Do you hear what I hear?
President Joe Biden may very well know the pain of losing a child. He does not know the pain of losing a child to murder.
Beau Biden, 46, passed after a valiant fight with brain cancer. As expected, people’s hearts went out to the Biden family.
Laken Riley, 22, lost her life to murder. She did not die surrounded by loving family members from an illness that took her. She died alone. Brutalized, disfigured and discarded.
As expected, people’s hearts went out to the Riley family.
Biden’s heart went out to the Riley family, too. Offering his condolences while likening his loss to their loss, too. Murder, not cancer, took their daughter.
Offering your condolences when it is your policies that contributed to her death is like saying sorry about your luck, but what I’m doing is for the greater good; and that is what needs to be understood.
After all, “how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals” (Biden).
Ron Gaynor, Murphy
Grateful for $750K grant
The Town of Murphy is thrilled to acknowledge the recent announcement by U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards regarding the approval of $18.7 million in funding for various community projects within North Carolina’s 11th district, including significant investments in our own community.
Among these approved projects, Murphy is set to receive $750,000 dedicated to water infrastructure improvements. This funding represents a monumental step towards enhancing the quality of life for our residents and addressing critical infrastructure needs.
We extend our deepest gratitude to Edwards, his staff and all involved lawmakers for their support and recognition of the importance of these projects for the betterment of our community. The collaborative effort to secure this funding underscores a shared commitment to the prosperity and well-being of the people of Murphy and the wider region.
As we anticipate these developments, we are filled with appreciation for the opportunity to work together towards a brighter, more sustainable future for our town. This investment not only speaks to the immediate benefits of improved infrastructure but also to the long-term vision we hold for our community.
We are eager to see the positive impact these enhancements will have for our residents and are deeply thankful for the support and advocacy from our representatives at the federal level.
Together, we are making strides toward a stronger, more resilient Murphy, and we look forward to the continued partnership and progress that lies ahead.
Tim Radford, Murphy,The writer is mayor of Murphy.
Plan lawsuit at cross purposes
The Southern Environmental Law Center, Chattooga Conservancy and MountainTrue lawsuit works at cross purposes idling NFS lands working against forest sustainability and establishing resilient landscapes from wildfire.
The National Forest System Timber Target is simply an allocated metric of timber output from each national forest comprising the whole NFS 193 MM acres. This Congressional-funded intent dates back to post World War II. Bipartisan administrations and Congress for over 75 years have intended for the NFS lands to managed sustainable and contribute economically to local counties and States.
The new Nantahala Forest Plan recognizes creating early successional forest, open forest conditions, and control of native and non-native invasive species. This work, in part, yields timber outputs meeting congressional intent.
You have not far to look around Cherokee and Clay counties to see the loss of Eastern Hemlock from a non-native insect over the past decade. This has left large swaths of dead standing and fallen woody debris posing safety hazard to the public and firefighters.
Also close to our memory are the significant impacts of smoke and threats to human life, property and other forest values at risk from the 2016 and recent 2023 fall wildfires originating on NFS lands. The Nantahala National Forest comprises about 40 percent of the total land bases of Cherokee and Clay counties.
The Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy will implement fuels and forest health treatments across the landscape and in coordination with other land ownerships. By the way, some of that work results in timber outputs.
Last, the pace and scale of implementing the Nantahala Forest Plan goals and objectives related to professionally directed silviculture and effective wildfire fuel reduction treatments will be critical to the future living with fire here in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Climate aside, I look forward to those outputs.
Stephen P. Weaver, Murphy
Now’s time to get saved
When you look at creation, you see the work of God’s hands,
But when you look at Calvary, you see the work of God’s heart.
And from His heart, He sent His only begotten Son to die an awful cruel death, to save lost souls like you and me.
Think about it. Would you or I give our only son, to go through the torment, the pain, spit upon, crown of thorns on his head, hung on a cross and put nails in his hands and feet, pierce his side until water comes out? Could we watch them beat him with a cat of nine tails until the flesh came off?
If that isn’t love, then I don’t know what love is. As much as we love our kids, it is just a drop in the bucket compared to God’s love.
God is a loving God, He is a forgiving God, He is a merciful God, He is a right-on-time God, He is God when on the mountaintop. But God is also a God of wrath, as we are fixing to see here in this country.
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, it’s time to call on Him and be saved. A free gift for us, but it cost God His Son.
We have a choice in these last days to decide our eternal place. Now is the time to be saved, if you are deceived, back slid or lost, now is the time.
Wouldn’t it be awful to sit in church and think you are saved and really not be?
Cynthia Pinkerton, Murphy