The slumping economy and high fuel prices has yet another victim. This time it hits close to home as the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is closing its depot in Dillsboro, affective on August 8^th. 

The railroad has seen lower ticket numbers this year, and with the rising prices in diesel fuel, has decided to consolidate trips. 

They will now only depart out of Bryson City. This may affect Dillsboro in other ways as well. The towns businesses rely heavily on tourism, a large chunk coming from the train rides. 

The company is discussing adding a ride that would go from Bryson City to Dillsboro. That would include a layover in the town, but the ride will not be added until the economy improves.  

Passengers who have made reservations out of Dillsboro will be given refunds, or the reservations will be honored at the Bryson City location. 

Michaela Blanton spoke with the media yesterday about her son Tye, and about her late husband Highway Patrol Trooper David Shawn Blanton. 

Michaela says that life right now is extremely difficult. “I had always imagined growing old with Shawn, of course things happened very quickly for us.  We just knew that it was meant to be.  We were engaged for three months and married six months later, and unfortunately we went even married a year.” 

Michaela added that Shawn always wanted kids.  She said that she sometimes wondered if he married her for her or to have a child. 

Shawn wasn’t able to know about all of Tye’s medical conditions, but she says that he was aware of Tye’s heart problem. 

They spoke extensively on what to do about his condition. “I’m so thankful to have had that conversation with Shawn, and that is a lot of what I’m taking into consideration now.  As we are trying to take the best approach for Tye and in keeping with Shawn’s wishes.” 

They were both hoping to have Tye come home by now. Shawn was planning on taking some time off, once the child could make it home. 

He went back to work after the birth so that he could earn money for the pending medical bills.

“Unfortunately, even in the worst circumstances including now, life, real life doesn’t stop, bills don’t stop, and upkeep of your home doesn’t stop, and Shawn was willing to make that sacrifice for our family.”  

Michaela also took time to thank the community for all of their support. She says that trying to find the best way to take care of Tye is her biggest challenge right now.  

He completed a central line surgery on Wednesday, and came through the surgery without complications and is doing well as of right now.

The summer evenings in Webster concert series is continuing on Sunday.  

Joe Rhinehart says that this Sunday is going to be storytelling time. “It’s going to be outdoors and were particularly asking people to bring grandchildren and children, and friends.  You will need to bring a blanket, out a chair because we are going to do it under the trees in the churchyard.  We always think that it’s good, the children will have free range and get to hear stories and all that.” 

Briea Stacey will be telling stories of Webster on Sunday, she’s got a few friends tagging along as well. “I will be telling stories of Webster this weekend, I will be bringing with me Mr. Lloyd Arneach.  He is a Cherokee storyteller, he has written a book and had some book signings last week in Franklin.  I’ll also be bringing Mr. Allen Haten, and he is from Alaska and will be telling Alaskan native stories.” 

Briea has been telling stories for about six years, she had the gift handed down to her from her grandmother.  

She’s also the Kentucky State Storytelling champion. 

“She goes to competitions, she competes, competes, and competes.  She’s won the state championship for three years.  We should be in for some good stories.”

If you would like to see the storytelling this weekend, it’s easy to do. The show takes place in Webster at the Webster Methodist Church. The show is free, and will start at 5:30pm.

The lawyers for Edwardo Wong the II, will likely meet inside of a library room at the jail for privacy issues. 

In court papers filed earlier in the week, lawyers for Wong asked for the change in meeting spaces because they haven’t been able to speak privately to their client.  

Inmates and jailers have been able to overhear conversations they have been having in the common area of the jail. 

The sheriff is slightly concerned with the switch, due to the room giving Wong more room to move around. 

The sheriff believes Wong to be a dangerous individual who has had a history of escaping. 

Wong is charged with first degree murder in the June 17^th shooting death of trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr.  He also faces robbery charges on allegations that he stole the officers service weapon.   

Attempted murder charges are also on the docket, for shooting at a sheriffs deputy who tried to stop him that night. 

Wong could face the death penalty, a trail date has yet to be set. 

There was a major discussion on crosswalks and pedestrian safety at Sylva’s last town meeting. 

The board had a member from the DOT come in to try to help find a way to get people to stop at crosswalks on Main Street. 

The best idea he could develop was yield signs in front of the crosswalks, this would eliminate some parking though. 

“It will not be popular, but if your looking to create that safety measure for that pedestrian, obviously if they are entering a crosswalk where there is a parked vehicle, its tough to see them.”

The use of weeble signs was brought up at the last meeting as a possible solution, after checking into it, it was decided that they wouldn’t do the job. 

“I think if you put a sign in the middle of the road like Dillsboro did, you are going to wind up with what Dillsboro has got, a damaged sign.”  

The conversation then turned to other possible solutions. 

Sylva police Chief Jeff Jamison believes that enforcement would be the answer.  Not just enforcing the yielding of cars at crosswalks, he also believes a jaywalking ordinance is needed in the town.  

“We have a big problem with people crossing the street at non signalized locations.  The town doesn’t even have a ordinance to address this, there is no jaywalking ordinance.  If you are going to expect motorist to respect the pedestrians, you have to have something in place so that pedestrians respect the motorists.”  

Commissioner Sarah Graham brought up the idea of educating the public with PSA’s and by other means. 

Chief Jamison was adamant on a Jaywalking ordinance.

“If your expecting motorists to respect the pedestrians, pedestrians have to respect the law also.  If your wanting to herd them to the crosswalks where they will be safe crossing the street you’ve got to have something in place there to do that, and that’s tickets.”  

The board decided to allow the DOT and the police department to meet and see what ideas the two can develop.   

The board will hear more ideas at their next meeting.

Macon County authorities are asking for the publics help in finding a man wanted for assault on a court officer. 

Damon Rayvon Miles Jr., who also goes by the name Brandon, could be in Macon, or Jackson County.  His last known address was in Gastonia. 

He is charged with assaulting an officer inside of the Macon County Courthouse last Thursday. 

Anyone with any information on Miles is asked to contact the Macon County Sheriffs Department at 349-2104, or Crime Stoppers at 349-2600.

A statement was released last night from Michaela Blanton. In it, she gave an update on her premature son Tye. 

She wrote that she was “hoping for a miracle, yet praying for peace.” 

Tye Blanton was born several weeks premature, and has faced many challenges since being born. Neurological challenges that have increased in severity may rule out needed heart surgery for the child. 

Blanton and doctors at Mission Hospital, as well as Duke are discussing if it is safe and in Tye’s best interest to proceed with the surgery. 

“Tye’s weight is no longer our main concern in deciding whether surgery would be safe,” Blanton writes.   

“He continues to gain and he now weighs 3 pounds, 14 ounces.  As a mother, my focus right now is to make Tye’s life as enjoyable and as comfortable as possible.” 

Tye has been moved to a private room in the neonatal intensive care unit, where Michaela can be with him at all times. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center is in hot water yet again.  

A 41-year-old Haywood County man is suing the hospital for suffering brain damage after staff at the hospital punctured his breathing tube while trying to suction his stomach, according to the lawsuit. 

The man, Brain Hill, now requires 24-hour care, a court appointed guardian is representing him in the cases due to him not being able to make decisions. 

The lawsuit claims that Hill called rescue workers on February 18, 2006, after overdosing on pain medication that he was on for his knee. 

Once workers got him to the emergency room, he was fitted with a breathing tube. Hospital staff then attempted to insert a Nasogastric tube into his stomach, but instead it was inserted through the trachea and into his left lung. 

After realizing the mistake, a second tube was inserted, but again ended up in the wrong place, this time in his right lung. 

The placement and removal of the tubes punctured his breathing tube and dropped his oxygen level down to a harmful level, according to the lawsuit. 

The court papers allege that the hospital failed to make sure the procedure was being preformed by qualified staffers, and failed to train staffers on the procedure, and failed to train them on what to do if a tube was misplaced. 

A former doctor and nurse have also sued the hospital. They are saying that they were fired after pointing out errors in how patients were being treated, and how medication was given. 

A discussion came up at Sylva’s town board meeting last week, which dealt with the reroofing of Poteet Park. The discussion dealt with the use of a metal roof, or a shingled one. 

Commissioner Sarah Graham believes a metal roof should be used due to aesthetic reasons. 

“The pavilion and Poteet Park is going to be a lot more visible now that the bank is cleared.  I think that as we develop that area of town it would look really attractive to have the two roofs match.”  

A metal roof will cost anywhere from sixty-eight hundred dollars to a little more than nine thousand. 

Commissioner Harold Hensley wanted to know what the estimate was on a shingled roof.  

Jay Denton responded: “Dan gave me an estimate of 13 hundred and 20 dollars on the shingles, but now that estimate was given back in the spring, so those shingles could have very well gone up like everything else.  That’s just material, our forces will do the shingles.” 

Mayor Oliver asked for bids from some different parties to help make a decision, Mr. Denton said that he would get three informal bids on a metal roof, as well as a shingled one. 

Before the discussion was ended, Sarah Graham again pushed for the addition of a metal roof at the park, which was followed by a push from Stacy Knotts. 

“We’ve spent and the volunteers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing that.  I’d hate to put a roof on there that we don’t want just because of like a 4,000 dollar difference, when we’ve already invested so much money and time in the structures that are there right now.” 

The discussion of the roof will continue at the boards next meeting in August.  The board should have at least three bids to help in the decision. 

A local community college will be welcoming a new face soon. 

Chad Bledsoe will be joining the faculty and staff at Haywood Community College as the Vice President of Academic and Workforce Development starting on August first. 

He will be replacing Bill Rhodarmer, who retired this summer after 20 years at the college. 

Bledsoe will bring a wealth of experience to Haywood. 

Most recently he has served as dean of career technologies at Surry Community College.  He has also worked as a faculty member at Wake Technical Community College, as well as division chair at Wilkes Community College. 

Before joining the community college system, Bledsoe managed family art galleries, and built houses. He still holds a general contractors license, as well as a home inspector license for the state.

Sylva may become a sister soon.

At last weeks board meeting, the town commissioners heard from David Moore of the Bosnia Community Farm Initiative, about becoming a sister city to Srebrenica, Bosnia. “Briefly, Srebrenica, you may have heard of.  It was the site of the largest genocide in Europe since WWII.  8,000 Bosnian Muslims men and boys were killed in a matter of three days. The 13^th anniversary of that was July 11^th of this year.” 

The program would need no money from the town of Sylva, eventually the BCFI would like to see a cultural exchange, or some type of exchange of ideas between the two towns.

“It’s a broad based spectrum of possibilities, there are no solid commitments at this time.  We really need the approval of the municipalities of Sylva that you would like to enter into this.” 

Maurice Moody wanted to know what the advantages and disadvantages would be for the two cities. “I don’t see any disadvantages, I think the advantages for Sylva are good will, positive publicity in addition to doing a good thing.  For the folks of Srebrenica, there are much more material benefits that could come about with the continued interaction of members of our community with members of their community.” 

Sarah Graham saw the program as a big benefit. “Whether you actually ever travel to another country or not, just getting a greater understanding of how people live and suffer and live joyfully in another country, is a really achieving experience.  If we could bring some of that back to our residence it would be a great thing.” 

The board unanimously passed the resolution, the Bosnia Community Farm Initiative will now follow up with Srebrenica to see if they would like to take part in the program. 

Fans of the Lady Catamounts will get to see how well their team is early this season. 

Head coach Kellie Harper announced the 2008-2009 schedule yesterday, and there are some big games early on. 

The team received their first ever invite to the preseason WNIT, and with it, the first game of the season will have them facing the tar heels of North Carolina on November 14^th. 

After the WNIT, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the lady cats. 

The next game is on the road in Knoxville, where they will face last year’s national champions, the Lady Vols of Tennessee on November 25^th. 

After a game against Montana State on the 26th of November, the team will return to western North Carolina to face in state rivals UNC-Asheville on December 2^nd. 

The Southern conference schedule will pick up in the middle of December with the first conference game against Davidson on the 16^th. 

Other notable contests during the season include games against Clemson, App State, as well as UNC-Wilmington. 

Practice for the 2008-2009 season starts on October 17^th.

The Jackson County Sheriffs Department needs its citizen’s help, and a cash reward is possible. 

The Sheriff’s office crimestoppers department is offering a reward for any information that leads to an arrest of a person involved in a break in that occurred on July 6^th. 

The break in occurred shortly after a fire was set to a nearby dwelling on Spiral Drive in Cashiers. 

An unoccupied house was discovered to be on fire and while emergency crews dealt with the blaze, responders were notified that someone had entered a residence in close proximity to the fire and had removed items from the house.

The description given of the suspect is as follows: 

• A white male, 5 foot 11 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds.

• That night he was wearing a black hooded shirt, black gloves and an unknown color pants.

Anyone with any information about the event or person is urged to contact Crimestoppers at 828-631-1125 or at sheriff.jacksonnc.org. 

A cash reward is available to any information that can help in solving the case.

Sylva may be getting out of the lighting business soon. 

Duke wants to take them over, it would cost Sylva around another 6,000 dollars in extra income if they let them do it. 

Jay Denton sees some unknowns to this equation as well. One of those deals with the 75 poles that will have to be metered. “So there is some unknowns in here, we don’t know how many of these poles we are going to be able to meter together.  If you just have one pole, it’ll have a base charge of about 23 dollars and 75 cents.  So we don’t know how many of these we are going to be able to get hooked on to the same pole, but if we have five on a pole it may only be about 30 bucks.” 

Mr. Denton also sees a big liability issue that would be helped out if Duke Power took over the lighting. “We are not licensed electrical contractors, we do have some liability there, from my stand point, I would like to come out of that lighting business.” 

Maurice Moody likes the idea, but only if Duke Power can give a commitment that they will give the town better and quicker service to repairs. "I think there is some obvious advantages that you have pointed out by doing it.  I’m not sure if they have improved the quality of service, at times in the past the leased poles we’ve had haven’t worked well.  The one in front of the Hooper House, Id say 2 to 3 years it was out of service.  I would like to see a commitment to at least a two day service.”  

The board didn’t make a decision on the proposal, it was tabled until the next meeting. 

That meeting will take place on August 7^th, the board is hoping for more feedback from Duke Power, and a commitment to quicker service.

Western Carolina’s basketball team is in need of another assistant coach this week.

Dustin Ford, who was recently promoted to associate head coach for the catamounts, has left to join his alma-mater, Ohio University as an assistant. Ohio’s website announced the news last Thursday. 

Ford is the second assistant to leave head coach Larry Hunter this season.  Bobby Woollum resigned in March. Both coaches had been on staff with Hunter since his first season in 2005. 

In other WCU basketball news, ex-guard Kevin Martin was one of ten players selected to be on the scrimmage team to the Olympic squad.

Martin will join Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and others in helping train the Olympic squad in Las Vegas before exhibition games start up this weekend. 

PJ Carlisimo will coach the team, and many of the players on the scrimmage squad could end up on the national team for the 2010 world championships, and the 2012 Olympics.

There was a major award given out yesterday at the Sylva Board Meeting.

The town of Sylva has started a program to recognize volunteerism, and this year the recipient dedicated many hours to sprucing up Mill Street. 

Phyllis Fox Explains. “I read in the paper, that Tom even volunteered to buy paint.  If they couldn’t afford to buy paint, he would buy the paint and paint their buildings, and I thought at the time that I wish we had that much commitment from some of the folks up on main street.” 

The man Phyllis is talking about is Sylva resident Tom Hanks, who repainted the majority of Mill Street. 

Mayor Brenda Oliver presented the glass award to Mr. Hanks. “In appreciation for what you have done for the town of Sylva, it reads, The Sylva volunteers Service Award given in recognition to the dedication to community service.  Tom Hanks your exceptional services have made our town a better place, awarded April 30, 2008 by the mayor and the board of commissioners.” 

Tom Hanks accepted the award and spoke briefly to the crowd. “Its not often that you get to go out and paint the town, much less get an award for it.  This is really cool, for those of you who don’t volunteer, you should try it.  The benefits are amazing.”  

Tom added that the best part of the project was that it allowed him to get to know nearly everyone in town, and also hear stories and history on Sylva as well. 

A local volunteer group has raised enough money to pay off the loan for their thrift store. Volunteers for the Harris Regional Hospital Auxiliary received a loan from the Westcare Health System Foundation to buy property on Skyland Drive to build their store. 

The property also houses the grounds to which the WeeCare Community Childcare Center will be built.  

The thrift store is staffed by 30 volunteers who accept donations, sort merchandise, and make sales. 

In addition to settling the balance of the loan, the thrift store has also raised funds to buy an ambulance, an anesthesiology machine, and five defibrillators. 

75,000 dollars was also donated by the volunteers to the Alzheimer’s Unit at Mountain Trace Nursing Center. 

The volunteers from the thrift store play a large role in the way hospital projects are funded. 

Once needs are prioritized by the Westcare Administration and hospital trustees, the volunteers decide which projects they can work towards. 

All of the funding comes from thrift store sales. The thrift store is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9am until 3pm and on Saturdays from 8:30am until 1pm.

If you would like to volunteer, call 586-7405

The support for the Blanton family is still going strong. Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered in Dillsboro for a benefit to help raise money for the family. 

People enjoyed barbeque, a car show, as well as a concert from Sylva’s native son Matt Stillwell. 

The money raised from the event will go to help the family pay medical expenses for Trooper Blanton’s infant son Tye.  

Tye is still in the neo-natal intensive care unit at Mission Hospital in Asheville. He is expected to be transferred to Duke University Medical Center for a needed heart surgery once he gets strong enough. 

Thursday nights event was one of many fundraisers that have occurred for the Blanton’s. 

A motorcycle rally last weekend had close to 4,000 cyclists take part, and it raised nearly 40,000 dollars.  

The international dance festival Folkmoot is back, and kicks off tonight with the Gala preview event at the Eaglesnest in Maggie Valley. 

Folkmoot is celebrating its 25^th year of cultural  dance with performances happening all over western North Carolina. 

Waynesville doctor Clinton Border started folkmoot in 1984. Despite cultural differences and a lack of funding, it has grown to be an award winning organization that brings people from around the world to show off their cultural heritage to the people of Western North Carolina. 

This years festival will feature dance troops from Argentina, Belarus, Canada, Chinese Taipei, France, Japan, Russia, Slovakia, and Trinidad. 

The public can get their first look at the countries groups tomorrow at the Parade of Nations. 

The parade is free and will take place starting at 1pm in downtown Waynesville. 

The Grand Opening concert will take place later that night in Maggie Valley at the Stompin Ground.  Tickets range from 20 to 30 dollars. 

Performance will continue throughout the area until July 27^th. 

They will take place in Canton, Clyde, Franklin, Asheville, Maggie Valley, and Flat Rock. 

Lake Junaluska will also host a few events including the Candlelight Closing, which take place on the 27^th. 

For more information or to get tickets, go to www.folkmootusa.org, or call 828-452-2997. 

At the recent joint governmental meeting, city and county officials heard a report on TWSA from Joe Cline. 

It was all good news for TWSA and its customers in the report. 

The first thing discussed was the permit for the new sewer plant.  Mr. Cline believes the permit should be in hand any day. “There was absolutely no public comments disagreeing with it, the state agreed with our flow projection of 3.5 million and I met with the engineers last week and talked to them and any day we should have that issue.” 

The plans for the plant expansion should also be finalized and submitted for approval by September 1^st. 

The County’s local representation in Raleigh received a lot of credit in speeding up the process by working behind the scenes. 

“Even to the point of last week, the rule center awarded us 500,000 dollars to go towards the waste water plant, and I got a phone call from representative Harrah in Senator Snows office even before the awards center called to notify us of the grant awarded.” 

Joe Cline added that TWSA is still in crisis mode, but that they are getting closer everyday to having the issues resolved. 

One problem that TWSA needs help with from the other municipalities is getting word out to the community, that they need to talk to TWSA before doing any projects, especially small businesses. 

“Because of the way that the state allows us to track flow, every gallon that is added to the plant is crucial.  Before people do things which may be add on to buildings, change the use of buildings, we need to know and be on the forefront or they may have to take out what they put in.” 

Cline added that people didn’t understand that TWSA is now required to track every gallon used and submit it quarterly to the state, to show that they are not exceeding the SOC that they are under. 

There may be some relief coming to the family of Shawn Blanton, as well as future families of slain troopers. 

Trooper Blanton's funeral produced a 13,000 dollar bill, and worker’s compensation only covers 3,500 dollars of that. 

A new bill, introduced by state senator John Snow from Murphy, would give another 10,000 dollars to the families of slain troopers to help cover the costs of funeral proceedings. 

The bill was approved by a house budget subcommittee on Wednesday, which is a big step in getting it passed through the senate. 

The legislation doesn’t tell the Department of Crime Control where to find the money, but most likely the funds would come from salaries left unused from vacant jobs. 

Numerous fundraisers have also helped out the Blanton family, another will be taking place tonight in Dillsboro.

The American Red Cross has sent out an urgent call for all Jackson County residents. 

Blood inventory levels have become so low, the organization is having a hard time meeting demands of local area hospitals. 

There is a need for all blood types, but it is critical that people with type o positive, o negative, a positive, and a negative donate as soon as possible. 

Type o donors are especially needed, due to type o blood being considered universal.  Type o blood can be given to most other blood types in a time of emergencies without any consequences. 

The Red Cross will be holding blood drives over the next few weeks. 

On Thursday July 24^th, there will be a drive at Harris Regional Hospital from 1pm-5:30pm. 

On Friday the 25^th, a Sylva community blood drive will take place at the Community Services Building from 1pm until 6pm. 

Western University will be holding a blood drive on Thursday, July 31^st from 8:30am until 1pm in the Hinds Center. 

Anyone who donates at these events can register for a chance to win one of three $1000 gas cards. 

If you can’t make one of these events, or would like to donate sooner contact the red cross at 1-800-728-9817 ext 405 to make an appointment. 

The first two cases of La Crosse Encephalitis have been confirmed in Western North Carolina. 

Two children, one in Haywood County, the other in Transylvania County are recovering after contracting the virus. 

La Crosse Encephalitis is a common mosquito-borne virus, that is largely confined to Western North Carolina. 

Symptoms occur from a few days to a couple of weeks after being bitten, symptoms include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting.  Convulsions, tremors, and comas can occur in extreme cases. 

Children 16 and under and the elderly are the most susceptible to the disease, and although it is rarely fatal, public health officials wants people to take steps in making their homes less mosquito friendly. 

These steps include: 

·        Removing containers that can hold water. 

·        Keeping all gutters clean. 

·        And Repairing all faucets and changing the water in pet bowls and bird baths at least twice a week. 

People should also use mosquito repellents that contain DEET, wear light colored long pants, and long sleeved shirts when working outside. 

If possible people should also reduce their time outside in the early morning and early evening, which is when mosquito’s are most active. 

Catamount fans are going to have to go shopping for some new colors soon. 

Western Carolina has been involved in a branding campaign on campus, and new athletic images are on the way for the fall. 

The colors will still be purple and gold, but Diane Lynch says that the shades will be changing. “The shades of purple and gold are going to go back to the shades of purple and gold that we had in the 1930’s and 40’s, that’s a deeper purple and the gold is more of a old gold kind of like the Wake Forest Gold or Vanderbilt gold.” 

The colors aren’t the only change in the new images, the cat will also be receiving a face-lift. 

The new images will be unveiled and available for public consumption on August 13^th, two weeks before the Catamounts first football game of the season. 

Western also has a few new buildings that are close to being open. 

The first is the new recreational center that is scheduled to be open by the end of the month. 

The new facility will offer students tons of recreational possibilities. 

 “Its got a indoor track, it has a racket ball court, it has a gymnasium, it has plenty of things for students to concentrate on their fitness effort as well as their recreational efforts, and I think they are going to enjoy it.” 

The new dining hall is also close to completion.  It will offer students plenty of variety to help please their palate. 

“It will house a McAllister’s restaurant, a Starbucks, I think there are 4 fast food places, and then 6 different options for all you can eat dining for the students.” 

The dining hall will be complete by the spring 2009 semester, as well as a new residency hall, with the Quad receiving a face-lift next summer.

Southwestern Community College has a big reason to celebrate this week. The school earned a score of exceptional by meeting all performance measures established by the North Carolina Community College System. 

Southwestern was one of only seven of the states 58 community colleges that met the new, improved, and tougher thresholds to achieve the designation of exceptional. 

Some of the areas measured are the retention, graduation, and transfer rates of curriculum students, as well as progress of basic skills students, and the passing rates of developmental courses.  80 percent of licensure students had to pass the first time, as well. 

If that wasn’t enough, 87 percent of transfer students had to perform as well as native UNC sophomores and juniors, to earn the exceptional designation. 

Southwestern Community College ranked in the top three in performance of college transfer students. 

Sylva’s planning board met last week to take a look at the subdivision ordinance.   

The ordinance is being developed to help regulate development and subdivisions within the town limits of Sylva. 

Jim Aust described the reason behind the ordinance a little further to the board. “This is kinda following the same suit as the hillside development ordinance.  This ordinance was drafted in response to first of all the commissioners telling us to do it, and secondly, it stems from the Jackson County Hazard Mitigation Plan that we are required to admit to the state.” 

The ordinance is full of statute driven requirements, which doesn’t allow room for much flexibility since the state has taken a lot of control over sub divisional land laws. 

Some issues came up within the board that dealt with commercial property zones. 

Maurice Moody wanted to know if commercial property fell into the ordinance. “When you talk about lots are we talking about residential only or is it commercial as well as residential?”  

Mr. Aust Responded. “A subdivision is subdivision land, no matter if its commercial or residential or what, its sub divisional.  Then you have the zoning districts, which requires density standards, number of units per acre, then the land according to what it is, if its R-1 its 20,00 square foot per lot.  If its commercial then there is no density standard.” 

The board failed to come to an agreement on the ordinance during the meeting and will bring it up for more discussion at their next meeting. 

The boards other big ordinance, on Hillside development, will be up for public discussion on August 7^th. That will take place during the town board meeting at 7 o’clock at town hall. 

Drivers on Interstate 40 around Canton Sunday may have had to take a double take at what they saw. 

A driver going the wrong way on the eastbound side caused an accident that closed the highway temporarily around exit 31. 

Ruth Payne Henderson, of Marshall, entered the highway going the wrong direction on exit 33. 

Henderson, who is 84 continued driving in the wrong direction for about two miles before sideswiping a truck driven by Charles St. Clair Jr. of Hickory.  

St. Clair was able to avoid hitting Henderson head on but did rip the right rear tire off of her Ford Escape. 

Both were treated on the scene for minor injuries, Henderson was charged with driving the wrong way down a roadway.  She may also face possible reckless driving charges as well.

Local area bikers raised close to 40,000 dollars on Saturday for the Blanton family. 

Bikers from all over meet at the Kearfont Plant in Swannanoa, to begin a bike ride that would snake through Western North Carolina to the Eaglesnest in Maggie Valley. 

4,600 bikers registered for the run and paid a minimum 10 dollar donation, with all of the proceeds going to the Blanton family. 

U.S. representative Heath Shuler even made an appearance and jumped on his own hog and made the ride to Eaglesnest with the thousands of other riders. 

An Asheville police escort led the caravan of bikes to the city limits, and then handed the duty over to State Trooper Tre Franklin, a friend and colleague of Shawn Blanton. 

Spectators watched from along the route from beginning to end, showing their support for the riders and the Blanton family, the family awaited the caravan’s arrival in Maggie Valley, and were in awe watching the thousands of bikes pull in showing the support they have from the community. 

The money raised will go to help Tye Blanton, Shawn’s newborn son that has been hospitalized since his birth on May, 31st.  The child still faces future heart surgery at Duke University Medical Center.

The Jackson County Planning Board meet last Thursday for their monthly meeting, and they had lights on their mind. 

An ordinance for establishing outdoor lighting standards was on the agenda, and the board came very close to approving it. 

The ordinance is basically complete, a few minor changes needed to be addressed, one dealt with the use of watts and lumens in the ordinances writing. 

“I agree with Dan, If we’re gonna say watts, then we should say watts, if we’re gonna say lumens then we should say lumens.  We should not get to were we need a Philadelphia lawyer to go to Wal-Mart with you to pick out a light bulb.” 

Fred Alexander of Duke Power didn’t think the difference would be that big of a deal in the technical aspect of the lights.

“You may also want to consider using it as it is, because what you are addressing here is using very specific types of light, halogen and metal halide.  At least from my knowledge, areas in which we expect to get significantly more light with the same amount of watts and energy.” 

The majority of the changes met little discussion, and the ordinance went to a vote for approval.   

The board, decided as a majority, that it would be best to have the ordinance re-written with the changes before making a vote to pass it. 

That vote will take place in a month at the planning boards next meeting.  After the ordinance passes the boards approval, it will go to the commissioners for theirs.

Authorities in Haywood County believe that a new designer drug could be the culprit in a string of odd arrests in the last couple of weeks. 

The drug, called #64 DOC, was developed by the creator of ecstasy and one time consultant to the DEA, Dr. Alexander Shulgin. 

Police officers believe they came across the substance originally about two weeks ago.  A car was searched in Clyde after a traffic stop.  During the search a piece of blotter paper was discovered that officers believed was LSD.  A field test was done on the paper, but the test came up negative. 

A week later during a search of a home, Canton police discovered more of the white paper. 

Officers also believe the drug was responsible for the odd behavior they witnessed last week during a few house calls they answered. 

The first was a call were officers, upon arrival to the scene, discovered a man swinging an ax handle at passing cars.   

The man, Jason Roland, complied with officers once he was told to drop the handle.  But once officers tried to talk to him he began shouting and ran from the scene and jumped in the back of a passing truck.   

Officers charged Roland with disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest. 

Two days later, the Haywood County Sheriff’s department responded to a call were they found a man lying in a neighbors back yard. 

After resisting arrest the officers hit him four times and sprayed him with pepper spray.  The man, Charles Patterson, died shortly later at Mission Hospital in Asheville. 

Investigators can’t say for sure if the cases are connected, but want to make the public aware of the substance. 

Anyone with any information on the drug or the cases are being asked to contact the Waynesville Police Department at 828-356-1175, or the Sheriffs Office at 828-452-6666.

July 11, 2008 

The joint meeting held on Tuesday allowed all municipalities a chance to tell the others what was happening in their respective areas. 

Mayor Brenda Oliver spoke on behalf of the Town of Sylva. One of the first things she discussed was the bridge that will connect Bridge Park and Poteet Park. “We have finally received the bridge, and the county gave us a grant last year to help us with that project.  We hope that we will have the bridge in place, Jay says thirty days, and I’m saying two weeks. But it will be within the next thirty days for sure.” 

The bridge when completely installed will tie the swimming pool, the Poteet Park, and the pavilion together and also add much needed parking. 

The mayor also discussed the sidewalk project that’s in collaboration with the department of transportation.  The project will tie the towns of Sylva, Webster, and Dillsboro together.  Mayor Oliver believes it may bring some healthy living to the county. “I think that it will encourage people to get out and walk. I’m hoping so; we are looking forward to having that happen.” 

Gene Davenport, Town Clerk for Webster, spoke in behalf of her town. She first spoke on the fact that the town’s governmental building is finally handicap accessible. “As some of you may know the building, it was an older one.  And we’ve had to work with bathrooms to make those handicap accessible, and our parking with a ramp handicap accessible also, so we are very proud of that.” 

Webster has also been working on contracting with the Sheriffs office and it appears to be very helpful. 

“There was much concern from our citizens about the safety, about traffic just wizzing thru town, I know Sylva has that problem sometimes too.  We’ve been very pleased with the people slowing down and taking things a little more seriously in our community.” 

The next joint meeting will be held on October 7th in the Justice and Administration Building.  The town of Sylva will be the host. 

The North Carolina Board of Transportation awarded a 973,752 dollar contract yesterday that will help make a Jackson County roadway a little safer. 

The contract will help improve a 7.5 mile stretch of U.S. 23/74 that spans from the Haywood and Jackson County line in Balsam, to exit 85 in Sylva. 

The project will add 4.4 miles of median guardrails and will entail resurfacing work on the shoulders. 

Elderlee Incorporated of York, Pennsylvania was awarded the contract.  Work is scheduled to begin on August 4th, with the final completion date expected by November 21st. 

Installing guardrails on this stretch of US 23/74 will help to minimize crossover accidents, and enhance overall highway safety. 

The roadway will remain open during construction, but lane closures will have to take place

If you’re looking for something to do with your Sunday evening, you may want to head into Webster. 

Joe Rhinehart believes that there will be some interesting music happening there this weekend. “The first really of the summer evenings, Sunday afternoon at 5:30 at the Webster Methodist Church, always free, it’s the 27th year of the event.  This week we have the Catamount Chamber Players.” 

The catamount Chamber Players consist of three musicians that make up a reed trio. 

“What we’ve got is a little woodwind trio, it’s known in our language as a reed trio, because it’s composed of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. They’re all instruments that use a reed.  It’s a fairly traditional instrumental ensemble for woodwind players.” That was Will Peebles the bassoon player in the trio, Shannon Thompson will be playing the clarinet, and Terri Armfield will be on the oboe for the performance. 

All of the music is from the 20th century, but Will promises that it’s easy to listen to and that people shouldn’t be scared to try it out. 

The second piece played will even have similarities to today’s sitcoms. 

“This is a piece by Hungarian composer Frank Farkash called Masks, and he’s depicting in five movements of the piece, five different characters from the comidia del artie, which is sort of an eighteenth century, what we would call a situation comedy.” 

Summer Evenings in Webster starts this Sunday with the Catamount Chamber Players performing at 5:30 at the Webster Methodist Church.  The concert is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

If you have a motorcycle and want to have a fun ride, and help raise some money for a good cause, this weekend is your chance. 

“We’re having a benefit run for Shaun Blanton, the State Trooper that got killed in the line of duty on interstate 40.” That was Gene Canter, speaking for the Smoky Mountain Harley Owners Group. 

The ride is scheduled for this Saturday, the 12th.  It will start at Kearfott Manufacturing Company, which is off of US-70 in Swannanoa, and continue all the way to the Eagles Nest in Maggie Valley. 

The benefit run costs ten dollars per bike, with all of the proceeds going to the Blanton family.  Riders can sign up between 11am and 1pm.  You should register early though, because some entertainment will be available. 

Gene also stated “The band will be at Kearfott at the beginning of the ride, they will be playing for a couple of hours while they register the bikes.”  

Once again the benefit ride for the Blanton’s will take place this Saturday at Kearfott Manufacturing in Swannanoa.  It costs ten dollars and will go through Asheville, Canton, Clyde, and end at the Eagles Nest in Maggie Valley.  Registration is at Kearfott from 11am until 1pm, with a scheduled departure time of 1pm. 

A Macon County man failed to appear in court on Monday, and the sheriffs department is asking for the publics help in locating him. 

Robert Ellis Burdette Jr., of Franklin was awaiting trail on a one hundred thousand dollar bond. Burdette was arrested on April 12, 2007 on two counts of first-degree sex offense on a child and another sex offense involving another child. 

Sheriff Holland of the Macon County Sheriffs Department wants the public to know that they shouldn’t approach Burdette if spotted, and that he is considered an immediate threat to children.

He is facing a mandatory prison sentence if convicted that would be a minimum of 24 years in prison. 

Anyone with any information on the where a bouts of Burdette should contact the Macon County Sheriffs Office at 828-349-2104, or crimestoppers at 828-349-2600. 

Robert Ellis Burdette, Jr. is a white male, 5 foot 10 inches tall, weighs 205 pounds and is 42 years old. His last known physical address was 20 Dickerson Rd., in Franklin.  

All of the town and county leaders met during a joint meeting on Tuesday to discuss issues that each unit felt could be of interest, or be of potential harm to any or all of the units present. 

The first leader to speak was the Village of Forest hills Mayor James Wallace. 

Mayor Wallace first discussed some issues that the village is working on.  One is a land plane for the village, and the other is finishing up work on the entrance to Forest Hills. 

The mayor also brought up some issues that he felt the commissioners could help with. 

They dealt with Cedar Cliff Lake; his first concern was over the garbage at the lake. “The garbage is a problem, there is a small garbage can there that is usually overflowing, it gets picked up every once in a while. I don’t know who does it, I think individuals are mowing the area I’m not sure.  I think as a safety issue we should keep that place clean, and mowed.”  

The mayor also believes some signs should be put up outlawing glass, due to the amount of small children that play there. 

The other big problem the mayor saw dealt with jet skis. “I’m not saying ban jet ski’s, don’t read that into what I’m saying, but some of them have a habit of coming up onto the beach when little kids are there and scaring them.  I think that little swimming area should be off limits to jet skis.” 

Chairman Brain McMahan said that the commissioners would look into the lake and get back with him as soon as possible. 

More charges were filed against the man accused of killing a NC Highway Patrol trooper on Monday. Edwardo Wong the III was handed six new indictments by a grand jury, he was previously indicted on first degree murder, as well as robbery for stealing Trooper Blanton’s gun. 

Wong now faces additional charges of three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession with intent to sell ecstasy, possession with intent to sell marijuana, and first degree attempted murder. 

The attempted murder charge comes from Wong shooting at Detective Bruce Warren up to four times during the chase that ensued after Wong fled the scene of trooper Blanton’s slaying. 

Wong also had three handguns in his truck when he was arrested, including Blanton’s service weapon. Drugs were also found in his truck.  316 grams of marijuana, and 57 ecstasy tablets were discovered after the initial search of the vehicle. 

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty, Wongs court case is scheduled for July 25th.

A Haywood County substance abuse counselor was arrested on fraud charges last week. Dr. Harry F. Manes was arrested after allegedly offering a man a certificate needed to regain his driving license for 1,000 dollars.  

The man left a 100 dollar down payment and then called the sheriffs department. The sheriffs department then contacted the Waynesville Police department, and after a joint investigation, they charged Dr. Manes with felony obtaining property by false pretense. 

According to the search warrant, Investigators gave the informant $900 dollars in police money to make the transaction. After meeting with Manes, the informant left 32 minutes later with a certificate for 60 hours of counseling. Three detectives and a police captain watched the exchange, and arrested Manes on June 30th after a search of his office.

Officers seized his computer and discovered six baggies with what appeared to be marijuana in them, as well as a pill bottle with the same substance. 

Mane has a court appearance scheduled for today. 7.9.08

The Jackson County Board of Commissioner’s heard from the Rotary Club on Monday.

Scott Baker, president of the Sylva Rotary Club, spoke to the commissioners about helping with a new program. “We are doing a project to send WWII veterans, to Washington Dc to see the WWII memorial.  As we know the age of WWII veterans, the average age is about 86, so the time is of the essence to get these folks up there.” 

The Honor Air Project, which was started by Hendersonville native Jeff Miller, takes WWII veterans and allows them to be put into a chartered 747 and go to Washington DC for the day.  

The scope is very large and requires funding.  For each 500 dollars that the club can get donated, one veteran can go on the trip.  200 dollars is also needed to send a guardian for every three veterans going. “We’ve raised enough money for eight vets and two guardians in less then an hour, just for the Sylva rotary club.  Since I ran an ad in the paper for this, I’ve had four more vets or families of vets contact me so we are up to twelve right now.” 

Baker is hoping that the county will give the club 3500 dollars. “What that would do is give us the ability to sponsor the rest of the vets that have currently signed up, plus guardians for those and cover the commemorative caps and shirts for the event, there’s a possibility that we could have more vets sign up, and more than likely will.” 

The board decided to discuss the program more deeply before making a decision, but assured Mr. Baker that a decision would be made before the next trip, which is planned for November the first. 

If you would like more information on the Honor Air Project, or make a donation to the project, you can go to www.SylvaRotaryClub.org   

Gas prices are having an effect on Western Carolina’s enrollment this summer. The school has seen a huge increase in online enrollment and believes that rising gas prices are at least part of the reason. Student enrollment in online programs are up 25 percent compared to the summer of 2007, and registration for fall online courses are 30 percent higher then it was at the same time last year.  

Advantages of online classes aren’t just saving a little money at the pump. Classes offer a convenient instructional format, which allows students to work around their own schedules, and many courses are completed quicker, some in a matter of only eight weeks. The majority of students who sign up for online classes are working professional, but Western is also seeing a rise in first time freshmen and other resident students this summer. 

Eight graduate degree programs, six undergraduate programs, two certificate programs, and a number of other programs are offered online, for more information contact the Division of Education Outreach at 828-227-7397.

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners heard a report from Engineers at W.K. Dickson last night at their monthly board meeting. The engineers report was on the slope stability, drainage, and a geotechnical study of the airport.  

Ed Hearn, from Geotechnologys discussed the concerns of slope failure.  After mentioning the slides that happened in the 70’s and 80’s, Mr. Hearn discussed the last failure, which occurred in August of 2005. “In August of 2005, there were some issues which occurred after a very heavy rainfall event.  Before it was prepared by the geological survey, which postulated a couple of possible causes for that, we’ve looked at that in detail, and we cant go into that right now since it is part of an ongoing litigation.  But the findings that I had in terms of looking at everything is that there are no areas on the airport that represent a threat to the population.” 

Ed Hearn added that a few parts of the access road would need some repair work at some point, but added that it could take place anytime from now to twenty years from now. Ken Harper spoke next on storm water drainage needs, and took a close look at service runoff from the water sheds. “Some of the watersheds actually decrease in volume of rate, some actually increased in volume of rate.  Of those that increase we made recommendations to attenuate that flow off the mountain back to predevelopment rates, and in association with those facilities, we also have a monitoring plan that recommends installation of a rain bucket tipping gauge on the mountain itself.” 

The board then went into closed session for around thirty minutes due to litigation issues with the report. After the session reopened, the engineers gave their construction recommendations for the storm water needs. "There are three water sheds here that we recommend, two detention basins and one pitch that needs to be lined.  These three facilities affect properties that are immediately upstream from that, and the total estimated planning costs for those are 607,100 dollars for construction.” 

The county will only need to come up with a percentage of this due to the federal government funding some of the work. The public will not have access to the written report on the airport until litigation issues are resolved. 

A preliminary autopsy report was released on Monday that showed that blows given to a Haywood County man did not lead to his death. The report shows that Charles Benjamin Patterson was handcuffed and hit four times by Haywood County Sheriff Deputies during an arrest on Thursday. Patterson died shortly after at Mission Hospital in Asheville. 

According to the incident report, Patterson was talking about Jesus and the devil when deputies arrived on the scene.  He complied with an order to lie on his stomach, but after being handcuffed, he tried to flee the scene. The deputies fought to control Patterson, and hit the suspect in the leg with a Maglight, and with a closed fist in the bicep and lower part of the neck. 

A toxicology report has yet to be completed, but may give more answers to the death of Patterson. There is reason to believe that he had methamphetamines in his system at the time of the incident.

The downswing in revenue by the gambling industry isn’t going to stop a 650 million dollar expansion at Harrah’s in Cherokee. The expansion, scheduled for a 2012 completion date, will double the gambling floor space, and turn the casino into a resort-like destination. 

A large part of the expansion stalled last week with a vote in tribal council.  The council was expected to vote on allowing alcohol sales at the casino.  The discussion was tabled by the council for 30 days. This will be the fourth time in 18 years that the tribe has debated allowing alcohol on the Reservation; the last was in 1999, when the referendum was canceled after backlash from conservative Christians. 

Talks of growing the casino started back in 2005 when Gov. Easley became open to the idea of changing the state gambling compact into allowing live dealers. Those talks ended after Chief Hicks and Gov. Easley couldn’t agree on the amount of money that the state should receive from the tribe. 

The new renovations will add 1,000 jobs, 5,200 new games, a 3,000 seat event center, a third parking tower, a 16,000 foot spa, and new luxury restaurants by the end of completion in 2012.  

There has been a problem with cars not stopping at crosswalks for pedestrian’s downtown on Main Street. One answer brought up was the weeble signs that can be put in the middle of the road. 

Jay Denton brought up a major problem that Dillsboro is having since installing theirs. “There’s one down there in front of the post office.  There’s no island in front of the post office, they’ve already had 4 people to hit it, and they’ve had a number of complaints that the traffic has to swerve all the way over to the right to get away from those things.” 

Mr. Denton added that the signs have slowed down traffic in Dillsboro, but that they have received allot of complaints. 

Another possible solution brought up was painted signs on the actual road. Maurice Moody mentioned how well they work in Gatlinburg. “I guess it’s still unclear in my mind anyway, whether or not NC allows the painting on the street, I might sound like a broken record but in Gatlinburg they paint that yield sign.” 

Jay Denton brought up a problem in the length of Main Street. “When you go through Gatlinburg, you got a fairly long run.  The crosswalk that we are concerned about is just right there at Nick and Antes.  Then the nest one is down there by Anise bakery, but if you remember what he was talking about was the distance that you would need for those signs to be affective, and could the motorist see it at that distance.” 

The board decided to discuss the topic more at the next meeting, and plan to hear from a member of the North Carolina Department of Transportation on the subject. All of the board believed that a big solution would be educating the public. 

Stacy Knotts had a suggestion in that category. “I was thinking that it might be a good project to do with WCU, because they’ve done such a great job on like are recycling PR campaign.  I think they could come up with some great ideas.” 

The next board meeting will be at 9:15am on the 17th.  More road sign discussion is planned to take place.

The State Bureau of Investigation has been looking into the death of a Haywood County man, after he had a struggle with deputies. Charles Patterson of Clyde stopped breathing shortly after entering the emergency room at Haywood Medical Center. 

Deputies had to use pepper spray on Patterson after he became combative and appeared intoxicated when they arrived on the scene around 10 on Thursday night. 

The officers responded to a 911 call that Petterson was screaming and cursing in the backyard.  Initially, Peterson allowed the officers to handcuff him, but once the cuffs were on he decided to flee the scene by foot.  The man ran into a chicken wire fence and rolled down a hill, that is when a deputy peppered sprayed the side of his face. 

The suspect was then taken to the hospital to try to figure out why he was acting so irrational.  While getting restrained to a hospital bed, the man stopped breathing.  He was flown to Mission Hospital in Asheville where he was pronounced dead. 

More information on the incident should be released today or tomorrow by the SBI.  Sheriff Deputies have responded to 31 incidents related to Patterson since 2004. He had convictions for misdemeanor assault, drug possession, and driving while impaired.

Westcare Health System recently received eight new car seats donated by the big box chain. The seats will be given to families involved in car crashes, that have to receive treatment at Harris Regional Hospital’s emergency room, as well as Swain County Hospital. It is recommended by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that car seats be replaced after a major collision with a new one. 

Because of Wal-Mart’s generosity, families can now leave the hospital with a new car seat to get their little one home safely.  Parents will be responsible for installing the car seats. 

In WestCares commitment to keeping kids safe, they periodically offer a “Safe and Secure” class that deals with correct child safety seat installation, as well as a class on infant and child CPR, choking and safety in the homes. 

Contact Westcare Health System at 586-7300 for more information on the two classes. 

If you’re looking for something to do this Independence Day weekend, why not head into Webster 

Joe Rhinehart wants everyone to show up for their first program of the summer. “This is our 63rd year of Mrs. Lucy’s picnic and we