4.21.10 cherokee sentinel

Smoky Mountain Center (SMC), a seven county consortium, which oversees the administration of men-tal health services along with those of persons with developmental and intel-lectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders, is seeking to regain control of foundation funds amounting to $25 million.

Currently those funds are being ad-ministered by the Evergreen Founda-tion, which is neither accountable to SMC nor responsive to the increased mental health needs of the people in western North Carolina, according to county commissioner Dana Jones, who is also a member of Smoky Mountain Center's board of directors.

On Monday, the Cherokee County board of commissioners passed a reso-lution supporting SMC's e!orts to restore public oversight of these funds that were originated for the sole pur-

pose of supporting people with mental illness, disabilities and substance abuse disorders in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.

Jones said the current structure of the Foundation board was not allow-ing oversight by SMC with the result being that in some years more money was being spent in salaries and expens-es by the Foundation sta! than was actually being allocated to the coun-ties for mental health services. He said with the recent cutbacks in the state's support of mental health services that it is essential that more of the Founda-tion's money get allocated to the coun-ties for mental health services.

""ere is a great need here for these services," he said. "Cherokee and other counties are being short-changed by not getting more of the Foundation's funds."

Jones told the board that the Smoky Mountain Center board had passed a similar resolution as had #other western

county board of commissioners.County manager David Badger, also

a member of SMC, said the Founda-tion had been set up in 2001 due to the uncertainty of statewide mental health reform and the fear that SMC might be abolished with the Foundation's assets potentially being lost for their intended purposes; however, that fear ultimately proved to be unfounded, and SMC continues to be the public agency managing services to people with mental illness, developmental and intellectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders in the seven western counties.

He explained that it is essential stewardship of the Foundation's public assets be under the oversight of a pub-lic entity to ensure that these assets are expressly used for their intended pur-pose to benefit SMC and the service needs of the counties that the Founda-tion was founded to serve.

It was further explained that SMC was making every e!ort, diplomatic

and if necessary legal, to return gov-ernance of the Foundation Board and its assets to SMC to fulfill the original intent of the Foundation. "is would be done by reinstitution a Foundation Board of Directors that is appointed by SMC, with the majority of the Foun-dation Board members also being members of the SMC Board of Direc-tors from the seven western counties, whose mandate is to provide public oversight of the Foundation.

In other matters, the county board of commissioners passed a resolution supporting the current arrangement of North Carolina's regulation of al-coholic beverage as opposed to priva-tizing it. It was felt that changing the system might take away local control as well as the loss of funds to both the county and the towns of Murphy and Andrews.

"e board also reappointed Don Ambler, a dentist, #to serve as another three-year term on the county's board of health.

After 155 days of diligent hard work, dynamite blasting, and excavating, Hwy. 64 is open once again.# Eager drivers waited as the stretch of road was opened at 11 am on Wednesday, April 14th.#

Most excited were the local busi-ness owners of Polk County, TN and Cherokee County, NC. # In the five months that the road was out of com-mission, it was estimated that local businesses were losing a combined

total of nearly 100,000 dollars per day. "at's a total estimate of 15,500,000 economy boosting dollars lost.# A stag-gering figure that was felt mostly by gas stations and convenience stores serving the commuters traveling to and from Chattanooga, TN. #

"e re-opening couldn't have come at a better time for whitewater rafting companies servicing the Ocoee River.# "e prime season for rafting is almost in full swing and with the road finally open the adventure companies will be able to conduct business as usual.#

"e November 10 and January 19 rock slides together cost a total of near-ly 2.8 million dollars to remove. Couple that with the countless man hours put in day and night by the Tennessee DOT cleanup crews, and you've got a road that can handle tra$c once again.# It was estimated that crews removed a total of 40,000 tons of debris between the two rock slide sites. #

In an e!ort to thwart another rock slide, the TDOT has made several modifications to the rock beds border-ing the Ocoee Gorge. # 450 rock bolts have been drilled into the rock - each

W e e k l y W e a t h e r F o r e c a s t

1900 US Hwy. 64W Murphy NC, 28906

CHEROKEE

You’ve got our money, SMC saysMENTAL HEALTH

Market conditions in Western NCare slowly getting better

CHEROKEE

VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 16

WWW.WNCSENTINEL.NET | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010 | 50 CENTS

Hwy. 64 reopens after rockslide

See a ‘wild’ movie...

Cherokee Co. joins with other NC counties to regain control of $25 million in mental health funds

This Thursday - page 5A

board meeting

The Brasstown Ringers will perform a spring concert

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE?

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday

70/42 70/46 79/53 72/56 78/50 75/47 70/47

Dear Governor Perdue:After the recent passage of the Patient Protection and

A!ordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, I received requests from several elected o$cials to have North Carolina join a law-suit filed against the United States of America by a number of state Attorneys General challenging this legislation.

Our attorneys, Including the Solicitor General and my General Counsel, have studied 'the law and the provisions of the legislation that have given rise to the legal action.

After careful consideration, I have concluded that North

Carolina will not join 'this lawsuit. I have attached a mem-orandum from Solicitor General Christopher Brown-ing which outlines 'the legal considerations upon which I base this decision. "e United States Supreme Court has held that duly ratified acts of Congress are presumed to be constitutional and It Is clear 'that Congress has extremely broad authority under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

Health insurance reform and access to health care are policy decisions that should be decided by elected repre-sentatives I not by appointed federal judges. "ere Is ample time for elected representatives to change this legislation since most of the provisions in question will not take e!ect

until the year 2013.In the unlikely event that this legal challenge does suc-

ceed I any decision will likely a!ect all of the states I Includ-ing North Carolina, regardless of whether our state joins.

I would also draw your attention to several provisions of the law that would directly address some of the frequent health insurance complaints my Consumer Protection Di-vision gets from everyday North Carolinians.

"e new law will prohibit health insurance companies from refusing to insure people based on preexisting health conditions, as they often do now. It would also prevent insurance companies from removing people from health care insurance policies after they su!er a serious illness or

accident. "ese are important protections for people who have su!ered from unfair health insurance provisions and It is feared that these protections may be repealed In the unlikely event "the lawsuit succeeds.

Problems with health insurance and health care have led the list of consumer complaints in our o$ce for the past five years. Instead of court fights and exaggerated rhetoric from both sides, it Is my hope that state and federal lead-ers will focus on the real health care challenges people face every day.

My o$ce will continue to carefully monitor this case and review the Issues that arise, and please feel free to contact me if you should have any questions.

• 26,000 Tons of debris removed from Nov. 10 rock slide• $2.1 million -! Cost of cleaning up Nov. 10 slide• 14,000 Tons of debris removed from Jan. 19 rock slide• $759,000 - Cost of cleaning up Jan. 19 slide• Total of $2.8 million spent. • Total of 40,000 tons of rock re-moved.!

BY THE NUMBERS

"I'm doing double the work for half the pay." "at's how Frank Schuler of Exit Realty in Murphy put it regarding the current real estate market conditions. "But, there are still houses being sold," he added.

In an economy driven primarily by Real Estate and Tourism, it's no wonder as to why Cherokee county commerce has been down. However, many of our local real es-tate agents, like Frank Schuler, are remaining optimistic and putting in the necessary work to make sure that houses are being sold.

So what is the current condi-tion of our market? Right now it is definitely a buyers market - real estate values are down as much as 40% from what they were in 2005. "e average home sale price from 2007 to 2010 hovers around $150,000, which is a far cry from the 249,000 dollar average from 2003 to 2006. Right now there are more reasons than ever to buy a home. Tax credits and mortgage breaks abound for first time home buyers, and there is even 6,500 dollars up for grabs if you already own a home. So, in seemingly perfect buying conditions, what is stopping our market from taking o! like a rocket?

It's more or less just an issue of momentum. "e trends leading up to our market boom around the turn of the millennium are start-ing to repeat themselves. Each year in the 90's the market saw an increase in some form, and by the time we reached the year 2000, the market was running in full force. Real estate agents were coming in droves, and work was good for everyone. New construction wasn't just a need, it was heavily demand-ed because people from all around were flocking to the mountains.

Sub developments were taking o!, pre-constructed houses were being sold at record levels because everyone wanted their little piece of the mountains.

As people started "discovering" their place in the mountains they told their friends about it, who in turn, told their friends about it and so the cycle began for people to start flocking to Western North Carolina.

"at same type of momentum is what is needed to get our real estate market back what it once was. So far the trends are pointing in the right direction, agents are seeing an increase in interest and sales from month to month. Ob-viously, there will be some decline in the winter months, however the averages are starting to climb. "e wheels of our real estate train are starting to turn again and people are starting to jump on board again. "e outlook was gloomy for some time and that hint of opti-mism is starting to shine through in our local real estate agents and construction companies.

According to the NC state de-mographic department, Cherokee County is projected to have a pop-ulation close to 35,000 by the year 2030. "at's a 37% increase over the year 2000 Census population of 24,298. With all of those people coming to Cherokee County, it's not a matter of IF the market will take o! again but When.

Exit Realty of Murphy was re-cently awarded the Pinnacle award for real estate in North Carolina. Meaning, out of countless agencies in the state, Exit Realty of Murphy sold the highest dollar amount per agent - a highly esteemed honor.

With news like this, there is no doubt that our markets are picking up, thus taking our economy from recession to expansion. It's only a matter of time before this gives birth to another boom.

one reaching in 15 to 40 feet in order to keep the rock held tightly together.# Holes have also been drilled in the rock to allow water to drain through instead of building up and putting pressure on the rock masses.# A rock

fall fence was also placed at the mouth of the January 19 rock slide site near Greasy Creek.# "e fence will prevent any further rock debris from spill-ing into the road, should this happen again.

Tom Tohill, Contributed PhotoTennessee DOT workers making progress on the Ocoee Gorge.! Since the reopening the rock slide site has had a thorough cleaning, new black top, and a fresh coat of paint.!

EDITORIALTRAVEL

!e state ofreal estate

Attorney General Roy Cooper writes to Governor Perdue

2AApril 21, 2010

BRIEFS

Presenting Donors May Enter A Drawing To Win A Cruise For Two

ADVERTISE

Sentinel Newsgroup(828) 389-8338

GET BREAKING NEWS UPDATES ON YOUR PHONE:

Donors ‘cruise into summer’ by donating with the Red Cross

Project turns mountainside into Grand Central Station

BLOODY

A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Rachel Cole! !!!!!! !!

Emily Howard!!!!!! !!!Jordyn Reynolds!! !!!

Michaela Murphy!!!!!Lane Elliott!!!!!!!!!!!!

Samuel Robinson

Cherokee and Clay Counties "e summer season is always the most relaxing and fun – sun, sand and plenty of smiles. What many don’t realize is that during the busy summer season, blood donations often decline due to vacation and summer activities, while the need for blood remains constant. "e American Red Cross is asking do-nors to “Cruise Into Summer” by donating blood or platelets.

"e campaign, which runs from April 1 to June 30, 2010, gives each person who presents to do-nate blood or platelets with the Red Cross an opportunity to enter a drawing for the chance to win a cruise for two. By donating early

in the season, blood donors can donate two or more times during the summer months, helping en-sure blood is available for patients throughout this critical time.

• Monday, May 10 Murphy Community Blood

Drive at First United Method-ist Church (71 Valley River Av-enue, Murphy) 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Please call 837-3889 for more information or to schedule an ap-pointment.

Walk-Ins Welcome! Appoint-ments preferred.

• Tuesday, May 11Murphy High School Blood

Drive (234 High School Cir-

cle, Murphy) 8:30 am to 1:00 pm


• Friday, May 21 Andrews High School Blood Drive (50 High School Drive, Andrews)

9:30 am to 2:30 pm Please call Mrs. Haydon at 321-

5415 ext. 2117 for more informa-tion or to schedule an appointment.


Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. "e Carolinas Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross pro-vides lifesaving blood to 103 hos-

pitals and must have 1,600 people give blood and platelets each week-day to meet patient needs.

Blood can be safely donated ev-ery 56 days. Most healthy people age 17 and older, or 16 with pa-rental consent, who weigh at least 110 pounds, are eligible to donate blood and platelets. Donors who are 18 and younger must also meet height and weight requirements.

For more information or to schedule an appointment to do-nate at a nearby donor center, call 1-800-RED CROSS (733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org.

"e Southern Appalachian Family Farmers (SAFF) would like to invite all farmers, landowners, and anyone interested in wanting to farm to attend their next meeting. SAFF is now getting organized and is seeking funding to hire a marketing coordinator to help them find high-end markets. Back in October last year, Tim Will from Foothills Connect came and spoke to the group about selling produce on the Internet like the farmers are doing in Rutherford County. Tim is coming back to talk to SAFF about getting area farmers set up for marketing via the internet, to restaurants in neighboring cities. "e meeting will be on April 22nd, 7:00pm at the Tri-County Community College Center for Applied Technology in Marble.

Many people in Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties are unem-ployed, but may have some land that could be used to grow specialty crops to help supplement income. Tim has farmers that grow in their backyard and market through Foothills Connect. Some of these spe-cialty crops are grown in special beds that don’t require any soil. If you are interested in attending this important meeting or joining SAFF, please call the

Extension o#ce at 828-837-2210 to register.

1st gradeJason Brunner – A Honor Roll2nd gradeIsley Johnson – A Honor RollAshley Stiles – A Honor Roll3rd gradeAnna Weaver – B Honor Roll4th gradeSara Brunner – A Honor Roll5th gradeGeorge Brunner – A,B Honor Roll6th gradeCanyon Lee – A,B Honor RollJoseph Stephens – A,B Honor Roll

Kayla Stiles – A,B Honor Roll7th gradeElizabeth Schutte – A,B Honor Roll8th gradeScot Brunner – A Honor RollBrittany Goolsby – A, B Honor Roll10th gradeJonathan Stephens – A,B Honor Roll12th gradeAstrid Weaver – A,B Honor RollRachel Aldrich – B Honor Roll

BLevi Murphy

Eve SteeleJordan HughesCorrine Steele

A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anna PadgettSydney Elliott

BAnna Steele!!

With the rockslide project entering the homestretch, the rural mountain is beginning to look like Grand Central Station as crews engage in a flurry of activities:

Two teams of workers were on the ground:• One crew finished chewing up the old as-

phalt (a process called milling) on the road in front of the rockslide and the nearby site of the Jan. 23 rockslide. Paving should begin later this week.

• Another group assembled rock bolts they plan to install with a helicopter tomorrow, weather permitting. "ey have installed 389 rock bolts, so far.

!Four di$erent crews worked on the moun-tain:

• One group drilled on the vertical edge of the lower slope. "ey have drilled 540 of the 590 holes needed to stabilize the mountain.

• Another team prepared holes to receive those bolts. "ey measured each hole to make sure it was the correct depth and cleaned it out with compressed air.

• Yet another group tested the “tensioned” rock bolts. "ey have tested about 121 of the 140 “tensioned” bolts placed in the mountain. "e other rock bolts use a “passive” system in which the mountain itself creates the downward pull that stabilizes it.

• Finally, one crew continued to remove loose

boulders, rocks and debris from Site #4, which is next to the rockslide.

“It’s plenty busy and we’re feeling good,” said North Carolina Department of Transportation project inspector Mike Patton. “As long as the weather holds, we’ll be in good shape.”

"e National Weather Service forecast for the area calls for a mix of sun and clouds through April 20.

A video detailing the challenges of drilling on the vertical edge has been posted on NCDOT’s YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/NCDOTcommunications. Click on, “Drilling the Mountain Face.”

"is section of Interstate 40 near the Tennes-see border has been closed in both directions since the rockslide occurred Oct. 25.

NCDOT estimates that it will reopen I-40 by late April when work at the October rock-slide site should be completed. About one mile of the westbound lane closest to the mountain will be closed until this summer to allow crews to complete the work – including the installa-tion of rock bolts and anchor mesh – at five ad-ditional sites.

Travelers still can reach Western North Caro-lina via I-40 from the east and I-26 to the north and south. Exits 20 and 27 on I-40 provide ac-cess to popular destinations west of Asheville. In Tennessee, exits 432 through 451 provide access

to popular destinations in southeastern Tennes-see.

"e detour route is 53 miles longer and is an additional 45 minutes to an hour driving time. Motorists traveling on I-40 West should take Exit 53B (I-240 West) in Asheville and follow I-240 West to Exit 4A (I-26 West). Follow I-26 West (a North Carolina Scenic Highway) to I-81 South in Tennessee. Take I-81 South and follow it back to I-40 at mile marker 421. East-bound motorists should use the reverse direc-tions.

NCDOT reminds motorists to stay alert, fol-low instructions on the message boards on the highways, obey the posted speed limit, leave early and travel at non-peak times when pos-sible. Plan ahead before driving by visiting the NCDOT Traveler Information Management System Web site at www.ncdot.gov/tra#ctrav-el/ or calling 511, the state’s free travel informa-tion line, for current travel conditions.

NCDOT also provides alerts about tra#c congestion and construction work on Twitter. To access them, go to www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter/. For daily rockslide updates, please visit the NCDOT Web site at www.ncdot.gov and click on the I-40 rockslide daily news and in-formation section or follow work on the rock-slide project on Twitter at http://twitter.com/i40_rockslide.

ROCKSLIDE

Josh Standish, 14, of Murphy Middle School, raced this past week-end at the Dixieland National race in Powder Spring, GA. Josh raced and received 4 NATIONAL FIRST PLACE WINS. Josh started rac-ing last year at the Ocoee BMX track in Ducktown, TN and rapidly progressed to racing both local and National level races. He is currently displaying a #2 plate for his placement in the Redline Cup East Coast Championship race back in the fall. "is means he placed 2nd for the East Coast Redline Championship for his age and skill level.

"rough the American Bicycle Association (www.ABABMX.com) Josh placed third in 2009 for his District.

He will race again this Friday, April 23, 2010 at the Bradley County BMX track in Cleveland, TN.(BradleyBMX.com) His next National race will be May 14-16, in Dothan, Alabama.

“Big Frank” Schuler with Exit Realty Moun-tain View Properties in Murphy NC was the TOP SELLING AGENT for March 2010.

Exit of the Carolinas has just announced regional ranking top ten agents in transaction sides closed from January 1 though March 30, !2010 and Big frank Schuler at Exit Realty Mountain View Properties is the number 1 in North Carolina.

Big Frank also is celebrating his 5th year anniversary with Exit Realty Mountain View Properties located on Hwy 64 West in Murphy NC.

3AApril 21, 2010

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CHEROKEE

EDITOR’S

In last week’s column, I urged both Democrats and Republicans to tone down the rhetoric, stick to the facts, and have civil debates about the serious challenges we face as a nation. I also mentioned that people should stop the spread of false and malicious emails. Well, it so happened I was on the receiving end of two such emails this week. I seem to get a lot of those in my inbox, and since most, though by no means all of my friends and family are quite conservative, the vast majority of what I receive is aimed at Obama and the Democrats in Congress.

!e first email suggested that Barack Obama never actually attended Columbia University where he claims to have graduated in 1983 before attending Harvard Law School. It said that NO ONE has ever come forward who actually remembers being there with him. Mysteriously, Obama has refused to release his transcript from the school or any of the papers he wrote while in attendance. !is dearth of information has led to wild speculation on the part of ultraconservatives. Did he lie about his education? It took me less than three minutes to type “Obama Columbia University” into Google, and right away, I was directed to a web site that debunks urban legends and other falsehoods. It turns out it is true that Obama has never released any papers from his time at Columbia, making it appear that he has something to hide. However, it is NOT true that no one remembers him from his time at the school. Columbia claims him as one of their graduates. A former professor remembers that he easily aced the class he taught in foreign a"airs. A school publication contained an article written by Obama. A former roommate has also come forward with information about their time there. And finally, there is no way Obama would have been admitted to Harvard Law School without having gradu-ated from somewhere!

!e second email claimed that Obama had cancelled the 2009 National Day of Prayer, held each year by Christians throughout the country, and then sanctioned a National Day of Prayer for Muslims on Capitol Hill. !is time I went to www.snopes.com and checked it out. !e National Day of Prayer was not cancelled. Obama did decide not to have the public White House ceremony which was held annually during the eight years of the Bush administration. Instead, he signed a proclamation announc-ing the day of prayer and urged Americans everywhere to pray for their country and leaders. !ere was never a publicly-sanctioned National Day of Prayer for Muslims. !ere was a privately organized event for Muslims to pray for America that took place in the nation’s capital in September of 2009. A little something called freedom of speech allows them to do that, just as it allows Christians to gather around the flagpoles in communities all over America on the National Day of Prayer. We Christians had better not try to take that right away from others, because if we do, it will soon be taken away from us.

Frankly, what we know about Obama is enough to worry me – I don’t need people going around making stu" up! I don’t buy all these conspiracy theories and outlandish accusations. !ere are well-respected conservative journalists like George Will and William Kristol who would be all over these stories if there were anything to them. Occasionally, bloggers do uncover stories that turn out to be true and eventually get picked up by the mainstream media (like the ACORN scandal). Until that happens, it seems to me we should ignore rumors and speculation.

Such falsehoods are spread by members of both political parties. An-other email that made the rounds a few years ago claimed that President George W. Bush had the lowest IQ of any president from the past fifty years. !is information supposedly came from a study by an organization that does not even exist. It listed the twelve presidents that have served in the past 50 years in their order of IQ. Interestingly, all those with top IQ’s were Democrats, with Bill Clinton having the highest one of all!

I used to just delete these emails, but I am now engaged in a campaign to stamp out ignorance. As soon as I get one, I check it out on sites such as Snopes or www.factcheck.org. !en I send the link to the person who forwarded me the email and suggest that they check out future emails for themselves.

!e Internet provides a wealth of valuable information. Unfortunately, it is also the source of rumors and outright lies. We all need to make it our personal responsibility to verify information before we pass it on to others.

Leah Ward Sears is believed to be on President Obama’s short list for the US Supreme Court due to the recently announced retirement plans of Justice Stevens. I was invited by my daughter to a reception for Sears, then Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Ward Sears is the first female chief justice in the United States and the first African American in Georgia to be elected to state wide o#ce.

My daughter works for Cornell University and was arranging a meeting of Alumni in the Atlanta area with the Chief Justice, a Cornell graduate. My daughter’s invitation was contingent on my promising to NOT ask any questions until the cameras were o".

Ward Sears gave a passionate discussion including the breakdown of the black family and the need for more government funding to teach black fa-thers to be more responsible. During her presentation, she blamed Ronald Reagan for the breakdown of the black family.

I asked her why she blamed Ronald Reagan. She said that he was gov-ernor of California when no-fault divorce was passed by the CA state leg-islature.

I replied, “!e breakdown of the family is not just a black problem. You mentioned in your speech that by 1972, 70 percent of all black children were being born out of wedlock. Well today more than 25% of all white children are also born out of wedlock.”

“In 1965, the year that the Great Society legislation was passed, less than 10% of black children were born out of wedlock and 80% of all black chil-dren lived in a home with two parents. But that legislation destroyed that because the government gave a 14-year-old girl who got pregnant and had a child out of wedlock, a free separate dwelling away from her parents, free food, medical and dental services plus money for expenditures. It gave an incentive to be irresponsible.”

“Until people recognize what caused the problem, it will never be fixed.”She actually fell back and put her hands up as if to protect herself and kept repeating, “I could not disagree with you more!” But it appeared to me that she had never heard that argument and was processing it.

One of the biggest problems I find with Liberals is that they have been so indoctrinated and self-isolated that they are not even aware that philosophi-cal opponents might have a fact based logical point of view. !ey really have no idea what conservatives actually think.

Typical of many Liberals, the topic was immediately changed and I was interrogated. Being the only white person left in the group, I was asked “What do you think the about the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton?”

I replied without hesitation, “!ey are pimp extortionists and if I were black I would be ashamed to think that anyone would consider that they represent me!” !ere was a long uncomfortable silence until a black woman blurted out, “!ank you, thank you, finally a white man who is not afraid to speak the truth.”

You would be surprised what will happen when you refuse to keep quiet about politically incorrect o" limit topics. Someone might learn something.

Do you remember the movie called !e Producers? !e down-and-out director was fleecing little old women by selling them shares in his next play. Of course, he grossly oversold the number of shares and had to look for a play that was sure to fail. !at way, he got to pocket the money and “comfort” the little women over their poor luck. !ey never knew the game was rigged – until the play turned out to be wildly suc-cessful.

I was reminded of this play upon finding that Goldman Sachs, the most trusted and admired Wall Street investment firm, was charged with rigging the investment game against its own clients. !e firm has been charged with bundling very poor investment grade debt and sell-ing it to their clients, all the while collaborating with a hedge fund man-ager, with whom they jointly selected the poor investments to bundle, and knowing this manager was betting the debt would go into default. !e hedge fund manager made over one billion dollars in 2008 while Goldman Sachs clients took a severe beating in the financial markets.

According to the Wall Street Journal, these charges may prove to be the tip of the iceberg for many of the top investment firms on Wall Street. Most people are probably not surprised by this reckless and un-ethical behavior as we have come to expect our financial system to be overloaded with greed. Since the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, institutions that previously were prohibited from engaging in both commercial and investment banking were allowed to merge and expand into any type of financial transaction. !e floodgates of hell were opened and it only took ten years before they brought this country to its knees.

!e Democrats are trying to address the financial abuses of Wall Street and to prevent another financial collapse. After the banking collapse of 1929, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1932 and 1933 (two di"erent acts addressing the banking system and named af-ter the sponsors, Carter Glass, D-VA, and Henry Steagall, D-AL) and the e"ect was to regulate banking. !e provisions of both acts were successful until its shortsighted repeal in 1999. For what appear to be specious reasons, Republicans are opposed to the Democratic plans to re-regulate the financial industry.

!e main reason Republicans say they oppose the proposed regula-tions is that they will lead to more taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street. !ey are referring to a provision that requires financial firms to pay into a $50 billion fund that would be used to wind down any too-big-to-fail firm that was collapsing, thus preventing a taxpayer bailout. !e industry is being charged to bail itself out so that taxpayers no longer are forced to repeat the bailouts of 2008, a most distasteful matter. !is “bailout fund” is little di"erent from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that was created in 1932. Banks pay into the FDIC and that money is used to handle failing banks, of which Georgia has had an abundance since 2008. !e FDIC is no more a taxpayer bailout for the banks than is the proposed bailout fund for large financial institutions.

In my opinion, too many Democrats and Republicans in Congress are beholding to Wall Street. It will be a miracle is substantial re-regula-tion is passed but at least the Democratic plan, though weak, is stronger than the Republican plan. Republicans have decided, even on impor-tant matters like this, to continue to be the Party of No, or as Sarah Palin says, hell no. !ey are making a big mistake taking the side of Wall Street – and make no mistake about it, that is exactly what they are doing. Main Street plays second fiddle in the Republican Party.

For the life of me, I cannot understand the Republican worship of free markets. !ey speak of the wisdom of the markets and how free markets will regulate themselves, as if free markets have a mind of their own. However, men run the markets, rig the markets, defraud the mar-kets, and pursue greed without regard to ethics or morality. We must have the markets, but we need transparency, honesty, and ethical be-havior. It is a sad commentary on man that regulations are necessary to curb unbridled greed. I would hope Congress would re-pass the Glass-Steagall Acts of 1932 and 1933 and be done with it. !ese acts worked well for over 60 years; bring them back. Let us separate commercial from investment banking for the last time.

What is the International Code Council? !e orga-nization that publishes the codes that our states have ad-opted. Your building inspector enforces these codes when inspecting your construction.

Does this mean we will all have to build by this new code? Not unless the state government or local county adopts this code as law. !e International Code Coun-cil writes many di"erent codes, and our governments choose which ones they want to make law. !ey also might revise them to suit their own jurisdiction. Perhaps the government could make this an option instead of a requirement.

Why is this news important to us? First because it can substantially change green building here in the moun-tains and throughout the rest of our country. At this time, if you want to build and you want your building certified green, you must choose between several green building programs like Tennessee Valley Authority's Energy-right Program, Western North Carolina's HealthyBuilt Home Program, Southface Institute's Earthcraft House Program, or LEED. Each program has its advantages and disadvantages. Usually you must find a builder that is approved to build under this program. You also need someone to inspect and certify that your building meets the program's requirements during various stages of con-struction.

If the new green building code is adopted where you

live, it would be enforced by your building inspectors. !is would make green building certification much more accessible to all. But this would come at a cost. !e inspectors would need extensive training. !e local build-ing departments would need access to expensive testing equipment to test the home and the ductwork for air leaks.

!ere is another reason this is important to us. Right now the International Code Council has published a draft of this code on their web site for public review and comment. If you are concerned with this issue, you can download your own copy, study it, and email back the changes you would like to see.

People in the construction industry like to complain about building codes. But if they have a valid complaint they can do something about it. !ey can submit their idea to the International Code Council. If the council's engineers see that the complaint has merit, if a change would not raise building costs too much, if it would im-prove construction, they just might change the code.

For your copy of this new code: www.iccsafe.org Click on “Codes, Standards, and Guidelines” then “Interna-tional Green Construction Code.” Download your own copy.

!is column also invites your input. Email me your questions and ideas.

Richard C. MacCrea is the director of !e Greening of Andrews Valley, a program of Andrews Valley Initiative. He works in the field of energy e"cient, green building design. [email protected]

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April 21, 2010


Christopher Browning reviews the health act

828.389.2800

Legal NoticesCREDITOR’S NOTICE

10 E 69Having quali!ed as the executor of

the estate of Earl T. Sears deceased, late of Cherokee County, North Carolina. This is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 594 Brasstown View Road on or before the 14th day July of , 2010 this notice will be pleaded in bar of there recovery.

All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate pay-ment.

This the 8th day of April 2010. Sean P Sears, Sr

Executor of the Estate of Earl T Sears, Deceased.

CREDITOR’S NOTICE10 E 69

Having quali!ed as the executrix of the estate of Robert Berman Sr. deceased, late of Cherokee County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Es-tate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 901 Midway Creek Road, Murphy, NC 28906 on or before the 7th day July of , 2010 this notice will be pleaded in bar of there recovery.


This the 5th day of April 2010. Glenda C. Berman

Jennifer Lynn CoburnCo -Executrix of the Estate of

Robert Berman, Deceased.


Having quali!ed as the executor of the estate of Jerry L Sears deceased, late of Cherokee County, North Caro-lina. This is to notify all persons hav-ing claims against the Estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 594 Brasstown View Road on or before the 14th day July of , 2010 this notice will be pleaded in bar of there recovery.



Executor of the Estate of Jerry L Sears, Deceased.

NOTICE TO THE CREDITORS OF

ARTHUR L. KUMMERLENHaving quali!ed as the Ancillary

Administrator CTA of the Estate of ARTHUR L. KUMMERLEN deceased, late of Palm Beach County, State of Florida, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at the following address: P.O. Box 596, Murphy, NC 28906, on or before the 14th day of July, 2010, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.

All persons indebted to said de-cedent will please make immediate payment.

This 14th day of April, 2010. W. Arthur Hays, Jr.,

Ancillary Administrator CTA of the Estate of Arthur L. Kummerlen

Cherokee County School Board Job opening for Attorney


Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act, H.R. 3590

You have asked me to review the Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, and advise you as to whether North Carolina should join as a plainti! in the action recently filed by Florida and 12 other States in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Florida v. United States Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., Case No. 3:10-cv-91 (N.D. Fla., filed Mar. 23, 2010). In that action, the plainti! States chal-lenge the constitutionality of selected provisions of that Act. It is my strong recommendation that North Carolina not join as a plainti! in that action.

Two-hundred twenty members of the House of Representative and 56 Senators voted in favor of health care reform. Additionally, the Act was signed into law by the President. Each of these elected representatives has taken an oath of o"ce to abide by the Constitution of the United States. See U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 8; art. VI, cl. 3. #e determination by the United States Senate, the House of Representatives and the President that this Act is constitutional must not be ignored. In fact, the United States Supreme Court has made clear that a duly ratified Act of Congress is pre-sumed to be constitutional. See United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598, 607 (2000) (“Due respect for the decisions of a coordinate branch of Government demands that we invalidate a

congressional enactment only upon a plain showing that Congress has exceeded its constitutional bounds.”); Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 757 (1974) (noting “strong presumptive validity” that attaches to acts of Con-gress).

One of the principal claims set out in Florida’s complaint is an allega-tion that the Act commandeers the plainti! States and their employees “as agents of the federal government’s regulatory scheme at the states’ own cost.” Fla. Complaint ¶ 58. #e plain-ti! States proceed to argue that this “commandeering” of State resources violates the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Id.; see U.S. Const. amend. X (“#e powers not delegated to the United States by the constitu-tion, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people.”). Medicaid, however, is a voluntary program. States are free to choose not to participate in this pro-gram. Florida and the other plainti! States may drop out of the Medicaid program and not incur the additional costs of which they complain. If Flor-ida, however, chooses to participate in,

and accept the benefits of, the Medic-aid program, it cannot complain that its resources have been commandeered in violation of the Tenth Amendment. Congress “may attach conditions on the receipt of federal funds, and has repeatedly employed the power to fur-ther broad policy objectives by condi-tioning receipt of federal moneys upon compliance by the recipient with fed-eral statutory and administrative direc-tives.” South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 206 (1987) (internal quotations omitted). Consequently, the United States Supreme Court has previously upheld Congress’ authority to limit receipt of federal highway funds to States enacting a drinking age of 21 and to require compliance with the Social Security Act in order for States to receive grants for unemployment compensation. Id.; Steward Mach. Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548 (1937). Accord-ingly,

Florida’s argument that the Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act will require Florida to spend more money if it continues to participate in the Medicaid program appears to be without merit.

In addition to a claim based on the Tenth Amendment, the complaint asserts that Congress lacks author-ity to enact one specific aspect of the legislation – the personal responsibility provision. Under this provision, indi-viduals are required to either maintain health insurance or pay a tax as a result of the failure to do so. #e Act sets out detailed factual findings as to the ef-fect that health care expenditures have upon our Nation’s economy. Congress enacted this legislation based upon its authority under the Commerce Clause and the Taxing and Spending Clause of the United States Constitution. Congress has extremely broad author-ity under the Commerce Clause. See McLain v. Real Estate Bd., 444 U.S. 232, 241 (1980) (“#e broad author-ity of Congress under the Commerce Clause has, of course, long been in-terpreted to extend beyond activities actually in interstate commerce to reach other activities that, while wholly local in nature, nevertheless substan-tially a!ect interstate commerce.”); Fry v. United States, 421 U.S. 542, 547 (1975) (“Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause is very broad”); United States v. Zeigler, 19 F.3d 486, 489 n.1 (10th Cir. 1994) (“It is gen-erally recognized that Congress has extremely broad jurisdiction under the Commerce Clause.”). #e same is true of the Taxing Clause. Wil-liams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23, 29 (1968) (“Congress is granted broad power to ‘lay and collect Taxes’”); see also Erwin

Chemerinsky, Protecting the Spending Power, 4 Chap. L. Rev. 89, 91 (2001) (“Congress has broad power to tax and spend for the general welfare so long as it does not violate other constitutional provisions”). Moreover, the Court has expressly recognized that Congress has the authority to regulate insurance under the Commerce Clause. United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Ass’n, 322 U.S. 533 (1944).

Although Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause is extremely broad, the Court has made clear that this authority is not without bounds. In recent years, for example, the Court has struck down legislation that at-tempted to criminalize violence against women, as well as legislation that made it unlawful to possess a handgun on school property. United States v. Mor-rison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000); United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995). Both Lopez and Morrison involved federal regulation of noneconomic criminal conduct. As the Court noted in Morrison, “we can think of no better example of the police power, which the Founders denied the National Gov-ernment and reposed in the States.” 529 U.S. at 618. #e regulation of the economic e!ect of health care is mark-edly di!erent from the two criminal statutes before the Court in Lopez and Morrison. Moreover, subsequent to Morrison and Lopez, the Court held that the cultivation of marijuana for one’s personal use could be restricted by Congress pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005). #e collective impact upon our national economy resulting from persons who do not maintain health insurance (but who nevertheless turn to public hospitals when faced with health care emergencies) far exceeds the impacts upon commerce at issue in Morrison and Lopez. Nevertheless, I recognize that the specific factual sce-nario raised by the Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act has not pre-viously been addressed by the Court. Accordingly, the arguments made by opponents of this legislation should not be characterized as frivolous. See, e.g., Randy Barnett, Nathaniel Stewart & Todd Gaziano, Why the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance is Unprecedented and Unconstitutional (Dec. 2009) (available at www.heri-tage.org/Research/Reports/2009/12/Why-the-Personal-Mandate-to-Buy- Health-Insurance-Is-Unprec-edented-and-Unconstitutional); see also Jennifer Staman & Cynthia Brougher, Requiring Individuals to Obtain Health Insurance: A Consti-tutional Analysis,

Congressional Research Service 18

(2009) (“While it seems possible that Congress could enact an individual coverage requirement that would pass constitutional muster, there are various constitutional considerations relevant to the enactment of such a proposal.”). #us, although I would not character-ize the present action as frivolous, it appears to have little chance of success.

In addition to the significant legal hurdles that Florida faces in this ac-tion, several practical and prudential considerations weigh heavily against North Carolina joining the present ac-tion. Being one among 13 other States and the last State to join that lawsuit, North Carolina would have little to no voice as to strategy decisions that are made in the course of that action. Nev-ertheless, North Carolina would be ex-pected to pay its proportionate share of the lawsuit – an amount that will likely be substantial. Additionally, if we were to participate in this lawsuit, it would be necessary to devote one or more attorneys in our o"ce to monitor the motions, briefing and discovery in that action. Our o"ce’s consistent practice is to closely monitor and to coordi-nate with outside counsel whenever a private law firm is representing the State of North Carolina. #us, joining this lawsuit would require us to devote substantial resources to this action. North Carolina, however, could avoid these substantial expenditures by sim-ply awaiting the verdict of the district court. Any decision in this case will ultimately be appealed to the United States Supreme Court and thereby be-come binding on all 50 States. #us, it would seem to be in the interest of tax-payers for the State of North Carolina not to incur these litigation expenses unnecessarily. Additionally, it should be noted that the provisions of the Act being attacked do not become e!ec-tive until the year 2013. Given the fact that this provision could be repealed or amended within the next three years, it would appear to be a waste of taxpayer funds to mount litigation challenging this provision at the present time. Fi-nally, it should be noted that the pri-vate law firm that is representing the plainti! States in this action is adverse to North Carolina in another pending matter.

For the reasons set forth above, I do not believe that it would be a wise use of state resources to join the litigation pending in Florida. Whether health care reform should be implemented is a policy determination that best lies in the hands of Congress. #at decision, whether wise or unwise, should not be derailed by litigation initiated by the States.

Richard Earl Curtiss , 79, of Murphy, NC died Monday March 29, 2010 at Murphy Medical Cen-ter.

!!!! He was born July 12, 1930, in New Marlboro Massachusetts, to Earl George and Ada!Curtiss.

!!!! He moved to Murphy in 1999 to be closer to family because of his and his wife’s illnesses. He had lived with his daughter and son in law for the last seven years in Mur-phy before his death.

!!!!!Richard was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in De-cember 1960, at the age of 30. He was a mechanic by trade.!Richard loved being a mechanic of which he held many certificates of train-ing and accomplishments. But, his main vocation was a Minister of!God’s word the Holy Bible. He was known for sharing words of

encouragement from God’s word with everyone he met.! Richard found much comfort in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and his heavenly father Jehovah. His true happiness in life came from! shar-ing this comfort with others.

!!! Richard was preceded in death by wife, Evelyn who died May 21,

2008. Surviving!him in death is a brother,! Harold George! Curtiss (Hap) of Yulee FL; four children, Diana Lynn Campochiaro and husband,! William of! Bristol, CT, David Paul Curtiss! of Beverly Hills, FL, Lisa Marie Whitener and husband, Archie of Murphy, NC, Je"ery Scott Curtiss and wife, Jane of!Steubenville, OH; 10 grandchildren and 12 great grand-children.

! ! ! ! A Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 PM, Saturday, April 3, 2010 at the Kingdom Hall of Jeho-vah Witness. Peter Longdyke will o#ciate.!

!!!! You may send tributes to the Curtiss family at www.mem.com or view other obits at www.town-son-rose.com

!!!! Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.

5AApril 21, 2010

AD

LIBRARY

Marie Ware

Bessie Mae Williams

Sherry Jean Bowers

Ramona “Pony” Hawkins Shields

A little boy acts up and is sent to his room.! What should he do in this situation?! Have an ad-venture, of course.! $e Murphy Library is showing “Where the Wild $ings Are” on $ursday at 3:15 p.m. Maurice Sendak wrote the children’s book and director Spike Jonze made the movie.! It is rated PG and runs 101 min-utes. $ere is no 6 p.m. screening.

Sendak gave Jonze the highest commendation after seeing the movie when he said that Jonze “turned it into his without giving up mine.”! $e large “wild things” resemble Sendak’s drawings, but even more so, the feelings of a little boy are caught in the cam-era’s eye.

Want to extend the fun?! $e library has Sendak’s book to bor-row and read.

Call the library at 837-2417, or go to www.friendsofmurphy-library.wordpress.com to see the film's trailer.

CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOLSVACANCY FOR PRINCIPAL

Marie Ware, age 81,of Mari-etta, GA and formerly of Murphy, NC!passed away Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at Kennestone Hosptial in Marietta, GA.

She was a native of Buncombe County, NC but had lived most of her life in Cherokee County be-fore moving to Cobb County four years ago. Marie was the daughter of the late Harrison Luther Truett and Nellie Marie Lunsford Tru-ett Ingram. She was a retired hair dresser, loved crocheting and took special care of her mother, Nellie Marie for many years.

In addition to her parents! she was preceded in death by her hus-band, Frank Ware;!son, Rex Lane Ware and! daughter, Leona Sapp and! two brothers, Rev. Jim Truett and $omas (Bud) Truett.

She is survived by three daugh-ters, Mary McGlow of Cartersville, GA, Carolyn Rhodes of Marietta,

GA and Helen Greenwood of Marietta, GA; one brother, Roy Dale Ingram of Chattanooga, TN; 16 grandchildren; 25 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.

Funeral Services were held at 3:00 PM, Saturday, April 17, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Funeral Home Chapel in Murphy, NC. $e Rev. Billy Rhodes o#ciated. Burial was in the Friendship Bap-tist Church Cemetery in Murphy, NC. Pallbearers were David Sapp, Jr., Mark Rhodes, Frank Rhodes, Adam Rhodes, Richard Langley, Brian Langley, Stephen Ramsey and Daniel Ramsey. Honorary Pallbearers were Hunter Brooks, Andrew Langley and Charlie Langley.

$e family received friends from 6:00 PM!to 8:00 PM, Friday, April 16, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Fu-neral Home in Murphy, NC.

You may send tributes to the Ware family at www.mem.com or view other obits at www.townson-rose.com

Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Bessie Mae Williams, 72, of Robbinsville died Monday, April 12, 2010 in a Murphy medical cen-ter.! She was a native of Graham County.! She had worked on as-sembly lines in her early life and later worked as a groundskeeper for the U.S. Forest Service.! Bes-sie also volunteered her time as a witness for the Lord to patients in Britthaven of Graham.! She was a member of the Lone Oak Baptist Church in Robbinsville, where she loved to sing.

!She was the daughter of the late Noah and Nora Bailey Crisp and was also preceded in death by a daughter, Lynda Palmer.

! Surviving are five daughters, Sheila Graham and husband, Ken, Kathleen Williams, Irene Farley and husband, Mickey, Claudine Gibson and husband, Ricky, and

Loretta Marino and husband, Ja-son, all of Robbinsville; a son, Jimmy Williams of Robbinsville; a sister, Myrtle Stahl of Esto, FL; six brothers, Henry Crisp of Robbins-ville, Eddie Crisp of Bryson City, Beacher Crisp of Belvidere, NJ, Herbert Crisp of Esto, FL, Den-

nis Crisp of Harrodsburg, KY, and Ralph Crisp of Morristown, TN; and 13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

! Funeral services were held at 11:00 AM $ursday, April 15, 2010 in the Lone Oak Baptist Church with Revs. Max Turpin and Scott Roper o#ciating.! Interment was in the church cemetery.! Pallbear-ers were Shaun and Kenny Gra-ham, Jeremiah Satterfield, Jimmy Millsaps, Rance Schuler, and Joe Palmer.

$e family received friends from 6-8 Wednesday evening, April 14 at the Lone Oak Baptist Church.

!Ivie Funeral Home, Andrews in charge of all arrangements.

!An online guest register is avail-able at “Obituaries” at www.ivifu-neralhome.com

Kids !lm "ursday

at Murphylibrary

Ramona “Pony” Hawkins Shields, 73, of Murphy died $urs-day, April 15, 2010 in Murphy Medical Center.! She was a native and lifetime resident of Cherokee County.! She had worked for 17 years as a program assistant with the Agricultural Stabilization Con-servation Service.! Ramona was a member of the Peachtree Memo-rial Baptist Church.! She was a seamstress, loved working with crafts, was an avid flower gardener and known throughout the com-munity for her beautiful hybrid daylilies.! She was a devoted care-giver and was a loving wife, mother, friend, and Christian witness.

! She was the daughter of the late Clyde E. and Ella Vee Ham-ilton Jory and was the wife of the late Paul Ray Hawkins, who died February 25, 1999.! She was also preceded in death by a son, Eddie Neil Hawkins, who died October 21, 1995.

Surviving are her husband, Pas-tor Hadley Shields; a son, Paul Keith Hawkins and wife, Debbie of Murphy; three step-daughters, Millie Gazaway and husband, Mike of Rex, GA, Diane Blair and

husband, Jim of Ft. Myers, FL, and Rita Mathis and husband, Gerald of Blairsville, GA; a step-son, Ron-nie Shields and wife, Robbie of Blairsville, GA; a sister, Billie June Jory Howell and husband, George of Brandon, FL; a brother, Clyde Sidney Jory and wife, Sharon of Turtletown, TN; nine step-grand-children and six great step- grand-children; and four nieces and six nephews.!

A memorial service was held at 3:00 PM Sunday, April 18, 2010

in the Peachtree Memorial Bap-tist Church with Rev. Jerry Hel-ton, Dr. Chester Jones, and Rev. Johnny Foster o#ciating.! Inurn-ment was in the Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery with the Revs. Greg Carroll and Jerry Helton o#-ciating.! Honorary pallbearers were Grace Carringer, Grace Debty, Kathy Forrister, Carolyn Franklin, Ollie Holder, Margaret Pressley, Dorothy Simonds, Carolyn Stock-ton, Gwen Weaver, and Annette Williams, members of the Marie Hendrix Sunday school class, and the Murphy High School Class of 1954.

$e family received friends from 1:30-2:45 Sunday afternoon at the Peachtree Memorial Baptist Church prior to the services.

In lieu of flowers, the family re-quests memorials be made in mem-ory of Ramona “Pony” Hawkins Shields to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alex-andria, VA 22312.

Ivie Funeral Home, Murphy in charge of all arrangements.

An online guest register is avail-able at “Obituaries” at www.iviefu-neralhome.com.

Sherry Jean Bowers, age 59, of Murphy, NC passed away Friday, April 16, 2010 at the Mission Hos-pital in Asheville, NC.

She was a native of Pulaski, GA and the daughter of the late! Jack Melvin and! $elma Baker Parton Francis.! Sherry had worked for Levi Strauss & Company for! 14 years and New Mart Rug! in Dal-ton, GA for four years. She was of the Baptist faith. She loved her grandchildren, cooking, gardening and crossword puzzles.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by one brother, Herbert Holloway.

She is survived by her husband,

Larry Bowers; two sons, Robert Francis and Frankie Jones both of Murphy, NC; one daughter, Tam-my! Blunt of Waycross, GA; two brothers, Johnny Francis and! Joe Francis both! of Murphy, NC;! six grandchildren, Sherry Diaz, Cody Clark, Jeremy Burris, $elma Cheyanne Jones, Brandon Ander-son and Eowyn Alexis Francis and five great grandchildren, Mariana Diaz, $alia Diaz, Melina Diaz, Adrianna Diaz,!and Natalie Clark.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Funeral Home Chapel in Murphy, NC. $e Rev. Shannon Helton will o#ciate.

Burial will be in the Ranger United Methodist Church Cemetery in Murphy, NC.! Pallbearers will be Chad Bryant, Dylan Bryant, Eric Frances, Jody Burrell,! and Bobby $rasher.

$e family will receive friends from 6:00 PM!to 8:00 PM, Mon-day, April 19, 2010 at the Town-son-Rose Funeral Home in Mur-phy, NC.

You may send tributes to the Bowers family at www.mem.com or view other obits at www.town-son-rose.com!

Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. !

Richard Earl Curtiss

Sentinel Subscriptions -$25 per year Call (828) 389-8338

VERTISE

6AStory Hour

Story hour at The Curiosity Shop Book-store, 46 Valley River Avenue, Murphy, on Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Bring your children or grandchildren and let them enjoy being read to. Call 835-7433 or 321-2242

Mountain High HikersMountain High Hikers sched-

ule two hikes each Tuesday, occasionally specialty hike, and regular trail maintaining trips- all in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. Check the web site: MountainHighHikers.org for schedule and meeting locations or call 828-389-8240 for information.

Experimental AircraftThe Experimental Aircraft Association

- local tri-state EAA Chapter #1211 meets the third Thursday, 7 p.m. of each month at Blairsville airport. If interested, contact Jim Olson @ 828-557-2446.

GWRRA MeetingsChapter J of the Gold Wing Road Rid-

ers Association (GWRRA) meets the fourth Saturday of each month at Daniel’s Steak-house, Hiawassee, Ga. We eat at 11 a.m. followed by the meeting at 12 p.m. during which rides and other activities are an-nounced and discussed. We encourage cur-rent members of the GWRRA and anyone interested in becoming a member to join us. All motorcyclists are welcome and we look forward to seeing participants from other chapters. There are great rides com-ing up and we hope many of you will join us. For further information, contact Chapter Director, June Gottlieb, 706-896-7403

.

Family ResourcesFamily Resources in

collaboration with Tri-County Community College will o!er ESL (English as a second language) classes every Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Classes will be held in the basement of Family Resources and are free to any-one wishing to participate. For more information call 837-3460.

Abandoned AnimalsJust 4 Hours. Just 4 hours a week can make a big di!erence in caring for abandoned and abused animals. Just 4 hours to walk dogs. Just 4 hours to groom dogs or cats. Just 4 house to clean the cattery. Just 4 hours to

transport dogs and/or cats to the vet. If you have just 4 hours a week to volunteer your time and energy, please contact Castaway Critters at 706-781-3992 or call Martha at 706-379-2729.

Amateur RadioAttention HAMs and anyone interested

in Amateur RadioThe North Georgia Tri-State A.R.C. (Ama-

teur Radio Club) meetings are held"on the #rst Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Branan Lodge in Blairsville. All of our meet-ings are open to the public. For more"infor-mation about joining the Club or becoming a HAM, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Ramp Dinner & ConcertStecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center’sRamp Dinner & ConcertSaturday, April 24Dinner seatings at 5pm and 6:15Barn Carts perform at 7:30Reservations required call 828-479-3364

Mountain Coin ClubThe Mountain Coin Club for " beginner

and advanced numismatists, young and old, " meets the second Tuesday of each month at the Blairsville Civic Center. Set-up begins at 5:30 p.m. "A brief business meet-ing precedes the educational program at 6:30 p.m. A coin auction follows. " Visitors from surrounding areas are welcome. For more information, call Ye Old Coin Shop, 706-379-1488."

Free Tax PrepFree Federal and State (GA and NC) per-

sonal income tax preparation is available in Murphy, until 4/14/10. This will be at the First United Methodist Church, on Valley River Ave, in downtown Murphy.

The service will be available from 1-7 pm on Tuesdays, and 10 am - 4 pm on Wednesdays. For appointments, people should call 835-0220.

It is con#dential, and open to anyone with non-complex returns. A special em-phasis is placed on those age 60 and older, with low and moderate incomes. The re-turns are prepared by advanced IRS-certi-#ed volunteers with years of experience.

Even if people have low incomes and are not required to #le an income tax, it is often in their best interest to do so. There may be credits they are entitled to that will give them a refund. If they are homeown-ers, they can often get relief on their prop-erty taxes by showing the tax assessor a copy of their income tax return.

The Cherokee County Community Foundation

Dr. Jan Davidson, board president has announced that the Cherokee County Community Foundation is currently ac-cepting grant requests from non-pro#t organizations for projects that bene#t our community. According to Davidson, a few modest grants are available this year.

Applications are available at nccommu-nityfoundation.org (under “A$liates”); John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown; or by calling the Cherokee County Community Foundation at 800-201-9532. Grant appli-cations must be received by May 21, 2010.

The Cherokee County Community Foundation is an a$liate of the North Caro-lina Community Foundation (NCCF). The community fund was established to help support local charitable needs through an-nual grants. In addition to Davidson, board members are Pat Ivie, Eva Wood, and Dr. Je!rey Larson.

For further information, contact any board member; the NCCF Western Regional Associate, Sue LeLievre at 800-201-9532 or visit the NCCF website at nccommunity-foundation.org.

Farmers MarketThe Cedar Valley Farmers Market is back

in full swing." Help support your local econ-omy by shopping local." Join us every Satur-day from 10am to 2pm downtown Murphy." We invite everyone to come and browse." Bring your instruments to pick a few tunes or get creative and set up a booth.

We remind you to BUY LOCAL!!For vending information contact Jer-

emiah Smith at [email protected]

See you Saturday!"

Castaway Critters“COMMUNITY NIGHT” TO" BENEFIT " " " " " " " "

CASTAWAY CRITTERS PET RESCUE"""""""""""""""""""""" """ TUESDAY, APRIL 27TH""" """ """ """ """" """ 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM" BROTHERS RESTAURANT AT WILLOW

RANCH""""""""""" ON HIGHWAY 76, YOUNG HAR-RIS

Spring ConcertMt. Comm. Chorus presents its annual

spring concert Friday Apr. 30th, 8 PM and Sunday May 2nd 3 PM Hilda Glenn Audito-rium, Young Harris College. For more infor-mation, visit www.mapaa.org.

Singing at Pine GrovePine Grove Baptist on 17-69 going to-

wards Hayesville will be having a singing

Sat April 17, 2010 Across Time Singing time 7:00 p.m. Pastor Dwayne Patterson invites everyone to attend.

Cherokee County 9-12 Project

The Cherokee County 9-12 Project will also be holding a General Meeting. Please join us on Saturday, May 1, at the First Bap-tist Church Fellowship Hall in Murphy, from 6:30pm - 8:30pm.We will be honoring our military veterans who have sel%essly served this great nation and kept it and us safe from harm. All are welcome to attend. For questions or additional information, please call the 9-12 Hotline at 828-837-0055.

KnittingKnitting and Spinning Lessons:

“From How to Knit to Knitting Design”, Monday mornings 10 a.m. to noon and Monday evenings 7-9 p.m. “Spinning Sat-urdays”, 9 a.m. to noon, once a month. Call Martha at Yarn Circle, 835-4592 for details.

Quilting ClassesQuilting Classes In Nonnie’s Attic is

quilting 100 squares in 100 days to help Andrews celebrate its 100th birthday. Join us each day at 1:30 p.m. and learn new quilt square. Call 321-2800 for more information.

Veterans meetingThe monthly combined meeting of the

VFW, VFW Auxiliary, The American Legion and the DAV will be held Monday, May 3rd a the Veteran Building located at Drew Tay-lor Road and NC Highway 141 in Peachtree. A potluck supper commences at 6 p.m. and is immediately followed by the general business meeting.

The meeting is open to all veterans. Those interested in joining, directions or learning more about the interests and activities of those service organizations, please contact Commander Gene Gu!y by calling 828-837-3016.

DAR MeetingsDAR meetings will be held on the sec-

ond Wednesday of Jan.-May and Sept.-Nov. at 2 p.m. at the Harshaw Chapel in Downtown Murphy. For more information contact Joan Wallace at 837-0876 or Mar-garet Warner at 837-8777 or 837-2644.

Blue Ridge MOAAThe Blue Ridge Mountains Chapter of

the Military O$cers Association of Amer-ica (MOAA) meets the third Monday of each month at various area restaurants. All active duty, National Guard, reserve, retired, and former Military, Public Health Service, and NOAA o$cers and warrant of-#cers and surviving spouses are invited to attend. For information please contact Jim Ferrell at 828-835-9203 or visit www.moaa.org/chapter/blueridgemountains .

Amateur RadioAttention HAMs and wannabe HAMs

North Georgia Tri-State A.R.C. (Amateur Radio Club) meetings are held"on the #rst Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Branan Lodge in Blairsville. All of our meetings are open to the public. For more"information, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Brasstown PotluckBrasstown Potluck The Brasstown Com-

munity holds a potluck supper and meet-ing on the third Thursday of each month, 6:30 p.m., Brasstown Community Center, 255 Settawig Road, Brasstown.

Flying ClubFlying Club. The Over mountain Flyers

meets the second Saturday each month at the Andrews-Murphy Airport from 9 a.m. to noon. For information, call 837-3468.

Hiwasse Kennel ClubHiwassee River Valley Kennel Club:

Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the #rst Mon-day of each month at Brother’s Restaurant on Hwy 64 in Murphy, NC. We invite all those interested in pure bred dogs and ca-nine activities to attend. Call President Kit Miracle @ 706 492 5253 or Peggy Moor-man @ 828 835 1082 for details.



Small Scale AgricultureThe Far West Small Scale Agricultural

Action Team meets the second Monday of each month in the St. Andrews Lutheran Church community room, Andrews. For information, call Mary Janis, 828-389-1913 [email protected]

Cherokee Mountain LionsCherokee County Mountain Lions meet

the #rst and third Tuesday of each month at Downtown Pizza, 6 p.m. New members are welcome.


ers Association (GWRRA) meets the fourth Saturday of each month at Daniel’s Steak-house, Hiawassee, Ga. We eat at 11 a.m. followed by the meeting at 12 p.m. dur-ing which rides and other activities are announced and discussed. We encourage current members of the GWRRA and any-one interested in becoming a member to join us. All motorcyclists are welcome and we look forward to seeing participants from other chapters. There are great rides coming up and we hope many of you will join us. For further information, contact Chapter Director, June Gottlieb, 706-896-7403.

Mountain Economic Part-ners

Far West Mountain Economic Partners’ Small Scale Agriculture Action Team meets at 6 p.m. the #rst Monday of every month at the Far West o$ces located at 452 Main Street in Andrews. All farmers in from Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Swain Coun-ties and the Qualla Boundary are invited to attend. For details, contact Pat Love at 828-321-2929 or via email at [email protected].

Anti Death PenaltyPeople of Faith Against the Death Pen-

alty meets the 1st Monday each month at 7 p.m. at the Glen Mary House, next to St. William Catholic Church. For information, call 837-0867.

Commissioners MeetingThe Cherokee County Commisioners

meeting will be held on the #rst Mon-day of each month at 8:30 a.m. and on the third Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners boardroom of the Cherokee County Courthouse, unless Monday falls on a holiday, or unless oth-erwise posted.

Valley River Civitan ClubValley River Civitan Club of Andrews

meets the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., PJ’s restaurant in An-drews. Visitors are welcome. For more in-formation call Anita Davis at 361-1247.

Basket WeaversThe Shooting Creek Basket Weavers

Guild meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 9:45 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Shooting Creek Community Center (#re station). Refreshments are served and a business meeting is held before a weav-ing project is presented. For more infor-mation contact Joan (Guild president) at 706-896-1534.

MRACG MeetingMountain Regional Arts and Crafts

Guild, Inc (MRACG) meets the second Tuesday of each month at ArtWorks Ar-tisan Centre. ArtWorks is located at 308 Big Sky Drive (behind the Holiday Inn), Hiawassee. Refreshments are served at 6 p.m. and the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to learn more about the Guild, we invite you to the next meeting as our guest.Contact us at 706-896-0932 or [email protected] or

visit mtnregartscraftsguild.org.

NCWN PoetryThere will be no NCWN West Poetry Cri-

tique Group in July, as the college campus will be closed. The next meeting will be in August at the regular time.

Alzheimer’s SupportAlzheimer’s Support Group of Murphy

meets the 1st Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Murphy Senior Center. Con-tact Laura Harris at 828-644-0680 for more information. Also meetings every second Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center in Hayesville.

Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous has scheduled

meetings as follows: Tues. 7 p.m., in the back of the Episcopal Church of the Mes-siah located across the street from the Cherokee Scout and the Verizon building on the corner of Central & Church Street; Sat. noon at the 409 building; Thur. 8 p.m. St. William’s Catholic Ch., Murphy; Wed. 8 p.m., United Methodist Church, Andrews, in the fellowship hall; Tues. noon, Thur. noon, Fri. 8 p.m.; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Hayesville; Sat. 8 p.m. First Method-ist Church, Downtown Hayesville. For a complete area meeting schedule and in-formation, call 837-4440.

Domestic Violence Sup-port

Domestic Violence Support Group REACH of Cherokee County o!ers a free con#dential support group to women whose lives are, or have been a!ect-ed by domestic violence. The group meets every Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the REACH o$ce in Murphy. Please call (828) 837-2097 for more information.

Compassionate FriendsThe Compassionate Friends is a self-

help, non-pro#t organization that o!ers that o!ers friendship and understanding to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings meets at 7 p.m. every third Thurs-day each month at the Senior Center in Murphy. Call Maxine Arne at 837-0425, Mabel Cooke at 837-6871 or Vicky Sullivan at 837-9168 for details.

Weight LossTops Weight Loss “Take O! Pounds

Sensibly” in Murphy meets on Mondays at 5 p.m. at the Glen Mary Hall, Andrews Road. For more information, call 837-4587. Two Tops clubs meet in Andrews on Mondays. The morning club meets in Valleytown Baptist Church Fellowship Hall at 8:45 a.m. weigh in, meeting at 9 a.m. Call 321-5242 for more information. The evening club, which meets at Christ Community church, weights in at 5 p.m. and has a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Call 321-3040 or 321-1422 for more information.

Divorce Care SeminarDivorce Care Seminar. Divorce Care, a

special-help seminar and support group for people experiencing divorce or separa-tion will be held on Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at Hiawassee United Methodist Church. Divorce Care features nationally recognized experts on divorce and recov-ery topics.

English ClassesClasses de ingles gratis. Tri County

Community College. Ofrece classes de ingles como Segundo idioma (ESL Classes) Todos los Miercoles y Jueves De 9:00 a.m. a 12:00 p.m. En el local de Family Resources of Cherokee County. Ubicado en 70 Cen-tral Street Murphy, NC 28906. Para mayor informacion llame al tlefono No. (828) 837-3460.






quilting 100 squares in 100 days to help Andrews celebrate its 100th birthday. Join us each day at 1:30 p.m. and learn new quilt square. Call 321-2800 for more infor-mation.

Abandoned AnimalsJust 4 Hours. Just 4 hours a week can make a big di!erence in caring for abandoned and abused animals. Just 4 hours to walk dogs. Just 4 hours to groom dogs or cats. Just 4 house to clean the cattery. Just 4 hours to transport dogs and/or cats to the vet. If you have just 4 hours a week to vol-unteer your time and energy, please con-tact Castaway Critters at 706-781-3992 or call Martha at 706-379-2729.

Moose LodgeWe are now forming a Moose Lodge

and invite you to join us. Our meetings are held at Homers Corner Cafe located at Hwy 19/129 in Murphy, NC inside Fosters Flea Market. Come early and join us for a Dutch Treat lunch. Our meetings are held on the 2nd Friday of each month at 1 p.m. For further information please call Art or Donna Harris at (828) 389-6342.

Body Sculpting ClassBody Sculpting/Cardiovascular

Exercise classes are being offered at Towns County Recreational Center in Hiawassee, Ga. Class is from 6:30-7:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The cost is $4 per class or $48 per month.

Contact the recreation center at (706) 896-2600 or Susan Rogers at (706) 896-6842.Square Dance Classes

Enchanted Valley Squares is having Basic Mainstream Classess on Tuesday Nights at the Towns Co Middle School Cafeteria from 7:00-9:00 pm." For more information:" GA-Al Supplee (706) 379-2191 or NC-Bob or Loretta Hughes (828) 837-2561.



Brasstown SuppersBrasstown Community Club meets

at 6:30 p.m., the third Thursday of each month with a pot luck supper. Grocery game night, 7 p.m. the first Saturday of every month. Please bring snack foods.

Senior Game DayDominoes, Hearts, Scrabble,

Checkers, etc. Every Tuesday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Clay County Senior Center Call 838-389-9271 for more info.

HAMs meetingsNorth Georgia Tri-State A.R.C.

(Amateur Radio Club) meetings are held"on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Branan Lodge in Blairsville. All of our meetings are open to the public. For more" information about joining the Club or becoming a HAM, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Intermediate BridgeIntermediate Bridge is being played

at the health department, downstairs in Hiawassee on Mondays and Fridays, start-ing at 12:45 p.m. All players welcome. For more information please call (828) 389-8065.

Oil Painting ClassesClasses for beginners and inter-

mediate students, Wednesdays, 9AM - 1PM at Clay County Senior Center. Cost is $65; must furnish own brushes and canvas. Call the senior center for more information at (828) 389-9271

Helping Hands meetThe ladies group at Sweetwater

United Methodist Church meets from 10 a.m. to noon every first and third Tuesday. They make quilts for Clay and Cherokee counties’ sick and needy. Helpers are welcome.

Fellowship WeeklyFull Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship

International meets at 6 p.m. every Monday at Daniels in Hiawassee, Ga. Call (828) 389-0140.

Valley Kennel ClubMeetings are held at 7:00 p.m. the

first Monday of each month at" Brother’s Restaurant on Hwy 64 in Murphy, NC." "We invite all those interested in pure bred dogs and canine activities to attend. Call President Kit Miracle @ 706 492 5253 or Peggy Moorman @ 828 835 1082 for details.

Mountain HikersMountain High Hikers schedule two

hikes each Tuesday, occasionally specialty hikes, and regular trail maintaining trips- all in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina and Georgia.

Check the web site: MountainHighHikers.org for schedule and meeting locations or call 828-389-8240 for information.

Blue Ridge MOAA The Blue Ridge Mountains Chapter

of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) meets the third Monday of each month at various area restaurants. All active duty, reserve, retired and former military, and Public Health Service, and NOAA officers, and warrant officers are invited to attend.

For information please contact one of the following individuals, in North Carolina: John Bayne at 828-389-9427 and in Georgia: Jim Reynolds at 706-379-6601.Veteran Consultant

The veterans’ consultant, Mike Casey, will be at the Job Link Office on the second Tuesday and the fourth Wednesday of each month. Call (828) 837-7407 of the Social Service Office in Hayesville at 389-6301.Granny’s Attic

Granny’s Attic, Auxiliary of Good Shepherd Home Health Care and Hospice, is open Wed. - Sat., 9 am - 4 pm." We are now stocked for Fall." "To make donations or volunteer contact Linda at 828-389-4233.

REACH Thrift StoreThe REACH Thrift Store hours

are from 10 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. Monday - Saturday." We are located at 1252 Hwy 64 W. (Old KT Billiards bldg., " Donations accepted during business hours." Volunteers welcome." Call 828.389.1415 or 828.557.7416 for more information. Women in fellowship

Tri-County Women’s Connection meets the #rst Thursday of each month in the fellowship hall of Murphy First Baptist Church, welcoming retirees, homemak-ers, home-schoolers, young moms-------all women. Fascinating programs, delightful music, inspirational talks, good food, child care and wonderful fellowship make each gathering special. Call Linda at 837-2305

April 21, 2010

If you have a local event to include in

our calendar you can submit it to us direct-ly from our website

at wncSentinel.net

What’sgoing on?

New 'twist' in the law may help your mom

Mom has always been there to nur-ture and take care of you. Mother’s Day is the perfect time to give back and look out for her. If she’s having a hard time paying for her prescription drugs, tell her about the Medicare Pre-scription Drug Plan and the extra help available through Social Security.

If your mother, or any special wom-an in your life, is covered by Medicare and has limited income and resources, she may be eligible for extra help to pay her monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-pay-ments. !e extra help is worth an av-erage of $3,900 per year.

Perhaps you’ve looked into the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for Mom before, and discovered that she did not qualify due to her income or resources. In 2010, the law has changed. As Chubby Checker will tell you, a new “twist” in the law makes it easier than ever to qualify for the extra help.

It’s easy to figure out whether Mom is eligible for the extra help. To qualify, she must be receiving Medicare and:

Have income limited to $16,245 for an individual or $21, 855 for a married couple living together. Even if her an-nual income is higher, she still may be able to get some help with monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments. Some ex-amples in which income may be high-er include if she or her husband:

—Support other family members who live with them;

—Have earnings from work; or—Live in Alaska or Hawaii; andHave resources limited to $12,510

for an individual or $25,010 for a mar-ried couple living together. Resources include such things as bank accounts, stocks and bonds. We do not count her house or car as resources.

!anks to this a “twist” in the law, we no longer count any life insurance policy she has as a resource, and we no longer count as income any financial assistance she receives regularly from someone else to pay her household expenses like food, mortgage or rent, utilities or property taxes. Don’t take our word for it, see Chubby Checker’s rocking message at HYPERLINK "http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pre-scriptionhelp" www.socialsecurity.gov/prescriptionhelp.

While you’re there, you can fill out an easy-to-use online application for your mom at HYPERLINK "http://www.socialsecurity.gov/prescription-help" www.socialsecurity.gov/pre-scriptionhelp. To apply by phone or have an application mailed to you, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) and ask for the Application for Help with Medi-care Prescription Drug Plan Costs (SSA-1020). Or go to the nearest So-cial Security o"ce.

If you’d like to learn more about the Medicare prescription drug plans and special enrollment periods, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.medi-care.gov" www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048).

Maybe it’s been a few years since Mom has taken to the dance floor to do !e Twist. But saving an extra $3,900 a year on prescription drugs may cause her to jump up and dance. What better gift could you give her this Mother’s Day?

SOCIAL SECURITY

Place your ad in our classi!eds and reach thousands of West-ern Carolina readers. Cost is only $5 for the !rst 10 words for

one week in Cherokee, Clay and Graham Counties. Call (828) 389-8338CLASSIFIEDS

--------------------------------------------------------GAUSE RV CENTER, INC. -

--

--------------------------------------------------------2005 FORD FOCUS SES,

windows, leather seats, tinted windows. Great gas mileage. Well maintained car.

2008 Lexus GS350,

Help Wanted: Experienced Wait-ress

Help Wanted: Assistant Chef needed

Drivers: Teams. CDL-A 1 year experi

-

Drivers: CDL-A Teams & O/O’s Earn Top -

Now accepting applications -

Real Estate Attorney full-time of-fice position:

Ga 30514CNA’s needed for Cherokee and

CNA available -

Drivers/CDL Career Training-

--------------------------------------------------------Bush hogging, -

-

--------------------------------------------------------Tile installer

389-9394 --------------------------------------------------------

Walker Storage -

--------------------------------------------------------Massage Therapy- in the comfort

A&R Landscapecommercial lawn care. Plant, turf and

Horse back riding lessons for kids.

-ested? Call for more information or

Will baby sit your child

Abel Landscaping Bobcat Work,

-

5041Lawn care services, free estimates,

Buy Books from Bert in Brass-town. 10

ANGUS FREEZER SALE : All natu--

Black Angus Cattle Spring Sale:

-zon.net

Lot of mirrors for sale. Most are

frames, great for woodworkers and

Dry hay

RELOCATED & OPEN The PINK RIBBON

we have relocated, again and are in

Pro-Activ Solution

Sofa bed (queen) -

Hiawassee Antique Mall

-

--------------------------------------------------------Wanted: Boat 10 ft. to 24 ft. Boat to rent for the summer. Please call Walt

--------------------------------------------------------MODELS NEEDED: -

--------------------------------------------------------Have any old Mac/Apple products

-

--------------------------------------------------------Wanted: Old Pinball machines,

Looking for bumper-pull horse trail-

you have one for sale or you want to get

LOST 2 Stihl Chain Saws

$200 reward offered for their return. Call

Professional dog training, Board-ing & grooming. 1-4 week courses

Great Commercial Property for

--

mountians.comFor Sale REDUCED

139 Acres of land with with trout

-

Investment Property -

on 1.24 acres in city limits. City water

school. $195,000.00 Steve 201-315-9818

stop THE CAR HONEY! $319,000

-

-

furniture and furnishings at fraction

Lots within a gated community.

Must sell! lots, long range, year round mountain

3 Cabins, communities.Starting at $199,000, Call

--------------------------------------------------------3 BR 1 1/2 BA mobile home – not

--------------------------------------------------------3,000 square foot Commercial

Building -

--------------------------------------------------------2 Bedroom 1 Bath house for rent

--------------------------------------------------------House for Rent: 3 Bedroom, 1

Bath month 828-389-4204

Ridgeline Apartments

-

-

389-15451 BR, 1 1/2 BA

3 Bedroom, 2 Bath -

-

We have cabins and Homes for

Young Harris rentals

2BDRM/2BA mobile, --

Nothing else like it in Towns County. 2 unrestricted lots for sale or

4159.3br/2ba 2 car attached garage

-

5br/3ba Upscale home 2 car ga--

Newer Lake Nottely Waterfront -

-

The following positions are available

Hughes Pool & StoneCarries a f

Reminder: Deadline for classifieds is Monday at 3 p.m. All classifieds received after this time will

be printed the following Thursday.

Martin’s ConstructionBulldozing

389-6024361-4783

Tri- County Community College Vacancy:

The Cherokee County Board of Education will appoint a seat on

the Tri-County Community College Board of Trustees at the June

Board of Education meeting. Deadline to apply for this position

is May 1st. Interviews will be conducted at the May Board of

Education meeting and position announced at the June meeting.

Interested applicants please contact Margaret Phillips at Cherokee

application.

Twitter.com/SentinelScoop

EBCIJob Announcement

The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority has the following job avail-

able: FT ER Manager. Anyone interested should pick up an application

and position description from Arlenea Chapa or Teresa Carvalho at the

of 8:00am - 4:00pm Monday - Friday. This position will Close April 30,

2010. Indian preference does apply and a current job application must

be submitted. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of CIHA application.

ER Manager - Full Time

EBCIJob Announcement

Pharmacy Receptionist - Full Time

The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority has the following position avail-

able. Anyone interested should pick up an application and position

description from Arlenea Chapa of Teresa Carvalho at the Cherokee

April 23, 2010. Indian

preference does apply and a current job application must be submitted.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of CIHA application.

8AApril 21, 2010

Members of Kristin Gaither's Pre-K class at Peachtree Elementary School visited the main campus at Tri-County Community recently and stopped o! at the college's award-winning cosmetology department. Displaying their new looks are .... Lori Beth Stalcup, Ruby Boehm, Kyle Patillo, Hope Noble, Noah Prohl, Baylee Prescott, Janene Gibby, Emma Adams, Chandler Smith, Alexis Stilwell, Luke Newton, Reagan Schultze, Dalton Campbell, Tyler Plemmons, Faith Ward, Mrs. Adam and Mrs. Gaither

Tri-County Community College President Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers is sur-rounded by members of the Ranger School Pre-K class on their recent visit to the main campus in Murphy. While the class toured the campus, the young students were welcomed by the media center sta!, given a brief history of the campus and had their hair and nails attended to by cosmetology department students. "e tour concluded with lunch at TC's Grill.

Pictured - Floor sitting L to R: #Olivia A., Tate R., Emily P., Charli M., Karah C., Katie A., Nathan P.

Standing L to R: #Emily T., Dalton R., Caden T., Nataly T., Emily D., Danelle S., Marcos E., Aidan L., River P.

Tri-County Community College (TCCC) has hon-ored 18 of its employees with a presentation of service awards.

Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers, President of the College, led the ceremony and congratulated each recipient on behalf of the College and its Board of Trustees.

“I appreciate each of you for all that you do for Tri-County Community College,” said Dr. Tipton-Rogers. “Your dedication allows us to continue to grow as a team and helps make this a wonderful place to learn and to work.”

Lee Erker, Ph.D. of Mineral Blu!, GA was recognized for 30 years service with the college. He is chair of the Mathematics department.

Debbie Hogan and Linda Lovingood were honored for 25 years service. Hogan, of Marble, is an instructor in the TCCC nursing program and Lovingood, from Hayesville, is Vice President for Instructional Services.

Charlene Wood of Robbinsville and Steve Wood, Ph.D. of Blue Ridge, GA each celebrated 20 years of service to the state of North Carolina. Ms. Wood is As-sistant to the President for Graham County Operations and Dr. Wood is an English instructor and Dean of Fac-ulty.

Recognized for 15 years service were Cecilia Craw-ford and Ginger Hubbard, both of Murphy. Crawford is Director of the Small Business Center. Hubbard is As-sistant to the Executive Vice President for Operations.

Honored for 10 years of service were Julie Hanwell of Murphy, Lead Instructor for Guided Studies; Trevis Hicks of Murphy, Instructor for Information Systems Networking Technology; Linda Kressal from Murphy, Director of Learning Resources and Library Services; Pauline Ledford of Hiawassee, GA, Head of the Cosme-tology program; Dulcie Ri$e from Murphy, Instructor for Early Childhood Education; and Kathryn Temple of Murphy, Coordinator/Instructor of Guided Studies.

"e rest of the honorees had each completed five years of service to the state.

"ey included: Chris Batchelder of Hayesville, EMS Program Coordinator; Brian Lambert of Andrews, Maintenance/Custodian; Jason Outen of Andrews, Di-rector of Technology; Dotie Sta!ord-Ortega of Murphy, College and Community Relations Specialist; and Robin K. Stevenson, also of Murphy, ABE Coordinator.

Like every other state in the Union, North Carolina is faced with some hard choices. On Tuesday, Gover-nor Beverly Perdue released her proposed state budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 reflecting almost a $1 billion cut in the state's spending, which she says is focused on programs proven to be unproductive, wasteful or in need of greater e%ciencies.

"We're investing in technology to ferret our fraud, waste and abuse," she said during a telephonic press conference.

Perdue's budget makes critical investments in four key areas: jobs and the economy, education, setting government straight and safer communities.

"We want make sure we come out of this recession with North Carolina's government fixed and with the ability to pay for its future," she said. "Last year we

were identified mentioned as one of the states with the worst economic di%culty; however, with the hard work of the General Assembly, only eight months lat-er we were identified as the best place to do business. We also retained our triple A rating, one of only seven states to do so."

"With this budget, we want to shore up and stimu-late an economy for small businesses to stay here and to flourish," she said. ""is budget allocates $15 mil-lion as a #"Back to Work" incentive fund that provides a direct rebate to small businesses that hire long-term unemployed workers. It also allows for a $250 per person credit for small businesses that provide health insurance for their workers as well as money for em-ployee training.

"With regard to education, I am proud to say that everybody has accepted our Ready, Set, Go program designed to increase our high school graduation rate and provide students with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college, at the universities or in the work-

place. As for our teachers, this budget protects grades K through 3 from teacher loss; it provides for a salary increase to keep North Carolina schools competitive. North Carolina is now in 31st in teacher pay just one notch above South Carolina. Also, this budget fully funds growth for universities and community colleges. It provides a $131 million flexible line for use by local school boards at their discretion.

With regard to setting government straight, Perdue said she will be implementing a sophisticated system to detect fraud in Medicaid, which will save the state millions of dollars. It will also fund a legal team to prosecute these cases with the expectation of a four to one return on the dollars spent. Another innovation regarding Medicaid requires that patients use only one doctor and one pharmacy so they cannot do doctor shopping which will keep narcotics from being sold illegally.

"We have to do more with medical management in the Medicaid program ," she said. "Or else it will take

every new dollar we get for the program as well as re-quire us to take money from other programs."

She said her proposed budget restores a $40 million cut in mental health, will build local hospital capacity across the state and hopefully put mental health back on the road to recovery within 18 months.

With regard to health and safety issues, the bud-get re-appropriates money for AIDS, funding to bring 8,100 new children into the health care system and promotes healthier lifestyle practices. It also provides a better communication system with new technology within the criminal justice system, including increased DNA testing.

Governor Perdue said she hopes that the General Assembly will adopt most of the proposals of this bud-get and that it will prove to be less combative as all state government works together to look out for the future of the state by doing more with less.

Governor’s budget focuses on jobs, education, ethics reform and safety while cutting $1 billion in spending

TCCC honors employee longevity

Contributed PhotoPictured (L-R) are: !Jason Outen, "ve years; Julie Hanwell, 10 years; Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers, TCCC President; Charlene Wood, 20 years; Kathy Temple, 10 years; Pauline Ledford, 10 years; Dotie Ortega, "ve years; Debbie Hogan, 25 years; Steve Wood, 20 years; Ginger Hubbard, 15 years; Chris Batchelder, "ve years; Cecilia Crawford, 15 years; Linda Lovingood, 25 years; Robin Stevenson, "ve years; Trevis Hicks, 10 years; Linda Kressal, 10 years; and Brian Lambert, "ve years.

Contributed PhotoAlso honored with Service Awards but not present at the ceremony were Lee Erker, left, 30 years; and Dulcie Ri#e, 10 years.

Have a story tip?Call 828.389.8338

or e-mail [email protected]

THESENTINEL

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Smoky Mountain Center (SMC), a seven county consortium, which oversees the administration of men-tal health services along with those of persons with developmental and intel-lectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders, is seeking to regain control of foundation funds amounting to $25 million.

Currently those funds are being ad-ministered by the Evergreen Founda-tion, which is neither accountable to SMC nor responsive to the increased mental health needs of the people in western North Carolina, according to county commissioner Dana Jones, who is also a member of Smoky Mountain Center's board of directors.

On Monday, the Cherokee County board of commissioners passed a reso-lution supporting SMC's e!orts to restore public oversight of these funds that were originated for the sole pur-

pose of supporting people with mental illness, disabilities and substance abuse disorders in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.

Jones said the current structure of the Foundation board was not allow-ing oversight by SMC with the result being that in some years more money was being spent in salaries and expens-es by the Foundation sta! than was actually being allocated to the coun-ties for mental health services. He said with the recent cutbacks in the state's support of mental health services that it is essential that more of the Founda-tion's money get allocated to the coun-ties for mental health services.

""ere is a great need here for these services," he said. "Cherokee and other counties are being short-changed by not getting more of the Foundation's funds."

Jones told the board that the Smoky Mountain Center board had passed a similar resolution as had #other western

county board of commissioners.County manager David Badger, also

a member of SMC, said the Founda-tion had been set up in 2001 due to the uncertainty of statewide mental health reform and the fear that SMC might be abolished with the Foundation's assets potentially being lost for their intended purposes; however, that fear ultimately proved to be unfounded, and SMC continues to be the public agency managing services to people with mental illness, developmental and intellectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders in the seven western counties.

He explained that it is essential stewardship of the Foundation's public assets be under the oversight of a pub-lic entity to ensure that these assets are expressly used for their intended pur-pose to benefit SMC and the service needs of the counties that the Founda-tion was founded to serve.

It was further explained that SMC was making every e!ort, diplomatic

and if necessary legal, to return gov-ernance of the Foundation Board and its assets to SMC to fulfill the original intent of the Foundation. "is would be done by reinstitution a Foundation Board of Directors that is appointed by SMC, with the majority of the Foun-dation Board members also being members of the SMC Board of Direc-tors from the seven western counties, whose mandate is to provide public oversight of the Foundation.

In other matters, the county board of commissioners passed a resolution supporting the current arrangement of North Carolina's regulation of al-coholic beverage as opposed to priva-tizing it. It was felt that changing the system might take away local control as well as the loss of funds to both the county and the towns of Murphy and Andrews.

"e board also reappointed Don Ambler, a dentist, #to serve as another three-year term on the county's board of health.

After 155 days of diligent hard work, dynamite blasting, and excavating, Hwy. 64 is open once again.# Eager drivers waited as the stretch of road was opened at 11 am on Wednesday, April 14th.#

Most excited were the local busi-ness owners of Polk County, TN and Cherokee County, NC. # In the five months that the road was out of com-mission, it was estimated that local businesses were losing a combined

total of nearly 100,000 dollars per day. "at's a total estimate of 15,500,000 economy boosting dollars lost.# A stag-gering figure that was felt mostly by gas stations and convenience stores serving the commuters traveling to and from Chattanooga, TN. #

"e re-opening couldn't have come at a better time for whitewater rafting companies servicing the Ocoee River.# "e prime season for rafting is almost in full swing and with the road finally open the adventure companies will be able to conduct business as usual.#

"e November 10 and January 19 rock slides together cost a total of near-ly 2.8 million dollars to remove. Couple that with the countless man hours put in day and night by the Tennessee DOT cleanup crews, and you've got a road that can handle tra$c once again.# It was estimated that crews removed a total of 40,000 tons of debris between the two rock slide sites. #

In an e!ort to thwart another rock slide, the TDOT has made several modifications to the rock beds border-ing the Ocoee Gorge. # 450 rock bolts have been drilled into the rock - each

W e e k l y W e a t h e r F o r e c a s t

1900 US Hwy. 64W Murphy NC, 28906

CHEROKEE

You’ve got our money, SMC saysMENTAL HEALTH

Market conditions in Western NCare slowly getting better

CHEROKEE

VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 16

WWW.WNCSENTINEL.NET | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010 | 50 CENTS

Hwy. 64 reopens after rockslide

See a ‘wild’ movie...

Cherokee Co. joins with other NC counties to regain control of $25 million in mental health funds

This Thursday - page 5A

board meeting

The Brasstown Ringers will perform a spring concert

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE?

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday

70/42 70/46 79/53 72/56 78/50 75/47 70/47

Dear Governor Perdue:After the recent passage of the Patient Protection and

A!ordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, I received requests from several elected o$cials to have North Carolina join a law-suit filed against the United States of America by a number of state Attorneys General challenging this legislation.

Our attorneys, Including the Solicitor General and my General Counsel, have studied 'the law and the provisions of the legislation that have given rise to the legal action.

After careful consideration, I have concluded that North

Carolina will not join 'this lawsuit. I have attached a mem-orandum from Solicitor General Christopher Brown-ing which outlines 'the legal considerations upon which I base this decision. "e United States Supreme Court has held that duly ratified acts of Congress are presumed to be constitutional and It Is clear 'that Congress has extremely broad authority under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

Health insurance reform and access to health care are policy decisions that should be decided by elected repre-sentatives I not by appointed federal judges. "ere Is ample time for elected representatives to change this legislation since most of the provisions in question will not take e!ect

until the year 2013.In the unlikely event that this legal challenge does suc-

ceed I any decision will likely a!ect all of the states I Includ-ing North Carolina, regardless of whether our state joins.

I would also draw your attention to several provisions of the law that would directly address some of the frequent health insurance complaints my Consumer Protection Di-vision gets from everyday North Carolinians.

"e new law will prohibit health insurance companies from refusing to insure people based on preexisting health conditions, as they often do now. It would also prevent insurance companies from removing people from health care insurance policies after they su!er a serious illness or

accident. "ese are important protections for people who have su!ered from unfair health insurance provisions and It is feared that these protections may be repealed In the unlikely event "the lawsuit succeeds.

Problems with health insurance and health care have led the list of consumer complaints in our o$ce for the past five years. Instead of court fights and exaggerated rhetoric from both sides, it Is my hope that state and federal lead-ers will focus on the real health care challenges people face every day.

My o$ce will continue to carefully monitor this case and review the Issues that arise, and please feel free to contact me if you should have any questions.

• 26,000 Tons of debris removed from Nov. 10 rock slide• $2.1 million -! Cost of cleaning up Nov. 10 slide• 14,000 Tons of debris removed from Jan. 19 rock slide• $759,000 - Cost of cleaning up Jan. 19 slide• Total of $2.8 million spent. • Total of 40,000 tons of rock re-moved.!

BY THE NUMBERS

"I'm doing double the work for half the pay." "at's how Frank Schuler of Exit Realty in Murphy put it regarding the current real estate market conditions. "But, there are still houses being sold," he added.

In an economy driven primarily by Real Estate and Tourism, it's no wonder as to why Cherokee county commerce has been down. However, many of our local real es-tate agents, like Frank Schuler, are remaining optimistic and putting in the necessary work to make sure that houses are being sold.

So what is the current condi-tion of our market? Right now it is definitely a buyers market - real estate values are down as much as 40% from what they were in 2005. "e average home sale price from 2007 to 2010 hovers around $150,000, which is a far cry from the 249,000 dollar average from 2003 to 2006. Right now there are more reasons than ever to buy a home. Tax credits and mortgage breaks abound for first time home buyers, and there is even 6,500 dollars up for grabs if you already own a home. So, in seemingly perfect buying conditions, what is stopping our market from taking o! like a rocket?

It's more or less just an issue of momentum. "e trends leading up to our market boom around the turn of the millennium are start-ing to repeat themselves. Each year in the 90's the market saw an increase in some form, and by the time we reached the year 2000, the market was running in full force. Real estate agents were coming in droves, and work was good for everyone. New construction wasn't just a need, it was heavily demand-ed because people from all around were flocking to the mountains.

Sub developments were taking o!, pre-constructed houses were being sold at record levels because everyone wanted their little piece of the mountains.

As people started "discovering" their place in the mountains they told their friends about it, who in turn, told their friends about it and so the cycle began for people to start flocking to Western North Carolina.

"at same type of momentum is what is needed to get our real estate market back what it once was. So far the trends are pointing in the right direction, agents are seeing an increase in interest and sales from month to month. Ob-viously, there will be some decline in the winter months, however the averages are starting to climb. "e wheels of our real estate train are starting to turn again and people are starting to jump on board again. "e outlook was gloomy for some time and that hint of opti-mism is starting to shine through in our local real estate agents and construction companies.

According to the NC state de-mographic department, Cherokee County is projected to have a pop-ulation close to 35,000 by the year 2030. "at's a 37% increase over the year 2000 Census population of 24,298. With all of those people coming to Cherokee County, it's not a matter of IF the market will take o! again but When.

Exit Realty of Murphy was re-cently awarded the Pinnacle award for real estate in North Carolina. Meaning, out of countless agencies in the state, Exit Realty of Murphy sold the highest dollar amount per agent - a highly esteemed honor.

With news like this, there is no doubt that our markets are picking up, thus taking our economy from recession to expansion. It's only a matter of time before this gives birth to another boom.

one reaching in 15 to 40 feet in order to keep the rock held tightly together.# Holes have also been drilled in the rock to allow water to drain through instead of building up and putting pressure on the rock masses.# A rock

fall fence was also placed at the mouth of the January 19 rock slide site near Greasy Creek.# "e fence will prevent any further rock debris from spill-ing into the road, should this happen again.

Tom Tohill, Contributed PhotoTennessee DOT workers making progress on the Ocoee Gorge.! Since the reopening the rock slide site has had a thorough cleaning, new black top, and a fresh coat of paint.!

EDITORIALTRAVEL

!e state ofreal estate

Attorney General Roy Cooper writes to Governor Perdue

2AApril 21, 2010

BRIEFS

Presenting Donors May Enter A Drawing To Win A Cruise For Two

ADVERTISE

Sentinel Newsgroup(828) 389-8338

GET BREAKING NEWS UPDATES ON YOUR PHONE:

Donors ‘cruise into summer’ by donating with the Red Cross

Project turns mountainside into Grand Central Station

BLOODY

A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Rachel Cole! !!!!!! !!

Emily Howard!!!!!! !!!Jordyn Reynolds!! !!!

Michaela Murphy!!!!!Lane Elliott!!!!!!!!!!!!

Samuel Robinson

Cherokee and Clay Counties "e summer season is always the most relaxing and fun – sun, sand and plenty of smiles. What many don’t realize is that during the busy summer season, blood donations often decline due to vacation and summer activities, while the need for blood remains constant. "e American Red Cross is asking do-nors to “Cruise Into Summer” by donating blood or platelets.

"e campaign, which runs from April 1 to June 30, 2010, gives each person who presents to do-nate blood or platelets with the Red Cross an opportunity to enter a drawing for the chance to win a cruise for two. By donating early

in the season, blood donors can donate two or more times during the summer months, helping en-sure blood is available for patients throughout this critical time.

• Monday, May 10 Murphy Community Blood

Drive at First United Method-ist Church (71 Valley River Av-enue, Murphy) 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm



• Tuesday, May 11Murphy High School Blood

Drive (234 High School Cir-

cle, Murphy) 8:30 am to 1:00 pm


• Friday, May 21 Andrews High School Blood Drive (50 High School Drive, Andrews)

9:30 am to 2:30 pm Please call Mrs. Haydon at 321-

5415 ext. 2117 for more informa-tion or to schedule an appointment.


Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. "e Carolinas Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross pro-vides lifesaving blood to 103 hos-

pitals and must have 1,600 people give blood and platelets each week-day to meet patient needs.

Blood can be safely donated ev-ery 56 days. Most healthy people age 17 and older, or 16 with pa-rental consent, who weigh at least 110 pounds, are eligible to donate blood and platelets. Donors who are 18 and younger must also meet height and weight requirements.

For more information or to schedule an appointment to do-nate at a nearby donor center, call 1-800-RED CROSS (733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org.

"e Southern Appalachian Family Farmers (SAFF) would like to invite all farmers, landowners, and anyone interested in wanting to farm to attend their next meeting. SAFF is now getting organized and is seeking funding to hire a marketing coordinator to help them find high-end markets. Back in October last year, Tim Will from Foothills Connect came and spoke to the group about selling produce on the Internet like the farmers are doing in Rutherford County. Tim is coming back to talk to SAFF about getting area farmers set up for marketing via the internet, to restaurants in neighboring cities. "e meeting will be on April 22nd, 7:00pm at the Tri-County Community College Center for Applied Technology in Marble.

Many people in Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties are unem-ployed, but may have some land that could be used to grow specialty crops to help supplement income. Tim has farmers that grow in their backyard and market through Foothills Connect. Some of these spe-cialty crops are grown in special beds that don’t require any soil. If you are interested in attending this important meeting or joining SAFF, please call the

Extension o#ce at 828-837-2210 to register.

1st gradeJason Brunner – A Honor Roll2nd gradeIsley Johnson – A Honor RollAshley Stiles – A Honor Roll3rd gradeAnna Weaver – B Honor Roll4th gradeSara Brunner – A Honor Roll5th gradeGeorge Brunner – A,B Honor Roll6th gradeCanyon Lee – A,B Honor RollJoseph Stephens – A,B Honor Roll

Kayla Stiles – A,B Honor Roll7th gradeElizabeth Schutte – A,B Honor Roll8th gradeScot Brunner – A Honor RollBrittany Goolsby – A, B Honor Roll10th gradeJonathan Stephens – A,B Honor Roll12th gradeAstrid Weaver – A,B Honor RollRachel Aldrich – B Honor Roll

BLevi Murphy

Eve SteeleJordan HughesCorrine Steele

A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anna PadgettSydney Elliott

BAnna Steele!!

With the rockslide project entering the homestretch, the rural mountain is beginning to look like Grand Central Station as crews engage in a flurry of activities:

Two teams of workers were on the ground:• One crew finished chewing up the old as-

phalt (a process called milling) on the road in front of the rockslide and the nearby site of the Jan. 23 rockslide. Paving should begin later this week.

• Another group assembled rock bolts they plan to install with a helicopter tomorrow, weather permitting. "ey have installed 389 rock bolts, so far.

!Four di$erent crews worked on the moun-tain:

• One group drilled on the vertical edge of the lower slope. "ey have drilled 540 of the 590 holes needed to stabilize the mountain.

• Another team prepared holes to receive those bolts. "ey measured each hole to make sure it was the correct depth and cleaned it out with compressed air.

• Yet another group tested the “tensioned” rock bolts. "ey have tested about 121 of the 140 “tensioned” bolts placed in the mountain. "e other rock bolts use a “passive” system in which the mountain itself creates the downward pull that stabilizes it.

• Finally, one crew continued to remove loose

boulders, rocks and debris from Site #4, which is next to the rockslide.

“It’s plenty busy and we’re feeling good,” said North Carolina Department of Transportation project inspector Mike Patton. “As long as the weather holds, we’ll be in good shape.”

"e National Weather Service forecast for the area calls for a mix of sun and clouds through April 20.

A video detailing the challenges of drilling on the vertical edge has been posted on NCDOT’s YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/NCDOTcommunications. Click on, “Drilling the Mountain Face.”

"is section of Interstate 40 near the Tennes-see border has been closed in both directions since the rockslide occurred Oct. 25.

NCDOT estimates that it will reopen I-40 by late April when work at the October rock-slide site should be completed. About one mile of the westbound lane closest to the mountain will be closed until this summer to allow crews to complete the work – including the installa-tion of rock bolts and anchor mesh – at five ad-ditional sites.

Travelers still can reach Western North Caro-lina via I-40 from the east and I-26 to the north and south. Exits 20 and 27 on I-40 provide ac-cess to popular destinations west of Asheville. In Tennessee, exits 432 through 451 provide access

to popular destinations in southeastern Tennes-see.

"e detour route is 53 miles longer and is an additional 45 minutes to an hour driving time. Motorists traveling on I-40 West should take Exit 53B (I-240 West) in Asheville and follow I-240 West to Exit 4A (I-26 West). Follow I-26 West (a North Carolina Scenic Highway) to I-81 South in Tennessee. Take I-81 South and follow it back to I-40 at mile marker 421. East-bound motorists should use the reverse direc-tions.

NCDOT reminds motorists to stay alert, fol-low instructions on the message boards on the highways, obey the posted speed limit, leave early and travel at non-peak times when pos-sible. Plan ahead before driving by visiting the NCDOT Traveler Information Management System Web site at www.ncdot.gov/tra#ctrav-el/ or calling 511, the state’s free travel informa-tion line, for current travel conditions.

NCDOT also provides alerts about tra#c congestion and construction work on Twitter. To access them, go to www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter/. For daily rockslide updates, please visit the NCDOT Web site at www.ncdot.gov and click on the I-40 rockslide daily news and in-formation section or follow work on the rock-slide project on Twitter at http://twitter.com/i40_rockslide.

ROCKSLIDE

Josh Standish, 14, of Murphy Middle School, raced this past week-end at the Dixieland National race in Powder Spring, GA. Josh raced and received 4 NATIONAL FIRST PLACE WINS. Josh started rac-ing last year at the Ocoee BMX track in Ducktown, TN and rapidly progressed to racing both local and National level races. He is currently displaying a #2 plate for his placement in the Redline Cup East Coast Championship race back in the fall. "is means he placed 2nd for the East Coast Redline Championship for his age and skill level.

"rough the American Bicycle Association (www.ABABMX.com) Josh placed third in 2009 for his District.

He will race again this Friday, April 23, 2010 at the Bradley County BMX track in Cleveland, TN.(BradleyBMX.com) His next National race will be May 14-16, in Dothan, Alabama.

“Big Frank” Schuler with Exit Realty Moun-tain View Properties in Murphy NC was the TOP SELLING AGENT for March 2010.

Exit of the Carolinas has just announced regional ranking top ten agents in transaction sides closed from January 1 though March 30, !2010 and Big frank Schuler at Exit Realty Mountain View Properties is the number 1 in North Carolina.

Big Frank also is celebrating his 5th year anniversary with Exit Realty Mountain View Properties located on Hwy 64 West in Murphy NC.

3AApril 21, 2010

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CHEROKEE

EDITOR’S

In last week’s column, I urged both Democrats and Republicans to tone down the rhetoric, stick to the facts, and have civil debates about the serious challenges we face as a nation. I also mentioned that people should stop the spread of false and malicious emails. Well, it so happened I was on the receiving end of two such emails this week. I seem to get a lot of those in my inbox, and since most, though by no means all of my friends and family are quite conservative, the vast majority of what I receive is aimed at Obama and the Democrats in Congress.

!e first email suggested that Barack Obama never actually attended Columbia University where he claims to have graduated in 1983 before attending Harvard Law School. It said that NO ONE has ever come forward who actually remembers being there with him. Mysteriously, Obama has refused to release his transcript from the school or any of the papers he wrote while in attendance. !is dearth of information has led to wild speculation on the part of ultraconservatives. Did he lie about his education? It took me less than three minutes to type “Obama Columbia University” into Google, and right away, I was directed to a web site that debunks urban legends and other falsehoods. It turns out it is true that Obama has never released any papers from his time at Columbia, making it appear that he has something to hide. However, it is NOT true that no one remembers him from his time at the school. Columbia claims him as one of their graduates. A former professor remembers that he easily aced the class he taught in foreign a"airs. A school publication contained an article written by Obama. A former roommate has also come forward with information about their time there. And finally, there is no way Obama would have been admitted to Harvard Law School without having gradu-ated from somewhere!

!e second email claimed that Obama had cancelled the 2009 National Day of Prayer, held each year by Christians throughout the country, and then sanctioned a National Day of Prayer for Muslims on Capitol Hill. !is time I went to www.snopes.com and checked it out. !e National Day of Prayer was not cancelled. Obama did decide not to have the public White House ceremony which was held annually during the eight years of the Bush administration. Instead, he signed a proclamation announc-ing the day of prayer and urged Americans everywhere to pray for their country and leaders. !ere was never a publicly-sanctioned National Day of Prayer for Muslims. !ere was a privately organized event for Muslims to pray for America that took place in the nation’s capital in September of 2009. A little something called freedom of speech allows them to do that, just as it allows Christians to gather around the flagpoles in communities all over America on the National Day of Prayer. We Christians had better not try to take that right away from others, because if we do, it will soon be taken away from us.

Frankly, what we know about Obama is enough to worry me – I don’t need people going around making stu" up! I don’t buy all these conspiracy theories and outlandish accusations. !ere are well-respected conservative journalists like George Will and William Kristol who would be all over these stories if there were anything to them. Occasionally, bloggers do uncover stories that turn out to be true and eventually get picked up by the mainstream media (like the ACORN scandal). Until that happens, it seems to me we should ignore rumors and speculation.

Such falsehoods are spread by members of both political parties. An-other email that made the rounds a few years ago claimed that President George W. Bush had the lowest IQ of any president from the past fifty years. !is information supposedly came from a study by an organization that does not even exist. It listed the twelve presidents that have served in the past 50 years in their order of IQ. Interestingly, all those with top IQ’s were Democrats, with Bill Clinton having the highest one of all!

I used to just delete these emails, but I am now engaged in a campaign to stamp out ignorance. As soon as I get one, I check it out on sites such as Snopes or www.factcheck.org. !en I send the link to the person who forwarded me the email and suggest that they check out future emails for themselves.

!e Internet provides a wealth of valuable information. Unfortunately, it is also the source of rumors and outright lies. We all need to make it our personal responsibility to verify information before we pass it on to others.

Leah Ward Sears is believed to be on President Obama’s short list for the US Supreme Court due to the recently announced retirement plans of Justice Stevens. I was invited by my daughter to a reception for Sears, then Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Ward Sears is the first female chief justice in the United States and the first African American in Georgia to be elected to state wide o#ce.

My daughter works for Cornell University and was arranging a meeting of Alumni in the Atlanta area with the Chief Justice, a Cornell graduate. My daughter’s invitation was contingent on my promising to NOT ask any questions until the cameras were o".

Ward Sears gave a passionate discussion including the breakdown of the black family and the need for more government funding to teach black fa-thers to be more responsible. During her presentation, she blamed Ronald Reagan for the breakdown of the black family.

I asked her why she blamed Ronald Reagan. She said that he was gov-ernor of California when no-fault divorce was passed by the CA state leg-islature.

I replied, “!e breakdown of the family is not just a black problem. You mentioned in your speech that by 1972, 70 percent of all black children were being born out of wedlock. Well today more than 25% of all white children are also born out of wedlock.”

“In 1965, the year that the Great Society legislation was passed, less than 10% of black children were born out of wedlock and 80% of all black chil-dren lived in a home with two parents. But that legislation destroyed that because the government gave a 14-year-old girl who got pregnant and had a child out of wedlock, a free separate dwelling away from her parents, free food, medical and dental services plus money for expenditures. It gave an incentive to be irresponsible.”

“Until people recognize what caused the problem, it will never be fixed.”She actually fell back and put her hands up as if to protect herself and kept repeating, “I could not disagree with you more!” But it appeared to me that she had never heard that argument and was processing it.

One of the biggest problems I find with Liberals is that they have been so indoctrinated and self-isolated that they are not even aware that philosophi-cal opponents might have a fact based logical point of view. !ey really have no idea what conservatives actually think.

Typical of many Liberals, the topic was immediately changed and I was interrogated. Being the only white person left in the group, I was asked “What do you think the about the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton?”

I replied without hesitation, “!ey are pimp extortionists and if I were black I would be ashamed to think that anyone would consider that they represent me!” !ere was a long uncomfortable silence until a black woman blurted out, “!ank you, thank you, finally a white man who is not afraid to speak the truth.”

You would be surprised what will happen when you refuse to keep quiet about politically incorrect o" limit topics. Someone might learn something.

Do you remember the movie called !e Producers? !e down-and-out director was fleecing little old women by selling them shares in his next play. Of course, he grossly oversold the number of shares and had to look for a play that was sure to fail. !at way, he got to pocket the money and “comfort” the little women over their poor luck. !ey never knew the game was rigged – until the play turned out to be wildly suc-cessful.

I was reminded of this play upon finding that Goldman Sachs, the most trusted and admired Wall Street investment firm, was charged with rigging the investment game against its own clients. !e firm has been charged with bundling very poor investment grade debt and sell-ing it to their clients, all the while collaborating with a hedge fund man-ager, with whom they jointly selected the poor investments to bundle, and knowing this manager was betting the debt would go into default. !e hedge fund manager made over one billion dollars in 2008 while Goldman Sachs clients took a severe beating in the financial markets.

According to the Wall Street Journal, these charges may prove to be the tip of the iceberg for many of the top investment firms on Wall Street. Most people are probably not surprised by this reckless and un-ethical behavior as we have come to expect our financial system to be overloaded with greed. Since the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, institutions that previously were prohibited from engaging in both commercial and investment banking were allowed to merge and expand into any type of financial transaction. !e floodgates of hell were opened and it only took ten years before they brought this country to its knees.

!e Democrats are trying to address the financial abuses of Wall Street and to prevent another financial collapse. After the banking collapse of 1929, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1932 and 1933 (two di"erent acts addressing the banking system and named af-ter the sponsors, Carter Glass, D-VA, and Henry Steagall, D-AL) and the e"ect was to regulate banking. !e provisions of both acts were successful until its shortsighted repeal in 1999. For what appear to be specious reasons, Republicans are opposed to the Democratic plans to re-regulate the financial industry.

!e main reason Republicans say they oppose the proposed regula-tions is that they will lead to more taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street. !ey are referring to a provision that requires financial firms to pay into a $50 billion fund that would be used to wind down any too-big-to-fail firm that was collapsing, thus preventing a taxpayer bailout. !e industry is being charged to bail itself out so that taxpayers no longer are forced to repeat the bailouts of 2008, a most distasteful matter. !is “bailout fund” is little di"erent from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that was created in 1932. Banks pay into the FDIC and that money is used to handle failing banks, of which Georgia has had an abundance since 2008. !e FDIC is no more a taxpayer bailout for the banks than is the proposed bailout fund for large financial institutions.

In my opinion, too many Democrats and Republicans in Congress are beholding to Wall Street. It will be a miracle is substantial re-regula-tion is passed but at least the Democratic plan, though weak, is stronger than the Republican plan. Republicans have decided, even on impor-tant matters like this, to continue to be the Party of No, or as Sarah Palin says, hell no. !ey are making a big mistake taking the side of Wall Street – and make no mistake about it, that is exactly what they are doing. Main Street plays second fiddle in the Republican Party.

For the life of me, I cannot understand the Republican worship of free markets. !ey speak of the wisdom of the markets and how free markets will regulate themselves, as if free markets have a mind of their own. However, men run the markets, rig the markets, defraud the mar-kets, and pursue greed without regard to ethics or morality. We must have the markets, but we need transparency, honesty, and ethical be-havior. It is a sad commentary on man that regulations are necessary to curb unbridled greed. I would hope Congress would re-pass the Glass-Steagall Acts of 1932 and 1933 and be done with it. !ese acts worked well for over 60 years; bring them back. Let us separate commercial from investment banking for the last time.

What is the International Code Council? !e orga-nization that publishes the codes that our states have ad-opted. Your building inspector enforces these codes when inspecting your construction.

Does this mean we will all have to build by this new code? Not unless the state government or local county adopts this code as law. !e International Code Coun-cil writes many di"erent codes, and our governments choose which ones they want to make law. !ey also might revise them to suit their own jurisdiction. Perhaps the government could make this an option instead of a requirement.

Why is this news important to us? First because it can substantially change green building here in the moun-tains and throughout the rest of our country. At this time, if you want to build and you want your building certified green, you must choose between several green building programs like Tennessee Valley Authority's Energy-right Program, Western North Carolina's HealthyBuilt Home Program, Southface Institute's Earthcraft House Program, or LEED. Each program has its advantages and disadvantages. Usually you must find a builder that is approved to build under this program. You also need someone to inspect and certify that your building meets the program's requirements during various stages of con-struction.

If the new green building code is adopted where you

live, it would be enforced by your building inspectors. !is would make green building certification much more accessible to all. But this would come at a cost. !e inspectors would need extensive training. !e local build-ing departments would need access to expensive testing equipment to test the home and the ductwork for air leaks.

!ere is another reason this is important to us. Right now the International Code Council has published a draft of this code on their web site for public review and comment. If you are concerned with this issue, you can download your own copy, study it, and email back the changes you would like to see.

People in the construction industry like to complain about building codes. But if they have a valid complaint they can do something about it. !ey can submit their idea to the International Code Council. If the council's engineers see that the complaint has merit, if a change would not raise building costs too much, if it would im-prove construction, they just might change the code.

For your copy of this new code: www.iccsafe.org Click on “Codes, Standards, and Guidelines” then “Interna-tional Green Construction Code.” Download your own copy.

!is column also invites your input. Email me your questions and ideas.

Richard C. MacCrea is the director of !e Greening of Andrews Valley, a program of Andrews Valley Initiative. He works in the field of energy e"cient, green building design. [email protected]

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April 21, 2010


Christopher Browning reviews the health act

828.389.2800

Legal NoticesCREDITOR’S NOTICE

10 E 69Having quali!ed as the executor of

the estate of Earl T. Sears deceased, late of Cherokee County, North Carolina. This is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 594 Brasstown View Road on or before the 14th day July of , 2010 this notice will be pleaded in bar of there recovery.



Executor of the Estate of Earl T Sears, Deceased.


Having quali!ed as the executrix of the estate of Robert Berman Sr. deceased, late of Cherokee County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Es-tate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 901 Midway Creek Road, Murphy, NC 28906 on or before the 7th day July of , 2010 this notice will be pleaded in bar of there recovery.


This the 5th day of April 2010. Glenda C. Berman

Jennifer Lynn CoburnCo -Executrix of the Estate of

Robert Berman, Deceased.


Having quali!ed as the executor of the estate of Jerry L Sears deceased, late of Cherokee County, North Caro-lina. This is to notify all persons hav-ing claims against the Estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at 594 Brasstown View Road on or before the 14th day July of , 2010 this notice will be pleaded in bar of there recovery.



Executor of the Estate of Jerry L Sears, Deceased.

NOTICE TO THE CREDITORS OF

ARTHUR L. KUMMERLENHaving quali!ed as the Ancillary

Administrator CTA of the Estate of ARTHUR L. KUMMERLEN deceased, late of Palm Beach County, State of Florida, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of said deceased to exhibit them to the undersigned at the following address: P.O. Box 596, Murphy, NC 28906, on or before the 14th day of July, 2010, or this Notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.

All persons indebted to said de-cedent will please make immediate payment.

This 14th day of April, 2010. W. Arthur Hays, Jr.,

Ancillary Administrator CTA of the Estate of Arthur L. Kummerlen

Cherokee County School Board Job opening for Attorney


Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act, H.R. 3590

You have asked me to review the Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act, H.R. 3590, and advise you as to whether North Carolina should join as a plainti! in the action recently filed by Florida and 12 other States in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Florida v. United States Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., Case No. 3:10-cv-91 (N.D. Fla., filed Mar. 23, 2010). In that action, the plainti! States chal-lenge the constitutionality of selected provisions of that Act. It is my strong recommendation that North Carolina not join as a plainti! in that action.

Two-hundred twenty members of the House of Representative and 56 Senators voted in favor of health care reform. Additionally, the Act was signed into law by the President. Each of these elected representatives has taken an oath of o"ce to abide by the Constitution of the United States. See U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 8; art. VI, cl. 3. #e determination by the United States Senate, the House of Representatives and the President that this Act is constitutional must not be ignored. In fact, the United States Supreme Court has made clear that a duly ratified Act of Congress is pre-sumed to be constitutional. See United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598, 607 (2000) (“Due respect for the decisions of a coordinate branch of Government demands that we invalidate a

congressional enactment only upon a plain showing that Congress has exceeded its constitutional bounds.”); Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 757 (1974) (noting “strong presumptive validity” that attaches to acts of Con-gress).

One of the principal claims set out in Florida’s complaint is an allega-tion that the Act commandeers the plainti! States and their employees “as agents of the federal government’s regulatory scheme at the states’ own cost.” Fla. Complaint ¶ 58. #e plain-ti! States proceed to argue that this “commandeering” of State resources violates the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. Id.; see U.S. Const. amend. X (“#e powers not delegated to the United States by the constitu-tion, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states, respectively, or to the people.”). Medicaid, however, is a voluntary program. States are free to choose not to participate in this pro-gram. Florida and the other plainti! States may drop out of the Medicaid program and not incur the additional costs of which they complain. If Flor-ida, however, chooses to participate in,

and accept the benefits of, the Medic-aid program, it cannot complain that its resources have been commandeered in violation of the Tenth Amendment. Congress “may attach conditions on the receipt of federal funds, and has repeatedly employed the power to fur-ther broad policy objectives by condi-tioning receipt of federal moneys upon compliance by the recipient with fed-eral statutory and administrative direc-tives.” South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 206 (1987) (internal quotations omitted). Consequently, the United States Supreme Court has previously upheld Congress’ authority to limit receipt of federal highway funds to States enacting a drinking age of 21 and to require compliance with the Social Security Act in order for States to receive grants for unemployment compensation. Id.; Steward Mach. Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548 (1937). Accord-ingly,

Florida’s argument that the Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act will require Florida to spend more money if it continues to participate in the Medicaid program appears to be without merit.

In addition to a claim based on the Tenth Amendment, the complaint asserts that Congress lacks author-ity to enact one specific aspect of the legislation – the personal responsibility provision. Under this provision, indi-viduals are required to either maintain health insurance or pay a tax as a result of the failure to do so. #e Act sets out detailed factual findings as to the ef-fect that health care expenditures have upon our Nation’s economy. Congress enacted this legislation based upon its authority under the Commerce Clause and the Taxing and Spending Clause of the United States Constitution. Congress has extremely broad author-ity under the Commerce Clause. See McLain v. Real Estate Bd., 444 U.S. 232, 241 (1980) (“#e broad author-ity of Congress under the Commerce Clause has, of course, long been in-terpreted to extend beyond activities actually in interstate commerce to reach other activities that, while wholly local in nature, nevertheless substan-tially a!ect interstate commerce.”); Fry v. United States, 421 U.S. 542, 547 (1975) (“Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause is very broad”); United States v. Zeigler, 19 F.3d 486, 489 n.1 (10th Cir. 1994) (“It is gen-erally recognized that Congress has extremely broad jurisdiction under the Commerce Clause.”). #e same is true of the Taxing Clause. Wil-liams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23, 29 (1968) (“Congress is granted broad power to ‘lay and collect Taxes’”); see also Erwin

Chemerinsky, Protecting the Spending Power, 4 Chap. L. Rev. 89, 91 (2001) (“Congress has broad power to tax and spend for the general welfare so long as it does not violate other constitutional provisions”). Moreover, the Court has expressly recognized that Congress has the authority to regulate insurance under the Commerce Clause. United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Ass’n, 322 U.S. 533 (1944).

Although Congress’ authority under the Commerce Clause is extremely broad, the Court has made clear that this authority is not without bounds. In recent years, for example, the Court has struck down legislation that at-tempted to criminalize violence against women, as well as legislation that made it unlawful to possess a handgun on school property. United States v. Mor-rison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000); United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995). Both Lopez and Morrison involved federal regulation of noneconomic criminal conduct. As the Court noted in Morrison, “we can think of no better example of the police power, which the Founders denied the National Gov-ernment and reposed in the States.” 529 U.S. at 618. #e regulation of the economic e!ect of health care is mark-edly di!erent from the two criminal statutes before the Court in Lopez and Morrison. Moreover, subsequent to Morrison and Lopez, the Court held that the cultivation of marijuana for one’s personal use could be restricted by Congress pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005). #e collective impact upon our national economy resulting from persons who do not maintain health insurance (but who nevertheless turn to public hospitals when faced with health care emergencies) far exceeds the impacts upon commerce at issue in Morrison and Lopez. Nevertheless, I recognize that the specific factual sce-nario raised by the Patient Protection and A!ordable Care Act has not pre-viously been addressed by the Court. Accordingly, the arguments made by opponents of this legislation should not be characterized as frivolous. See, e.g., Randy Barnett, Nathaniel Stewart & Todd Gaziano, Why the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance is Unprecedented and Unconstitutional (Dec. 2009) (available at www.heri-tage.org/Research/Reports/2009/12/Why-the-Personal-Mandate-to-Buy- Health-Insurance-Is-Unprec-edented-and-Unconstitutional); see also Jennifer Staman & Cynthia Brougher, Requiring Individuals to Obtain Health Insurance: A Consti-tutional Analysis,

Congressional Research Service 18

(2009) (“While it seems possible that Congress could enact an individual coverage requirement that would pass constitutional muster, there are various constitutional considerations relevant to the enactment of such a proposal.”). #us, although I would not character-ize the present action as frivolous, it appears to have little chance of success.

In addition to the significant legal hurdles that Florida faces in this ac-tion, several practical and prudential considerations weigh heavily against North Carolina joining the present ac-tion. Being one among 13 other States and the last State to join that lawsuit, North Carolina would have little to no voice as to strategy decisions that are made in the course of that action. Nev-ertheless, North Carolina would be ex-pected to pay its proportionate share of the lawsuit – an amount that will likely be substantial. Additionally, if we were to participate in this lawsuit, it would be necessary to devote one or more attorneys in our o"ce to monitor the motions, briefing and discovery in that action. Our o"ce’s consistent practice is to closely monitor and to coordi-nate with outside counsel whenever a private law firm is representing the State of North Carolina. #us, joining this lawsuit would require us to devote substantial resources to this action. North Carolina, however, could avoid these substantial expenditures by sim-ply awaiting the verdict of the district court. Any decision in this case will ultimately be appealed to the United States Supreme Court and thereby be-come binding on all 50 States. #us, it would seem to be in the interest of tax-payers for the State of North Carolina not to incur these litigation expenses unnecessarily. Additionally, it should be noted that the provisions of the Act being attacked do not become e!ec-tive until the year 2013. Given the fact that this provision could be repealed or amended within the next three years, it would appear to be a waste of taxpayer funds to mount litigation challenging this provision at the present time. Fi-nally, it should be noted that the pri-vate law firm that is representing the plainti! States in this action is adverse to North Carolina in another pending matter.

For the reasons set forth above, I do not believe that it would be a wise use of state resources to join the litigation pending in Florida. Whether health care reform should be implemented is a policy determination that best lies in the hands of Congress. #at decision, whether wise or unwise, should not be derailed by litigation initiated by the States.

Richard Earl Curtiss , 79, of Murphy, NC died Monday March 29, 2010 at Murphy Medical Cen-ter.

!!!! He was born July 12, 1930, in New Marlboro Massachusetts, to Earl George and Ada!Curtiss.

!!!! He moved to Murphy in 1999 to be closer to family because of his and his wife’s illnesses. He had lived with his daughter and son in law for the last seven years in Mur-phy before his death.

!!!!!Richard was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in De-cember 1960, at the age of 30. He was a mechanic by trade.!Richard loved being a mechanic of which he held many certificates of train-ing and accomplishments. But, his main vocation was a Minister of!God’s word the Holy Bible. He was known for sharing words of

encouragement from God’s word with everyone he met.! Richard found much comfort in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and his heavenly father Jehovah. His true happiness in life came from! shar-ing this comfort with others.

!!! Richard was preceded in death by wife, Evelyn who died May 21,

2008. Surviving!him in death is a brother,! Harold George! Curtiss (Hap) of Yulee FL; four children, Diana Lynn Campochiaro and husband,! William of! Bristol, CT, David Paul Curtiss! of Beverly Hills, FL, Lisa Marie Whitener and husband, Archie of Murphy, NC, Je"ery Scott Curtiss and wife, Jane of!Steubenville, OH; 10 grandchildren and 12 great grand-children.

! ! ! ! A Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 PM, Saturday, April 3, 2010 at the Kingdom Hall of Jeho-vah Witness. Peter Longdyke will o#ciate.!

!!!! You may send tributes to the Curtiss family at www.mem.com or view other obits at www.town-son-rose.com

!!!! Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements.

5AApril 21, 2010

AD

LIBRARY

Marie Ware

Bessie Mae Williams

Sherry Jean Bowers

Ramona “Pony” Hawkins Shields

A little boy acts up and is sent to his room.! What should he do in this situation?! Have an ad-venture, of course.! $e Murphy Library is showing “Where the Wild $ings Are” on $ursday at 3:15 p.m. Maurice Sendak wrote the children’s book and director Spike Jonze made the movie.! It is rated PG and runs 101 min-utes. $ere is no 6 p.m. screening.

Sendak gave Jonze the highest commendation after seeing the movie when he said that Jonze “turned it into his without giving up mine.”! $e large “wild things” resemble Sendak’s drawings, but even more so, the feelings of a little boy are caught in the cam-era’s eye.

Want to extend the fun?! $e library has Sendak’s book to bor-row and read.

Call the library at 837-2417, or go to www.friendsofmurphy-library.wordpress.com to see the film's trailer.

CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOLSVACANCY FOR PRINCIPAL

Marie Ware, age 81,of Mari-etta, GA and formerly of Murphy, NC!passed away Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at Kennestone Hosptial in Marietta, GA.

She was a native of Buncombe County, NC but had lived most of her life in Cherokee County be-fore moving to Cobb County four years ago. Marie was the daughter of the late Harrison Luther Truett and Nellie Marie Lunsford Tru-ett Ingram. She was a retired hair dresser, loved crocheting and took special care of her mother, Nellie Marie for many years.

In addition to her parents! she was preceded in death by her hus-band, Frank Ware;!son, Rex Lane Ware and! daughter, Leona Sapp and! two brothers, Rev. Jim Truett and $omas (Bud) Truett.

She is survived by three daugh-ters, Mary McGlow of Cartersville, GA, Carolyn Rhodes of Marietta,

GA and Helen Greenwood of Marietta, GA; one brother, Roy Dale Ingram of Chattanooga, TN; 16 grandchildren; 25 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.

Funeral Services were held at 3:00 PM, Saturday, April 17, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Funeral Home Chapel in Murphy, NC. $e Rev. Billy Rhodes o#ciated. Burial was in the Friendship Bap-tist Church Cemetery in Murphy, NC. Pallbearers were David Sapp, Jr., Mark Rhodes, Frank Rhodes, Adam Rhodes, Richard Langley, Brian Langley, Stephen Ramsey and Daniel Ramsey. Honorary Pallbearers were Hunter Brooks, Andrew Langley and Charlie Langley.

$e family received friends from 6:00 PM!to 8:00 PM, Friday, April 16, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Fu-neral Home in Murphy, NC.

You may send tributes to the Ware family at www.mem.com or view other obits at www.townson-rose.com

Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Bessie Mae Williams, 72, of Robbinsville died Monday, April 12, 2010 in a Murphy medical cen-ter.! She was a native of Graham County.! She had worked on as-sembly lines in her early life and later worked as a groundskeeper for the U.S. Forest Service.! Bes-sie also volunteered her time as a witness for the Lord to patients in Britthaven of Graham.! She was a member of the Lone Oak Baptist Church in Robbinsville, where she loved to sing.

!She was the daughter of the late Noah and Nora Bailey Crisp and was also preceded in death by a daughter, Lynda Palmer.

! Surviving are five daughters, Sheila Graham and husband, Ken, Kathleen Williams, Irene Farley and husband, Mickey, Claudine Gibson and husband, Ricky, and

Loretta Marino and husband, Ja-son, all of Robbinsville; a son, Jimmy Williams of Robbinsville; a sister, Myrtle Stahl of Esto, FL; six brothers, Henry Crisp of Robbins-ville, Eddie Crisp of Bryson City, Beacher Crisp of Belvidere, NJ, Herbert Crisp of Esto, FL, Den-

nis Crisp of Harrodsburg, KY, and Ralph Crisp of Morristown, TN; and 13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

! Funeral services were held at 11:00 AM $ursday, April 15, 2010 in the Lone Oak Baptist Church with Revs. Max Turpin and Scott Roper o#ciating.! Interment was in the church cemetery.! Pallbear-ers were Shaun and Kenny Gra-ham, Jeremiah Satterfield, Jimmy Millsaps, Rance Schuler, and Joe Palmer.

$e family received friends from 6-8 Wednesday evening, April 14 at the Lone Oak Baptist Church.

!Ivie Funeral Home, Andrews in charge of all arrangements.

!An online guest register is avail-able at “Obituaries” at www.ivifu-neralhome.com

Kids !lm "ursday

at Murphylibrary

Ramona “Pony” Hawkins Shields, 73, of Murphy died $urs-day, April 15, 2010 in Murphy Medical Center.! She was a native and lifetime resident of Cherokee County.! She had worked for 17 years as a program assistant with the Agricultural Stabilization Con-servation Service.! Ramona was a member of the Peachtree Memo-rial Baptist Church.! She was a seamstress, loved working with crafts, was an avid flower gardener and known throughout the com-munity for her beautiful hybrid daylilies.! She was a devoted care-giver and was a loving wife, mother, friend, and Christian witness.

! She was the daughter of the late Clyde E. and Ella Vee Ham-ilton Jory and was the wife of the late Paul Ray Hawkins, who died February 25, 1999.! She was also preceded in death by a son, Eddie Neil Hawkins, who died October 21, 1995.

Surviving are her husband, Pas-tor Hadley Shields; a son, Paul Keith Hawkins and wife, Debbie of Murphy; three step-daughters, Millie Gazaway and husband, Mike of Rex, GA, Diane Blair and

husband, Jim of Ft. Myers, FL, and Rita Mathis and husband, Gerald of Blairsville, GA; a step-son, Ron-nie Shields and wife, Robbie of Blairsville, GA; a sister, Billie June Jory Howell and husband, George of Brandon, FL; a brother, Clyde Sidney Jory and wife, Sharon of Turtletown, TN; nine step-grand-children and six great step- grand-children; and four nieces and six nephews.!

A memorial service was held at 3:00 PM Sunday, April 18, 2010

in the Peachtree Memorial Bap-tist Church with Rev. Jerry Hel-ton, Dr. Chester Jones, and Rev. Johnny Foster o#ciating.! Inurn-ment was in the Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery with the Revs. Greg Carroll and Jerry Helton o#-ciating.! Honorary pallbearers were Grace Carringer, Grace Debty, Kathy Forrister, Carolyn Franklin, Ollie Holder, Margaret Pressley, Dorothy Simonds, Carolyn Stock-ton, Gwen Weaver, and Annette Williams, members of the Marie Hendrix Sunday school class, and the Murphy High School Class of 1954.

$e family received friends from 1:30-2:45 Sunday afternoon at the Peachtree Memorial Baptist Church prior to the services.

In lieu of flowers, the family re-quests memorials be made in mem-ory of Ramona “Pony” Hawkins Shields to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alex-andria, VA 22312.

Ivie Funeral Home, Murphy in charge of all arrangements.

An online guest register is avail-able at “Obituaries” at www.iviefu-neralhome.com.

Sherry Jean Bowers, age 59, of Murphy, NC passed away Friday, April 16, 2010 at the Mission Hos-pital in Asheville, NC.

She was a native of Pulaski, GA and the daughter of the late! Jack Melvin and! $elma Baker Parton Francis.! Sherry had worked for Levi Strauss & Company for! 14 years and New Mart Rug! in Dal-ton, GA for four years. She was of the Baptist faith. She loved her grandchildren, cooking, gardening and crossword puzzles.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by one brother, Herbert Holloway.

She is survived by her husband,

Larry Bowers; two sons, Robert Francis and Frankie Jones both of Murphy, NC; one daughter, Tam-my! Blunt of Waycross, GA; two brothers, Johnny Francis and! Joe Francis both! of Murphy, NC;! six grandchildren, Sherry Diaz, Cody Clark, Jeremy Burris, $elma Cheyanne Jones, Brandon Ander-son and Eowyn Alexis Francis and five great grandchildren, Mariana Diaz, $alia Diaz, Melina Diaz, Adrianna Diaz,!and Natalie Clark.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Funeral Home Chapel in Murphy, NC. $e Rev. Shannon Helton will o#ciate.

Burial will be in the Ranger United Methodist Church Cemetery in Murphy, NC.! Pallbearers will be Chad Bryant, Dylan Bryant, Eric Frances, Jody Burrell,! and Bobby $rasher.

$e family will receive friends from 6:00 PM!to 8:00 PM, Mon-day, April 19, 2010 at the Town-son-Rose Funeral Home in Mur-phy, NC.

You may send tributes to the Bowers family at www.mem.com or view other obits at www.town-son-rose.com!

Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. !

Richard Earl Curtiss

Sentinel Subscriptions -$25 per year Call (828) 389-8338

VERTISE

6AStory Hour

Story hour at The Curiosity Shop Book-store, 46 Valley River Avenue, Murphy, on Saturday mornings from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Bring your children or grandchildren and let them enjoy being read to. Call 835-7433 or 321-2242

Mountain High HikersMountain High Hikers sched-

ule two hikes each Tuesday, occasionally specialty hike, and regular trail maintaining trips- all in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. Check the web site: MountainHighHikers.org for schedule and meeting locations or call 828-389-8240 for information.




ers Association (GWRRA) meets the fourth Saturday of each month at Daniel’s Steak-house, Hiawassee, Ga. We eat at 11 a.m. followed by the meeting at 12 p.m. during which rides and other activities are an-nounced and discussed. We encourage cur-rent members of the GWRRA and anyone interested in becoming a member to join us. All motorcyclists are welcome and we look forward to seeing participants from other chapters. There are great rides com-ing up and we hope many of you will join us. For further information, contact Chapter Director, June Gottlieb, 706-896-7403

.



Abandoned AnimalsJust 4 Hours. Just 4 hours a week can make a big di!erence in caring for abandoned and abused animals. Just 4 hours to walk dogs. Just 4 hours to groom dogs or cats. Just 4 house to clean the cattery. Just 4 hours to

transport dogs and/or cats to the vet. If you have just 4 hours a week to volunteer your time and energy, please contact Castaway Critters at 706-781-3992 or call Martha at 706-379-2729.

Amateur RadioAttention HAMs and anyone interested

in Amateur RadioThe North Georgia Tri-State A.R.C. (Ama-

teur Radio Club) meetings are held"on the #rst Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Branan Lodge in Blairsville. All of our meet-ings are open to the public. For more"infor-mation about joining the Club or becoming a HAM, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Ramp Dinner & ConcertStecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center’sRamp Dinner & ConcertSaturday, April 24Dinner seatings at 5pm and 6:15Barn Carts perform at 7:30Reservations required call 828-479-3364

Mountain Coin ClubThe Mountain Coin Club for " beginner

and advanced numismatists, young and old, " meets the second Tuesday of each month at the Blairsville Civic Center. Set-up begins at 5:30 p.m. "A brief business meet-ing precedes the educational program at 6:30 p.m. A coin auction follows. " Visitors from surrounding areas are welcome. For more information, call Ye Old Coin Shop, 706-379-1488."

Free Tax PrepFree Federal and State (GA and NC) per-

sonal income tax preparation is available in Murphy, until 4/14/10. This will be at the First United Methodist Church, on Valley River Ave, in downtown Murphy.

The service will be available from 1-7 pm on Tuesdays, and 10 am - 4 pm on Wednesdays. For appointments, people should call 835-0220.

It is con#dential, and open to anyone with non-complex returns. A special em-phasis is placed on those age 60 and older, with low and moderate incomes. The re-turns are prepared by advanced IRS-certi-#ed volunteers with years of experience.

Even if people have low incomes and are not required to #le an income tax, it is often in their best interest to do so. There may be credits they are entitled to that will give them a refund. If they are homeown-ers, they can often get relief on their prop-erty taxes by showing the tax assessor a copy of their income tax return.

The Cherokee County Community Foundation

Dr. Jan Davidson, board president has announced that the Cherokee County Community Foundation is currently ac-cepting grant requests from non-pro#t organizations for projects that bene#t our community. According to Davidson, a few modest grants are available this year.

Applications are available at nccommu-nityfoundation.org (under “A$liates”); John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown; or by calling the Cherokee County Community Foundation at 800-201-9532. Grant appli-cations must be received by May 21, 2010.

The Cherokee County Community Foundation is an a$liate of the North Caro-lina Community Foundation (NCCF). The community fund was established to help support local charitable needs through an-nual grants. In addition to Davidson, board members are Pat Ivie, Eva Wood, and Dr. Je!rey Larson.

For further information, contact any board member; the NCCF Western Regional Associate, Sue LeLievre at 800-201-9532 or visit the NCCF website at nccommunity-foundation.org.

Farmers MarketThe Cedar Valley Farmers Market is back

in full swing." Help support your local econ-omy by shopping local." Join us every Satur-day from 10am to 2pm downtown Murphy." We invite everyone to come and browse." Bring your instruments to pick a few tunes or get creative and set up a booth.

We remind you to BUY LOCAL!!For vending information contact Jer-

emiah Smith at [email protected]

See you Saturday!"

Castaway Critters“COMMUNITY NIGHT” TO" BENEFIT " " " " " " " "

CASTAWAY CRITTERS PET RESCUE"""""""""""""""""""""" """ TUESDAY, APRIL 27TH""" """ """ """ """" """ 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM" BROTHERS RESTAURANT AT WILLOW

RANCH""""""""""" ON HIGHWAY 76, YOUNG HAR-RIS

Spring ConcertMt. Comm. Chorus presents its annual

spring concert Friday Apr. 30th, 8 PM and Sunday May 2nd 3 PM Hilda Glenn Audito-rium, Young Harris College. For more infor-mation, visit www.mapaa.org.

Singing at Pine GrovePine Grove Baptist on 17-69 going to-

wards Hayesville will be having a singing

Sat April 17, 2010 Across Time Singing time 7:00 p.m. Pastor Dwayne Patterson invites everyone to attend.

Cherokee County 9-12 Project

The Cherokee County 9-12 Project will also be holding a General Meeting. Please join us on Saturday, May 1, at the First Bap-tist Church Fellowship Hall in Murphy, from 6:30pm - 8:30pm.We will be honoring our military veterans who have sel%essly served this great nation and kept it and us safe from harm. All are welcome to attend. For questions or additional information, please call the 9-12 Hotline at 828-837-0055.




quilting 100 squares in 100 days to help Andrews celebrate its 100th birthday. Join us each day at 1:30 p.m. and learn new quilt square. Call 321-2800 for more information.

Veterans meetingThe monthly combined meeting of the

VFW, VFW Auxiliary, The American Legion and the DAV will be held Monday, May 3rd a the Veteran Building located at Drew Tay-lor Road and NC Highway 141 in Peachtree. A potluck supper commences at 6 p.m. and is immediately followed by the general business meeting.

The meeting is open to all veterans. Those interested in joining, directions or learning more about the interests and activities of those service organizations, please contact Commander Gene Gu!y by calling 828-837-3016.

DAR MeetingsDAR meetings will be held on the sec-

ond Wednesday of Jan.-May and Sept.-Nov. at 2 p.m. at the Harshaw Chapel in Downtown Murphy. For more information contact Joan Wallace at 837-0876 or Mar-garet Warner at 837-8777 or 837-2644.

Blue Ridge MOAAThe Blue Ridge Mountains Chapter of

the Military O$cers Association of Amer-ica (MOAA) meets the third Monday of each month at various area restaurants. All active duty, National Guard, reserve, retired, and former Military, Public Health Service, and NOAA o$cers and warrant of-#cers and surviving spouses are invited to attend. For information please contact Jim Ferrell at 828-835-9203 or visit www.moaa.org/chapter/blueridgemountains .

Amateur RadioAttention HAMs and wannabe HAMs

North Georgia Tri-State A.R.C. (Amateur Radio Club) meetings are held"on the #rst Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Branan Lodge in Blairsville. All of our meetings are open to the public. For more"information, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Brasstown PotluckBrasstown Potluck The Brasstown Com-

munity holds a potluck supper and meet-ing on the third Thursday of each month, 6:30 p.m., Brasstown Community Center, 255 Settawig Road, Brasstown.

Flying ClubFlying Club. The Over mountain Flyers

meets the second Saturday each month at the Andrews-Murphy Airport from 9 a.m. to noon. For information, call 837-3468.

Hiwasse Kennel ClubHiwassee River Valley Kennel Club:

Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the #rst Mon-day of each month at Brother’s Restaurant on Hwy 64 in Murphy, NC. We invite all those interested in pure bred dogs and ca-nine activities to attend. Call President Kit Miracle @ 706 492 5253 or Peggy Moor-man @ 828 835 1082 for details.



Small Scale AgricultureThe Far West Small Scale Agricultural

Action Team meets the second Monday of each month in the St. Andrews Lutheran Church community room, Andrews. For information, call Mary Janis, 828-389-1913 [email protected]

Cherokee Mountain LionsCherokee County Mountain Lions meet

the #rst and third Tuesday of each month at Downtown Pizza, 6 p.m. New members are welcome.


ers Association (GWRRA) meets the fourth Saturday of each month at Daniel’s Steak-house, Hiawassee, Ga. We eat at 11 a.m. followed by the meeting at 12 p.m. dur-ing which rides and other activities are announced and discussed. We encourage current members of the GWRRA and any-one interested in becoming a member to join us. All motorcyclists are welcome and we look forward to seeing participants from other chapters. There are great rides coming up and we hope many of you will join us. For further information, contact Chapter Director, June Gottlieb, 706-896-7403.

Mountain Economic Part-ners

Far West Mountain Economic Partners’ Small Scale Agriculture Action Team meets at 6 p.m. the #rst Monday of every month at the Far West o$ces located at 452 Main Street in Andrews. All farmers in from Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Swain Coun-ties and the Qualla Boundary are invited to attend. For details, contact Pat Love at 828-321-2929 or via email at [email protected].

Anti Death PenaltyPeople of Faith Against the Death Pen-

alty meets the 1st Monday each month at 7 p.m. at the Glen Mary House, next to St. William Catholic Church. For information, call 837-0867.

Commissioners MeetingThe Cherokee County Commisioners

meeting will be held on the #rst Mon-day of each month at 8:30 a.m. and on the third Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners boardroom of the Cherokee County Courthouse, unless Monday falls on a holiday, or unless oth-erwise posted.

Valley River Civitan ClubValley River Civitan Club of Andrews

meets the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., PJ’s restaurant in An-drews. Visitors are welcome. For more in-formation call Anita Davis at 361-1247.

Basket WeaversThe Shooting Creek Basket Weavers

Guild meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 9:45 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Shooting Creek Community Center (#re station). Refreshments are served and a business meeting is held before a weav-ing project is presented. For more infor-mation contact Joan (Guild president) at 706-896-1534.

MRACG MeetingMountain Regional Arts and Crafts

Guild, Inc (MRACG) meets the second Tuesday of each month at ArtWorks Ar-tisan Centre. ArtWorks is located at 308 Big Sky Drive (behind the Holiday Inn), Hiawassee. Refreshments are served at 6 p.m. and the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to learn more about the Guild, we invite you to the next meeting as our guest.Contact us at 706-896-0932 or [email protected] or

visit mtnregartscraftsguild.org.

NCWN PoetryThere will be no NCWN West Poetry Cri-

tique Group in July, as the college campus will be closed. The next meeting will be in August at the regular time.

Alzheimer’s SupportAlzheimer’s Support Group of Murphy

meets the 1st Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Murphy Senior Center. Con-tact Laura Harris at 828-644-0680 for more information. Also meetings every second Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Senior Center in Hayesville.

Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous has scheduled

meetings as follows: Tues. 7 p.m., in the back of the Episcopal Church of the Mes-siah located across the street from the Cherokee Scout and the Verizon building on the corner of Central & Church Street; Sat. noon at the 409 building; Thur. 8 p.m. St. William’s Catholic Ch., Murphy; Wed. 8 p.m., United Methodist Church, Andrews, in the fellowship hall; Tues. noon, Thur. noon, Fri. 8 p.m.; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Hayesville; Sat. 8 p.m. First Method-ist Church, Downtown Hayesville. For a complete area meeting schedule and in-formation, call 837-4440.

Domestic Violence Sup-port

Domestic Violence Support Group REACH of Cherokee County o!ers a free con#dential support group to women whose lives are, or have been a!ect-ed by domestic violence. The group meets every Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the REACH o$ce in Murphy. Please call (828) 837-2097 for more information.

Compassionate FriendsThe Compassionate Friends is a self-

help, non-pro#t organization that o!ers that o!ers friendship and understanding to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings meets at 7 p.m. every third Thurs-day each month at the Senior Center in Murphy. Call Maxine Arne at 837-0425, Mabel Cooke at 837-6871 or Vicky Sullivan at 837-9168 for details.

Weight LossTops Weight Loss “Take O! Pounds

Sensibly” in Murphy meets on Mondays at 5 p.m. at the Glen Mary Hall, Andrews Road. For more information, call 837-4587. Two Tops clubs meet in Andrews on Mondays. The morning club meets in Valleytown Baptist Church Fellowship Hall at 8:45 a.m. weigh in, meeting at 9 a.m. Call 321-5242 for more information. The evening club, which meets at Christ Community church, weights in at 5 p.m. and has a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Call 321-3040 or 321-1422 for more information.

Divorce Care SeminarDivorce Care Seminar. Divorce Care, a

special-help seminar and support group for people experiencing divorce or separa-tion will be held on Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at Hiawassee United Methodist Church. Divorce Care features nationally recognized experts on divorce and recov-ery topics.

English ClassesClasses de ingles gratis. Tri County

Community College. Ofrece classes de ingles como Segundo idioma (ESL Classes) Todos los Miercoles y Jueves De 9:00 a.m. a 12:00 p.m. En el local de Family Resources of Cherokee County. Ubicado en 70 Cen-tral Street Murphy, NC 28906. Para mayor informacion llame al tlefono No. (828) 837-3460.






quilting 100 squares in 100 days to help Andrews celebrate its 100th birthday. Join us each day at 1:30 p.m. and learn new quilt square. Call 321-2800 for more infor-mation.

Abandoned AnimalsJust 4 Hours. Just 4 hours a week can make a big di!erence in caring for abandoned and abused animals. Just 4 hours to walk dogs. Just 4 hours to groom dogs or cats. Just 4 house to clean the cattery. Just 4 hours to transport dogs and/or cats to the vet. If you have just 4 hours a week to vol-unteer your time and energy, please con-tact Castaway Critters at 706-781-3992 or call Martha at 706-379-2729.



Body Sculpting ClassBody Sculpting/Cardiovascular

Exercise classes are being offered at Towns County Recreational Center in Hiawassee, Ga. Class is from 6:30-7:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The cost is $4 per class or $48 per month.

Contact the recreation center at (706) 896-2600 or Susan Rogers at (706) 896-6842.Square Dance Classes

Enchanted Valley Squares is having Basic Mainstream Classess on Tuesday Nights at the Towns Co Middle School Cafeteria from 7:00-9:00 pm." For more information:" GA-Al Supplee (706) 379-2191 or NC-Bob or Loretta Hughes (828) 837-2561.



Brasstown SuppersBrasstown Community Club meets

at 6:30 p.m., the third Thursday of each month with a pot luck supper. Grocery game night, 7 p.m. the first Saturday of every month. Please bring snack foods.

Senior Game DayDominoes, Hearts, Scrabble,

Checkers, etc. Every Tuesday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Clay County Senior Center Call 838-389-9271 for more info.

HAMs meetingsNorth Georgia Tri-State A.R.C.

(Amateur Radio Club) meetings are held"on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Branan Lodge in Blairsville. All of our meetings are open to the public. For more" information about joining the Club or becoming a HAM, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Intermediate BridgeIntermediate Bridge is being played

at the health department, downstairs in Hiawassee on Mondays and Fridays, start-ing at 12:45 p.m. All players welcome. For more information please call (828) 389-8065.

Oil Painting ClassesClasses for beginners and inter-

mediate students, Wednesdays, 9AM - 1PM at Clay County Senior Center. Cost is $65; must furnish own brushes and canvas. Call the senior center for more information at (828) 389-9271

Helping Hands meetThe ladies group at Sweetwater

United Methodist Church meets from 10 a.m. to noon every first and third Tuesday. They make quilts for Clay and Cherokee counties’ sick and needy. Helpers are welcome.

Fellowship WeeklyFull Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship

International meets at 6 p.m. every Monday at Daniels in Hiawassee, Ga. Call (828) 389-0140.

Valley Kennel ClubMeetings are held at 7:00 p.m. the

first Monday of each month at" Brother’s Restaurant on Hwy 64 in Murphy, NC." "We invite all those interested in pure bred dogs and canine activities to attend. Call President Kit Miracle @ 706 492 5253 or Peggy Moorman @ 828 835 1082 for details.

Mountain HikersMountain High Hikers schedule two

hikes each Tuesday, occasionally specialty hikes, and regular trail maintaining trips- all in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina and Georgia.

Check the web site: MountainHighHikers.org for schedule and meeting locations or call 828-389-8240 for information.

Blue Ridge MOAA The Blue Ridge Mountains Chapter

of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) meets the third Monday of each month at various area restaurants. All active duty, reserve, retired and former military, and Public Health Service, and NOAA officers, and warrant officers are invited to attend.

For information please contact one of the following individuals, in North Carolina: John Bayne at 828-389-9427 and in Georgia: Jim Reynolds at 706-379-6601.Veteran Consultant

The veterans’ consultant, Mike Casey, will be at the Job Link Office on the second Tuesday and the fourth Wednesday of each month. Call (828) 837-7407 of the Social Service Office in Hayesville at 389-6301.Granny’s Attic

Granny’s Attic, Auxiliary of Good Shepherd Home Health Care and Hospice, is open Wed. - Sat., 9 am - 4 pm." We are now stocked for Fall." "To make donations or volunteer contact Linda at 828-389-4233.

REACH Thrift StoreThe REACH Thrift Store hours

are from 10 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. Monday - Saturday." We are located at 1252 Hwy 64 W. (Old KT Billiards bldg., " Donations accepted during business hours." Volunteers welcome." Call 828.389.1415 or 828.557.7416 for more information. Women in fellowship

Tri-County Women’s Connection meets the #rst Thursday of each month in the fellowship hall of Murphy First Baptist Church, welcoming retirees, homemak-ers, home-schoolers, young moms-------all women. Fascinating programs, delightful music, inspirational talks, good food, child care and wonderful fellowship make each gathering special. Call Linda at 837-2305

April 21, 2010

If you have a local event to include in

our calendar you can submit it to us direct-ly from our website

at wncSentinel.net

What’sgoing on?

New 'twist' in the law may help your mom

Mom has always been there to nur-ture and take care of you. Mother’s Day is the perfect time to give back and look out for her. If she’s having a hard time paying for her prescription drugs, tell her about the Medicare Pre-scription Drug Plan and the extra help available through Social Security.

If your mother, or any special wom-an in your life, is covered by Medicare and has limited income and resources, she may be eligible for extra help to pay her monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-pay-ments. !e extra help is worth an av-erage of $3,900 per year.

Perhaps you’ve looked into the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for Mom before, and discovered that she did not qualify due to her income or resources. In 2010, the law has changed. As Chubby Checker will tell you, a new “twist” in the law makes it easier than ever to qualify for the extra help.

It’s easy to figure out whether Mom is eligible for the extra help. To qualify, she must be receiving Medicare and:

Have income limited to $16,245 for an individual or $21, 855 for a married couple living together. Even if her an-nual income is higher, she still may be able to get some help with monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments. Some ex-amples in which income may be high-er include if she or her husband:

—Support other family members who live with them;

—Have earnings from work; or—Live in Alaska or Hawaii; andHave resources limited to $12,510

for an individual or $25,010 for a mar-ried couple living together. Resources include such things as bank accounts, stocks and bonds. We do not count her house or car as resources.

!anks to this a “twist” in the law, we no longer count any life insurance policy she has as a resource, and we no longer count as income any financial assistance she receives regularly from someone else to pay her household expenses like food, mortgage or rent, utilities or property taxes. Don’t take our word for it, see Chubby Checker’s rocking message at HYPERLINK "http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pre-scriptionhelp" www.socialsecurity.gov/prescriptionhelp.

While you’re there, you can fill out an easy-to-use online application for your mom at HYPERLINK "http://www.socialsecurity.gov/prescription-help" www.socialsecurity.gov/pre-scriptionhelp. To apply by phone or have an application mailed to you, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) and ask for the Application for Help with Medi-care Prescription Drug Plan Costs (SSA-1020). Or go to the nearest So-cial Security o"ce.

If you’d like to learn more about the Medicare prescription drug plans and special enrollment periods, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.medi-care.gov" www.medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227; TTY 1-877-486-2048).

Maybe it’s been a few years since Mom has taken to the dance floor to do !e Twist. But saving an extra $3,900 a year on prescription drugs may cause her to jump up and dance. What better gift could you give her this Mother’s Day?

SOCIAL SECURITY

8AApril 21, 2010

Members of Kristin Gaither's Pre-K class at Peachtree Elementary School visited the main campus at Tri-County Community recently and stopped o! at the college's award-winning cosmetology department. Displaying their new looks are .... Lori Beth Stalcup, Ruby Boehm, Kyle Patillo, Hope Noble, Noah Prohl, Baylee Prescott, Janene Gibby, Emma Adams, Chandler Smith, Alexis Stilwell, Luke Newton, Reagan Schultze, Dalton Campbell, Tyler Plemmons, Faith Ward, Mrs. Adam and Mrs. Gaither

Tri-County Community College President Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers is sur-rounded by members of the Ranger School Pre-K class on their recent visit to the main campus in Murphy. While the class toured the campus, the young students were welcomed by the media center sta!, given a brief history of the campus and had their hair and nails attended to by cosmetology department students. "e tour concluded with lunch at TC's Grill.

Pictured - Floor sitting L to R: #Olivia A., Tate R., Emily P., Charli M., Karah C., Katie A., Nathan P.

Standing L to R: #Emily T., Dalton R., Caden T., Nataly T., Emily D., Danelle S., Marcos E., Aidan L., River P.

Tri-County Community College (TCCC) has hon-ored 18 of its employees with a presentation of service awards.

Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers, President of the College, led the ceremony and congratulated each recipient on behalf of the College and its Board of Trustees.

“I appreciate each of you for all that you do for Tri-County Community College,” said Dr. Tipton-Rogers. “Your dedication allows us to continue to grow as a team and helps make this a wonderful place to learn and to work.”

Lee Erker, Ph.D. of Mineral Blu!, GA was recognized for 30 years service with the college. He is chair of the Mathematics department.

Debbie Hogan and Linda Lovingood were honored for 25 years service. Hogan, of Marble, is an instructor in the TCCC nursing program and Lovingood, from Hayesville, is Vice President for Instructional Services.

Charlene Wood of Robbinsville and Steve Wood, Ph.D. of Blue Ridge, GA each celebrated 20 years of service to the state of North Carolina. Ms. Wood is As-sistant to the President for Graham County Operations and Dr. Wood is an English instructor and Dean of Fac-ulty.

Recognized for 15 years service were Cecilia Craw-ford and Ginger Hubbard, both of Murphy. Crawford is Director of the Small Business Center. Hubbard is As-sistant to the Executive Vice President for Operations.

Honored for 10 years of service were Julie Hanwell of Murphy, Lead Instructor for Guided Studies; Trevis Hicks of Murphy, Instructor for Information Systems Networking Technology; Linda Kressal from Murphy, Director of Learning Resources and Library Services; Pauline Ledford of Hiawassee, GA, Head of the Cosme-tology program; Dulcie Ri$e from Murphy, Instructor for Early Childhood Education; and Kathryn Temple of Murphy, Coordinator/Instructor of Guided Studies.

"e rest of the honorees had each completed five years of service to the state.

"ey included: Chris Batchelder of Hayesville, EMS Program Coordinator; Brian Lambert of Andrews, Maintenance/Custodian; Jason Outen of Andrews, Di-rector of Technology; Dotie Sta!ord-Ortega of Murphy, College and Community Relations Specialist; and Robin K. Stevenson, also of Murphy, ABE Coordinator.

Like every other state in the Union, North Carolina is faced with some hard choices. On Tuesday, Gover-nor Beverly Perdue released her proposed state budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 reflecting almost a $1 billion cut in the state's spending, which she says is focused on programs proven to be unproductive, wasteful or in need of greater e%ciencies.

"We're investing in technology to ferret our fraud, waste and abuse," she said during a telephonic press conference.

Perdue's budget makes critical investments in four key areas: jobs and the economy, education, setting government straight and safer communities.

"We want make sure we come out of this recession with North Carolina's government fixed and with the ability to pay for its future," she said. "Last year we

were identified mentioned as one of the states with the worst economic di%culty; however, with the hard work of the General Assembly, only eight months lat-er we were identified as the best place to do business. We also retained our triple A rating, one of only seven states to do so."

"With this budget, we want to shore up and stimu-late an economy for small businesses to stay here and to flourish," she said. ""is budget allocates $15 mil-lion as a #"Back to Work" incentive fund that provides a direct rebate to small businesses that hire long-term unemployed workers. It also allows for a $250 per person credit for small businesses that provide health insurance for their workers as well as money for em-ployee training.

"With regard to education, I am proud to say that everybody has accepted our Ready, Set, Go program designed to increase our high school graduation rate and provide students with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college, at the universities or in the work-

place. As for our teachers, this budget protects grades K through 3 from teacher loss; it provides for a salary increase to keep North Carolina schools competitive. North Carolina is now in 31st in teacher pay just one notch above South Carolina. Also, this budget fully funds growth for universities and community colleges. It provides a $131 million flexible line for use by local school boards at their discretion.

With regard to setting government straight, Perdue said she will be implementing a sophisticated system to detect fraud in Medicaid, which will save the state millions of dollars. It will also fund a legal team to prosecute these cases with the expectation of a four to one return on the dollars spent. Another innovation regarding Medicaid requires that patients use only one doctor and one pharmacy so they cannot do doctor shopping which will keep narcotics from being sold illegally.

"We have to do more with medical management in the Medicaid program ," she said. "Or else it will take

every new dollar we get for the program as well as re-quire us to take money from other programs."

She said her proposed budget restores a $40 million cut in mental health, will build local hospital capacity across the state and hopefully put mental health back on the road to recovery within 18 months.

With regard to health and safety issues, the bud-get re-appropriates money for AIDS, funding to bring 8,100 new children into the health care system and promotes healthier lifestyle practices. It also provides a better communication system with new technology within the criminal justice system, including increased DNA testing.

Governor Perdue said she hopes that the General Assembly will adopt most of the proposals of this bud-get and that it will prove to be less combative as all state government works together to look out for the future of the state by doing more with less.

Governor’s budget focuses on jobs, education, ethics reform and safety while cutting $1 billion in spending

TCCC honors employee longevity

Contributed PhotoPictured (L-R) are: !Jason Outen, "ve years; Julie Hanwell, 10 years; Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers, TCCC President; Charlene Wood, 20 years; Kathy Temple, 10 years; Pauline Ledford, 10 years; Dotie Ortega, "ve years; Debbie Hogan, 25 years; Steve Wood, 20 years; Ginger Hubbard, 15 years; Chris Batchelder, "ve years; Cecilia Crawford, 15 years; Linda Lovingood, 25 years; Robin Stevenson, "ve years; Trevis Hicks, 10 years; Linda Kressal, 10 years; and Brian Lambert, "ve years.

Contributed PhotoAlso honored with Service Awards but not present at the ceremony were Lee Erker, left, 30 years; and Dulcie Ri#e, 10 years.

Have a story tip?Call 828.389.8338

or e-mail [email protected]

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