More qualified people needed
I’ve always been proud to be a Cherokee County resident. Until now. Why? Because of the numerous, outrageously bad leader-made decisions that have made our county a farce, a comedy of errors and affect our way of life.
For example: allowing crypto mining here, forcing residents to pay for exorbitant lawsuits, letting some unrestricted properties be nothing more than eyesore trash sites, putting dogs before human safety and unprofessional, very public bickering. What are these people thinking?
Being a laughingstock is embarrassing. If you’ve been reading the Cherokee Scout, you know exactly what I’m referring to. If you’re not concerned, you should be.
A lesson in good management can easily be seen in orderly, neighboring Hayesville. Why can’t our leaders recognize the differences and proceed accordingly? Are they so ego-centered and/or set in their ways?
The above-referenced, unacceptable mistakes (among many others) convince me that we need to clean house. Out with the old and in with the new. It’s quite obvious that the old mentality isn’t working for our citizens.
My recommendation? Vote. Do your homework and vote, not based on friendship, looks, flashy smiles, firm handshakes, years in office or anything else unrelated to actually doing the job right.
And, if you’re qualified with a heart in the right place, consider running for office in the future. We might really need you.
Tamara Phillips, Murphy
Teach good work ethics
I have read about the candidates for the Cherokee County Bord of Education. Several said that not everyone is meant to go to college, that we should prepare them for the trades. Not a single one has said anything about teaching students about having good work ethics.
The other night over dinner, I asked our guests where they learned their good work ethics. Each response was different. Two learned from parents, one from the military and the other because she had to help her mother provide.
One of these was an instructor at Tri-County Community College. He has some students who shortcut learning how to make repairs using YouTube. He said the good students are those who put time in working their way through problems old-school style, not using shortcuts, but tools and books.
I believe that, more than teaching students a trade, we need to teach them what good, strong work ethics are.
Our small business owners suffer in two ways. They can’t get the help they need and too many don’t have - you guessed it – good work ethics.
I think we will continue to suffer as a community until our school system can figure out how to teach people how to step up, be on time, not to cut corners, stop calling in sick because they were out the night before, take responsibility for themselves and their jobs, shut off their phones until it’s break time and everything else that goes with good work habits.
They will be better off for it. Their families will be better off for it. Our county, our community will be better off and stronger for it. Fewer will feed off the public trough.
That’s what I’d like to see from our school board candidates.
David Bellino, Murphy
Keep park access free
Note: This is a copy of a letter state Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Franklin) sent to the director of the Smoky Mountain National Parks concerning proposed parking fees and other fees that might be imposed on the public.
Dear Director Cash,
I am proud to have the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the busiest national park, in my Senate district. Thank you for your work.
I am writing to adamantly oppose the proposed parking fees and other fees that might be imposed on the public for entrance, use or parking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Upon inception of the parks, they were created to be free to the public to eternity.
Swain County makes up over 42 percent of the park. Small businesses in the county depend on visitors to the park. It would be a determinant to them to impose the fees.
Residents of the county have ancestors buried within the park and many families gave their land to create the park. It would be a violation of public trust to implement parking or other fees for entrance, parking or other fees to these families as well as recreational visitors to the park.
Thank you for your service to the park. Please ensure the continued access to the park to be free to all.
Kevin Corbin, Franklin
Vote against Cawthorn
An important primary election is coming, and I urge everyone – regardless of political affiliation – to vote and let your voice be heard.
I want someone in Congress who respects our District and votes for policies that help western North Carolina. Not be the only member of the N.C. House delegation who voted against the Opioid Prescription Verification act.
Our current representative voted against funding for the Safe Rural Schools program that provides more than $1 million a year to our schools. He voted against VA health-care eligibility for burn pit victims and also against the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program that provides $3.4 million annually to 13 mountain counties with nontax federal lands.
I want someone who is not a “criminal” with two pending speeding tickets, plus one that was reduced. Not someone who is charged with driving with a revoked license.
And finally, not someone who as of April 26, has twice tried to take a gun on an airplane. The incident in Charlotte involved a loaded gun. Although criminal charges were not filed in Asheville, Cawthorn was charged in Charlotte with a misdemeanor. This is a Class 2 misdemeanor that carries up to 60 days in jail.
As a taxpayer who pays congressional salaries, I want to know how these fines were paid, or if they were paid. To add to his growing list of criminal acts, our congressman carried a “machete” to a school board meeting. Possession of weapons on school property is a violation of the law.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to vote Tuesday, May 17. I don’t care who you vote for, but please consider who not to vote for.
I believe we could all agree that Madison Cawthorn does not represent the best interests of our district.
Barbara Bleaking, Murphy
Ad filled with outright lies
I’m a great supporter of the Cherokee Scout, but am extremely disappointed that the local
newspaper would allow such a hateful full-page paid advertisement to be printed from a committee that claims to be for Fair and Just Elections Without Corruption.
In my opinion, the person(s) who placed this article in the Scout told outright lies in order to destroy Cal Stiles’ fine reputation that he’s earned by a lifetime of hard work and charity to Cherokee County. Parents strive to send their children to college or a vocational school so they can become intelligent persons and have the ability to make a good living for their families, yet the writer attacks Mr. Stiles’ wealth as though it’s unacceptable.
Mr. Stiles is intelligent, honest and has invested wisely in his lifetime – that’s to be admired. Since when is that corrupt?
Mr. Stiles’ decisions on important issues of our county are made after he has researched the issue thoroughly. Opposing commissioners to Mr. Stiles may not have researched the issue or have friends who are promoting certain issues – that’s corrupt.
Mr. Stiles has only one vote, but he represents the citizens of this county because he talks to as many as he can to learn what’s important to them.
Grace Frederick, Murphy
Erroneous truths here
Big media, big pharma, U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention officials and big tech for two years condemned COVID-19 “misinformation” or conspiracy theories. They’ve censored social media posts and banned users, including high-profile lawmakers and virologists.
Bureaucrats locked down the country and fired essential workers, including military service members. We’ve been lied to repeatedly by “unelected experts” who claim to be protecting us, including the medical establishment and White House advisors.
Here are COVID-19 debunked truths.
Fifteen days to slow spread: Experts and health officials promised in March 2020 that we needed just “15 days to slow the spread.” Two years later, there is no stated end in sight.
Face masks: During the pandemic’s early days, the CDC and U.S. surgeon general urged Americans to not wear face masks. In April 2020, the CDC backpedaled and said all Americans should wear face coverings.
Vaccine mandates: In December 2020, President-elect Joe Biden promised he would not enforce vaccinations. The Biden administration, in November 2021, flip flopped and targeted mandatory vaccinations groups.
Kids should go remote, schools should close: Left activists, commentators, and teachers’ unions argued throughout the pandemic that schools should close from fear of spreading coronavirus cases from child to child and from child to teacher. Virology studies confirm COVID-19 does not easily spread among children and school settings didn’t create outbreaks.
Vaccines will end COVID-19: Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC repeatedly promised us that vaccinated Americans would not get COVID-19. Vaccinated individuals still catch COVID-19, though their symptoms are milder, and they are less likely to die from the virus.
Left-wing politicians like D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and California Gov. Gavin Newsome, continue to mandate masks for indoor businesses and events. Control and power over Americans, through hyperbole and fear, is the end game for leftist politicians.
Terry Payne, Marble
‘#More’ for mental health
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As a volunteer and advocate with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, this month I am asking everyone to join us and demand #MoreForMentalHealth.
I am doing more by calling on my legislators at the federal and state levels to support legislation that will fund the implementation of 988 and the suicide and mental health crisis system across our nation, particularly for those in underserved communities.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available at 1-800-273-8255 and de-escalates the crises of tens of thousands of callers each day. On July 16, those in distress and those that support them will be able to reach the lifeline through a simple 3-digit number: 988. By making the lifeline more accessible through this shorter number, calls, texts, and chats to the lifeline’s network of crisis call centers are expected to increase.
It is vital that the federal government work with states to ensure callers in distress will have: 1) someone to call; 2) someone to come help; and 3) somewhere safe to go.
Join me this month in urging our federal and state public officials to do #MoreForMentalHealth. You can start by visiting moreformentalhealth.org.
Together, we can help #StopSuicide.
Danielle Hurd, Epworth, Ga
Why re-elect after a coup?
On Jan. 2, former President Donald Trump called Georgia’s governor and secretary of state, and spent a couple hours asking them to find 12,000 votes somewhere to help him get re-elected.
Why would a country let a person run again who already tried to illegally remain?
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump called for a riot, and a mob of thousands entered the Capitol shouting, “Hang Mike Pence,” the one guy standing between him and another term. But down in the basement, Pence told his guards, “I’m not getting into the car.” Mike came back upstairs later to sign the papers, verifying the people’s vote.
Some things you have to ask for, like ideas. The worst half of our slave-built Capitol is filled with senator-pigs at the slop: follow Nebraska’s lead ... throw the senators out.
Truth is, we’ve got feet of clay; been weak for centuries. Our eye-pooled head-tops are fine, but our greedy mandibles suck. Stop eating: step back from the table, become lofty, airy, lighter; and maybe, after another couple hot little wars, take a break and smell the flowers.
Harry Holdorf, Brasstown.
Conservatives back action
Everywhere around us, we see the growing evidence of the devastation that is happening from climate change. The latest IPCC report just came out, and it said that human activity is causing a record number of disasters such as storms and wildfires.
Yet, despite this great existential threat, we have remained in political gridlock and have been unable to mount effective action to combat climate change.
However, advocates for effective action have just come from some unexpected and powerful conservative voices. The Bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Deficit, Business Roundtable, Electric Power Supply Association – which is a national gas association – and American Petroleum Institute have all come out in favor of federal carbon pricing. Carbon pricing is advocated by economists as the most powerful and cost-effective means of combating climate change, and, unlike most other proposals, it would not cost U.S. taxpayers 1 penny.
This is significant because research indicates that it is unexpected voices, such as these, that leads to politicians elevating a policy issue above other priorities and scheduling it for scarce floor time. Fortunately, we have such a bill, HR 2307. It is in the House of Representatives with more than 90 cosponsors.
This plan would put a price on the production of Greenhouse Gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels and return all the money to all of us American citizens. Economic studies have shown that it would add millions of good new American jobs and would grow our economy while putting more money back into the lower two-thirds of American taxpayers.
Gas prices could be exempted, and this would still lower Greenhouse Gases almost 90 percent by 2050. This is a win for the American taxpayers and for the environment.
Please ask your congressman to consider supporting this or a similar bill.
Vernon Dixon, Hiawassee, Ga.