Signs of the election times
Remember the Five Man Electrical Band’s song lyrics, “Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind?”
I’m an observant person. Some of my jobs primarily required it, and the asset just stuck. Also politically aware, I’m greatly concerned about Cherokee County’s future. So, placement of candidate signs garner my attention.
What I recently discovered is greatly disturbing. Some of incumbent Sheriff Dustin Smith’s signs are either totally missing or replaced with Chris Wood signs, who is running for the same office.
Hmmm. That’s called stealing. A punishable crime. So much for integrity. The lack of it is breaking my mind. Good citizens follow laws and rules. A better recourse if you can’t stand the heat, is to get out of the fire.
Letter writer Meredith Yates is right: “Voters deserve clear answers to serious issues.” Sheriff Dustin Smith will do that, give honest answers to hard questions. Get a group together if you’re not already involved with one and invite Smith to speak (info@reelectdustinsmithforsheriff.com).
He’ll clarify such issues as his ongoing struggles with Cherokee County commissioners to get things done for us or the missing evidence that actually occurred during Chris Wood’s watch when he was with the sheriff’s office.
Voted 2025 Best Public Servant, Best Government Official and Best Public Safety Official, I can understand why Smith is considered a worthy threat by any opponent and their supporters.
Those big, imposing, easily seen signs are meant to impress, but do not mean candidates have big concerns and big plans for your best interests. Some county commissioners have proven this during their years in office.
If dirty politics and winning at all costs exist now, do you really believe things would be different later? That’s highly unlikely.
Mike David, Murphy
Gatekeepers of information
Who owns the words – redux.
Regarding the discussion on “Who owns the words,” by Lena Gray, I would like to offer a counterpoint to the idea that a newspaper is merely a stage that doesn’t think, feel or judge.
This perspective overlooks the reality of yellow journalism – a technique specifically designed to sway, quell or inflame public opinion. Malleable minds are often presented with slanted stories, unverified claims and partisan agendas portrayed as objective truth.
The “infrastructure” of the press decides what to print and, consequently, what the public is allowed to know based on the interests of those in control. Far from being a benign institution or a neutral stage, the media acts as a gatekeeper of information.
Ron Gaynor, Murphy
Baskets make town beautiful
It’s that time of year again to make downtown Andrews a “town of beauty” with floral baskets.
The Town of Andrews invites you to participate in the 10th annual Beautification Project! We ask you to join other businesses. individuals, clubs, and churches to financially support and sponsor a Flower Basket in town. I’m sure you couldn’t help but notice the beautiful floral arrangements throughout our town these past nine years. We have a total of 46 poles/stands and 92 baskets. Downtown Andrews has never looked better. Thank you for being a part of it.
As a special bonus to our sponsors and to enhance the beautification project, there will be “Winter Greenery” decorating the baskets and poles from November through March.
The sponsorship and investment is $250 for the 2026 season. A plaque will be mounted on the pole recognizing your sponsorship. Our goal this year is to have 100 sponsors. We hope we can count on your support.
Send your application today with check or credit card of $250 payable to the Town of Andrews, c/o Bill Anderson, P.O. Box 667, Andrews, NC 28901.
We need your application ASAP to order the flowers and sponsor recognition signs. On behalf of the Town of Andrews, residents and visitors, we thank you.
James Reid and Bill Anderson
The writers are mayor of Andrews and beautification project president, respectively. The Cherokee Scout has signed up for another year.
Crossing a sacred line
The recent disruption of a worship service in St. Paul, Minn., – celebrated by some as a morally justified protest – raises a question that extends beyond politics or immigration policy. It is a question about moral authority, restraint and whether any cause grants permission to violate sacred space.
History offers a sobering parallel.
Before he became the apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus was utterly convinced that his actions were virtuous and obligatory. Acting under a sincere moral conviction, he persecuted Christians, imprisoned believers and approved of violence against them – all while believing he was defending the truth. He was later forced to confront a hard reality: moral certainty, when detached from a higher authority and restraint, tends to become destructive. Sincerity did not justify his actions; it condemned them.
That lesson is not confined to history.
The interruption of worship in St. Paul followed the same pattern. Those involved believed their cause was urgent and morally superior. That belief became the justification for intrusion, intimidation and disruption. But when people assume that the strength of their moral conviction authorizes them to override boundaries – especially boundaries tied to conscience and religious practice – something has gone terribly wrong.
The Bible offers a striking insight: human anger and moral fervor must be restrained, because judgment does not belong to crowds or causes, but to God alone. This principle is not theological trivia; it is a safeguard against assumed morality, which is an overreach disguised as righteousness. Societies unravel when such zeal replaces restraint.
The pastor of the disrupted church responded wisely, calling the act “shameful” and reminding the public that worship services exist for reflection, repentance and devotion – not ideological confrontation. That response deserves broader support, even from those who disagree with the church’s beliefs.
A free society depends not on unanimity, but on restraint. Protest has its place. So does dissent. But invading worship services crosses a line that should concern anyone who values religious freedom or liberty of conscience.
When causes are devoid of humility, they do not produce justice; they produce coercion. History and Scripture both testify to that truth.
The Rev. Mark H. Creech, Raleigh
The writer is director of government relations for Return America and has spent more than 40 years engaging faith and public policy in North Carolina.