Cherokee passes casino smoking ban
Woodhouse. But he was livid upon learning that she had taken the $1,000 payment from Cawthorn in August, which he said suggested it was then that the plan was hatched for the congressman to change districts and anoint Woodhouse as his heir. “My fellow candidates and I have been strong-armed by Michele over these last few months to get out of the race, and we have been denied speaking slots at GOP events by her, and now we learn this,” wrote O’Connell, owner of the storied Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, in a published statement. “Enough is enough … She needs to resign today.” Woodhouse didn’t respond to The Watchdog’s requests for comment on either the payment or whether she had been promised Cawthorn’s support.
Honeycutt, who joined the Army days after his high school graduation and retired 37 years later as a high-ranking officer with two master’s degrees, has avoided criticizing either Cawthorn or Woodhouse. But some of Honeycutt’s supporters — among them many who had backed Cawthorn in 2020 — are unrestrained. Former Henderson County Sheriff George Erwin, who was instrumental in getting a majority of western North Carolina’s Republican sheriffs to endorse Cawthorn in that election, has publicly apologized for doing so. In an interview for this article, Erwin said that to his knowledge few of those sheriffs will now back Cawthorn because of his actions in cheerleading protesters prior to the January 6 attack on the Capitol to disrupt the presidential-election certification, as well as his blatant refusal to follow the law prohibiting carrying weapons — in Cawthorn’s case a switchblade “combat knife” — on school grounds. “I am very adamantly opposed to him, and I don’t see how anyone in law enforcement can support him now,” Erwin said. He’s endorsed Honeycutt for the GOP nomination in the primary, now scheduled for May 17. (The North Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the state’s March 2022 primary be delayed, giving courts more time to settle two lawsuits challenging Republican-drawn maps for Congress and the state’s General Assembly.) The most ironic threat to Cawthorn’s hopes to oversee a two-district domain came Nov. 30 when state Senator Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville declared his candidacy for Cawthorn’s western Carolina seat. Edwards embodies the very Republican establishment
that Cawthorn boasted he “would not let happen.” Edwards’ state senate district overlaps significantly with the redrawn 14th Congressional District, giving him a built-in network of GOP voters and positioning him as the pre-filing frontrunner for the nomination. The senator’s disgust with Cawthorn’s role in that Jan. 6 “stop the steal” rally stems from Cawthorn’s exhortation to the crowd that they should “lightly threaten” any lawmaker who failed to support changes to election law. “It exacerbates the divisions in our country and has the potential to needlessly place well-meaning citizens, law enforcement officers, and elected officials in harm’s way,” Edwards said in a statement posted to his website.
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‘CON ARTISTS, NOT PATRIOTS’ The congressman also has come in for criticism within the conservative ranks. Party activist Cynthia Harman, a longtime Trump loyalist, wrote in the blog, SaveMadisonCounty.org, that “Woodhouse and Cawthorn are con artists, not Patriots. … The money drives their disease of lies and deception. They use the churches to propagate it.” Even before Cawthorn’s announcement that he was shifting districts, opposition to his renomination was emerging as a serious threat. In addition to Nevarez and O’Connell, recently retired Army Colonel Rod Honeycutt found strong support among the district’s incumbent and former sheriffs, law enforcement officers, other military veterans and backers in Woodfin, where his family has ancestral roots.
THE SOLE GOP TEST: TRUMP OR NOT TRUMP The emerging opposition to Cawthorn in his current district appears to provide a political rationale for skipping into the new 13th Congressional District, especially knowing he won’t face House Speaker Moore. Although additional candidates may emerge before the filing period for the GOP primary closes at noon Dec. 17, so far, the most experienced rival that Cawthorn may face is Karen Bentley, a former Mecklenburg County commissioner. In an interview with the Watchdog, Bentley, who lives in a western Charlotte suburb, said that while she is realistic about her chances against a high-profile and well-funded candidate, she isn’t deterred. Bentley said she would highlight the “dichotomy between
a politician grabbing headlines and one who has a record of governing” in North Carolina’s largest county. In her favor, nearly 60 percent of the new district’s Republican electorate live in the two counties closest to Charlotte and its media market, Mecklenburg and Gaston. These voters are apt to identify more with the politics of the Republican establishment than with those in the rural western counties where Cawthorn seeks to build his base. Cawthorn “may have a fight on his hands,” said Republican insider Wayne King, the regional director for then-Congressman Mark Meadows, who resigned to become Trump’s White House chief of staff. Adding to the voterregistration numbers could be still-raw emotions from some Moore supporters who resent the insults Cawthorn hurled at their hometown hero, driving him from the campaign. Still, as in most of the country, there is one thing that even the most anti-Cawthorn Republicans must not cross if they hope to survive in this uncivil war: to criticize exPresident Trump. “At this point in time, unless shown a poll pointing otherwise, I don’t see how you can be successful unless you align yourself with Trumpism,” said Bitzer, the political scientist. “This is very much a cult of personality. Are you for the former president or not? That’s the sole test.” (Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and surrounding communities. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and former executive editor of The Miami Herald, now living in Asheville. He can be reached at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org.) 9
Smoky Mountain News
“It definitely is a consideration, and it’s also a consideration for our staff, because we do want to put them in the best situation possible,” Brooks replied. However, he said, there is a segment of customers who are upset about the smoking ban and the inconvenience it causes. Snowbird/Cherokee County Representative Adam Wachacha asked if Harrah’s had done any surveys to determine what a permanent smoking ban might do to customer satisfaction. Robinson said the casino had not done a specific survey on the issue but that reviews of social media feedback showed that the no-smoking rule “is a point we continue to get called out on.” “Transitioning to nonsmoking casinos has not been without its challenges,” said Harrah’s Regional Vice President for Marketing Brian Saunooke in a follow-up email. “We receive feedback from guests who would prefer to be able to smoke while playing their favorite games, but we also hear from those who strongly prefer the smokefree environment. The long-term impact remains to be seen.” Hill argued that the no-smoking rule is actually a plus for customer satisfaction, because most players are non-smokers who appreciate breathing cleaner air — only a
December 15-21, 2021
“It’s a national thing that people are paying attention to — you can’t smoke in restaurants anymore, airplanes, none of that. Smoking is an addition,” she said. “It’s an option and it’s a killer.” Principal Chief Richard Sneed said he agreed with McCoy but offered an amendment that would allow Harrah’s to create dedicated indoor gaming areas for smokers. As originally written, the ordinance would have prevented smoking near any casino operations. “I do get concerned about competition, I do get concerned about if we put something in such a way that it would restrict us to make changes if we had to, based on competition that we know is coming close to us,” said Harrah’s General Manager Brooks Robinson. “Also, I would hope that we might be able to put something in place that might allow some of the actual gaming devices in an environment that would allow smoking.” Tribal Council approved Sneed’s amendment, which addressed Robinson’s main concern. However, some members questioned how the legislation would impact the satisfaction of customers who want to smoke, drink and gamble at the same time. “I think the customer should be the first consideration,” said Painttown Representative Tommye Saunooke. “That’s my opinion.”
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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER asinos in Cherokee and Murphy will be permanently smoke-free following a majority vote from Tribal Council Dec. 9, codifying a policy that’s been in place since the Coronavirus Pandemic spurred a temporary ban on lighting up indoors. “This is our public health laws, which is in ordinance, which is within your realm, so this is your decision,” said tribal member Lavita Hill, who has energetically advocated for the ordinance change. “What we’re asking you to do, what casino employees are asking you to do, is to make a law ensuring that their workplace remains healthy and remains smoke-free.” Until a temporary pandemic closure in March 2020, indoor smoking had been allowed at both Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino in Murphy since their original openings. When the casinos reopened in May 2020, indoor smoking was banned as part of Harrah’s COVID safety protocols. Currently, patrons may smoke only in designated outdoor smoking areas. Big Cove Representative Teresa McCoy, a former smoker, expressed strong support for the ordinance when it was discussed in Council chambers.
“small segment” is inconvenienced, she said. A review of posts on the 6,900-member Facebook group Friends Who Like Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort backs up that assertion. An Oct. 16 post reading “Fingers crossed Harrah’s will remain smoke free” received 203 reactions, of which 199 were either “like” or “love.” Likewise, the flurry of posts after Tribal Council’s Dec. 9 vote had an overall positive tone. The one with the most engagement received 381 reactions, of which 364 were “like” or “love.” “If were talking about bottom line, let’s just look at our December per capita, which was the highest-grossing ever,” Hill said. “We can’t argue that nonsmoking has impacted us in a negative way when revenue is actually up.” It’s too early to comment as to whether the casino will create designated gaming areas for smokers, or on what timeline that would happen, said Brian Saunooke. But because both casinos are operating as nonsmoking facilities, no immediate action will be necessary to comply with the ordinance change should it become law. The ordinance still requires Sneed’s signature to become effective, but in light of his verbal support Dec. 9 that signature is likely forthcoming. Tribal Council passed the measure with eight members in support and four opposed. Painttown Representatives Tommye Saunooke and Dike Sneed voted against it, along with Yellowhill Representatives David Wolfe and T.W. Saunooke.
