had been hesitant about the project after seeing a full price tag over $100 million, but after the county received $62 million from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, the county is left to finance just $75 million of the total cost.
“I’m really glad that we had the opportunity to ask the state of North Carolina for some help,” said Corbin.
“We’ve got 62 million good reasons to move ahead with this project, and we’re thankful to our fellow legislators and the Department of Public Instruction for listening to our cries for funds.”
In addition to local dignitaries, several current and former students of Franklin High School had prepared
remarks for the event.
“I have worked so very hard to make this school happen, and I look forward to the day when all students can access all parts of our high school, including students with disabilities,” said FHS graduate and advocate for students with disabilities, Patrick Faetz.
The project will take place in two phases, the first of which will involve athletic facilities. The first class is expected to graduate from the new school in 2028.
“For over 75 years Franklin High School has stood as a beacon in the heart of our town,” said Addix Sutton, representing the junior class. “It’s more than just a place for education, it’s been a cornerstone of our identity shaping both our community and our culture. It’s influence runs deep.”
Ground was broken on the long-awaited Franklin High School project. Hannah McLeod photo
Jackson increases occupancy tax rate
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
With a short but proven track record of funding capital projects, Jackson County will increase its occupancy tax rate to allow for more funding for its Tourism Development Authority.
“By doing this minor increase, which doesn’t affect our citizens’ pockets at all, it’s going to enhance not only our guest experience, but our citizen’s experience in various areas of recreation and tourism,” said Commissioner Mark Jones.
The occupancy tax rate, which is applied to anyone paying for a hotel room, Airbnb or VRBO, in Jackson County currently sits at 4%. This month, commissioners approved increasing that rate by 2% for a new 6% total occupancy tax rate.
The new rate will be effective July 1, 2025, and according to JCTDA Executive Director Nick Breedlove, should increase revenues by about $1.25 million annually, from $2.5 to $3.75 million.
neighboring counties who are either at or going to 6%,” Breedlove told commissioners earlier this month. “What we would do is utilize the majority of the funds just as we are now for marketing, $2.5 million, and we would be able to take a lot of those additional funds that come in to do more impactful projects every year.”
While visitor spending exploded during and after the COVID-19 era, when JCTDA saw collections over the $2.5 million mark during both the FY 2021-22 and 2022-23, revenues were expected to level back out at the $2.5 million mark if the occupancy tax rate remained at 4%. The additional funding from the COVID years has gone toward the Bridge Park and Tuckasegee river Greenway projects.
“What we’ve done is we’re spending down that COVID surplus that we have in our budget,” said Breedlove. “So, once we exhaust that surplus, we won’t be able to do any capital projects without affecting our marketing to bring people here.”
The additional funds collected will be geared toward capital projects in the county.
“[With the additional funds] we’d be able to do a sizeable project every year to benefit the residents,” Breedlove said.
Under state legislation, the JCTDA may expend one-third of its annual budget on brick-and-mortar capital projects, including convention and conference centers, arenas and stadiums, sports facilities, performing arts venues, museums and other attractions. This also includes greenways, trails and placemaking initiatives such as streetscapes and public art.
The legislation that created the JCTDA gave county commissioners permission to increase the occupancy tax rate locally.
“A lot of places have to go back to Raleigh and introduce legislation,” said Breedlove. “You gentlemen have the power to increase that as you see fit.”
Commissioners approved the increased tax rate unanimously.
The board also approved a request to expand the career categories permitted to make up the JCTDA board. Because several hotels in the county have consolidated under the same ownership, there has been
“By doing this minor increase, which doesn’t affect our citizens’ pockets at all, it’s going to enhance not only our guest experience, but our citizen’s experience in various areas of recreation and tourism.”
— Commissioner Mark Jones
JCTDA expends these funds through a grant process — the Tourism Capital Project Fund — which makes money available to projects that are owned and operated publicly or by nonprofits. A one-to-one match is required, and the projects must cost at least $25,000.
Since the JCTDA began the grant process, it has awarded funding to the Town of Sylva in the amount of $367,757 for Bridge Park improvements, which were completed this spring, as well as $745,000 to Jackson County to extend the Tuckasegee River Greenway in Cullowhee.
“We’re asking for that 2% increase to put us in a competitive stance with our
difficulty getting enough members to fill the board of directors. Previously, board members had to be hoteliers of hotels with 10 rooms or more split between the northern and southern portions of the county. Now, board membership will be open to hospitality and tourism workers generally.
“This would create what’s called a hospitality and tourism category and our first preference would be on hoteliers, but if we can’t get a hotelier in that role, our second preference would be moving down for broader representation and those key people in the industry that understand hospitality and tourism,” Breedlove said.
State and feds look to head off economic disaster from Helene in Haywood
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT P OLITICS E DITOR
With the North Carolina General Assembly’s preliminary $273 million relief bill in the rearview mirror, Western North Carolina Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Macon) is looking down the road at the General Assembly’s next move — a billiondollar relief bill coming Oct. 24. During a recent meeting with Haywood County officials, Corbin spent about an hour trying to learn what, exactly, the needs are.
“I can promise you what you won’t get,” Corbin said. “You won’t get things you don’t ask for.”
MAKING THE DOLLARS MAKE SENSE
Corbin rolled into the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 19 to meet with Haywood County Commission Chair Kevin Ensley, Vice Chair Brandon Rogers, County Manager Bryant Morehead, School Board Chair Chuck Francis and Schools Superintendent Trevor Putnam.
“What I think is going to happen is we’re going to go down there [to Raleigh], and I think us western legislators are going to be asking for a lot of money,” Corbin said. “I just want to make sure that our share comes to us. I don’t want any more than our share, but I want our share.”
Morehead told Corbin that although many unknowns remain and damage assessments in Canton and Waynesville are not yet complete, around 600 homes in Haywood County were impacted by Hurricane Helene, which roared into Western North Carolina Sept. 27. Almost a third of those homes, about 190, incurred major damage and are uninhabitable at present.
Before the meeting, Corbin talked to Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) who told Corbin that he’d spoken directly with President Joe Biden about federal money for temporary housing. Edwards also told Corbin that Yancey County had some 900 homes damaged.
Although Haywood County is still surveying damage, Ensley thinks its final count could be as high as Yancey’s, although Rogers opined that mitigation efforts over the past 20 years — removing flood-prone buildings after flooding in 2004 and 2021 — may just tamp down the totals.
“If we can get a number to [Edwards], we need a number that he’s going to talk directly to the president [about],” Corbin said. “[Edwards] says he’s going to push through all the red tape and try to get it here. I’m just telling you what I’ve been told.”
Rogers added that there’s an uncertain number of people staying with family or friends who may not be on the radar as far as housing needs are concerned. “I don’t know how you get a handle on that, because, again, you’re dealing with
mountain people that don’t ask for help,” he said.
Ensley wanted to know if, after shortterm fixes like trailers are deployed, the federal government could help the county build permanent housing. Corbin said he thought so.
Insecurity about the reliability of the 100-year floodplain level endures; Ensley said that some folks who want to build back on their own land need to elevate their houses by at least a few feet, but Corbin, in consultation with insurance industry bigwigs, said that FEMA money doesn’t usually cover that. Corbin is working on a way to direct state funding to such endeavors, which will be especially important in Clyde, where the low-lying downtown area was decimated.
because we’ve got some [damaged homes] that are major and some minor, but there are gaps,” said Morehead.
Corbin responded with his desire to pull down as many federal dollars as possible.
“We pay federal taxes for that, and when this happens here, we need to make sure we get that money,” he said. “So federal money will be requested and spent, and then we need to make sure we put state money in where that federal money doesn’t cover.”
During Tropical Storm Fred — the source of 2021’s deadly flooding in the eastern part of the county — the state was helpful, Ensley said, especially as state monies can be leveraged to draw down more federal dollars. And they’ll be needed; reiterating the uncertainty, Morehead cited a “scary”
out of commission for we don’t know how long,” he said. A recent report suggested $1.4 billion in annual economic impact to rural communities from Parkway tourists. “Just from the county side, it looks like that could be close to $200 million a year in gross retail sales [lost], if the trend from 2010 was applied to 2024.”
According to a report of economic indicators produced by the Haywood Chamber of Commerce, in January 2024 retail sales were about $87.1 million, or roughly $1 billion a year. A $200 million loss would be disastrous for local businesses.
Morehead said that hotels, restaurants and retail establishments took a bigger hit than essential businesses like pharmacies in 2009, simply due to the unpredictable nature of the hospitality industry.
Last week, Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers called for direct financial assistance to affected businesses. Gov. Roy Cooper and Tillis, appearing in Canton Oct. 18, both seemed open to the idea, especially as some businesses remain reticent to take out loans
Morehead related the story of a recently retired county employee who owned her home, was debt free and had no flood insurance. FEMA mitigation programs can give her the tax value of the house, but with current construction costs still soaring, she’ll never be able to build back to the size and quality she once enjoyed. Morehead said that he’d already asked Edwards, Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Ted Budd for a $180 million direct appropriation.
“That sounds like a lot of money, but 600 homes at $300,000 apiece, that’s a big range,
2010 study by the Appalachian Regional Commission that focused on the economic impact of an Oct. 25, 2009, rockslide on Interstate 40 very near to where Helene eroded parts of the roadbed, pulling the eastbound lanes into the Pigeon River in several distinct areas.
The 2009 rockslide resulted in the highway being closed for six months.
“I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little, but a lot of the things that we’re going to need are unknown and specifically related to [I-40] and the Blue Ridge Parkway being
from the Small Business Administration because they’re still paying them back from Tropical Storm Fred or COVID-19. Tillis and Cooper seemed open to the idea.
A decline in revenue on the order of $200 million would eventually ripple out into the budgets of local governments; most or all of those retail sales involve sales tax, portions of which make their way into state and county coffers. Responsible governments don’t use sales tax revenue for recurring line-item spending, but either way, a loss of tax revenue has repercus-
Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Macon) speaks to Haywood County leaders at the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 20, 2024. Cory Vaillancourt photo
sions.
“We could lose growth in our property tax base because of this,” Morehead said.
That’s apparent in Clyde, where much of the tax base is located right on the Pigeon River. Ensley asked Corbin to inquire about state money that could be used to develop, or redevelop, Clyde’s downtown. After flooding in 2004, the state gave Clyde around $1 million to develop a 40-unit subdivision, Barefoot Ridge, to bolster the tax base.
SCHOOL DAZE
Also as in 2021, Haywood County Schools suffered flood damage to school properties, notably to Pisgah High School’s riverside football stadium, as well as other athletic fields. Then, it was around $10 million. This time, it’s $5.1 million, including $520,000 already spent — mostly on insurance deductibles, unlocking reimbursements.
“I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little, but a lot of the things that we’re going to need are unknown and specifically related to [I-40] and the Blue Ridge Parkway being out of commission for we don’t know how long.”
— Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead
Ensley and Rogers serve on the board of the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization, a state/local partnership that plans big-picture transportation strategy in parts of Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties, as well as the entirety of Henderson County. Ensley said he’d read a report from the MPO that said DOT would be awarding a contract for the permanent fix of I-40 by the end of this month, but repairs will take time.
Other reports say I-40 could reopen at limited capacity in January, but in the meantime, Morehead is also concerned about how Helene will affect the local labor market.
“My ask is, we need some help, but I don’t know how bad it is yet because a lot of it is based on estimated unemployment numbers that could go up,” Morehead said.
In September 2009, just before the I-40 rockslide, the unemployment rate in Haywood County was 8.4%. By January 2010, it had ticked up to 11.9% — equal to the pre-COVID high of January 1992. Since COVID, unemployment in Haywood County has lingered near historic lows, and as of August was just 3.7%.
On Oct. 16, Cooper issued an executive order increasing the state’s meager $350 weekly unemployment payments to $600, but that will only go so far, for so long.
As in 2021, county and local government staff are going above and beyond the call of duty, working more hours on more complex tasks involving more outside agencies. Morehead said that the county would ask for reimbursements for overtime pay, but might still have to add staff, particularly first responders.
The obliteration of I-40, in particular, is slowing response times in some cases from 30 minutes to 90 minutes.
“If we’re losing revenue from sales tax and other things, [if] we can’t keep up with the demand, we may actually have to ask an appropriation for operating [expenses],” Morehead said. “I think that is tough to ask for, because it has to be sustainable, but out of just need, I think that’s where we’re going to be.”
But of the $4.6 million in damage remaining, most figures are only estimates, like for Tuscola grass field repairs ($2.5 million), Pisgah and Canton Middle School grass field repairs ($965,000) and the demolition of Central Haywood High School ($500,000).
Pisgah’s Memorial Stadium persists as a controversial issue. Western North Carolina takes its high school football, including the decades-long county clash rivalry between Pisgah and Tuscola High School, very seriously, but that stadium is more than just a place where champions are made — it’s a monument to Canton’s war dead.
Flooding in 2021 wiped out the Black Bears’ 2021 and 2022 home schedules, and the stadium had just reopened in August 2023.
If the field is going to flood every three years, or flood three times in 20 years as it already has, some think it may be time to seek a new site, farther away from the river. That discussion, however, will likely be as muddy, turbid and tempestuous as the floodwaters that rose nearly to the top of the visitors’ bleachers.
“That’s a local decision to be made between county commissioners and the school board, and I will not get involved in that discussion,” Corbin said.
“That’s a wise man right there,” Francis laughed.
DIVIDED WE FALL
Corbin concluded the meeting with a wide-ranging discussion about linking up the disparate municipal water systems
from Canton to Maggie Valley and everywhere in between. Currently, Canton takes its water from the Pigeon River, just upstream from the town. The town then sells some of that water to Clyde, so when Canton’s service is interrupted, Clyde has to get water from the Junaluska Sanitary District.
“During this storm, we saw the need for water. We saw what our weaknesses were during this storm and I think we know what we need to do to make sure that if this happens again, that the water’s coming,” Ensley said. “Waynesville has got a great reservoir up there. Maggie Valley’s got two water intakes, one at Ghost Town, one on Campbell Creek. The Maggie Valley Sanitary District has bought huge tracts of land to protect that. I see in the future us having a great water system here in the county. Waynesville and Maggie Valley’s water systems, as long as we’re connected to that, I think we’re good.”
It’s a topic that’s regularly discussed at council of governments meetings, but the cost and the ability to implement such grand plans without soaking customers have torpedoed the issue.
“We’ve had federal money that’s come down. We’ve had state money. Last time, we set aside $200 million, I think. We got quite a bit out this way for that,” Corbin said. “We got a chunk for Robbinsville and several towns got it.”
Ensley also floated the idea of centralized wastewater treatment facilities — another expensive proposition made more
complicated by the status of Canton’s wastewater treatment plant, which is operated at almost no cost to taxpayers by Pactiv Evergreen on the site of its closed paper mill. The plant failed on Sept. 27, and since then has been spewing untreated wastewater into the Pigeon River. In March, Pactiv will no longer have to treat the town’s municipal wastewater. Canton has a stash of cash to build another plant, but no site, no permits and a timeline of several years after groundbreaking until it can operate. A proposed deal to sell the parcel, along with the plant, was in the works and was thought to include a wastewater treatment solution, but now that deal appears to be languishing. Nevertheless, regionalizing Haywood County’s water infrastructure may garner serious consideration in the future.
“Chimney Rock and Lake Lure are having the same conversation,” Corbin said of two Rutherford County municipalities devastated by Helene. “We’ve had the same conversation about internet, like power [from] two different directions — one gets cut off, you still got it.”
The General Assembly is expected to take up the relief bill on Oct. 24, which will largely determine which of the things Haywood County asks for — and which of the things 24 other federally declared disaster counties in Western North Carolina ask for — arrive, and when.
“I think the communities need to understand that we all need to work together right now,” Ensley said.
Memorial Stadium. A Shot Above photo
Haywood schools face repair work, shifting student enrollment
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
Following the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, Haywood County Schools reopened its doors to students and staff last week.
“I want to say thank you to all those schools for your hard work and dedication,” said School Board Chairman Chuck Francis. “It was like the first day of school … I think the kids really enjoyed it.”
In the meantime, administration are dealing with repair projects and questions over an influx of new students to the school system from more hard-hit areas of the region.
“We’ve received several kids here in Haywood County that are homeless,” said Associate Superintendent Jill Barker.
Students are considered homeless when they are in temporary housing, have doubled up with another family member or have in some other way been displaced from their permanent residence.
The AstroTurf at Pisgah Memorial Stadium is under repair and the $308,000 project is covered by insurance, with a $100,000 deductible. The stadium itself has been deemed structurally sound, with minor repairs necessary before it is safe for occupants.
“We have enrolled several kids, we’ve enrolled some students that are staying in Airbnbs here because they still lack water and electricity,” said Barker. “It’s mostly from Buncombe where we’re seeing this.”
Because students have only been back in school for a short time, administration does not have definitive numbers
yet for the students who are
enrolling from surrounding areas or the number of HCS students who are absent because they have had to relocate outside the county.
“We’ve probably lost some students too that are living with relatives somewhere and displaced and we’re worried about that,” said Barker. “We’re worried about where people are going to rebuild and how long that’s going to take.”
In addition to students having to relocate due to the storm’s impact, Barker noted that student athletes around the region are scrambling, looking for places to continue participating in their sport.
“It’s just really affected kids across the western region a lot,” said Barker. “We want to help them in any way we can.”
The school board is holding special meetings to conduct business that needs to get done in the wake of the flooding. At its Oct. 17 meeting the board briefly discussed revising or suspending its pupil assignment and reassignment policy in order to open its doors to as many displaced flood victims as possible. However, the board and administration noted that several Haywood schools have classes at capacity or are short on full-time teaching staff. Putnam also noted that any additional funds from the state for enrolling more students would be paid back in arrears, not up front, which could be used to
PHOTO CRED
In addition to student population fluctuations, the school is working to repair flood-damaged properties. This process involves first filing insurance claims, then seeking repair money from the state, and then finally filing with FEMA for anything not covered by insurance or the state.
Thanks to work done in the wake of flooding from Tropical Storm Fred, the school had less damage this time around. What’s more, school staff prepared by moving as much equipment as possible from flood-prone areas prior to the storm.
The AstroTurf at Pisgah Memorial Stadium is under repair and the $308,000 project is covered by insurance, with a $100,000 deductible. The stadium itself has been deemed structurally sound, with minor repairs necessary before it is safe for occupants.
Last week, the school board approved contracts with Civil Design Concepts for repair to Pisgah and Tuscola baseball and softball fields. The Tuscola fields will take longer to repair because they are missing engineering designs that had to be conducted for Pisgah fields following Tropical Storm Fred when Tuscola fields sustained less damage. These designs are required to get reimbursements from FEMA. The total cost for all ball fields is estimated at around $250,000.
The other major project the school board will have to consider is what to do with the Education Center in Clyde that is home to the boardroom where the school board hosts its meeting, as well as training spaces. Preliminary estimates place repairs at $1.2 million, with insurance covering up to $1.4 million. The school board will also have the option to take 70% cash value of what it would cost to repair the building, which comes out to about $736,000, or it can demolish the property which would be covered by insurance.
The board has not made a decision on the Education Center property.
On Oct. 17, the board approved the allocation of $900,000 out of the state sales tax fund for administration to begin paying for the repair projects. This will not cover repairs completely but will allow staff the funds needed to get started.
“All the repairs and work we do is pay first, and get reimbursed later,” said Superintendent Trevor Putnam.
The board also approved concessions last week made for Haywood County Schools in House Bill 149 that allow employees to be held harmless for time off caused by the natural disaster, emergency pay for employees in nutrition and transportation that worked throughout the disaster to help with emergency relief, and to waive instructional days that students missed so that they don’t have to made up or added onto the end of the year.
“That was really important to me,” said Putnam. “Our kids have suffered enough; they don’t need to suffer anymore. I really wanted calendar flexibility or waivers.”
Two men plead guilty to trafficking meth
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced that in separate cases, two Macon County men pleaded guilty this month to trafficking methamphetamine.
Thomas “Tom” Howard Giesy, 67, of Franklin, pleaded guilty in Macon County Superior Court to four counts of trafficking in methamphetamine and sell/deliver a schedule II controlled substance.
The Macon County Sheriff’s Office and Franklin Police Department arranged a “controlled buy” of two ounces of methamphetamine for $850. The law enforcement officers arrested Giesy after he sold the illegal drugs to an individual on June 15, 2023, according to Detective Matthew Breedlove’s report.
Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers ordered Giesy to serve an active sentence of 70 to 93 months in state prison and, afterwards, serve 17 to 30 months of probation.
John Delmar Tallent, 44, of a South Skeenah Road address, pleaded guilty in Macon County Superior Court to trafficking in methamphetamine.
He was arrested on Nov. 8, 2022, following surveillance of his South Skeenah Road home, according to Detective Breedlove.
Sellers ordered Tallent serve an active sentence of 70 to 90 months in state prison.
Assistant District Attorney John Hindsman, Jr. prosecuted both cases.
Macon selects interim county manager
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
At its October meeting the Macon County Commission said goodbye to long-time County Manager Derek Roland and announced its selection of interim County Manager Warren Cabe.
After more than a decade of leadership in the county, Roland announced his resignation last month. At that time, he said that the Oct. 8 meeting would be his last.
The board honored Roland with a proclamation and every sitting board member thanked him for his leadership. In addition, several past commissioners took to public comment to thank Roland and to say that choosing to hire him was the “best decision” they’d ever made for Macon County.
“I was here for his very first meeting and there’s no way on God’s green earth I was going to miss his last meeting,” said Jim Tate, past commissioner for Macon County. “I had so much, as a much older man than him, to learn from him about being a man and I’ll forever be grateful for that. When we all set through life, we want to leave it better than we found it. And without a doubt Mr. Manager, you have done that with this county.”
After a half hour closed session during the Oct. 8 meeting, the board came back into public session and made a motion to appoint Cabe as interim county manager effective Nov. 1. The contract runs through June 30 and Cabe’s annual salary was set at
$154,526.45, plus a $500 per month car allowance.
The board approved Cabe’s appointment unanimously.
“Warren, I want to thank you for the
permanent county manager during Cabe’s term as interim.
“I want to express my appreciation to the board for that vote of confidence, and Derek, publicly I want to say to you, you’ve
“You’ve always been a steady hand, and you’ve always done it with confidence, you’ve always done it with grace. I’m so happy that you’re getting appointed as interim. There’s nobody that I could’ve hand selected that would’ve been any better fit in my opinion.”
The county will continue its search for a
Macon County hired an interim county manager while it continues the search for a permanent replacement. File photo
much from you as you may think you’ve learned from me,” Cabe said. “Those are some big shoes that I have to fill, and I appreciate the confidence of all of you for me to at least make an honest attempt at that. And I will do my best to make sure that we keep going the direction we’re going.”
Education
JCPS announces district winners
Blue Ridge School Principal Kheri Cowan was named Jackson County’s Principal of the Year during a surprise announcement last week. In JCPS, The Principal of the Year award is selected by a vote of their peers. Cowan has been with JCPS for six years, with four of those years as principal. All six of her years have been at Blue Ridge School.
Cowan will represent Jackson County Public Schools in the regional selection process which includes a portfolio review and interview.
Fairview School 8th grade English and Language Arts Teacher Emma Maney was named Beginning Teacher of the Year. Maney has been teaching at Fairview since 2022. She is no stranger to JCPS as she attended Fairview and graduated from Smoky Mountain High School. Maney will represent Jackson County Public Schools in the regional selection process which includes a portfolio review and interview.
Haywood Community
College Foundation expands Haywood Strong Scholarship
The Haywood Community College Foundation has expanded the Haywood Strong Scholarship program to support current Haywood Community College students who have been impacted by Hurricane Helene.
The Haywood Strong Scholarship was initially established in 2023 to support the employees impacted by the Pactiv Evergreen mill closure. Funds from this scholarship were used to help mill employees who were looking to return to school. Now, our community is facing another significant need resulting from the impacts of Hurricane Helene.
The HCC Foundation board overwhelmingly agreed to continue this scholarship and expand it to support students facing an emergency financial need from hurricane impacts. Scholarship funds can be used for household supplies, gas and transportation, groceries and much more.
The application for this scholarship is easy to complete and can be found at haywood.edu/helene.
Julie Miller Denesha joins WCU Advancement to support College of Engineering, Technology
Julie Miller Denesha, former associate director of athletics for development at Western Carolina University, has joined the WCU Division of Advancement as director of development and corporate partnerships for the College of Engineering and Technology.
Denesha comes to the Division of Advancement with more than 14 years of experience in development and fundraising. She previously served as associate director of athletics for development at WCU since August 2021, overseeing the Catamount Club and serving as the Division of Athletics’ primary contact for numerous donors, corporate partners and local businesses.
She also focused on the discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of donors to Catamount Athletics, with an emphasis on leadership gifts in support of WCU’s ongoing “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign. An effort to raise a minimum of $75 million in support of the university’s academic, student engagement and athletics programs, the campaign has a significant emphasis on raising money to support enhancements to athletics facilities.
Denesha returned to WCU after a stint at Arizona State University, where she served as director of major gifts for the Sun Devils athletics program from February 2015 until December 2017. She was promoted to senior director of major gifts and engagement at Arizona State in December 2017, continuing in that role before rejoining the Catamount athletics administration in August 2021.
She previously worked in the WCU Division of Athletics from 2011 to 2015, first as assistant director of development for athletics and later as associate director of development. Denesha, who first came to WCU in 2010 as an intern, earned her bachelor’s degree in communications at the University of South Carolina-Upstate where she was a member of the women’s golf team.
After ranking expansion of its engineering programs as its top legislative priority, WCU received $95.3 million for a new engineering building from the North Carolina General Assembly in the 20232025 biennial state budget and another $3.5 million in recurring funds to expand programming in the College of Engineering and Technology.
Blue Ridge School Principal Kheri Cowan was named Jackson County Principal of the Year. Donated photo
We’ll get through this, but we’ll need help
We’ve had more than a week of picture-perfect fall days, usually a part of the recipe for a busy, successful tourist season. But there’s an unshakeable uneasiness among the business community since Helene, and especially in Haywood County. I hope elected leaders take note.
Sure, other communities further east were hit harder than us as homes and businesses in Buncombe, Polk, Yancey, Madison, Mitchell and other counties were devastated. Here in Haywood there was severe damage in Canton and Clyde, along with parts of Bethel and Cruso. Five people from Haywood perished in this storm. In all of Western North Carolina the death toll is at 95 and expected to climb a bit higher.
Estimates are up to 600 homes were damaged in Haywood, about 200 of them severely. So, let’s say 200 times $300,000 is $60 million, and then the other 400 are going to need help. There’s a lot of work to do to help these people and a lot of federal and state aid will be needed.
Then there’s the Interstate 40 closure, which could prove devastating — and costly — on the long term. Before Helene, that road averaged around 28,500 vehicles a day and was a principal travel and tourism corridor into Western North Carolina. Imagine the loss of all those travelers on the busi-
Misinformation is the ‘Poison Apple’
To the Editor:
Listening to Trump’s string of falsehoods and misrepresentations reminds me not of what a strong and vibrant nation we live in, but how the Party of Trump has adopted a pattern of relying on fairytale fantasy about their platform and agenda. Now, even after Helene’s wrath, the rhetoric is being used against relief efforts in our devastated communities, using misinformation and blatant lies to blindside voters and discredit those on the front lines. When the truth morphs into something that can be “adjusted” we risk plunging ourselves and our nation to blindness to the truth.
And I’m reminded …
In Grimm’s Fairy Tales’ first publication in 1812, we are introduced to Snow White, the lovely woods-maiden who becomes the target and obsession of the Evil Queen’s endless vanity and control, fed by her powerful, all-knowing Magic Mirror.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
When the mirror strays from it usual egopleasing response of “You, my Queen” and names “Snow White as the fairest of them all,” the enraged Queen orders a huntsman to go to kill her at once. Self-devotion rises over the lives and goodness of all others, personal gain is all that matters. If this reminds you of Donald Trump’s extreme narcissism and constant revenge threats against all who refuse to bow to him, you are not alone.
When the huntsman fails and returns empty-handed, the outraged Queen disguises herself and takes our heroine a poison apple.
ness community. It’s estimated that total annual retail sales in Haywood are about $1 billion. County leaders — after looking back and assessing the effects of the 2009 landslide that closed the interstate for 7 months — fear as much as $200 million of that could be lost annually until the interstate opens. Right now, the state Department of Transportation is using the word “years” when discussing how long it may be until the road is totally open. Years.
The Blue Ridge Parkway closure is also a severe blow, but hopefully it will re-open much sooner. No details yet on that front, but that scenic byway, according to a recent report, has a $1.4 billion annual economic impact to the counties it goes through in North Carolina and Virginia.
Several business owners I’ve talked to are more than a little worried. Yes, there will be federal aid for rebuilding, but typically lost revenue can’t be recouped from FEMA. The Small Business Administration is offering loans, but here’s the reality: many are still indebted to the SBA for the Covid-era
LETTERS
Using deceit and lies, she convinces her to taste of it, where upon she falls into a “forever sleep.” This appears to be precisely the strategy being employed by today’s GOP with nonstop outrageous half-truths and complete fabrications in their quest to lull voters into a “forever sleep.” Apparently, they are succeeding with some, as Trump has thus far evaded truth and equal justice.
Near the end of Grimm’s version, the good Prince rescues Snow White, captures the Evil Queen and sentences her to “put on these redhot iron slippers and dance until you die.” I would soften the ending somewhat. I truly believe that the majority of thinking citizens want, and deservedly expect, nothing more than equal application of the law, real justice and true democracy to prevail. I’m sure that the vast majority would be quite pleased if instead of “red-hot iron slippers” the Court bailiff would simply lead Mr. Trump out of the courtroom wearing a pair of room-temperature handcuffs to serve an appropriate sentence for the injustices that he has by his actions committed.
If indeed my preferred ending should come to pass, I think many would agree, that the USA could begin to live happily ever after, again.
John Beckman Cullowhee
Trump is not a president for all
Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) in the tens of thousands of dollars.
So local businesses are in for a multi-pronged negative economic impact: Helene rebuilding costs, the loss of October sales revenues, the long-term losses associated with the closure of I-40 and other roads, and the fact that many are still in debt due to the Covid shutdowns that started in March 2020 and lingered for a year or so.
I’m usually a glass half full person, always looking on the upside when possible. But this one’s got me worried about the small business community that makes this such a special place to live and work. Here’s Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, who’s been working closely with local business owners:
“Federal and state recovery plans must include direct grant assistance for small businesses,” said Smathers in an Oct. 16 Facebook post. “Loans may be part of the solution, but most small businesses — especially those that have already weathered Covid and another disaster three years ago — cannot take on more debt, no matter how favorable the terms.”
We’ll get through this and make WNC stronger than ever. But we’ll need lots of help.
(Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)
enacted under Biden and to fire the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He was met with a roar of approval there.
However, a 2023 survey by Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions revealed broad approval for gun violence prevention policies regardless of one’s political affiliation
when not in use, and the funding of gun violence prevention programs. While support was lowest among Republicans, there was 5476% support for these policies among the total group surveyed by Johns Hopkins. So, whose vote was Trump actually seeking that day? Apparently, not the ones of a majority of this country.
or gun ownership. These approved policies include temporary gun restraining orders in domestic violence cases, a family’s ability to remove guns from a relative believed to be at risk of harming self or others, the need to obtain a license before buying a gun, the necessity of locking up guns and ammunition
On abortion, Trump has been openly prideful of his presidential decision to nominate three justices to the Supreme Court instrumental in overturning Roe v Wade. But Trump has recently been all over the place
Donald Trump promised at the NRA convention to roll back gun control measures
Editor Scott McLeod
TEIN - D
GOVERNOR
MARK ROBINSON - R
Josh Stein earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College in 1988 along with his J.D. and his master’s of public policy from Harvard University in 1995. Stein is currently serving in his second term as the North Carolina attorney general. In the past he worked as the campaign manager and deputy chief of staff for Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and served as North Carolina’s deputy attorney general for consumer protection. He was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Chapel Hill and Charlotte and resides in Wake County. joshstein.org.
LIEUTENANT
RACHEL HUNT - D
Rachel Hunt received her bachelor’s in political science and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987 and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1992. She currently serves as the senator for North Carolina District 42 and has previously served as a House representative for District 103. Hunt served on the board of directors of the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children. She is from Mecklenburg County.
GOVERNOR
HAL WEATHERMAN - R
Hal Weatherman earned his bachelor’s degree in religion from Wake Forest University and his master’s in communication from Wheaton College. He founded the Electoral Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization which documents and archives North Carolina voter information to document and track voter fraud. Weatherman served as the chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Dan Forest from 2013 to 2021 and Rep. Sue Myrick from 1999 to 2011. He also was the district director for Rep. Madison Cawthorn from 2021 to 2022. Weatherman is from Wake County.
Mark Robinson attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in history from University of North Carolina in Greensboro in 2022. He is serving his first term as the North Carolina lieutenant governor. Robinson served in the U.S. Army Reserves, worked in furniture manufacturing and started a small daycare business with his wife. He is from Greensboro, and resides in Guilford County.
markrobinsonfornc.com
SECRETARY OF STATE
ELAINE MARSHALL - D
Elaine Marshall earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 1969 and her J.D. from Campbell University School of Law in 1981. She is serving her seventh term as the North Carolina Secretary of State. Marshall served as the North Carolina senator for District 15 from 1993 to 1995. She has experience as a lawyer and teacher. Marshall was born and raised in Maryland and is from Wake County.
CHAD BROWN - R
Chad Brown received his bachelor’s in business administration from Montreat College in 2014 and his bachelor’s in marketing from North Greenville University in 1994. He is serving his third term as the Gaston County commissioner. Brown played minor league baseball for the Cleveland Indians in 1990, the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2000. He is from Gaston County.
State Auditor
JESSICA HOLMES - D
Jessica Holmes earned her bachelor’s in political science from University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 2006 and her J.D. from UNC School of Law in 2009. She is serving her first term as the North Carolina State Auditor. Holmes is the former chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners for District 3. She is from Wake County.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
DAVE BOLIEK - R
Dave Boliek received his bachelor’s in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990, his J.D. and M.B.A from Campbell University in 1997. He served as the Cumberland County assistant district attorney from 1998 to 2001. He works as an attorney based out of Fayetteville, and is a trustee at UNC Chapel Hill. He is from Durham County.
State Treasurer WESLEY HARRIS - D
Wesley Harris, a Taylorsville native, earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009 and his graduate and Ph.D. in economics from Clemson University in 2010 and 2014. Harris lectured on macroeconomics and international developmental economics at the University of South Carolina from 2014 to 2015 and was an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is serving his third term as the state representative for District 105 and is from Mecklenburg County.
MO GREEN - D
BRAD BRINER - R
Brad Briner received his bachelor’s in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999 and his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 2006. Briner worked as a managing director at Morgan Creek Capital Management, as co-chief investment officer at Willet Advisors and is a member of the Board of Trustees at UNC Chapel Hill, Phillips Exeter Academy and the Boston Omaha Corporation, a holding company. He is
Maurice “Mo” Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools from 2008 to 2015, received his bachelor’s in political science and economics and J.D. from Duke University in 1988 and 1991. Green served as the general counsel for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He resigned from his position as the superintendent in 2015 to serve as the executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a non-profit based in Winston-Salem that focuses on state-level systemic change like advancing public education, fostering sustainable environment practices and promoting social and economic changes.
MICHELLE MORROW
Nashua, New Hampshire native Michelle Morrow earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1993. Morrow works as a nurse at Shade Tree Academy, a private school for children who have experienced trauma or have a mental health diagnosis. Morrow also worked as a grassroots activist for the conservative PAC Liberty First Grassroots and as a legislative liaison for the Pavement Education Project. She is a homeschool educator for her children after serving as a high school teacher. She is from Wake County.
ney at Erwin, Bishop, Capitano & Moss and an associate at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson P.A. Bishop received his bachelor’s in business administration and management and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989 and 1990. He is the former state representative for District 104 from 2015 to 2016 and the former state senator for District 39 from 2017 to 2019. He is from Mecklenburg County.
Commissioner of Agriculture
SARAH TABER - D
Attorney General JEFF JACKSON - D
Incumbent U.S. Representative for the 14th Congressional District Jeff Jackson received his bachelor’s and master’s in philosophy from Emory University in 2004 followed by his J.D. at the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2009. Jackson is former assistant district attorney for Gaston County and former state senator for District 37. He has served in the Army National Guard since 2002 and is part of the Womble Bond Dickinson business litigation counsel. He is from Cumberland County.
DAN BISHOP - R
Dan Bishop, the current U.S. representative for North Carolina District 9, worked as an attor-
Sarah Taber earned her bachelor’s from Brigham Young University in 2005 and graduate and doctorate degrees in plant medicine from the University of Florida in 2011. She also participated in various agricultural research while in college. Taber was the director of food safety at Aquaponic Association from 2013 to 2016 and currently works at Boto Waterworks as a farm and food systems consultant. She is from Cumberland Guilford County native Steve Troxler earned his bachelor’s in conservation from North Carolina State University in 1974. He is the founder and owner of Troxler Farms that focuses on growing tobacco, soybeans, wheat and other vegetables. In 2012, Troxler assumed the position of president of the National Association of State Department of Agriculture. He is serving his fifth consecutive term as the Commissioner of Agriculture.
Commissioner of Labor
RAXTON WINSTON II - D
Camp Lejeune native Braxton Winston II has worked in news, media, marketing and sales for the Rose Brand after earning his bachelor’s in anthropology at Davidson College. He also worked as a camera operator for the Charlotte Hornets since 2004, a stagehand for IATSE since 2004 and is a college counselor for Delaware College Scholars since 2015. Winston served as the Mayor Pro Tem for Charlotte. He is from Mecklenburg County.
LUKE FARLEY - R
Luke Farley grew up in Onslow County and currently lives in Raleigh. He earned his bachelor’s in history and philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from the Wake Forest School of Law. Farley worked as a legal intern for Senator Andrew Brock (RDistrict 34) from 2007 to 2008, a judicial extern for Judge Robert N. Hunter, Jr. in 2009, a construction lawyer for Conner, Gwyn, Schenck PLLC and as the secretary for the Durham County Board of Elections. He currently works as a construction lawyer for Ellis & Winters LLP.
Commissioner of Insurance
NATASHA
Natasha Marcus, the North Carolina senator for District 41 and Brockport, New York native, earned her bachelor’s in public policy from Hamilton College in 1991 and her J.D. from the Duke School of Law in 1994. She worked as a lawyer for Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, a judicial clerk for Frank W. Bullock, Jr. in 2005 and is the assistant director of Development at the Ada Jenkins Center. She is from Mecklenburg County.
MIKE
MARK PLESS -
R
Former Haywood County Commissioner Mark Pless is the current North Carolina House representative for District 118, having served in the position for four years. Pless is a former insurance agent and paramedic.
General Assembly District 119
11TH U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
CALEB RUDOW - D
Caleb Rudow earned his bachelor’s in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009 and his master’s in global policy from the University of Texas in Austin in 2017. He worked as a COVID-19 case investigator with Community Care of North Carolina, a research and data analyst for Open Data Watch, a census enumerator for the U.S. Census Bureau and a volunteer for the Peace Corps from 2012 to 2014. Rudow is the current North Carolina House representative for District 116. He is
CHUCK
Current U.S. House Representative for District 11 Chuck Edwards is a former North Carolina Senator for District 48 from 2016 to 2022. Edwards’ started his working life as a crew member at a local McDonald’s in 1976 and worked his way up into management. He is the president and owner of the C. Edwards Group, Inc. that runs a McDonald’s chain in Western North Carolina. He is from Henderson County.
board of trustees, as the
State Senate District 50
ADAM TEBRUGGE - D
member of the Macon
Mike Causey earned his associates from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his bachelor’s from High Point University. He worked for the North Carolina Department of Transportation as an adopt-a-highway coordinator before assuming his position as the current North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance in 2017. He is from Guilford County.
General Assembly
District 118
EVELYN DAVIDSON - D
Evelyn Davidson earned her bachelor’s and graduate degrees in nursing from Southern New Hampshire University. She currently works as a charge nurse at the Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center in Black Mountain.
Charlotte Fire Department and former director of fire and rescue training at Central Piedmont Community College.
General Assembly District 120
NANCY CURTIS - D
State Senate District 47
Adam Tebrugge earned his bachelor’s from New College Florida in 1982 and his J.D from Florida State University. He works as a lawyer doing consultations and case reviews for criminal defense attorneys in Florida and is a board certified criminal trial attorney. Tebrugge is from Jackson County.
Nancy Curtis, a Western Carolina University alumna, worked as a freight agent and train dispatcher for Norwalk Furniture, a teacher in Dekalb County, Georgia and as a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines. She served as the mayor for the City of Andrews from 2013 to 2017. She is from Cherokee County.
Community College and Caldwell Community College before earning his bachelor’s degree at Appalachian State University. He is a social studies and world history teacher at McDowell High School in Marion. Hughes advised on and helped write the eighth grade history curriculum for the Winston-Salem Forsyth school district. He is from Avery County.
ARL GILLESPIE - R
Macon County native and House majority whip Karl Gillespie is in his second term as the North Carolina state rep for District 120. He has been the president of National Communication Inc. since 1996. Gillespie served as a member of the
RALPH HISE - R
Mitchell County native Ralph Hise is currently serving his sixth term as the North Carolina senator for District 47. He earned his bachelor’s degree in statistics from Appalachian State University in 2000 followed by his master’s in higher education from North Carolina State University in 2003. Hise works as a statistician and an expert-in-residence for the Health Policy Initiative in Asheville that seeks to build a coalition between policy makers and healthcare workers.
- R
Kevin Corbin is serving his second term as the state senator for District 50. He earned his bachelor’s in business, management and marketing from Appalachian State University. Corbin served as the state representative for District 120 from 2017 to 2021 and owns Corbin Insurance Agency. He is from Macon County.
FOR MORE ELECTION COVERAGE
regarding his abortion policy going forward from that decision. In speeches, his latest position has been that the individual states should determine what rights the state government has to interpose itself and regulate women’s pregnancies and even to punish them for obtaining abortions. His comments advocate for this kind of overarching governmental control while still not clarifying his own personal position on abortion. The same is true for outlawing birth control. Abortion continues to be a critical issue for Americans, with 52% identifying as pro-choice and 44% as pro-life. On the overturning of Roe v Wade, 38% say it was a good thing, while 62% regard it as negative. Can Donald Trump really be the president of such 62% on this issue?
Another issue broadly touted by Trump is immigration. Border policy has been outdated for at least the last 20 years and in critical need of updating, but yet the most recent Senate bipartisan immigration proposal crafted with significant Republican input was torpedoed by Republicans at the last minute under the direction of Trump.
Moreover, per the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Plan (created with the substantial assistance of Trump allies), in a second term he would ramp up immigration policies restricting both legal and illegal immigrants. Under the proposed plan, people from some Muslim majority countries would be banned from entry, and it would also reimpose the refusal of asylum claims. Unauthorized immigrants would be rounded up and deported by the millions, being first detained in massive camps while awaiting deportation flights. To facilitate the policy, in addition to federal police, local police and national guard troops would be deputized to search for and seize them. The requirement for due process hearings would be eliminated. As many as 11 million undocumented immigrants would be uprooted after years, or even decades, of settling here.
Views on immigration remain mixed and highly partisan among the U.S. population. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, no one is totally satisfied, especially since the World Trade Center bombing in 2001 when dissatisfaction was at an all-time high. From then, dissatisfaction with immigration has remained steady or increased in older people while decreasing in younger and middleaged citizens.
In a 2024 NPR/Marist Poll, 57% of registered voters believe welcoming others to our country is essential to our national identity. That positive number is strongly representative of Democrats rather than Republicans, 84% vs 27%. Independents too are favorable to welcoming others, 55% vs 44%. Yet Trump’s immigration policy is aimed at the minority of the electorate fearful of welcoming the stranger. Are these the people for whom Trump is running to be President?
There are many more policy issues I could and should address (including Trump’s outlandish positions on taxation,
Inflation, deflation and the presidency
To the Editor:
The economy of this great nation, and indeed, the world, is a huge thing that, like those supertankers and container ships that help keep it all running, does not change direction very fast or easily short of some major shock to the system. This is why Presidents tend to get credit and/or blame for things their immediate predecessors did or put in motion.
There is also very little that a president can do to or for the economy without the help of Congress. That is because almost everything that will seriously affect the economy involves either spending money or collecting money (taxes), and Congress writes the budget. How closely that budget comes to what a president wants to do depends on whether or not the president’s party has a majority in one, both, or neither of the two houses, and by how much.
Inflation is more money in the marketplace chasing the same amount of goods, or the same amount of money chasing less goods, causing prices to rise. Prices going down is called deflation, and that scares economists and the managers of the Federal Reserve even more than inflation, because it is a sign or a pathway to recession and unemployment.
Keeping prices from going either up or down too fast is mostly the job of the Federal Reserve, over which the president has almost no control at all. So, who’s to blame for the inflation? Well, both Trump and Biden did things that contributed to it.
Under Trump, the big ones were the huge tax cut (people and companies having more money to spend) and the deal with OPEC to cut oil production by 20% for two years which raised gas prices very quickly (it expired in 2022 after Biden took office).
Under Biden, it was mostly the spending on programs to keep families and businesses afloat during the COVID crisis,
healthcare, inflation and global warming to name a few) that would give us a clue to Trump’s true intentions if president again. However, the issues addressed in this letter, and the many more put forward in the foregoing 2025 Plan, should leave us asking “Does Trump want to be my president?” in addition to “Do I want Trump to be my president?”
Paul A. Pavlis Highlands
Democrats are a danger to democracy
To the Editor:
There has been a lot said about democracy being on the ballot, but it’s mostly Democrat gasbaggery. The Democratic Party is the main threat to democracy because they are obviously afraid of it in action.
which was intended to prevent a severe recession with even higher unemployment and business failures. That appears to have worked fairly well, but at the cost of inflation, although much of the inflation was also due to shortages of things caused by breakdowns in supply chains.
There is one major item of inflation that neither of those presidents had much to do with — housing prices. The cause of that is that our housing industry has not been building enough units in the lower income parts of the market for a long time. Some of that may be a hangover from the financial crisis of 2008. But, whatever the cause, there is a shortage of homes on the market both for sale and rental. Competition for what is available drives up prices. Both candidates have spoken about that problem.
Harris has addressed it directly with proposals to both help new buyers, and programs to provide incentive for investors and builders to build more in the needed price range. That means spending money. If she is elected, she will send proposals to Congress, and Congress will do with and to them as it decides.
Trump has expressed the belief or hope that his deportation of a huge number of people will free up enough housing units to make a real difference. There are a variety of opinions on how well that might work, if at all. The money spending part would be in the deportation project. I don’t know of anything else he has in mind about housing costs.
Mr. Trump does have one plan that could be very inflationary, his plan for tariffs. He speaks as though he believes that the tariff is paid to our government by the exporting country’s government. This is not true. If he believes that, he is mistaken. The effect of a tariff is, and always has been, to increase the price of the imported item. The tariff is paid to the Customs Service by
Who tried to eliminate the opposition by lawfare and efforts to remove candidates from the ballot? Remember, Trump was not the only candidate they went after. Who has spoken against the First and Second amendments and been engaged in online censorship? Who has advocated for packing or even eliminating the Supreme Court when rulings don’t go their way? Who wants to abolish the Electoral College so that a handful of large Democrat controlled urban centers could dictate to the rest of the country? Who wants to eliminate the Senate filibuster to ensure easy passage of partisan legislation? Who has opened the southern border? It sounds like a lot of breaking of norms to me. But Trump is supposed to be the norm breaker?
Let’s think a little. With the great effort expended to make sure that Donald Trump never gets back in the White House regardless of voters’ wishes, is it really far-fetched
the importer, the business or individual who ordered the item from a producer in the other country. Customs then allows the shipment to go out into the country from the port of entry. If the importer is a business (usually the case) they add the tariff cost to the price of the item for the consumer. Who pays the tariff? We do, the American consumers.
Another inflation that grabs attention is gas prices. The price of gasoline is firmly tied to the price of oil, which is a world price. When the price of oil goes down below some level, producers, that is the ones who pump it out of the ground and go looking for it, whose costs of production are not covered by that price, cut or stop production. Then, the price goes back up. OPEC’s members can manipulate the price by increasing or decreasing production. A president has one tool other than deal making with them with which to affect oil prices. He (or, perhaps, she) can sell oil from the national petroleum reserve when the price is too high to bring it down a bit, or buy oil to replenish the reserve and increase the price when it is too low. The only way to get the price of gas at the pump below the level determined by the oil price at which producers cut back production is to subsidize somebody to maintain an artificially low pump price. Then the question is where that money will come from. Promises to drastically lower the price of gas need to answer that question.
I am not going to try to take up the much talked about subject of “Greedflation,” also known as “price gouging”, it is too complicated, both in history and the present, and this letter is already long.
I’ll close with a quote from the novelist Philip K. Dick: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
Robert G. Wertzler Franklin
to believe that somewhere in the Deep State there was a plan to assassinate him? Why after all these years, everything about the JFK assassination has not been declassified? Why do we still not know much about Trump’s would-be killer and there is largely media silence? It appears that the FBI is the place where investigations go to die, at least as far as public disclosure is concerned.
Furthermore, with the dismal response by the government after Hurricane Helene, it has been abundantly clear to me that our leaders are not interested in governing, only getting elected by lies and fraud. Maybe this is why it is getting difficult for the armed forces to reach their recruitment goals. If a prospective enlistee felt that by joining he wouldn’t be defending his country but only the imperial designs of the DC gangsters, why would he join? Why, indeed?
David Parker Sylva
‘Rock For Relief’
In the wake of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene, “Rock For Relief: A WNC Flood Benefit Festival,” an all-day musical gathering for charity, will take place Saturday, Nov. 2, at a variety of venues in Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton and Sylva.
Presented by Adamas Entertainment with the help of a slew of local volunteers coming together to make this a memorable community event, the festival will host upwards of 50 artists at over a dozen venues.
Featured acts include Pleasure Chest, The Get Right Band, Andrew Thelston Band, County Line, Andrew Scotchie, Bridget Gossett, Rene Russell and many more.
A portion of the proceeds will go to Mountain Projects, a beloved longtime nonprofit organization helping those in need in Haywood and Jackson counties. Other proceeds will also be given directly into the hands of local musicians also heavily affected by the recent natural disaster.
The live/silent auction will feature an array of unique musical items, including a signed guitar by Edwin McCain, donated six-string acoustic from Teton Guitars and numerable autographed concert posters from the following: The Avett Brothers, Widespread Panic, Goose, Old Crow Medicine Show, 49 Winchester, Hiss Golden Messenger, The Head & The Heart, Lost Dog Street Band and Warren Haynes, among numerous others.
The auction will also feature fan packages from Trampled By Turtles, Cody Jinks, Red Clay Strays, Tyler Childers, Duane Betts, Devon Allman, Shooter Jennings, Futurebirds, The Del McCoury Band and more.
Folks can bid on a VIP package for the upcoming Highlands Food & Wine Festival, as well as passes to next year’s installment of FloydFest, Rooster Walk and Railbird musical gatherings. Legendary music photographer Danny Clinch also submitted a print for auction.
Sponsors for this event include the Waynesville Inn & Golf Club and The Smoky Mountain News.
For more information, a complete schedule of bands, venues and a full list of auction items, visit on rockforreliefwnc.com.
Cardinals at the window
All-star music compilation to benefit flood victims
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
With the recent floods ravaging Western North Carolina due to Hurricane Helene, there’s been countless avenues by which artists and musicians have come together to not only raise funds for those in dire need, but also to provide melodic solace and comfort.
Of which, comes the release of the “Cardinals At The Window” album earlier this month. Music lovers can donate to a good cause by purchasing a massive 136-song compilation featuring some of the biggest names in Americana, rock, folk and indie.
“My heart breaks to see the devastation,” says M.C. Taylor. “And, at the same time, I’m truly inspired by the collective, com-
munity-based, boots-on-the-ground organizing that is happening around relief efforts.”
Taylor, who fronts popular indie-rock band Hiss Golden Messenger, is one of the marquee acts who offered up a tune to be added to the record. Others include Phish, Jason Isbell, Drive-By Truckers, Watchhouse, Tyler Childers, The War on Drugs, Futurebirds, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Feist, Dawes, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, R.E.M., Julianna Riolino, Deer Tick and more.
“It only makes sense to give back in whatever way I’m able to [and to] a place that has given me and my music so much,” Taylor said. “Hiss cut our teeth playing all kinds of shows in and
Hiss Golden Messenger. File photo
Pleasure Chest. File photo
This must be the place
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
‘Don’t it make you feel bad, when you’re tryin’ to find your way home’
(Editor’s Note: Amid the chaos of the recent floods from Hurricane Helene, this column wasn’t able to run in the Oct. 2 issue of The Smoky Mountain News due to space issues in the midst of crisis.)
Hello from Room 13 at the Seabirds Motel in Kure Beach, North Carolina. Saturday morning. It’s 83 degrees. Sunshine with a slight breeze. And yet, my restless thoughts and haphazard emotions are constantly swirling around my friends and loved ones back up in Waynesville and greater Western North Carolina.
But, for the last couple of days, I’ve been nauseous. Stomach queasy. Lack of appetite. Sporadic, short bouts of high-strung stress when something irks me out of the fog overtaking my field-of-vision: from a honking car behind me at a traffic light when I take a moment too long to proceed through the intersection as the light turns green or the cashier behind the café counter who asks if I want a receipt.
I didn’t plan on landing here on the Carolina coast, nor did any of us in WNC winding up anywhere by any circumstance over the recent events of the previous weekend, for good or ill (but, mostly ill). The utter madness and unpredictable chaos of people, places and things as Hurricane Helene roared through Southern Appalachia.
Homes destroyed. Lives ravaged. Roads uprooted. Bridges collapsing. Mountain landslides and pavement caving in. Widespread flooding. Massive power outages. Lack of clean water and groceries. Lack of diapers and toilet paper. No flushable water. No internet or cell service to make contact with the outside world.
Between the endless radio silence from everyone within the danger zone of destruction throughout the weekend to the endless unknowns of what tomorrow may bring, it’s been an exhausting journey — physically and emotionally, literally and figuratively — for any of us with roots in this region, either through family, friends, work ties or simply a timeless love for the area.
As it stands, while I hover at my aunt’s house near Charlotte (aiming to finally return home tomorrow), my humble abode apartment is seemingly fine off Russ Avenue in downtown Waynesville. Others weren’t so lucky just down the hill and over the bridge behind AutoZone or the new apartment build-
ing where the former Bi-Lo used to be on Richland Creek. Waterlogged buildings and debris scattered everywhere. Furniture and vehicles. Guitars and mementos. For them, it’s all gone.
Reports from other friends in Asheville, Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Weaverville and points nearby. Words like “catastrophic,” “horrific” and “tragic” are thrown around often and for good reason.nIt’s the damn truth. It is that bad. Perhaps worse. Most definitely worse. Chaos and confusion. Sadness and anguish. It’s all there.
My girlfriend, Sarah, and I ended up at Kure Beach somewhat by chance. Throughout the summer of my work obligations and nonstop travel across the country, the two of us made plans to hit up the North Carolina coast for a couple of days of fun in the sun before the fall rolled in with cool night air and leaves changing.
I was also in attendance for last week’s International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award show in Raleigh. Not only to cover the gathering, but also keep my fingers crossed as to what may or may not happen with my own IBMA nomination for “Writer of the Year.” Once again, I didn’t win. But, no matter, there were (and remain) far more important matters at home.
Once the awards ended Thursday evening, I found myself in constant contact with colleagues at the newspaper and friends around Waynesville about the latest with Hurricane Helene. “It’s getting pretty bad out here” and “If you don’t have to come home yet, don’t” were the heavy, truthful realizations coming via text.
Stuck in a hotel room in downtown Raleigh on Friday morning, my phone buzzed with a tornado warning as dark clouds and thick raindrops enveloped the skyline of the capital city. An F-3 twister rolled through nearby Rocky Mount. A hard wind and more rain while packing up my pickup truck and bolting for the coast.
Meandering along Interstate 40 towards Wilmington, it was about 45 minutes into the trip when I realized I hadn’t put any music on the car stereo. Normally, I’m constantly blasting an array of rock, jazz, folk and country tunes. But, in the here and now of my thoughts and concerns, I’d lost track of it all and found myself drifting off into the ether of what may come to pass moving forward.
Sarah was asleep in the passenger’s seat. I began to reflect on the gratitude and appreciation for, well, the little things in our world. Food in the fridge. Fresh, clean water from the sink. Enough water to flush a toilet and take a shower. Electricity for the heaters when it’s cold and air-conditioning for when it’s hot. Let alone the love and compassion shared by one and another in dire times.
My first encounter with the wrath of Mother Nature came when I was 12 years old growing up on the Canadian Border. It was
January 1998. I was a middle school kid on Christmas Break when a horrendous ice storm overtook Upstate New York and the greater northeast. Our family went 21 days without power in the freezing cold, with a good chunk spent staying with relatives until help came.
We spent much of our time huddled around the fireplace in my parents’ farmhouse listening to a battery powered radio, awaiting word from the outside world as to when power would be restored and the National Guard would arrive to clear fallen trees and powerlines so we could finally leave the house and find supplies.
And then thoughts of the havoc wreaked upon the small communities of Cruso, Bethel and Canton when Tropical Storm Fred tore through Haywood County in August 2021. For days and weeks, I found myself interviewing flood victims and trying to make sense of everything in the midst of it all for our readers.
A little more than three years later, here we are again. With that, I find myself rereading my column about the 2021 devastation. The words and sentiments remain the same, as does the intent and purpose. Remember, we’re in this together.
From my column, “This must be the place: Ode to the green peppers, ode to the people of Haywood,” dated Aug. 25, 2021:
“Now will begin a colossal cleanup effort that may take months (perhaps years) before some sense of normalcy returns to Cruso, Bethel and Canton. It was shocking and horrific. But, also uplifting with everyone coming together to help their neighbors. My heart is heavy and filled with sorrow and compassion for the citizens of Haywood. Western North Carolina is hurting so deeply right now. And yet, the fine folks of these mountains hold steady, and will eventually transcend this tragic day.”
HOT PICKS
1
A special stage production of Agatha Christie’s legendary whodunit “The Mousetrap” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25-26, Nov. 8-9, 15-16 and 2 p.m. Oct. 27, Nov. 10 and 17 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
2
Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host a special stage production of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at 7 p.m. Oct. 25-26.
3
The Haywood Community Band will present “Frightacular” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.
4
The Friends of the Greenway (FROG) will host an arts and crafts fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the FROG Quarters, located at 573 East Main St. in Franklin.
5
Singer-songwriter Wyatt Espalin will hit the stage at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City.
Kure Beach, North Carolina. Garret K. Woodward photo
On the beat
Bluegrass legend comes to Glenville
Americana/bluegrass artist Darren Nicholson will hit the stage for the “Young Mountain Magic” fundraiser at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at Happ’s Place in
A Grammy-nominee and winner of 13 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards, Nicholson has taken his own brand of mountain music around the
A regular for years on the Grand Ole Opry, and a founding member of acclaimed bluegrass group Balsam Range, Nicholson now spends his time recording, writing new songs and performing as a solo act.
Ready for ‘Frightacular’?
Want to listen?
A special musical compilation put together to aid flood victims as a result of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, the “Cardinals At The Window” album is now available for purchase.
Featuring 136 donated songs from countless marquee musical acts, the digital record can be downloaded for $10 at cardinalsatthewindow.bandcamp.com.
around Asheville — and I believe it’s a true piece of heaven.”
Also showcased on “Cardinals At The Window” are numerous artists from Asheville and greater Western North Carolina, with The Avett Brothers, Tyler Ramsey, Angel Olsen, Floating Action and Indigo De Souza all lending tracks to the sprawling project.
“[I’m] still processing this [disaster] every day and my heart hurts,” Ramsey said. “Helping out and working seems to be the thing that pulls me up. [And] I’m going to be doing much more of that as we move forward — seeing what I can do best help these mountains and people that I love.”
For Riolino, a rising Canadian indie-rocker who has consistently played Asheville throughout her career, being asked to be part of “Cardinals At The Window” was a true honor seeing as “[Western North Carolina] feels very close to my heart, close to my home and I ache for everyone affected.”
“Musicians are the orators of generations and I feel it’s important to show that together we can help each other heal,”
Riolino added. “Love echoes through voices, actions and gratitude — better together, even if we are apart.”
(Editor’s Note: Hiss Golden Messenger also recently put out a live album, “Sanctuary Songs,” with all proceeds going to the nonprofit BeLoved Asheville. You can find the record at hissgoldenmessenger.bandcamp.com.)
The Haywood Community Band will present “Frightacular” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.
“This is going to be such a fun concert for kids, families and our faithful fans,” said Melony Bolden, a clarinet player and publicity volunteer. “We welcome folks to wear their Halloween costumes and enjoy a couple of spooky hours with us.”
The final two concerts of the 2024 season are as follows:
• “Songs of America” honoring our vet-
• Balsam Mountain Inn (Balsam) will host an “Open Jam” 6 p.m. every Tuesday and Tim Buppert w/Wil Nance & Jerry Vandiver (Americana/folk) 7 p.m. Nov. 2. Tickets are $40 per person. 828.283.0145 / thebalsammountaininn.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host Paul Koptak (singer-songwriter) Nov. 2. All shows begin at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host The Stranger Ranger Oct. 26 and Purple (instrumental) Nov. 2. All shows are located in The Gem downstairs taproom and begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 / boojumbrewing.com.
• Cataloochee Ranch (Maggie Valley) will host Laney & Bishop (Americana) 5 p.m. Nov. 10. For tickets and reservations, go to cataloocheeranch.com/ranch-events/live-music.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs Oct. 25, Tricia Ann Band & “FLB Halloween Party” Oct. 26, Texas Peat Quartet 3 p.m. Oct. 27
erans at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at Haywood Community College’s Hemlock Auditorium in Clyde.
• “Sounds of the Season” will be at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Calvary Road Baptist Church in Maggie Valley. All shows are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit haywoodcommunityband.com.
and Shane Meade (indie/soul) Oct. 30. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 / froglevelbrewing.com.
• Happ’s Place (Glenville) will host The Remnants Oct. 24, Blue Jazz Oct. 25 and Darren Nicholson Oct. 26. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.742.5700 / happsplace.com.
• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Cherokee) will host Little Feat w/Duane Betts (southern rock) Oct. 25 and Tower Of Power (prog-rock) Oct. 26. caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
• Highlander Mountain House (Highlands) will host “Blues & Brews” on Thursday evenings, “Sunday Bluegrass Residency” from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Jessie Baylin (singer-songwriter) 8:30 p.m. Oct. 26. 828.526.2590 / highlandermountainhouse.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Eric Pedigo w/Omega Defern (rock/folk) Oct. 26. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 / lazyhikerbrewing.com.
The HCB will play Waynesville Oct. 27. File photo
Darren Nicholson. File photo
Julianna Riolino. File photo
On the beat
Espalin returns to Mountain Layers
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host “Music Bingo” 6:30 p.m. Mondays and Eric Pedigo w/Omega Defern (rock/folk) Oct. 25. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. 828.349.2337 / lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Listening Room (Franklin) will host Michael Lille (singer-songwriter) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 3. Suggested donation $20. Located at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
Singer-songwriter Wyatt Espalin will hit the stage at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City. Born and raised in Hiawassee, Georgia, Espalin has been entertaining audiences since he was eight years old. A blend of Americana, bluegrass and indieroots music, he’s a beloved fixture on the Southern Appalachian live music circuit. Free and open to the public. For more information, call 828.538.0115 or go to mtnlayersbeer.com. To learn more about Espalin, go to wyattespalinmusic.com.
Unplugged Pub welcomes Jon Cox
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host “Open Mic Night” w/Frank Lee every Wednesday, Bird In Hand (Americana/indie) Oct. 25, Ron Neill (singer-songwriter) Oct. 26 and Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) 5 p.m. Oct. 27. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 / mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Otto Community Center (Otto) will host James Thompson (Americana) 6 p.m. Nov. 1. Bring a beverage and snack of your choice. Free and open to the public. 770.335.0967 / go2ottonc.com.
• Peacock Performing Arts Center (Hayesville) will host “Broadway Melodies” 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2. Admission is $10 per person. For tickets, 828.389.ARTS / thepeacocknc.org.
• Pinnacle Relief CBD Wellness Lounge (Sylva) will host Mitchell Durant Russotti w/Lilah Price & Logan Neff Cole 1-6 p.m. Oct. 26. Free and open to the public. 828.508.3018 / facebook.com/pinnaclerelief.
Cox Band will perform as part of the “Halloween Costume Party” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Unplugged Pub in Bryson City.
The Asheville singer-songwriter rolls through an array of country gold and classic rock melodies, as well as his own tunes. Known as “high-energy outlaw music,” Cox is a rising voice in the Western North Carolina live music scene. Admission is $5 at the door. For more information, call 828.538.2488 or go to unpluggedpub.com.
ALSO:
• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Karaoke 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Trivia Night 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, “Open Mic” w/Dirty Dave 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 and Jason Rogers (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Oct. 26. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796 / facebook.com/rathskellercoffeebarandpub.
(Waynesville) will host McKinney (Americana) Oct. 25, “Take Me Back to the 90s DJ” (rock/pop) 9 p.m. Oct. 31. Phillips & McCracken (Americana/folk) Nov. 1, Celtic Road Jam 4 p.m. Nov. 2 and “Rock For Relief” Nov. 2. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 / scotsmanpublic.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Cliff Williamson Oct. 23 (free), Mountain Gypsy (Americana) Oct. 24 (free), Whiskey Mountain Oct. 25, Jon Cox Band “Halloween Costume Party” (country/rock) Oct. 26, Cliff Williamson Oct. 30 (free), Larry Joe Lambert Oct. 31 (free), FineLine Nov. 1 and Second Chance Nov. 2. All shows are $5 at the door unless otherwise noted and begin at 8 p.m. 828.538.2488 / unpluggedpub.com.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host Connor Hunt (country/folk) 5:30 p.m. Oct. 25 and Bridget Gossett Band (rock/soul) 2 p.m. Oct. 27. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 / valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Find more at smokymountainnews.com/arts
Wyatt Espalin. file photo
Jon Cox. Wayne Ebinger photo
On the wall
WNC Pottery Festival
• “Kaleidoscope: An Exploration of Color & Shapes,” the latest exhibition from the Haywood County Arts Council, will be on display through Oct. 27 at the HCAC on Main Street in Waynesville. Free and open to the public. haywoodarts.org.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host “ArtWorks” at 1 p.m. every second Thursday of the month. Come create your own masterpiece. The materials for art works are supplied and participants are welcome to bring ideas and supplies to share with each other. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 / vroberson@fontanalib.org.
• “Art & Artisan Walk” will be held from 5-8 p.m. every third Thursday of the month (May-December) in Bryson City. Stroll the streets in the evening and discover handcrafted items, artwork, jewelry, pottery, antiques and more. Look for the yellow and blue balloons identifying participating businesses hosting artists. greatsmokies.com.
• Marianna Black Library
Timothy Sullivan is an acclaimed artisan potter. File photo
The 19th annual WNC Pottery Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, in Bridge Park in Sylva. Showcasing the work of more than 40 master potters from an array of states, a variety of clay art styles will be presented. The event is juried, and the lineup of potters are some of the finest in their craft.
The event has been named one of the “Top 20” events in the Southeast for November. Admission is $5. Children under 12 are free. No dogs allowed. Rain or shine.
Franklin arts and crafts fair
The Friends of the Greenway (FROG) will host an arts and crafts fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the FROG Quarters, located at 573 East Main Street in Franklin.
A wide array of artisan booths will be onsite. Vendor fees, food purchases and purchased raffle tickets will benefit FROG. Live music will also be ongoing during the event.
For more information, call 828.369.8488 or go to littletennessee.org.
will host an adult arts and crafts program at 1 p.m. every second Thursday of the month. Ages 16 and up. Space is limited to 10 participants. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 / vroberson@fontanalib.org.
• CRE828 (Waynesville) will offer a selection of art classes and workshops at its studio located at 1283 Asheville Road. Workshops will include art journaling, watercoloring, mixed media, acrylic painting and more. For a full list of classes, go to cre828.com. dawn@cre828.com / 828.283.0523.
• Gallery Zella (Bryson City) will be hosting an array of artist receptions, exhibits and show. galleryzella.com / 517.881.0959.
• Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7 p.m. every third Monday each month on the second floor of the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. The club is a nonprofit organization that exists for the enjoyment of photography and the improvement of one’s skills. They welcome photographers of
On
the table
all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net.
• Haywood County Arts Council (Waynesville) will offer a wide range of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. haywoodarts.org.
• Jackson County Green Energy Park (Dillsboro) will be offering a slew of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. jcgep.org.
• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. southwesterncc.edu/scclocations/swain-center.
• Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro will offer a selection of upcoming art classes and workshops. 828.586.2248 / dogwoodcrafters.com/classes.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host semi-regular arts and crafts workshops. coweeschool.org/events.
Waynesville art walk, live music
A cherished gathering of locals and visitors alike, “Art After Dark” will continue its 2024 season from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, in downtown Waynesville.
Each first Friday of the month (May-December), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, live music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors alike. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to downtownwaynesville.com.
Jo Ridge Kelley is a featured artisan at ‘Art After Dark.’ File photo
• Balsam Mountain Inn (Balsam) will host “Mountain Murders” (dinner/storytelling) 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26. Tickets are $50 per person. 828.283.0145 / thebalsammountaininn.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host semi-regular tap-takeovers from local and regional breweries on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.
• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other
events are also available. 828.538.0420.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. waynesvillewine.com.
• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. There will also be a special “Beer Train” on select dates. 800.872.4681 / gsmr.com.
HART presents ‘The Mousetrap’
Christie’s legendary whodunit “The Mousetrap” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25-26, Nov. 8-9, 15-16 and 2 p.m. Oct. 27, Nov. 10 and 17 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
For over seven decades, this suspenseful masterpiece has captivated audiences with its gripping mystery, unexpected twists and memorable characters.
Set in a remote English manor during a snowstorm, “The Mousetrap” follows a group of strangers stranded together, whose
ALSO:
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host a special stage production of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at 7 p.m. Oct. 25-26. Tickets start at $14 per person. smokymountainarts.com / 866.273.4615.
• Peacock Performing Arts Center (Hayesville) will host a production of “Stage Fright: Ghost Stories at the Peacock” at 7:30
On the street
discounts for students, seniors and groups.
To note, 50% of profits from ticket sales for “The Mousetrap” will go to local flood victims as a result of Hurricane Helene. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to harttheatre.org or call the box office at 828.456.6322.
p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. Family-friendly fun, which features tricks, treats, haunting stories, music and more. Tickets are $17 for adults, $12 military/age 65 and over, $7 students and free for ages eight and under. thepeacocknc.org / 828.389.ARTS.
• Highlands Performing Arts Center will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. highlandsperformingarts.com.
Fall into Darnell Farms
The annual pumpkin patch and hayrides will continue through Oct. 31 at Darnell Farms in Bryson City. Visit the farm for some old-fashioned fun. Enjoy a hayride ($22 admission, which includes pumpkin), partake in an array of Halloween activities and/or visit the huge pumpkin patch, where you and your family choose your perfect Jack O’ Lantern. Prices vary by size. There will also be live music, food trucks, farm stands, apples and fall decor onsite. For more information, go to darnellfarms.com.
• “Treats on the Street” will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, on Main Street in Waynesville. Children’s activities and more. downtownwaynesville.com.
• Grumpy Bear Campground & RV Park (Bryson City) will host a “Native American Show” 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. 828.788.2095 or grumpybearcampground.com.
ALSO:
• “Trick and Treat” will be held from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, in downtown Bryson City. Downtown streets are closed for trick or treaters in their costumes. greatsmokies.com.
• “Scare-okee” will kickoff at noon Thursday, Oct. 31, at the Cherokee Expo Center. greatsmokies.com.
‘The Mousetrap’ will be at HART on select dates this fall. Donated photo
The forgotten victims of violent death
Approximately 20,000 murders occurred in the United States in 2023. These killings ranged in scope from gang battles to domestic violence.
Most of these murders register only as a blip in the day’s news, a 15-second spot on the radio or a short column in the local paper. Occasionally, if the victim is some innocent high school kid headed off to college on a scholarship or a mom trying to prevent the death of her child, the news life is longer and may make a brief splash in the national media. Even then, the names and faces of these victims vanish with no more attention paid.
What we don’t see, what we can’t see, in these stories are the long-term ramifications of a death by violence for the families and friends left behind.
In “My Mother’s Song: A Memoir,” Ellen Gee takes readers into the shooting death of her father and its consequences for her mother, her siblings, and herself.
It was 1967, a spring day in an Arlington, Virginia, suburb. Gee’s mother, Josephine, “Jo” to her friends, had locked herself in her bedroom after fighting with her drunken husband, Edmund Gibson. With a pistol tucked into his belt, Edmund ordered his children, including the 10-year-old Ellen, to follow him upstairs, where he climbed a drop-down ladder into the attic and began throwing down clothing, books, and holiday decorations. Following his orders, the children took these items to the yard and heaped them into a pile.
Edmund soon joined them, splashed gasoline on this jumble of “throw-aways,” and burned them. When the flames died, he returned to the house, and convinced that his wife was hiding a man in her bedroom, went to the basement, grabbed a sledge hammer, and smashed in the bedroom door. That effort carried him through the doorway, at which point Jo, an expert marksman in her younger days, shot him five times.
Gee places this day of violence in the middle of “My Mother’s Song.” In the first half of her memoir, she focuses on her parents and the family. Born and raised in Texas, her mother had been a member of an all-female shooting team at the Texas State College for Women. The team made national news for twice beating then all-male Texas A&M. While in school, Jo double-majored in music education and journalism. During World War II and for several years afterwards, she served in the Marines, where she taught the men how to shoot and assemble the Browning machine gun, a feat so unusual for a woman at that time that a photograph of her appeared in Life Magazine.
In the opposite corner was Edmund, an abusive, cruel husband and father, a control freak, a raging racist and a drunk. He held a steady job as a writer for the Navy, yet we learn little about the childhood and adolescent ordeals he surely suffered to become so unstable. Though he had some friends and admirers, it’s difficult to understand why.
After shooting Edmund to death, Jo was arrested, spent some time in jail, and then more time undergoing a battery of psychiatric tests, before being released under the condition that if new evidence emerged, she could be brought up on charges of murder.
Ellen’s description of her mother’s return to the family home is her first hint that Jo will never again be the same. While her brothers and sisters dashed across the yard to embrace their mother, Ellen stood frozen in place. “An empty, numb feeling came over me as my siblings ran toward the woman who wasn’t my mother. The body was the same, the features, everything, but something inside her was missing. The corners of her mouth hung down. Her shoulders slumped. Her eyes, filled with tears, were hollow. The only thing I could think of was, she’s dead, she’s as dead as my father.”
Much later in life, her brother Jim called Ellen to tell her their mother has died. Gee writes: “‘No, Jim,’ I wanted to say. ‘She really died twenty-two years ago.’”
The reverberations from that shooting,
and from her abusive father, echoed through the years. At 17, Ellen became pregnant, left school, and married her boyfriend, Tim. Rejected by his father, the oldest Gibson sibling, Al, spent time in a detention home, attended the University of Virginia, and set off on his own, but could never find his way in life. After joining the Merchant Marine, he jumped one night from a ship into frigid waters and was drowned. Jo Gibson never truly recovered from the shooting, frequently retreating into her bedroom to escape her children, and unable or unwilling to keep up a tidy house.
In all this darkness, there was one bright light: Aunt Jeanne Marie, Jo’s sister. She and her husband were missionaries stationed overseas, but Jeanne Marie returned to the States to help out her nephews and nieces. She became the children’s rock both during this storm and for years afterwards, never criticizing, always present with a smile or a gentle touch.
Gee begins “My Mother’s Song” with a brief account of her mother’s funeral. Here she writes, “Hundreds of blackbirds fluttered over my head, cawing to each other as they landed in the treetops, hovering, watching us grieve.
“Perhaps the hardest part wasn’t grieving her death.”
“It was watching her live.”
In this simple sentence Gee reveals the thread that links together all those who have lost a loved one to violence. They will experience that trauma in their own special way, but at bottom is the one element common to all of them: suffering.
A good while after her mother’s death, Ellen Gee recounts visiting her mother’s grave — she’s buried in Quantico National Cemetery, the final resting place for many Marines. Kneeling by the tombstone, Gee said, “Mother, I want you know, I really did love you.” She then added about her own life, “I am happy here. I am happy to the very core of me.”
After so much chaos and regret, love, it seems, had finally conquered anguish.
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com.)
Writer Jeff Minick
In the park, Cataloochee saw Helene’s worst
Word from the Smokies
BY HOLLY KAYS | S PECIAL TO SMN
s Hurricane Helene fomented in the Caribbean, it seemed likely that Great Smoky Mountains National Park would take a direct hit. The storm reached Category 4 before slamming Florida’s Gulf Coast, then headed north toward the Smokies.
But as it traveled, its course shifted east. Helene and its predecessor storm dropped unfathomable amounts of rain across Southern Appalachia — many places received well over a dozen inches in a matter of days, with some locations recording two dozen or more. The storm’s severity was unprecedented in the region, causing flash floods and landslides that have so far claimed at least 95 lives in North Carolina alone. Asheville, where extreme flooding destroyed entire neighborhoods and decimated the water system, logged a little over 14 inches between Sept. 24 and Sept. 28.
Most of the park fell far enough west of Helene’s path to escape with only minor flooding, but its extreme eastern region — Cataloochee, Balsam Mountain, Big Creek — was inundated. Record-setting rains tore out trails and roads and damaged historic buildings, leading the park to close these areas until further notice.
The worst damage unfolded in Cataloochee, a secluded valley in Haywood County, that is home to historic buildings showcasing the region’s pre-park history and one of the park’s two main elk herds. A U.S. Geological Survey gauge on Cataloochee Creek located 3.6 miles north of Cataloochee Campground shows that the creek, which usually flows about two feet deep alongside the road, spiked to 9.5 feet Sept. 27. That’s
Kulp, the park’s supervisory fishery biologist.
The flood’s aftermath is written most clearly on the valley floor, where the fields are full of debris. The far side of the creek, where the roots of the trees growing alongside it hold the soil in place, remained intact, but the road that borders the other bank is mostly ripped out and impassable to vehicles. In many cases, said Kulp, who visited Cataloochee Oct. 9 to assess its condition after the storm, it’s deeper than the original creek bed.
“The far side had a root system in place, and the water just floated over it, whereas the road is like a weak spot,” he explained. “It’s right next to the creek, and so once water got onto it, it just ate down through it.”
National Park Service photos show the roadway going past Caldwell House is now a gorge, and the rushing waters did severe damage to Caldwell Barn, which sits on the road’s opposite side. Park crews are working to stabilize the building.
“The water pushed in one of the walls on the upstream side, and it corroded out the footers — the foundations under it — so the corners aren’t sitting on anything,” Kulp said.
Before the storm hit, the Friends of the Smokies-funded Forever Places crew was working on a restoration project at the Steve Woody House, located in Cataloochee two miles down Rough Fork Trail. The house wasn’t damaged, but the trail was. The project is only about halfway complete, and the crew won’t be able to finish it until the trail is fixed.
According to Tobias Miller, the park’s roads, autoshop, trees and trails branch manager, “all trails in the Cataloochee Valley have
bridges on Pretty Hollow Trail were the only ones that survived.
Creek Trail took damage throughout its length, parts of it blown out so badly the park may need to bring in contractors to fix it. The fate of a 70-foot steel bridge that had crossed the creek five miles up the trail demonstrates the force of the flood. Both the bridge and its abutments washed away, and the steel beam
Heintooga Road saw numerous washouts
Cherokee fish hatchery on Big Cove Road. The footlog bridge on Swallow Fork Trail, one mile up from the junction with Big Creek Trail, washed away, and a significant landslide took out about 100 feet of trail tread on Gunter Fork Trail. However, many miles of trail have “really low impacts” with few downed trees, Miller pointed out. His team is continuing to assess trails in the eastern section of the park and to pinpoint the western extent of the damage. It’s unclear how long it might take to repair roads, trails, and bridges and allow the public back into these beloved areas, but addressing the damage is expected to take several months.
Even if Big Creek reopened today, the multitude of nearby road closures would make access difficult. Most visitors reach Big Creek by taking Interstate 40 to Waterville Road. Just below the power plant at Waterville, the Pigeon River jumped from its normal level of 4 feet up to nearly 22 feet before raging water displaced the gauge at 10 a.m. Sept. 27. This part of I-40 has been closed since a swollen Pigeon River devoured entire sections of high-
The Hiram Caldwell House looks out over a road rendered impassable following major flooding on Rough Fork Creek. Cataloochee Valley is closed until further notice. National Park Service photo
When Rough Fork Creek flooded, it etched deep gullies in Upper Cataloochee Valley Road and inflicted significant damage on Caldwell Barn. Crews are working to stabilize the structure. National Park Service photo
way through the Pigeon River Gorge. No timeline is yet available for reopening, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation expects to award a contract for the road’s permanent repair by the end of October.
The implications of this closure stretch far beyond Big Creek. I-40 is a key corridor for travel between Western North Carolina and East Tennessee, and it’s the only road connecting Haywood County, North Carolina, and Sevier County, Tennessee, that is open to commercial travel. In the first five days after Newfound Gap Road reopened on Oct. 2, 173 commercial vehicles were turned away after attempting to use that route. The road is too steep and curvy for large trucks, with no shoulders for large trucks to slow down or pull over, said Management Assistant Katie Liming. Drivers who violate the ban on commercial traffic can be fined up to $5,000 and charged with a federal misdemeanor.
they all get washed out, but they don’t. They actually survive them just fine.”
As a flood develops, fish and other aquatic organisms look for nooks and crevices along the bottom of the stream where they can hide, protected from the increasingly swift current. They ride out the storm in this relatively calm water and re-emerge when the storm passes. Extreme floods might rip away some of these safe havens, but not all of them. Kulp, who has been working in the Smokies for 30 years, said that the only time he saw a major decline in fish populations following a flood was in March 1994, when Little River took out large sections of Little River Road and Tremont Road. The adult trout population declined by about 50 percent but bounced back to normal within a few years.
More commonly, a severe flood might
“The key message is, it’s illegal and unsafe,” Liming said. “We understand that there are limited routes available, but the prohibition on commercial vehicles on that road in particular is really for the safety of all drivers.”
occurs soon enough after spawning season
to catch the fish while they’re still small and vulnerable. These small fish can get washed away, leaving a gap in the fishery’s age structure. Fish populations tend to recover quite easy from this kind of disruption — unless it happens repeatedly. Most brook trout get only one or two chances to reproduce in their lifetime.
“If we keep getting these extreme events at the wrong times of year, you can imagine it would only take a few years to eliminate age classes to where your population is going to be in trouble,” Kulp said. “And that’s a concern to me, because it seems like we’re starting to see more consistent winter and spring flood events of the magnitude that takes out young fish.”
Despite extreme flooding that in some places resculpted creek beds within the park, Helene is unlikely to inflict long-term effects on the Smokies’ diverse assemblage of aquatic species.
“Even in a major storm event, fish are pretty resilient,” Kulp said. “They’ve evolved with those things. People think
(Holly Kays is the lead writer for the 29,000-member Smokies Life, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the scientific, historical, and interpretive activities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services such as this column. Learn more at smokieslife.org or reach the author at hollyk@smokieslife.org. For a full list of current park closures, visit nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/conditions.htm.)
Cataloochee Valley is closed until further notice after flooding from Rough Creek Fork rendered Upper Cataloochee Valley Road undrivable. National Park Service photo
Flooding on Big Creek as a result of Hurricane Helene damaged the trail throughout its length and dislodged a 70-foot steep bridge as well as its abutments. National Park Service photo
Farmland preservation grants available
The application period for county governments and conservation nonprofit groups to apply for farmland preservation grants from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund opened Oct. 14. Applicants have until Jan. 17, 2025, to apply.
“A growing population and increased development continue to put pressure on family farms,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Agricultural conservation easements are the best tool to preserve farmland. I encourage farmers and landowners across the state to work with local partners and apply for grant funding to become North Carolina Forever Farms.”
Agricultural Growth Zones that enhance local investments in farmland preservation. Landowners interested in preserving their farms through agricultural conservation easements must work with county governments or land trusts to apply for grant funds. If awarded a grant in which the application requests funds for the conservation easement purchase value, landowners will be compensated for the purchase of the development rights.
Grants are available for agricultural conservation easements on working farms and forests; to support public-private enterprise programs that promote profitable and sustainable agricultural, horticultural and forestland activities; to develop agricultural plans; and to create
Is your house termitesafe post-Helene?
Hurricane Helene not only flooded many areas, knocked out power and destroyed the possessions of thousands of homeowners and businesses in North Carolina, it may have washed away household termite protection as well, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said today.
“If soil eroded from around the foundation of a house, or if more soil was deposited on top of original soil, a home’s termite protection has been jeopardized,” Troxler said. “Where termite bait systems are in place, the bait or monitors in saturated stations may need to be replaced at the next scheduled monitoring.”
Only where flooding has eroded treated soil away from the foundation or deposited untreated soil or sediment on top of the treated area should it be necessary to have a retreatment performed. If there was no erosion or sediment present, a retreatment should not be necessary. If the foundation wall of a home has been damaged and repair work is performed, then the soil treatment will be compromised, and a retreatment will be necessary.
Some warranties allow the pest control company to charge for such treatments; but
During the most recent grant cycle, the N.C. ADFP Trust Fund awarded $18.2 million to protect working farms and forests, support county farmland preservation efforts and promote agricultural enterprises. Agricultural conservation easements not funded in the previous grant cycle are encouraged to reapply for funding. Reapplications must notify the Farmland Preservation Division via online form.
A new online grant portal will be used for Cycle 18 applications. Grant applications, rules, and information packets are available online at ncagr.gov/divisions/farmlandpreservation/applicants.
many do not. Homeowners should review their termite contract to see who is responsible for re-establishing the termite protection of their home. This language can be found in the terms and conditions of the contract. If a retreatment is required, homeowner’s insurance may cover some or all of the cost of restoring the effectiveness of termite treatments. Homeowners should check with their insurance agent as soon as possible to see if their policy will cover any extra charges.
In order to continue to protect your home from an attack from termites it is essential the homeowner and the pest control company work together to determine if the liquid termiticide barrier or bait stations have been compromised by flooding and then take appropriate action. It is also imperative that homeowners utilize the services of licensed pest control companies in North Carolina. It is a violation of State Law in North Carolina for an individual to perform Structural Pest Control for hire without a valid Structural Pest Control License. Credentials of licensed North Carolina pest control companies can be found on the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services’ web site, ncagr.gov/divisions/structural-pest-control-and-pesticides/structural.
For more information, contact the NCDA&CS Structural Pest Control & Pesticides Division at 984.236.4615.
Jackson County hosts ‘Archery 101’ class
The Jackson County Recreation Department has announced it will host an “Archery 101” class for kids ages 10-14. Equipment and instruction will be provided. Class will be held from 4-7 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Cullowhee Recreation Complex. Registration fee is $15. Register online at jcprd.recdesk.com/community/program. Anyone with questions can call 828.293.3053, ext. 9.
File photo
U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road is closed to commercial vehicles
Violators will be subject to a citation with afineofupto$5,000
The National Park Service reminds commercial drivers that commercial vehicles are prohibited on U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the safety of all drivers. Violators will be subject to a citation as well as a fine of up to $5,000. Newfound Gap Road is a two-lane road with steep continuous grades and tight curves. There are no truck lanes, runaway truck ramps or places for a large commercial vehicle to slow down and pull over. U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road is not safe for large commercial vehicles.
Since Oct. 2, the NPS has been staffing checkpoints 24 hours a day on either end of the road with the assistance of
NCDA&CS offers cleanup and disposal assistance for pesticides
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services urges farmers and homeowners to evaluate pesticides and other chemical storage areas when cleaning up from Hurricane Helene.
“If your pesticide or fertilizer storage area was underwater because of flooding or if there was structural damage due to high winds or tornadoes, materials could be damaged, leaked or spilled,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “There are ways to safely handle and remove these chemicals. Do not mix chemicals when cleaning up due to potential reactions. A good rule of thumb is to keep solids separate from liquids and keep unlike chemicals separate.”
Listed below are guidelines to follow when cleaning up chemicals.
Safety: If you suspect your pesticide storage area has storm damage, use caution in investigating the area. Wear personal protective equipment such as chemical-resistant gloves, rubber boots, protective clothing and eyewear.
the law enforcement staffs of Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Government and Sevier County (the Cities of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville and the Sevier County Government). With their help, over 800 commercial vehicles have been turned away from U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road in that time. GSMNP is grateful for the support of these local partners, and their continued commitment to the safety and well-being of all visitors to the park.
Park staff have taken multiple actions to restrict access to the road, including staffing checkpoints, use of variable message signs, working with local communities to place signs outside the park, as well as strategically placed traffic cones and barrels to discourage commercial vehicles.
Commercial vehicles are always prohibited on U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road and in all of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (with the exception of the Spur). Drivers are encouraged to consult NCDOT and TNDOT routes before starting their trips.
Assess the area and contain the spread: Evaluate and identify the problem areas and use absorbent materials to contain the spread of the spill.
Cleanup: After stabilizing the area, begin cleaning it up. It is important that cleanup be prompt, but also safe. Things to consider include identifying a place to temporarily store the damaged material before ultimate disposal and plans for how to dispose of the pesticides. Make sure this temporary site meets proper pesticide storage regulations and keeps products out of the weather. Do not load all chemicals into one bin or container. This could not only create safety concerns and adverse chemical reactions, it could create response delays and increase disposal cost.
The Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program of the NCDA&CS will provide information and assistance with material disposal. Information on PDAP is online at ncagr.gov, or email questions to derrick.bell@ncagr.gov or call 919.280.1061. When contacting by email or phone, please provide the following information: Contact name, county where the material is located, best contact phone number and, if possible, an inventory of products needing disposal.
DEQ Offers Emergency Loans to Local Governments
The NPS responded to an incident on Oct. 13 on Roaring Fork Road Motor Nature Trail involving a semi-truck which became stuck.
Ranger District reopens
The Pisgah National Forest has reopened the Pisgah Ranger District effective Oct. 18,, in coordination with local communities and governments.
offering initial emergency loans to 20 local governments for emergency projects to rehabilitate drinking water and/or wastewater systems in response to damages caused by Hurricane Helene.
Many water and wastewater systems in the region have been impacted by storm damage. DEQ is working with federal and state partners, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and NCWaterWARN, to complete detailed assessments of impacted utilities.
The Department recognizes that local governments may need financial assistance for emergency repairs in advance of the available FEMA Public Assistance. Initial offers for zero interest emergency loans have been extended to Asheville, Bakersville, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Black Mountain, Burnsville, Canton, Chimney Rock Village, Hendersonville, Hot Springs, Lake Lure, Lansing, Marshall, Montreat, Newland, Old Fort, Saluda, Spruce Pine, Watauga County and Woodfin Sanitary District.
DEQ’s Division of Water Infrastructure will work with local governments to expedite the funding to address public health emergencies per N.C.G.S. § 159G-33(a)(4) and § 159G34(a)(4). The emergency loans are subject to approval by the state’s Local Government Commission and may qualify for reimbursement through FEMA’s assistance program.
Future loans are expected based on anticipated needs in the region. Additional information on funding is available on the DEQ website.
Updates on impacted water and wastewater systems are available on the DEQ Dashboard.
While crews continue to work throughout the district clearing debris and repairing roadways and trails, the USDA Forest Service urges the public to use extra caution when visiting the area. Closures remain in effect for the Appalachian and Grandfather Ranger Districts of the Pisgah National Forest.Like many areas in Western North Carolina, the Pisgah National Forest was heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene, and visitors may encounter several hazards caused by storm damage, such as:
• Landslides along forest service roads and trails
• Fallen trees and large limbs crossing trails
• Washed out trails and bridges
• Rough roads that require high clearance vehicles where previously it did not
• Limited cell phone service in case of emergency
Several restroom facilities on the Pisgah Ranger District are currently out of order and will remain closed. In addition, the following roads will be closed to motor vehicle traffic:
• Avery Creek Road
• Yellow Gap Road (between Wolf Ford and North Mills River)
• Headwaters Road (from 475 – to the Sunwall TH)
• Catheys Creek Road (northern portion)
For the status of campgrounds on the Pisgah Ranger District please contact Naventure at naventure.com/outdoor-adventures-north-carolina. For the status of the Cradle of Forestry on the Pisgah Ranger District please contact FIND Outdoors at gofindoutdoors.org/sites/cradle-offorestry.
NPS photo
Pisgah
File photo
Market PLACE WNC
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• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)
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• Add Photo $6
• Bold ad $2
• Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4
• Border $4
Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.
Note: Yard sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE
COUNTY OF JACKSON DISTRICT COURT DIVISION
FILE NO. 24CVD 000376 NOTICE OF SERVICE BY PROCESS OF PUBLICATION
JADE MOORE, Plaintiff vs. AUSTIN ROLAND, Defendant
TO: AUSTIN ROLAND
245 Lopes Circle Franklin, NC 28734
Take notice that a pleading seeking relief above-entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows:
The Plaintiff, JADE MOORE is seeking the primary care, custody and control of the minor children born to the parties to wit, LINCOLN ROLAND, born on the 22nd day of July, 2014 and BAYLOR ROLAND, born on the 3rd day of September, 2018.
You are required to make defense to such pleading not later than November 18, 2024, being forty (40) days after the date of thetice, and upon your failure to do so the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for the relief sought.
This 4th day of October,
2024.
DONALD N. PATTEN, PLLC
Attorney for Plaintiff 46 South Main Street Waynesville , NC 28786 828-452-1454
By: Donald N. Patten DONALD N. PATTEN
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
COUNTY OF Jackson
File No: 24SP001167-490
NOTICE OF SALE
TAKE NOTICE THAT: William Richard Boyd, Jr., Substitute Trustee, has begun proceedings to FORECLOSE under the Deed of Trust described below, and under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in such Deed of Trust, and an Order entered by the Clerk of Superior Court of the above County, will sell the below described property at public auction as follows:
1. The instrument pursuant to which such sale will be held is that certain Deed of Trust executed by William N. Stewart and Alisha Stewart, husband and wife, original mort-
United Community Bank (“Noteholder”) and reJackson County Register of Deeds in Deed of Trust Book 1842, at Page 69, subject to that Assignment of Deed of Trust recorded in Book 2155, at Page 439 (the “Deed of Trust”). The record owner of such property, as re-
the Register of Deeds not more than ten (10) days
prior to posting this Notice of Sale, if not the original mortgagors, is: N/A
2. The property will be sold by the Substitute Trustee at 10:00 a.m. on October 25, 2024 at the Jackson County Courthouse door in the City of Sylva, North Carolina.
3. The real property to be sold is generally described as 230 Keener Cemetery Drive, Sylva, NC 28779* and is more particularly described as follows (the “Property”): Being all of that property described in that certain Deed of Trust recorded in Book 1842 , at Page 69 , subject to that Assignment of Deed of Trust recorded in Book 2155, at Page 439 of the Jackson County, North Carolina Registry.
Any Property described in the Deed of Trust which is not being offered for sale is described as follows: Subject to any and all Release Deeds of Record in the Jackson County,
North Carolina Registry.
*The general description of the Property is provided for convenience but is not guaranteed; the legal description in the Deed of Trust controls .
4. Any buildings located on the above-described Property are also included in the sale.
5. The Property will be sold by the Substitute Trustee to the highest bidder for CASH . The highest bidder will be required to deposit IN CASH with the Substitute Trustee at the date and time of the sale the
(5.0%) of the amount of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty and no/100 Dollars ($750.00).
6. The Property is being sold “AS IS, WHERE IS.” Neither the Substitute Trustee, Noteholder, nor attorneys, employees, or authorized agents or representatives of either
Substitute Trustee or Noteholder make any warranty relating to title, possession, quiet enjoyment, or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the Property and any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way related to such conditions are expressly disclaimed. The Noteholder has reserved the right to withdraw the sale up to and until the deed is delivered by the Substitute Trustee.
7. The Property will be sold subject to all unpaid taxes and special assessments.
8. The Property being sold is all of that Property described in the Deed of -
ly set forth above. It is the intention to extinguish any and all rights or interests in the Property subordinate to the Deed of Trust.
9. An order for possession of the Property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the Clerk of Superior Court of the County in which the Property is sold.
10. Additional Notice
Where the Property is Residential with Less Than 15 Rental Units, including single-family residential real property: Any person who occupies the Property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the Notice of Sale, terminate the rental agreement by providing written notice of termination to the landlord to be effective on a date stated in the notice that is at least 10 days, but no more than 90 days, after the sale date contained in the notice of sale, provided that the mortgagor has not cured the default at the time the tenant provides the notice of termination. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.
11. Pursuant to North Carolina General Statues Section 45-21.8, the
sale of the Property may be made by whole or by tract in the discretion of the Substitute Trustee. Further, the Substitute Trustee may offer for sale any and all personal property as permitted by the Deed of Trust in accordance with North Carolina General Statutes Sections 25-9-604, 25-9-610, and 25-9-611, in whole, as individual items, or together with the Property as the Substitute Trustee determines is appropriate in the Substitute Trustee’s sole discretion. This notice is intended to comply with the requirements of North Carolina General Statutes Sections 25-9-607 and 25-9-613 providing for the disposition of personal property in connection with a foreclosure of real property. Mortgagor is entitled to and may request an accounting of the unpaid indebtedness secured by the Deed of Trust.
12. Any successful bidder shall be required to tender the remaining balance of the successful bid amount in cash or the Substitute Trustee tenders to such bidder, or attempts to deliver to such bidder, a deed for the Property. Should such successful bidder fail to pay the full balance of the successful bid at that time, that bidder shall remain liable on the bid as provided by North Carolina General Statutes Section 45-21.30.
13. The purchaser of the Property shall pay the Clerk’s Commissions in the amount of $0.45 per $100.00 of the purchase price (up to a maximum of $500.00), required by Section 7A-308(a) (1) of the North Carolina General Statutes. If the purchaser of the Property is someone other than the Deed of Trust, the purchaser shall also pay, to the extent applicable, the land transfer tax in the amount of one percent (1.0%) of the purchase price.
14. If the Substitute Trustee is unable to convey title to the Property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is
the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are of a bankruptcy petition of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the Substitute Trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the Substitute Trustee, in its sole discretion, if it believes the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.
15. The Property is being sold subject to all prior and superior: (i) deeds of trust, (ii) liens, (iii) unpaid taxes, (iv) restrictions, (v) easements, (vi) assessments, (vii) leases, and (viii) other matters, if any, which, as a matter of law, survive the foreclosure of the Deed of Trust, provided that the inclusion of this clause in this Notice of Substitute Trustee’s Sale of Real Estate shall not be deemed to validate or otherwise effect to any such matter or other right which, as a matter of law, does not survive the foreclosure of the Deed of Trust.
16. Any person who occupies the Property pursuor tenancy may have additional rights pursuant to the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act.
17. This is a communication from a debt collector. The purpose of this communication is to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection. If you are under the protection of the Bankruptcy Court or have been discharged as a result of bankruptcy proceedings, this notice if given to you pursuant to statutory requirement and for informational purposes and is not intended as an attempt to collect a debt or as an act to collect, assess, or recover all or any portion of the debt from you personally.
THIS the 19 th day of September, 2024. William Richard Boyd, Jr.
Substitute Trustee
474 Mountain Cove Road Waynesville, North Carolina 28786 (828) 646-7308
Dates: October 16, 2024 and October 23, 2024 20800-4
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.24E001489-430
Bessemer Trust Compa-
as the Ancillary Administrator of the Estate of J. Suzanne Arroyo
AKA Jessica Suzanne Arroyo of Haywood County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before Jan 23 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.
Ancillary Administrator Johnston, Allison & Hord, P.A. c/o Holly B. Norvell 1065 East Morehead St. Charlotte, NC 28204
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.24e001321-490
Leslie Wickliffe Muir and J.K. Coward, Jr, havingutor of the Estate of Mary Somerville Triplette of Jackson County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before Jan 23 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.
Co-Executor
c/o J.K. Coward, Jr. co-executor 705 W Main Street Sylva, NC 28779
Notice to Creditors
Ancillary Executor of the Estate of Terry C. Luckenbach, in Macon County File No. 24E001372-550, the undersigned does hereby notify all person, having claims against the estate of said decedent to exhibit them to the undersigned at 461 East Main Street, Sylva, NC 28779 on or before ninety
ANSWERS ON PAGE 34
published, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All per-
tions indebted to the said estate will please make immediate payment to the undersigned.
Terry Stephen Luckenbach, Representative c/o Timothy Lewis, Attorney at Law
Earwood 461 East Main Street Sylva, NC 28779
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