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4800 Hwy. 64W Suite 305Murphy NC, 28906

Health care-- A right not a

privelege

CHEROKEE

HEALTH CARE

For Commissioner Candidates, get-ting to know how Cherokee County operates can be a very arduous task. !ere is no standard organization struc-ture for county governments, and every county in the United States has it’s own way of operating. No doubt Cherokee County o"cials had this in mind when they called the 2010 Cherokee County Commissioner candidates together for an orientation session last !ursday evening.

Candidates from all three districts were in attendance for the meeting, including: Steve Gerstman, Johnathan Dickey, Curtis Brown, Barry Clark Curtis, W. David Sumpter III, Law-rence E. McNabb, Lorraine M. Meltz, and David Wood. County Manager David Badger conducted the orienta-tion.

Badger, remarking on the importance of the orientation said: “It’s a good op-portunity for Candidates to get ac-

quainted with how our government op-erates. We want to make sure that they are completely aware of all parameters and guidelines for County Commis-sioners.” He went on to say, “!e goal is to provide consistent information pertaining to budgets, taxes, and legisla-tion.”

!e candidates were each given a binder full of Cherokee County in-formation which covered a variety of topics including: General Statutes for Local Governing Boards, Legislative Goals, !e Budget and Fiscal Control Act, Cherokee County Budget, Chero-kee County Revenue and Expenditures, Property Tax Laws and Tax Rate Sur-vey, and the Cherokee County Financial Statements.

Although the orientation is not man-datory, it is advantageous for the can-didates to familiarize themselves with the processes and protocols of county government. In doing this, the candi-dates can be well educated on the day to day functions of the job. In the business world, job orientation is crucial to an

employee’s success. !e same holds true for governments at any level. Candidate orientation is just one of the many ways we can be assured that our elected com-missioners can be successful in o"ce, thus allowing our county to prosper.

“At the end of the day, the focus is making sure the candidates are brought up to speed on the Cherokee County Government, so they can more e#ec-tively plan out their strategies and goals,” said Badger.

Commissioner Candidates Get BearingsELECTION

Shuler’s statement on passage of health care bill

Last night, the House of Representatives passed the Patient Protec-tion and A#ordable Care Act by a narrow margin.$ !e bill, H.R. 3590, is expected to be signed into law by the President at which point the reconciliation package will be sent to the Senate for consideration.$ If the Senate passes the reconciliation passage by a simple majority with no changes, it will be presented to the President for consideration.

$Since the commencement of the health care debate, many of you have shared your views with me.$ I have received tens of thousands of letters, phone calls and emails from you and I have met with count-less others, including patients, doctors, hospital administrators, home health providers, free clinic workers, children, nurses, economists and small business owners.$ !rough this process it has become clear to me that the majority of you are supportive of health care reform, but you

HEALTH CARE

UNEMPLOYMENT

Congressional Democrats pre-vailed in passing sweeping legisla-

tion in provide greater health care coverage for Americans. !e battle was primarily divided along party lines with all Republicans voting against the bill and a majority of Democrats voting for it. On Tuesday, the president was set to sign the bill into the law of the land.

Still to come this week is further legislation to change some of the provisions of the bill making it more agreeable among senate and house Demo-crats. Senate Republicans have announced their intention to do everything in their power to block what is know as a reconciliation measure that has been used 22 times previously, although Republi-cans say never on a piece of legislation of this mag-nitude.

While the U.S. Senate had passed the bill ear-lier, again along party lines with 60 Democrat and Independent senators voting in favor and all Republican senators voting against the measure, it had to be approved by the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives, which it was Sunday night by a narrow margin. 219 representatives voted in favor with 212 against. Some of those against were Demo-crats, including Heath Shuler, who represents our 11th Congressional District. While it is di"cult to determine just how much support the bill had in this district, it had wide-spread support among the district’s Democrats. A few days prior to the vote, Democratic county chairmen across the district sent a letter to Shuler urging him to support the bill’s passage.

In a press release on Monday, Shuler said he had

Congress passes hotly contested bill

Shuler will work to further improve the A!ordable Care Act

CHEROKEE

VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 12

WWW.WNCSENTINEL.NET | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010 | 50 CENTS

Fresh out of college and freshly un-employed. !e current job void takes it’s toll on everyone, but the greatest reper-cussions are being felt by the eighteen to twenty somethings who are trying to establish themselves in a new career. !e current US unemployment rate for people ages 16-24 is 18.4%. In North Carolina that rate hovers around 9%. Cherokee County is estimated at 8.7%, Clay County is estimated at 6.9%, and Graham County is estimated 8.5%.

Over the course of a year the unem-ployment figures have become progres-sively worse, and young people are being forced to seek employment in Jobs that are well beneath their qualifications. !is in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, because at this particular juncture in our society - any job is a good job. However,

the e#ects of being “stuck” in a lower job can be detrimental to future career opportunities. Employers often view these individuals as damaged goods with squashed ambitions, and when jobs do open up they tend to hire workers with more experience. With a high percent-age of youth unable to grab on to the first rung of the ladder, we are potentially cre-ating what researchers have called a “lost generation.”

Young people bring a certain zest to the workplace, and sadly, it’s disappearing

at an alarming rate. With youth comes creativity, imagination, and aspiration. Young people are a key ingredient to the progression of a business - if a company had employees all retiring at the same time, who would carry the torch? Tak-ing that a step further - who would help fund that retirement? Baby boomers on the verge of exiting the workplace are depending on young people with good careers to help fund their retirement.

Youths without jobs can prove detrimental in the long run

Appalachian Community Bank Closed By Fed’s

NC has county on tight string

In a briefing for Cherokee County candidates for seats on the board of commis-

sioners last week, County Manager David Badger provided an overview of the county’s fiscal situation as well as the extent of financial authority granted to local government by the state legislature.

Candidates were provided with a detailed break-down of the current county’s budget by departments as well as an assessment of how the budget is play-ing out. Regarding revenues the only significant drop from what was projected in the budget comes from sales tax. In that category, the county took in $228,000 fewer dollars than projected for the last six months, ac-cording to finance o"cer Bill Block. He said that drop in revenues was made up somewhat by a higher than anticipated collection of property taxes, which has al-lowed the county’s budget to remain pretty much on track.

Block said the county’s reserve balance is not quite up there to where it ought to be, but it is still very much ahead of the state’s requirement. North Caro-lina requires counties to maintain a minimum of 8 percent of its budget in the fund balance to o#set ir-regular collection periods and unusual emergencies. Cherokee County’s fund balance is currently at 16.35 percent; however, it would ideally be at around 20 per-cent, according to Block.

Cherokee County’s tax milage rate remains at 38.5 mils per hundred dollars of property assessment for the current fiscal year, the same as last year. !at means that for property assessed at $100,000, an owner would be taxed $385.

Cherokee County’s rate is at 60.6 percent of the average rate of all North Carolina counties. !e rate is also below that of Clay County (43 mills) and Gra-ham County (58 mills).

Regarding taxing authority of the county board, Block said there is little leeway allowed by North Car-olina legislature to the counties. !e state gives them limited powers, he said. Commissioners do not have many revenue options.

County candidates briefed on budget and tax matters

?

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GOVERNMENT

Contributed Photo2010 Commissioner Candidates Steve Gerstman, Johnathan Dickey, Curtis Brown, Barry Clark Curtis, W. David Sumpter III, Lawrence E. McNabb, Lorraine M. Meltz, and David Wood were all in attendance at last Thursday’s orientation.

TAX2010 Delinquent

NOTIFICATIONSSpecial

C SectionPage 8A

A touch of Ireland comes to Murphy

Bank acquired by another financial institution

2AMarch 24, 2010

BRIEFS

A potent new inhibitor of HIV, derived from bananas, may unlock the key to new treatments to prevent sexual transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.

Lectins, naturally occurring chemicals in plants, are proving to be an area of intense study by scientists because of their ability to halt the chain of reaction that leads to a variety of infections.

In laboratory tests, BanLec, the lectin found in bananas, was as potent as two current anti-HIV drugs. Researchers say its health implications are great because it may become a less expensive new component of ap-plied vaginal microbicides.

“HIV is still rampant in the U.S. and the explosion in poorer countries continues to be a bad problem because of tremendous human su!ering and the cost of treating it,” says study senior author David Marvovitz, M.D., professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School.

"e committee selecting the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize has included the Internet among its 237 nominees for the prestigious award.

"e Norwegian Nobel Committee came up with the list on March 9 and the Internet was among it because it has connected the world, created a global community “that shares ideas and innovation,” helped relief e!orts in countries devastated by natural disasters and also uncovered government controversies and oppression.

"e 237 nominees this year is a record in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009, the number of nominees, including eventual winner U.S. President Barack Obama, was also a record at 205.

If the Internet wins the prize, an issue anticipated is the person who will receive the award. "e winner will be announced in October.

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will issue on Monday new rules af-fecting financial services providers in the country, particularly a!ecting credit card rates.

"e release is time with the observation on March 15 of World Consumer Rights Day. Brown said in a podcast released Friday that the government wants to make banks and credit car firms to be more responsible and to be fair to their customers.

Among the provisions of the new rules would be to change how repay-ments are allocated to card debt, a right to reject interest rate hikes and a prohibition on automatic credit limit increase.

Brown said the new regulations aim to discourage Britons from borrowing beyond the capacity to pay. He said companies that would break the new law would be penalized heavily, including revocation of their license.

Brown said in a statement, “We want not only to empower and protect you as consumers, but also to make banks and credit card companies behave responsibly and act fairly. And so we will re-write the rules on lending to end the sharp practices which sting so many credit card holders.”

Appalachian Community Bank closed by Fed’s

Appalachian Community Bank in Blairsville was closed along with nine other branches in North Carolina and Georgia. All branches operated under the trade name of Gilmer County Bank.

On Friday the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which ap-pointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver taking action to protect depositors. "e FDIC entered into a purchase and assump-tion agreement with Community & Southern Bank. "e bank reopened on Monday under its new ownership.

Depositors continue to be insured by the FDIC. Customers should continue

to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Community & Southern Bank that it has completed systems changes.

As of December 31, 2009, Appala-chian Community Bank had approxi-mately $1.01 billion in total assets and $917.6 million in total deposits. Com-munity & Southern Bank is to pay the FDIC a premium of one percent to as-sume al of the deposits of Appalachian Community Bank. In addition to as-suming al of the deposits of the failed bank, Community & Southern Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the bank’s assets.

FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $419.3 million. Community & South-ern Bank’s acquisition of all the depos-its was the “least costly” resolution for

the FDIC’s DIF compared to all alter-natives, according to its press release.

Appalachian Community Bank is the 34th FDIC-insured institution

to fail in the nation this year, and the fourth in Georgia.

In the future shaking hands with a robotic arm may be part of the rehabili-tation protocol for stroke patients learning to use their arms again.

Elena Vergaro, from the University of Genoa, Italy, worked with a team of researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, to develop the robotic aid. When asked about the early findings of the ‘Braccio di Fer-ro’ (Iron arm) she says, “Our preliminary results from this small group of patients suggest that the scheme is robust and promotes a statistically sig-nificant improvement in performance. Future large-scale controlled clinical trials should confirm that robot-assisted physiotherapy can allow functional achievements in activities of daily life.”

As patients work to guide the robotic arm into a figure-of-eight motion using the device’s controls they would assist patients in re-learning how to use their arms. Vergaro says, “Stroke survivors perform arm movements in abnormal ways, for example by elevating the shoulder in order to lift the arm, or leaning forward with the torso instead of extending the elbow.”

Researchers and therapists believe employing incorrect patterns may limit a patient’s ability to achieve higher levels of movement ability, and can also lead to repetitive use injuries. Vergaro says, “By demonstrating the correct movements, a robot can help the motor system of the subject learn to repli-cate the desired trajectory by experience.”

Georgia owned bank was 34th FDIC insured bank to fail in nation this year

Home lost to fire in Martins CreekFire destroyed the home of Bonita

Bojarski located at 268 Martins Creek Road Tuesday night March 16.# A family member discovered a vehicle parked in the carport on fire# at ap-proximately 9:00 PM.# "e family es-caped the home with no injuries.# "e first 911 call was placed from inside the home.# After the occupants had evacu-ated, a cell phone call to 911 advised that the house was now on fire.# "e carport adjoined the wood and vinyl sided structure.

#Murphy Fire Department arrive on scene in four minutes to find the 2,868 square foot home well involved.# With the assistance of Peachtree and Mar-tins Creek Fire Departments more than 40,000 gallons of water were sup-plied to the scene by tankers.#

"e home and contents were a total loss.

# Murphy Police Department pro-vided tra$c control, Murphy Power Board responded to disconnect power from the structure and Cherokee County EMS stood by on scene.

Unemployment rates increased in 99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in January, according to statistics released by the state’s Employment Security Commission. Lee County remained the same at 14.6 percent.

Cherokee County increased from 15.5 percent to a staggering 17 percent.

"e ESC began to pay on the Tier IV extension of benefits to over 40,000 claimants this week. "is tier of ben-efits will help provide up to six more weeks of unemployment insurance benefits. “"e current economy con-tinues to influence nearly every major job sector, mainly in Manufacturing

and Construction,” said ESC Chair-man Lynn Holmes. “In our local em-ployment o$ces, we see, as well, the impact on our citizens. "e action by Congress to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Pro-gram and the latest implementation of benefits will assist thousands more as they continue to look for work.”

North Carolina had 41 counties which were at or below the state’s un-adjusted unemployment rate of 11.8 percent.

Rates increased in all 14 of the state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Total county employment (not-sea-

sonally adjusted) decreased in January by 7,077 workers, to 3,990,829. Not-seasonally adjusted unemployment in-creased, by 41,831 workers. "e unem-ployment total in January was 532,279 workers, compared with 490,448 in December.

Graham County experienced Janu-ary’s highest unemployment rate at 19.3 percent, 1.7 percentage points higher than last month. Swain County had the secondhighest rate at 18.1 per-cent. Orange County had the lowest unemployment rate at 6.9 percent, fol-lowed by Gates, 7.9 percent; Chatham, 8.5 percent; and Durham, 8.6 percent.

Unemployment rates increased in all 14 of the state’s Metropolitan Sta-tistical Areas (Metros). "e Hickory/ Lenoir/Morganton Metro experi-enced the highest unemployment rate (15.8%), a 1.0 percentage point in-crease over the previous month. Rocky Mount had the second-highest rate at 14.7 percent, gaining 0.8 of a percent-age point over the month. "e Dur-ham/Chapel Hill Metro had the low-est unemployment rate at 8.4 percent, increasing 0.7 of a percentage point from the previous month. Jacksonville followed at 8.7 percent.

Unemployment rises across NC

"e# North Georgia Patriots are going back to Washington for two Marches and Rallies !

"e Patriot Express will pick up passengers in Murphy. "e Patriots are going back to Washington,D.C.April 14th-19th#to participate in two mas-sive rallies and marches,talk to legis-lators, and tour Washington. "e Tax Day March and the 2nd Amend-

ment March. N.J. Davis, Founder of the groups,organized# 2 buses for the September 2009 event and is organiz-ing#2-8 buses for the April events that will pick up patriots from many cit-ies in Georgia,Tennessee and# North Carolina.# Many local residents par-ticipated in the September # 9/11 event and are going back.Everyone is invited to participate. "e Patriot Ex-press will stop in#Murphy and other nearby cities# for# local passenger pick ups.According to the National parks Police approximately 2 million Patri-ots traveled to Washington to express their concern on 9/11/09. "e Patriots are a group of concerned Americans who feel our freedom and liberties are in jeopardy."ey are a civic#orga-

nization that alerts the public to leg-islation that would infringe upon their liberty,freedoms and constitutional rights. "e Patriots are non parti-san constitutionally based organiza-tion#and welcome everyone."e#North Georgia Patriots#are#a coalition of eight constitutionally based,non-partisan or-ganizations which include: 912,Unite In Action,Tea Party Patriots,Docs4PatientCare,Oathkeepers and others."e Patriots#believe in the values and#prin-ciples of the 912. "ey o!er education-al meetings and seminars regarding the constitution, upcoming legislation,etc.Our representatives#have taken oaths to uphold the# Constitution. It is in-cumbent upon them to do so."us,our primary question to them is to prove by

what constitutional authority they are acting in certain instances. "ey work for us!We need to remind them. If you are concerned about America#and are tired of fussing at the television and want to know what you can do about issues you disagree with.Come aboard the Patriot Express on April 14th. "e Patriots o$cial bus company is Amer-ican Native owned by Rocky Samp-son of Murphy. "e Patriots support American companies.

##### If you are interested in participat-ing in#the local Patriots group, becom-ing a volunteer or going to Washing-ton for the April#Tax Day and Second Amendment Rallies,# call 706-896-9021.

Patriots bound for Washington again

"e U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission has issued a warning about using baby slings with infants younger than 4 months.

"e agency researched incident reports from the past 20 years and found at least 14 deaths related to the products, in which babies are carried in a sling draped across a parent or caregiver. Twelve of the deaths involved babies younger than 4 months.

"ree of these deaths happened in 2009, the CPSC said in a statement."e agency identified two su!ocation hazards associated with the slings.

First, it said babies can't control their heads because of weak neck muscles. "e sling's fabric can press against the baby's nose and mouth, blocking his or her breathing and su!ocation can happen within one or two minutes.

"e slings can also keep babies curled in a position with their chin toward the chest. "is can restrict breathing, and the baby will not be able to cry for help.

"e CPSC warned in particular about babies who were either low-birth weight twins, were born premature or who had breathing issues.

Statewide unemployment insurance claims total $4,945,424,072.00

!e patriot express will make a stop in Murphy

3AMarch 24, 2010

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CHEROKEE

Somewhere in the Middle!ink only poor people worry about

the lack of health insurance? !ink again. I once had a student who suf-fered from a congenital heart defect that required major surgery. Her mom had the same defect and was operated on the year before. !e family’s insur-ance company covered both surgeries – and then cancelled their policy. How would you like to look for insurance with preexisting conditions like that? For several months, this family with four children had NO insurance at all. !ey were not poor. He is a lawyer, and they were able to provide their chil-dren with private schooling. However, another major operation would have been devastating to their finances. Af-ter much searching, they were finally able to find a policy; I’m sure they paid and arm and a leg for it.

Now I don’t often find myself feel-ing sorry for lawyers, but this was a very nice family who found themselves in a bad situation through no fault of their own. !ey had not made poor choices nor practiced an unhealthy lifestyle. !e heart defects were just plain bad luck, something that could happen to any of us. Knowing someone in this situation caused me to ask myself some very di"cult questions, questions I think we all need to ask. What if this family had not been able to find insur-ance? Or what if they were not able to a#ord the high premiums? If they con-tinued to have these heart problems, how would they pay for it? Should they be forced to drain all their accounts and sell o# their assets, perhaps declaring bankruptcy at some point, in an e#ort to pay the hospital and doctor bills? It doesn’t seem fair, but the only other al-ternative is for you and I to pay. Are we willing to do that? Is that fair?

!is real-life situation seems to in-dicate the need for healthcare reform

of some kind. In fact, polls show that most Americans believe the health-care system is broken and needs some type of reform. !ere is even bipartisan agreement that preexisting conditions should be covered by insurance. !at sounds good, and maybe it is good, but let’s be sure we think this through and realize all the ramifications up front.

Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. !ey work by letting us pool our money and share the risk of any one of us having a major medical expense in a given year. If most of us are young and healthy, the risk of that is low, and the insurance companies get to keep more of the money. If a higher percentage of the policy holders are old and/or sick, however, the risk of any one of them having a major expense increases substantially. !e insurance company will have to pay out more to doctors and hospitals. Now we all know what any business does when its costs go up – they pass that cost on to their customers by raising the price of the goods and services they provide. We can safely conclude that if insur-ance companies are required by law to cover preexisting conditions, our insur-ance premiums will go up – as sure as the sun will come up in the morning.

Somewhere in the MiddleBy: Paula Canup Guest ColumnistObama claims to have solved that

problem by requiring ALL Americans to buy healthcare insurance. Supposed-ly, that would bring millions of healthy young people into the pool, diluting the risk and spreading it among more peo-ple. Hopefully, that would balance out the higher cost of covering those with preexisting conditions, and it would not be necessary for insurance com-panies to raise their rates. It should be noted, however, that the CBO (Con-gressional Budget O"ce) estimates that under the current healthcare legis-lation, insurance premiums would still increase from 10 – 13% for individuals

buying policies. Without mandatory insurance, we can safely assume the increase would be much higher. As for my student and others in her situation – are we willing to pay higher insurance premiums so they can get coverage?

!en there is the di"culty of forcing people with low incomes to buy insur-ance – they can’t. Obama has solved this problem by o#ering government supplements to cover what they can’t a#ord. Nice. !ere is just one problem - the government HAS NO MONEY! What it does have is a 12 1⁄2 trillion dollar debt and a projected, record-high 1.5 trillion dollar deficit for 2010. So it seems reasonable to ask before we pass any type of costly healthcare re-form, just how are we going to pay for it? Obviously, there are only two ways – cut spending somewhere else or raise taxes. Neither of these alternatives is popular with the people who elect the politicians who make these decisions. Generally speaking, Democrats say “raise taxes” while the Republicans say “cut spending.” !en the Re-publicans attack the “tax-and-spend” Democrats, and the Democrats attack the “heartless” Republicans, and noth-ing ever gets done. We just sink deeper into debt.

So back to my student, who is hy-pothetically uninsured and facing more operations. Who pays? One option is to let the family spend down all its assets until they become eligible for Medicaid, which means we, the tax-payers, will end up paying part of the cost at some point. Another alternative is to force the insurance company to cover her which means they will raise the cost of premiums on everyone else. Again, we will end up paying for it. Fi-nally, we can just have the government cover her and everyone else in a single-payer system like they have in Canada. Yes, we will pay for that in the form of higher taxes. Hmmm.... I think I see a pattern here.

#007 Climategate - is global warming really happening

So much for President Obama and the ‘Liberal’ Democrats’ promise to read over and analyze bills before they are voted on. !e Obama administration’s chief actuary (Richard S. Foster) at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare services (CMS) notified Congressio-nal leaders Saturday that the” very tight time frame” and “complexity” of the Democrats health spending bill would prevent them from fully analyzing the costs and e"cacy of the bill before the House votes on the legislation. ‘Liberal’ Democrats do not care. !is is about the naked takeover of power over the lives of American citizens.

!e federal takeover of health care will consume approximately 1/6 of our national economy. Combined with spending at all levels, government will now control close to 50% of total na-tional production.

Federal bureaucrats will tell us which services you are allowed to receive.

!ere is nothing compassionate about placing the control of health care in the hands of government bureaucrats.

Our current health care system, despite its flaws, is still the best in the world. As most of us know, it contin-ues to draw patients from other ad-vanced countries that have su#ered by adopting the government run model.

President Obama brazenly lied when he said that the Republicans had not presented a health care plan. !ey had given him a plan with these four basic principles.

1) Equalize the tax treatment of people paying for health care by end-ing the current discrimination against those who do not get health insurance from their jobs. In other words, every-one paying for health care should re-ceive the same tax benefits.

2) High-risk insurance pools should be established so that people with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage that is not prohibitively expensive.

3) Allow people to purchase health

insurance across state lines just as they do for car insurance and other goods and services. In other words allow competition.

4) Establish transparency in terms of costs and quality of health care. By-Pass surgery can cost from $4,700 to $100,000. Unless we can compare prices and quality of service, the costs of health care will continue to skyrock-et. Only competition can drive down health care costs.

Only by voting out of o"ce the elected representatives who voted for this government takeover of our pri-vate lives will we be able to start to unravel the severe damage done by reckless government spending over the past six years. And just for the record, for the last three years the Democrats have had control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, when the majority of the deficit spending bills have taken place.

James F. Davis, 23 Sourwood Lane Hayesville, NC 28904 828 389 8971, jfd11@cornell.edu

Health Care - Naked Government Takeover of Our Lives

From the Right

From the desk of Heath ShulerLast week, the House voted help

earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile by approving legislation that provides immediate tax benefits to Americans who make charitable contributions.$ When we see the e#ects of tremendous tragedies like those that took place in Chile and Haiti, most of us are com-pelled to help.$ !is legislation helps Americans in their e#orts to help oth-ers.$ !e bill, which I voted in support of and which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, allows Americans to take deductions on their 2009 tax return for donations made to relief e#orts in 2010.

$Since the earthquakes in Haiti on January 12th and on February 27th in Chile, American families have poured support toward charities and organiza-tions working on recovery and assis-tance to those two countries.$ While donations from Americans for Haiti have exceeded $1 billion, donations for Chile have been more sluggish.$ !e quake experienced in Chile was one of the largest in recorded history (gauged at 8.8 on the Richter scale).$ As a result, roughly 500 lives have been lost, 2 mil-lion have been displaced or wounded, and more than 500,000 homes have been destroyed.$ !e earthquake in Haiti led to the deaths of approximately 230,000 people, and displaced 1.3 mil-lion people from their homes.$

$ Americans are probably the most giving and charitable people on earth, even during these tough economic times.$ !e timing of the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile occurred in such close proximity that it has been hard for families to give as much as they would like.$ !is bill makes it easier for people to give and will hopefully lead to more life-saving aid getting to those a#ected by these natural tragedies.

Helping Organizations like Habitat for Humanity

In December, I introduced a bill to ensure that reputable nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity are protected

from federal licensing requirements that threaten to impact the ability of needy families to get a#ordable homes. $North Carolina is fortunate and blessed to have 85 local Habitat for Humanity a"liates which built or repaired 427 houses in 2009 alone.$$ Last week, our North Carolina Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr introduced compan-ion legislation in the Senate.$$

$ Organizations like Habitat for Humanity partner with struggling Americans to provide them with an opportunity to become responsible homeowners. $Because of this unique partnership, foreclosure and default rates on Habitat for Humanity loans are currently and consistently well be-low national rates. $ I am encouraged by the strong bipartisan support for this bill that this legislation has received on the House side, and am glad to see that the entire North Carolina delegation in the House and Senate are working together to ensure that qualified organizations like Habitat for Humanity can continue their important work.

My bill, the Nonprofit Mortgage Licensing Clarification Act, has strong bipartisan support in the House.$ It cur-rently has the support of more than 85 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle including the entire North Carolina delegation: Representatives G.K. But-terfield, Howard Coble, Bob Etheridge, Virginia Foxx, Walter Jones, Larry Kis-sell, Mike McIntyre, Sue Myrick, Mel Watt, Brad Miller, Patrick McHenry, and David Price. $

Health Care at Home$I also had an opportunity this past

week to speak to the American Asso-ciation for Homecare (AA Homecare) legislative conference taking place in Washington, DC.$ !e North Carolina Society for Respiratory Care gave me a Certificate of Appreciation for “excel-lence and leadership in health care and for championing better care for pul-monary patients and their Respiratory !erapist caregivers.”$$

From authoring a letter to the Cen-ters for Medicare and Medicaid Ser-vices (CMS) to chairing hearings in his Subcommittee on Rural Develop-ment, Entrepreneurship and Trade, I have helped advocate For the past sev-eral years on behalf of durable medical equipment suppliers and those who work to improve the care of millions of Americans who require medical care in their homes.$ !e supplies dis-tributed by the durable medical equip-ment industry ensure that thousands of seniors throughout North Carolina and the country are able to continue living in their homes instead of residential healthcare facilities away from their families.$

$Coming up$!is week, the House is almost cer-

tainly going to launch into even more intense healthcare debate.$ As you know, I voted against the first health care bill because I was concerned that the legislation did not do enough to promote prevention and wellness and did not bend the cost curve, as well as other concerns.$ I remain committed to making sure those issues are resolved.$ In the legislation currently being discussed, a number of important provisions, such as the issues of abortion funding and cost, are still up in the air and I want to see those resolved.$ I do not support the reconciliation process of pushing health care through.$ I will always prefer and advocate for bipartisan methods of cre-ating and enacting legislation.$ I thank everyone who has called and written my o"ce with your thoughts on healthcare.$$ Please continue to stay in touch about this matter and any other issues that are important to you.

Additionally, this week, my Ashe-ville o"ce is moving to a new location.$ Hopefully, the new space will allow us to better serve and communicate with you.$ !e new address is 205 College Street, St. 100, Asheville, 28801.$ !e phone number and fax will remain the same.$

Boosting Charitable Contributions for Earthquake Relief in Haiti and ChileTough Questions

CLIMATEGATE -A huge con-troversy about the questionable meth-ods used by some to prove global warming. Added to this the coldest winter in many years, and there is an underwater tremor that is threatening the climate change movement with a tsunami.

Is global warming a fact? Honestly, most of us don't really know. Have we scientifically examined the evidence to be able to answer that question? Do we have access to the data in order to verify it? Are we really di#erent from the sci-entists on both sides who twisted the data to prove their beliefs? It is human nature to remember the facts that sup-port our beliefs while we ignore evi-dence that proves otherwise. We jump to conclusions.

But we cannot a#ord to leave this

to human nature. !e fact is there are many other reasons to be green. Fact: We are damaging our planet. Fact: We cannot keep building energy hog buildings because of rising energy costs. Our economy cannot a#ord this. Fact: We need sources of energy and materials that cost less, are closer to us, and cause less damage to the planet. Honestly, that is what the green move-ment is about.

Are you spending a lot of money to heat and cool your building(s)? !en fix that, not because you want to pre-vent global warming, but because you want to save money, and help our com-munity keep the power company from raising its rates as fast, and reduce the amount of coal smoke that pollutes our mountains. Fix it to get a tax credit and because you are using the tax credit to give your local contractor a needed job.

Are you selling a green product or service? Don't sell it based on global warming. Use reasons that appeal to many more people. Show your cus-tomers how your product can save them money, help them be healthier, or preserve our beautiful mountains.

Yes, some of the leaders in the global warming movement are guilty of op-erating it like a corrupt religion, lying, bullying, even threatening to burn op-posers at the stake of public opinion. So have some of the opposers. Shame. As

with the banking industry meltdown, the innocent will all pay for this -this time with much higher energy costs.

But we have many good reasons to change the way we live. We can leave climategate to the media while we make green changes in our own lives that save us money, improve our stan-dard of living, and preserve our beauti-ful mountains.

Where to start: Local states are us-ing the stimulus money to o#er rebates on Energy Star appliances. Georgia is o#ering rebates while funds last. (!ey estimate until June 1). North Carolina is o#ering 15% rebates during Earth-week, April 22-25. You might also qualify for tax credits and other rebates. Go to energystar.gov and click on “re-bate finder.” Fill in your zip code and check which type of appliance you are considering. Click the button to locate rebates. You will see a list of govern-ment and manufacturer rebates o#ered to your area. Why not go down to your local appliance dealer and spend some of this stimulus and corporate money? Keep your neighborhood business go-ing and reduce your electric bill. Now that's green!

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.

4A

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“Stars Shine for Cancer in Ve-gas“, a variety show and live auction hosted by Relay For Life teams from Towns and Union Counties, will be held Saturday, March 27th at the Georgia Mountain Fair Anderson Music Hall from 5:30pm-9:00pm. !e family friendly evening will be-gin with some Las Vegas games at 5:30pm, followed by the live auction at 6:00pm and the variety show be-ginning at 6:30pm.

Some of the Auction items in-clude: a dining basket with more than $300 worth of gift certificates from area restaurants, rounds of golf, hotel stays, theater tickets, Fun World passes, Travis Tritt concert tickets, local art, jewelry, home décor items, wine baskets, ZipLine Tour passes and MUCH more. !e auc-tion items can be previewed begin-ning at 5:30 pm the night of the show.

!e variety show will feature 13 acts ready to entertain the crowd with famous songs, personalities and costumes. Acts will include rendi-tions of Elvis, Celine Dion, Wayne Newton, ZZ Top, Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Aretha Franklin and more.

Come hungry because the Mu-sic Hall concessions stand and RFL Bake Sale will be available through-out the evening. Tickets to this event are $5.00 and can be purchased at the door or can be bought in advance at Cadence Bank, Seasons Inn or the Georgia Mountain Fair. For more information, please contact Mia at Cadence Bank 706.745.5588. All proceeds will benefit !e American Cancer Society. Facebook users will find more info at the (Relay For Life “Stars Shine for Cancer” at the Georgia Mtn Fair) Fan Page.

Contributed Photo! Cafe Antica Roma is ra"ing o# a chocolate egg to bene$t the Relay for Life. The egg is valued at $500 and ra"e tickets are being sold for only $5. Stop in and see this monstrous egg for yourself.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

!e beach could be any warm spot and the couple any happy two-some." But they are actually in Tel Aviv, Israel, the man is a Palestinian suicide bomber and the woman is an Israeli." He’s in Israel to detonate a bomb." But at the ultimate moment, the switch does not work." While he waits for a new switch, he meets the woman and other Israelis he might dare call friends.

!e Murphy Library is show-ing Film Movement’s powerful film, “For My Father” !ursday at 6 p.m." It was nominated for 7 Israeli Academy Awards." It is not rated but would not be suitable for very young children.

Tarek, the Palestinian, is on a mis-sion to save his father’s honor, and even his life." So there are many reasons to finish the job he started." However, he tells a Tel Aviv shop-keeper that he needs the new switch for his construction job.

!en in the two days of waiting to fix the bomb, he finds much in common with those he was planning to hurt." He even saves one from a gas leak in her home." His concern is genuine; his action is swift.

What is he going to do, you ask yourself, when there are signs that he could have a life of value ahead of him."

!e Murphy Library’s subscrip-tion with Film Movement allows the library to advertise and publicly show their films one time and then they go into the library’s collection." Call the library at 837-2417, or go to my blog at www.friendsofmurphylibrary.wordpress.com to see the film’s trailer.

Powerful film

humanizes conflict

!e Cherokee County Cham-ber of Commerce will be hosting a seminar on ID theft as it pertains to businesses on Tuesday, March 30, from 5:30 until 6:45 at the Murphy Public Library." !e seminar will be conducted by Rod Springer, Chief Security O#cer at United Com-munity Banks." He will also cover topics such as counterfeit checks, counterfeit bills, shoplifting and other financial security challenges that businesses face daily." He has

several tips to help avoid some of the pitfalls that threaten the finan-cial well being of businesses and in-dividuals alike.

" !is seminar is being o$ered free of charge to members of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce and is available to non-members for $15.00." Registration is required." Call the Chamber at 837-2242 for additional informa-tion or to register

Chamber hosting seminar

Relay for life brings a little Vegas to Appalachia

LIBRARY

Raffle to benefit Relay

Advertise Here(828) 389-8338

Tim Ryan did not drive snakes out of the Murphy Library on St. Patrick’s Day." He did much better." He threw a party for the librarians.

"Ryan, a resident artist at the John C. Campbell Folk School, had the winning bid at the 2009 Friends of Murphy Library Auction and landed

a dinner party to be given by Sue Ellen Woodward." !en he made the party a gift to the Murphy Library sta$.

"Woodward and her friends Bonnie Allen and Sondra Bell helped trans-form the meeting room into a lepre-chaun’s lair and served up, what else, corned beef and cabbage, along with

other Irish treats." While the Nantahala Regional

Library sta$ worked the front desk, the entire Murphy Library crew sat in splendor, and wished each other, especially Ryan, Woodward, Allen and Bell,"“Top of the morning and the rest of the day.”

Library Celebrates St. Paddy’s Day

Contributed Photo! The sta# of Murphy Public Library enjoyed a St. Patrick’s Day feast courtesy of Tim Ryan, resident artist at the John C. Campbell Folk School.! Front row (l to r): Norma Smith, Lois Lenz; middle row: Evelyn Glidden, Ruthie Gentry; back row: Lizz Anderson, Charlene Davis, Tim Ryan, Je# Murphy, Melissa Barker.

1st Grade:! A-Honor Students:" Lyle Collett, Annie Dalton, Bianca Dorr, Allison Hansel, Andrew King, Heaven Lynch, Dennis Muron, Ryan Schane, Matthew Wheaton" A-B Honor Students:" Klairy Huskins, Hailey Millsaps, McKinley Newton, Jacy Odom, Christopher Sneed

" 2nd Grade:" A-Honor Stu-dents:" Jonah Graves, Kendell Roche’" A-B Honor Students:" Jacqueline Breazeale, Colton Bryant, Ariel Flee-man, Riley Newton, Jonathan Post, McKinna Postell, Belle Schultz, Whitney Sosebee, Cortney Trull

" 3rd Grade: A-Honor Students:" Kennedy Lee," Kaitlynn Wheaton,

Kimberly Williams" A-B Honor Stu-dents:" Mark Dean, Kelia Oliver, Jase Peels, McKayla Rider, Marie Sawdy, Michael Sawdy

"4th Grade:" A-Honor Students:"

Savannah Muron" A-B Honor Stu-dents:" Kevin Dean, Tristen Ellis, Taylor Fulgham, Allie Gribble, Ethan Moore, Jonathan Wheaton, Carlie Whidden

"5th Grade:" A-Honor Students:" Lexie Crapse, Cierra Roberts" A-B Honor Students:" Krystal Baker, Kai-tlyn Robinson, Katlyn Stiles, Kailyn Williams

Peachtree Elementary honors honor students

5AMarch 24, 2010

8A

George Curtis Bowers, 81, of Hayesville, NC passed away on March 21, 2010, after a period of declining health.! He was a native of Wilkes County, NC.! He was a graduate of NC State University, and served in the United States Army.! He resided in Clay County from 1958 until 1979 where he was the Assistant County Extension Agent.! He was the County Extension Agent in Cherokee, NC from 1979 until retiring in 1986.! He returned to Clay County in 1986 and served as a Sanitarian with the Clay County Health Department for four years.!! He was a member of the Clay Masonic Lodge #301 and the Hayes-ville First United Methodist Church.!

He was preceded in death by his parents, William F. and Gussie Spicer

Bowers, and two brothers, Ralph and Claude Bowers.! Surviving are his wife of 50 years, Carolyn Long Bowers; two daughters, Emily Anne Bowers of Hayesville, NC, and Julie Nell Bow-ers of Weaverville, NC; a son, Curtis Freeland Bowers and wife, Jane, and granddaughter, Caroline, of Charlotte, NC; two sisters, Anna Lou Gambill

of Winston Salem, NC and Pau-line Wooten of Yadkinville, NC; two brothers, Walter and Edward Bowers, both of Hayesville, NC.!

Funeral Services were held at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, March 23, in the Chapel of the Ivie Funeral Home in Hayesville, NC with Rev. Kirk Ha-therly o"ciating.! Interment was in Ledford’s Chapel United Method-ist Cemetery with Masonic graveside rites.! Masons served as pallbearers.!

#e family received friends from 12 – 1:45 Tuesday afternoon at the fu-neral home prior to the services.!

Ivie Funeral Home, Hayesville, is in charge of all arrangements.

An online register is available at “Obituaries” at www.iviefuneralhome.com.

George Curtis Bowers

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Iran Gene (Bo) White, age 56, of Andrews, NC passed away Monday, March 15, 2010 in Atlanta, GA.

He was a native of Cherokee Coun-ty;! son of Austin White and Sarah Beck Nix.!(Bo) was a lineman with the cable company. He loved riding mo-torcycles and yard work.

He was preceded in death by!two brothers, Phillip Austin White and Byran Gene White.

In addition to his parents he is sur-vived by his son, Levi White of Hayes-ville, NC.

Funeral Services were held at 2:00 PM, Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Chapel in An-drews, NC.!Rev. Ralph Baker and

Randall Young o"ciated. Burial was in the Valleytown Cemetery in Andrews, NC.! #e Bradley Boys served as pallbearers.!

! #e family received friends from 12:00 PM! to 2:00 PM, Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Chapel in Andrews, NC.

You may send tributes to the White family at www.mem.com or view oth-er obits at www.townson-rose.com

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

Iran Gene (Bo) White

Rose Lillian Taylor Moulton Blau-velt, age 91, of Murphy, NC passed away #ursday, March 18, 2010 at the Murphy Medical Center Nursing Home.

She was a native of Pulaski County, KY and had lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida before moving to Murphy in 2000. She was the daughter of the late Carl and Beatrice Bell Dye Taylor. Rose was a homemaker, an avid golfer and bowler. She was of the Lutheran faith and attended Ranger Baptist Church. Rose was a generous mother and a great person.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her two husbands, Clarence Ray Moulton and Harry Blauvelt; two brothers, Orville Taylor and Ernest Taylor; two sisters, Edna May Mahalilk and Agnes Sowder; and one great great granddaughter, Ashley

Mukka.She is survived by two sons, Rich-

ard Moulton and his wife, Carolyn of Greenwood, IN and Michael Moulton and his wife, Jacqueline of Fairland, IN; one stepson, Steve Blauvelt and his wife, Debbie of Ft. Lauderdale, FL; one daughter, Barbara Polos and her husband, Michael of Murphy, NC; one stepdaughter, Patricia Casella and her husband, Frank of McDonough, GA; one sister, Aliene Schneider of Jackson,

MI; six grandchildren, five great grand-children and 10 great great grandchil-dren.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the Townson-Rose Funeral Home Chapel in Murphy, NC. Rev. L.B. Adams will o"ciate.

#e family will receive friends at the Townson-Rose Funeral Home in Murphy, NC following the service.

A Graveside Service will be held at the Oaklawn Memorial Gardens and Funeral Center in Indianapolis, IN. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made in memory of Rose Lillian Tay-lor Moulton Blauvelt to the Ranger Baptist Church Life Care Center, 151 Walker Road, Murphy, NC 28906. You can send tributes to the family at www.mem.comTownson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Rose Lillian Taylor Moulton Blauvelt

Mary Sue “Suzy” Curtis Cox, 70, of Andrews, NC passed away Tuesday, March 16, 2010 in an Atlanta hospital’

Suzy was a lifetime resident of An-drews. Her interests included traveling, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all of her friends. She was of the Baptist Faith.

Suzy was preceded in death by her mother Ruth Cole of Topton; a special Aunt, Billie Reighard of Andrew, NC., and her husband Gerald “ Frog” Curtis of Andrews, NC.

Suzy is survived by her husband, Jerry Cox of Andrews; two daughters,

Shylon Curtis of Andrews and Da-ratha Curtis of Lexington, KY; a son Brian Curtis and wife Sandy of Warne, NC; one granddaughter, Shasta Mar-tin and husband Jamie of Marble,

NC; two grandsons, Cody White of Andrews and Dylan Curtis of Warne; three great-grandchildren, Amber Martin, Andrew Martin and Austin Martin of Marble, NC; and mother-in-law Virginia Cox of Andrews.

A Memorial service was held Sat-urday, March 20, 2010 at 2 p.m. at the Andrews Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the memory of Mary Sue Cox to the American Cancer Society c/o Hope Lodge, 1552 Shoup Court, Decatur, Ga 30030 1-404-327-9200.

Mary Sue “Suzy” Curtis Cox

Billy Ray ODell, 67, of Murphy, died Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at his home.

A native and lifelong resident of Cherokee County, he was the son of Roscoe and Bonnie Davis ODell. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam war, serving as an air traf-fic controller. He was a retired truck driver. He loved helping the elderly and enjoyed fishing. He was a member of Tomotla Baptist Church, where he served as Sunday school superinten-dent for 20 years.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Kenneth Stephen ODell; and his stepmother, Vanna ODell.

Surviving are his wife of 36 years, Loretta Kephart ODell; his daughter, Jannese Heinz of Waldwick, N.J.; two grandchildren, Alexandria and Dil-lion Heinz; his brother, Wayne ODell

and wife, Sandra of Murphy; his sister, Linda Roberson and husband, Clin-ton of Murphy; one nephew, Jeremy ODell of Murphy; two aunts, several uncles and many cousins.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM, Friday, March 19, 2010 at the Tomotla Baptist Church in Marble, NC. Pastor Harold Stiles will of-ficiate. Burial will be in the Hanging Dog Baptist Church Cemetery with Military graveside rites conducted by the VFW Post, #10222, Joe Miller

Elkin American Legion Post #96 and D.A.V. Chapter #73, Hayes-ville, American Legion Post 532 and Hayesville VFW Post 6812 (Allison-Bristol). Pallbearers will be Gene Gar-rison, Gene Kephart, Neal Kephart, Larry Kephart, Stacy Beavers and Ste-phen Anderson. Honorary pallbear-ers will be Jimmy Palmer and Robert Conley.

#e family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, #ursday, March 18, 2010 at the Tomotla Bap-tist Church in Marble, NC.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made in memory of Billy Ray ODell to #e Gideons International, PO Box 164, Murphy, NC 28906.

You can send tributes to the family at www.mem.com

Townson-Rose Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Billy Ray O’Dell

Irene Schmidt, 86, of Hayesville died #ursday, March 18, 2010 in a Murphy medical center.! A native of Kansas City, KS, she had been living in Clay County for the past 2 $ years.! She had worked as a telephone opera-

tor.!She was the daughter of the late

William T. and Katherine Raush Bat-dorf.

!Surviving is a son, Craig Schmidt of Hayesville.

!No services are planned.! Ivie Funeral Home, Hayesville in

charge of arrangements.!An online guest register is available

at “Obituaries” at www.iviefuneral-home.com

Irene Schmidt

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 Blairs-ville airport. If interested, contact Jim Olson @ 828-557-2446.

GWRRA MeetingsChapter J of the Gold Wing Road Riders

Association (GWRRA) meets the fourth Sat-urday of each month at Daniel’s Steakhouse, Hiawassee, Ga. We eat at 11 a.m. followed by the meeting at 12 p.m. during which rides and other activities are announced and dis-cussed. We encourage current members of the GWRRA and anyone interested in becom-ing a member to join us. All motorcyclists are welcome and we look forward to seeing par-ticipants from other chapters. There are great rides coming up and we hope many of you will join us. For further information, contact Chap-ter Director, June Gottlieb, 706-896-7403

.

Family ResourcesFamily Resources in

collaboration with Tri-County Commu-nity College will o!er ESL (English as a sec-ond 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 en-ergy, 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 meetings are open to the public. For more" information about joining the Club or becoming a HAM, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Amateur license testing will be held on" January 23rd in Blairsville. Contact Bob Ochs at 706-838-4728 for more"information.

Paint with a friend, pleaseCherokee Trail Decorative Painters"will be

having a “Bring" A Friend” meeting in Janu-ary." " Members" will be inviting friends" for a day of painting and fellowship."" We will have a variety of projects at all levels to paint." The projects will be provided by our Ways and Means Committee and will be a lot of fun to paint." The"meeting is January 23 at"9:30 at the All Saints Lutheran Church on Highway 76 in Blairsville, Georgia."" Cherokee Trail Decorative Painters is an a$liated chapter of the Society of Decorative Painters located in the tri-state area of North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennes-see." For more information email Nancy Gillis at wgillis@windstream.net.""

Paint with a friend, pleasePrepared childbirth classes will begin"Jan

21st through Feb. 11th 2010." Classes are on Thursday evenings 7:00 to 9:00" pm at the Cherokee County Health Department. " Par-ticipants must arrive by 6:30pm on the #rst night in order to register.""Classes are"taught by a Lamaze Certi#ed Instructor." To sign up or for more information call 828-837-7486 and ask for Ronnie or Montez.

Such thing as a free lunchFREE SOUP AND SANDWICH LUNCH Fri-

days at Noon in January – February at Hickory Stand United Methodist Church on Green Cove Road in Brasstown, NC. All are invited.

Mountain Community Chorus

Mountain Community Chorus will hold auditions for new singers at 6 PM Feb. 8th Young Harris College Clegg Recital Hall. Regu-

lar rehearsal at 7 PM. Visit www.mapaa.org.Mountain Community Seniors meets sec-

ond Thursday each month at Senior Center in Hiawassee at 2:00 P.M.. We invite and wel-come all Mountain Seniors from Towns, Union and Clay Counties to join us. We have Music, Informative speakers, picnics and #eld trips. On Thursday Feb. 11th We have Roy Perrin, Principal of Towns County High School who will give us his very entertaining rendition of Elvis. Light refreshments served. Do come join us.

Castaway CrittersThis the the beginning of a new year and

CASTAWAY CRITTERS ANIMAL RESCUE needs YOU!" We have so many areas (Puppy Promises Program, transporting dogs to northern state for adoption, assisting with adoptions,"trans-porting dogs/cats to/from the vet, etc)." I could go on and on." If you are interested in joining our wonderful team please call June Young at 706-400-8612.

Mountain Community Seniors

The Mountain Community Seniors was formerly called AARP, but the Towns County AARP has closed. We are now called “Moun-tain Community Seniors”, which means you do not have to be retired to join in on all the fun. Our monthly meetings will still be the second Thursday of each month at the Senior Center in Hiawassee at 2 pm.

Emergency bicycle repair class

Blairsville Bikes & BoardsThursday eveningApril 1st. 7 PMThe class is free and will be approx. 1 %

hours long.Topics covered will be basic bicycle repairs

for trail or road, like #xing a &at, broken chain, minor brake & shifter adjustments, and a pro-active pre-ride check over. The necessary tools you will need & how to use them. So you will hopefully never have to push your bike out.

" For more info call the shop @ 706 745 8141 Or stop by @ 49 Blue Ridge St. Blairsville GA. Located in historic downtown

Bring your bike if you like (optional) & and what ever beverage you want to drink.

Co!ee & Soft Drinks are available at the shop.

SABA member & supporter o!ering 10% discounts to SABA members

Amateur Radio

Attention HAMs and anyone interested in Amateur Radio

The 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 meetings are open to the public. Our next meeting is to be held"March 2nd and will"begin with a"special technical session to discuss and demonstrate interfacing/using N1MM logging/contesting software."For more"information about joining the Club or becoming a HAM, call Don Deyton at 706-781-6665.

Amateur license testing will be held on"March 13th in Blairsville. Contact Bob Ochs at 706-838-4728 for more"information and/or make an appointment.

FundraiserFundraiser / Meet and Greet - Dr. Dan

Eichenbaum (R) for Congress. Dr. Dan is stand-ing for election to congress in NC 11 as a principled conservative . Please join him and his team for dinner on Monday, April 12, at The New Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant in Murphy from 4:30pm-8:30pm. Call Mike Crowell with questions at 828-360-4294. Let’s talk politics!

9-12 ProjectThe 9-12 Project of Cherokee County

General Meeting, Saturday, April 10, 6:00pm-8:30pm, at the Brasstown Community Center located at 255 Setawig Road in Brasstown. We will be hosting a Meet and Greet of all candidates running for local and state o$ces. Everyone is welcome. Call 828-837-0055 for additional information.

Please let me know if you have any ques-tions.

CASTAWAY CRITTERS PET RESCUE

CASTAWAY CRITTERS PET RESCUE IS SEEKING A FUNDRAISING COORDINATOR." INDIVIDUAL WILL PLAN AND COORDINATE VARIOUS FUND-RAISERS FOR THE FINAN-CIAL NEEDS OF THE ANIMALS, TRANSPORT OF DOGS, AND UPKEEP OF DOG AND CAT SHELTERS." PLEASE CALL JUNE YOUNG AT 706-400-8612, or MARTHA ROLLISON AT 706-379-2729.

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.

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.

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 mjanis@meyecomputer.com

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.

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. 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 fwpartners@verizon.net.

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 mtnregartscraftsguild@hotmail.com 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 for information and reservations.

Submit your events to CherokeeSentinel

@gmail.com

March 24, 2010

EVENT SPOTLIGHT

All seniors, ages 55 and up, who are interested in healthy competitions, are invited to participate in a Sports Clinic for the upcoming Cherokee County Senior Games/Silver Arts. !e clinic will be held Friday, April 16, 10 to 2 p.m. in Konehete Park, Murphy.

Some of the activities will be race walking, shot putt and discus throwing, football, softball throwing, spincasting and horseshoe practice.

!e 2010 games and silver arts competitions are set for May 8 to May 22.Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be o"ered. For more information, call

county recreation director Phillip Davis, 837-6617 or 360-4398.Cherokee County Senior Games/Silver Arts promotes healthy aging

through friendly competitions that include a number of track and field events, bowling, tennis, handwork, photography and more. Every spring, over 60,000 seniors, ages 55 and older, participate in local Senior Games. Cherokee Coun-ty operates one of the 54 local senior games and includes participants in Clay County. Athletes and artists who qualify at local games are invited to attend the state finals in the fall.

!is program is sanctioned by North Carolina Senior Games. !e NCSG is sponsored statewide by the North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services.

!e local committee meets the third Monday of every month, year round, 9 a.m. at the senior center, across from the Murphy Public Library. Anyone interested is invited to attend.

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. -

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

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

2008 Lexus GS350,

For Sale 1996 Chevy S-10 Pick-up with -

3044Sell your Boat/RV. We bring the

buyer 33’ Travel Trailer

CNA’s needed for Cherokee and Clay

Now accepting applications -

Drivers: Teams. CDL-A 1 year expe-ri

-

Part-time Early Childhood Special-ist to work with families of children, 0-3,

-kee, and Graham Counties. Promote

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early childhood education, early child-

children, 0-3, and their families. Send

CNA available

Drivers/CDL Career Training

Real Estate Attorney full-time office position:

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

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--------------------------------------------------------D&L Painting & Drywall INC. Paint-

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--------------------------------------------------------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. -

Will baby sit your child

Lot of mirrors for sale. Most are

frames, great for woodworkers and arti-

Antique Couch

2007 Honda ATV TRX 400 EX , Good

Gorgeous, soft green, Country French, -

-

2009 Kawasaki KLX-110 with Mon-ster

For Sale Dining Room table with 4

Dry hay

Hay for Sale June 2009 cutting $3.00 a

RELOCATED & OPEN The PINK RIB-BON

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again and are in need of your donations,

Black Angus.--

Pro-Activ Solution

Sofa bed (queen)

Hiawassee Antique Mall

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

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Looking for bumper-pull horse trail-

LOST 2 Stihl Chain Saws

$200 reward offered for their return. Call

Happy Jack Mitex

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

For Sale by Owner Price REDUCED

139 Acres of land with with trout

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Investment Property -

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stop THE CAR HONEY! $319,000

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must sell furniture and furnishings at -

Lots within a gated community.

Must sell! lots, long range, year round mountain

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

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Building -

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Two bedroom, one bath

Early Spring Special! Sit in your

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

1 BR, 1 1/2 BA

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3 Bedroom, 2 Bath -

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We have cabins and Homes for

2 Bedroom, 2 Bath Cabin for rent

We have cabins and Homes for Rent!

Young Harris rentals

3br/2ba 2 car attached garage -

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

Newer Lake Nottely Waterfront --

tially furnished, or furnished. $1,000

Two bedroom, one bath

House for Rent: 3 Bedroom, 1 bath

The following positions are available

Hughes Pool & StoneCarries a f

ADVERTISE

Your classified advertisement will be seen in Cherokee Clay and Graham

Counties all for one low price (828) 389-8338

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

You can submit classifieds online at

www.wncsentinel.net

Call828-389-8338to subscribe!

SENTINEL

NEWSGROUP

8AMarch 24, 2010

do not think that this bill is the right solution.!!

I voted against the bill because I felt that we could do better. Now that it has passed and will become law, I look forward to working with my col-leagues to address specific areas that need improvement.! I assure you that I will continue to work as hard as I can to fix our nation’s health care system in a fiscally responsible and compassion-ate way.!

Certain aspects of this bill are ben-eficial and necessary.! I support elimi-nating the authority insurance compa-nies currently have to cancel coverage when an individual falls ill or to ex-clude altogether those with preexisting conditions.! I also support the measure that allows young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26.!

!While I support some provisions, I am concerned about how other parts of this bill will a"ect families, small businesses and our economy.! One of the most significant cost savings of this legislation is a colossal $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, which millions of se-niors across the country and 147,000 seniors in Western North Carolina rely upon for their health care coverage. If there is a half-a-trillion dollars worth of savings to be found in Medicare, we should utilize it to stabilize this already insolvent program rather than to create a new entitlement that will certainly

face the same sustainability challenges.! I cannot in good conscience vote to expand current entitlements or cre-ate new ones without ensuring that the proper mechanisms are in place to meet our current obligations of $38 trillion in Medicare benefits over the next 75 years.

! #is legislation also places a siz-able burden on our small businesses through mandates that will require small businesses to purchase health insurance for their employees or face fines of up to $2,000 per employee.! ! Furthermore, much of the $500 billion in new taxes created to pay for this bill will be put on the backs of our nation’s already-struggling small business own-ers.

!#is bill should have done more to rein in the insurance industry.! It does not do enough to prevent rate hikes and permits insurance companies to evade competition through the same anti-trust exemptions that they enjoy today.! Additionally, because the leg-islation guarantees that millions more consumers will have to buy insurance, we are literally pumping money into the very companies that have helped create the problems we are trying to solve, while getting little in return.

! To truly reduce our spending on health care we must target reform to-ward the root cause of the skyrocket-ing costs.! #is legislation fails to ad-dress the reality of what creates cost – sickness.! #is legislation does not do enough to promote accountable care, the idea that health care provid-ers should be rewarded for keeping patients healthy and out of the doctor’s o$ce.! ! #is bill fails to address the way that we provide health care in this

country; it merely adds more people to a broken, ine$cient, and wasteful system.

! In Washington, this debate has become more about winning or los-ing a political battle than promoting sound and e"ective policy.! Last year, a number of Republican lawmak-ers made their intentions clear with the statement, “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.”! I find this politi-cally motivated, obstructionist position o"ensive and detrimental to America’s future.! I also believe that the Demo-crats would have been better served by enacting common-sense incremental change rather than pushing through a huge bill that mushroomed into some-thing flawed and unwieldy.! #e belief that we have a moral obligation to help those who are less fortunate encapsu-lates why I am a Democrat, however it’s time that we start working together and put America above our political party a$liations.!

!#is was a very di$cult decision, but in the end I could not support this legislation as it currently is written. I evaluated all available information, lis-tened to the people of Western North Carolina, and prayed about this vote.! I know that many of you disagree with my decision, but I did what I believe was right for Western North Carolina and our country.! As your Congress-man, you can always be confident in my unwavering commitment to our community and this great nation.! I remain committed to finding solutions to our broken system and will continue to do so for as long as I represent you in the U.S. House of Representatives.

• Continued from page 1A

received thousands of letters, phone calls and e-mails from his constituents. He said it had become clear to him that a majority in the district were in support of health care reform but did not think this bill was the right solu-tion. He said he voted against the bill because he thought congress could do better.

On Monday, I talked with Clay County’s Health Department Direc-tor, Janice Patterson to get her take on the new bill as she understood it.

“I think it is a wonderful thing,” Patterson said. Saying she had been in nursing for more than 30 years, she said the provision which would forbid insurance companies from denying coverage of people with pre-existing conditions is very much needed.

“None of us choose to be sick or un-healthy,” she said. “It is a shame when children are born with a medical con-dition, and their parents can’t get insur-ance for them unless they are wealthy.”

Patterson said she is also in favor of the prevention portion of the bill, which encourages testing and screen-ing. “It is important to catch things early,” she said. “So they can be treated early. Now the portal of entry form many people who do not have insur-ance is the emergency room, which throws a heavy burden on hospitals.”

Patterson said she thinks it will be important to provide education to train more doctors and mid- level medical providers: nurses, physician as-sistants, so people will have improved access for medical help. She said as she understood the bill that it isn’t the perfect solution and will have to be im-proved upon as time goes by. “At least, it’s a start,” she said. “I think we need to think what is good for everybody, not just for those of us who have the means to provide for our own health care.”

She said really when you think about it most of us are just a day away from finding ourselves in a catastrophic situ-ation if we discover a medical condi-tion that requires expensive medical treatment.

Among other provisions of the bill, there is a provision to extend insurance coverage of children on their parents policy until they reach the age of 26. #e bill will require all persons to have insurance so as to provide a larger pool of people including healthy ones to support the cost of those who require medical care. However, that provision of the bill will no come into e"ect until 2014, when there is expected to be a greater number of doctors and medi-cal personnel trained to proved for in-creased services. Medical payroll tax on wages will also be increased for those individual taxpayers with earnings of more than $200,000 and for married couples filing jointly whose earnings are greater than $250,000.

• Continued from page 1A

Tri-County Area Gains New Family Practice Physician

Area residents now have more op-tions in choosing locally based health care with the recent addition of Glen-don P. Rougeou, MD, to the sta" of Murphy Group Practice. Dr. Rougeou, a Board Certified Family Medicine Practitioner, has extensive experience

in outpatient family medicine, having spent the last two years of his resi-dency in Urgent Care in addition to his post- residency experience in a private practice a$liated with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Wilkesboro, NC.

Dr. Rougeou received his under-graduate and Doctor of Medicine de-grees from Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana. He complet-ed both his internship and residency at the University of Nebraska Medi-cal Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. Fol-lowing his residency, he joined Wilkes Family Medicine in North Wilkes-boro, NC.

“Dr. Rougeou is a tremendous as-set to both Murphy Medical Center and the community as a whole,” stated

Mike Stevenson, CEO of Murphy Medical Center, which owns Murphy Group Practice. “#is area needs more physicians, and we are very excited to have him join our facility.”

“I am very pleased to be here,“ Dr. Rougeou said. “I have heard so many good things about the area, and look forward to meeting the members of my new community.”

Dr. Rougeou’s o$ce is located in the new Urgent Care Center / Murphy Group Practice facility located at 183 Ledford Street in the big log cabin on the corner of Highway 74 and Ledford Street, east of the intersection of High-ways 74 and 64. Dr. Rougeou is currently accepting new patients of all ages, and may be reached at 828-837-4712.

Dr. Glendon Rougeou Joins Murphy Group Practice

In a town with a name like Murphy full of those descended from the Irish who immigrated and settled in these Appalachian mountain, you’d expect to find a heck of a celebration on March 17th.! And you’d not be disappointed if you were friends with Dr. Brian Mitchell and his friend, George Hei-lner a local resident and Psychologist with Meridian.

#e whole thing started when Dr. Brian, who hails from Boston, came to Murphy in the mid-seventies to open a medical practice.! Dr, Brian missed the wearing of the green on March seventeen and wanted to continue his celebration of St. Pactrick’s Day in his new hometown of Murphy.

As it turns out, Dr, Brian’s father had owned a pub in Boston, and, somewhat to be expected, he tended bar during medical school. Newly transplanted and missing the celebra-tion he had known back in Boston, he, George, and ten others decided to give Boston a run for its money.

In the beginning, the celebration took place at what was then the Oak Barrel, moving later to a real estate o$ce, then on to the Cherokee Hills Golf Course.! For the past few years the L&N train station has been the site for this friend and family celebra-tion. In all, its been thirty years of a fun for the two friends--and their friends.

How many! Murphy residents re-

member the parade of a few years ago? Well, no parade this year. However, this past March 17th's celebration was per-fectly complete with Clogging, jigging, singing, joke-telling and a Pot Luck Dinner.! In addition to these acts,!the audience was treated to a bit of sp-pon playing and one of the wee folk (who!must have been seven feet tall!) found his way out of a huge paper bag!!!

What Irish celebration would be complete without food? On the long tables down the center of the depot!sat hefty amounts of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes!and brown bread (as well as typical American fare) provided by the folks who came to help Brian and George turn the L&N train depot into a little bit of Ireland.

Inspired by the Irish tradition of Ce-ilidh, (Gaelic for a family celebration), the growing group of friends have cre-ated the same atmosphere you’d find in a pub in Ireland. Young and old alike danced, ate, drank and sang.! Not necessarily in that order! And, just like in Ireland, every shade of green could be found on the party goers–as well as whimsical head gear and! Irish plaid. I even thought I saw!spied a!man in a!kilt.

A delightful group of young people on break from N. C. State line danced to!an Alan Jackson song; the Morris dancers from Brasstown again amazed the folks with their sticks, raggedy cos-tumes and choreographed routine; Julie Schreibner and #e Garland Dancers, beautifully! dressed! in their costumes, delighted the audience of friends seated against the walls of the old de-pot. "Take Me back To Muhlenberg County," sung by Bob Lekites, had the audience singing along. LeKites wife, Sue had just done a hilarious bit of a tongue twister taught to her as a child by a favorite uncle.! In addition, Ben Kennedy,!handsomely!attired!in a fish-erman sweater and Irish cap, treated the audience to Irish humor and a traditional Irish song, "#e!Mountains of Mourne,"! Later, Jo Kilmer clogged to the clapping audience and!Dekota and Brian thrilled everyone by danc-ing a jig.

In short, it was an amazing celebra-tion, one guaranteed to give Dr. Brian a de je vu of the good old days in Bos-ton, and the others with Irish names---as well as!those who are Irish for one day-- a feeling that they were!on the Emerald Isle.

Up with the Irish in Murphy

Under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 105-369 of the General Statutes of North Carolina and pursuant to an order by the Board of Commissioners of Cherokee County dated February 8, 2010, listed below are liens upon the real estate and personal property described for the non-payment of taxes owing for the year 2009. The amount advertised includes interest through March 2009. The omission of cost from the amount advertised will not constitute a waiver of the taxing unit’s claim of this item. The personal property and real estate that is subject to lien, the name of the person to whom the property is listed for taxes and the amount of the taxes are set out below. Reference is made to the records in the o!ce of the Register of Deeds of this county for more particular description for the real estate.

This 24th day of March 2010.

-Larry BartonTax Administrator

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Cherokee

Bring us your news! Our new address is: 1900 Hwy. 64 West Murphy NC, 28906Phone: 828.837.NEWS (6397)

Email: cherokee@wncsentinel.netHours: M-F • 9am - 5pm

109440 – Luxury 3BD/2BA timber framed home. Crafted interior features include soaring ceilings, arched beams, copper sinks, tumbled marble and stack stone !replace. The home sits on 5 acres. $599,950.

109242 – Magni!cent private estate with 3BD/2BA on 20+ acres. Custom home with master suite on main level. Stainless appliances, 3 separate heating sources and 2 car attached garage. $429,900.

109312 – 3BD/3BA raised ranch home with year round mountain views. Custom oak cabinets in kitchen and bathrooms. Stone gas log !replace in living room. Full basement with two car garage. $180,000.

109299 – 2BD/2BA cabin with a view and close to town. Enjoy the view from the deck or cozy up to the !replace in the living room. Mas-ter bedroom is in the loft. $149,500.

109289 – Nearly new chalet for your retirement or get away. 2BD/2BA with maple cabinets, huge island in kitchen, ceramic tile in bathrooms and gas log !replace. Good mountain view from open front deck with easy access on paved road. $189,900.

109242 – Magni!cent private estate with 3BD/2BA on 20+ acres. Custom home with master suite on main level. Stainless appliances, 3 separate heating sources and 2 car attached garage. $429,900.

109139 – 3BD/2BA home with gentle land of open yard and park like setting woods. This home has an open "oor plan with plenty of cabinet space in the gourmet kitchen. Double basement garage with circular drive. $239,900.

109112 – Enjoy the views of the lake from this 4BD/4BA home. This home has its own boathouse. Very spacious with o#ce and den. Great kitchen with oak cabinets. Master suite has its own deck. $259,000.

109007 – Beautiful log home with 3BD/4BA with so much to of-fer. Two !replaces, family room downstairs, private master suite with !replace, formal dining room and bonus room. Log sided workshop. $289,900.

108997 – Beautiful log home with 4BD/3BA. Outstanding long range mountain views from all sides of the home. Decks on all levels. Wood burning !replace. $300,000.

108878 – This 2BD/2BA home is charming and immaculate. The home o$ers a wood burning !replace, master suite with garden tub and bonus room. There is a covered front porch, back deck and will manicured front yard. $159,000.

108759 – 3BD.2BA log sided cabin tucked in the woods. Wood burn-ing !replace in great room, maple cabinets and T&G ceilings walls. Pri-vate master upstairs. Beautifully landscaped with a great garden area. $218,700.

107962 - Great location for this 2BD/2BA home with full basement. Home has been upgraded throughout and o$ers gorgeous hardwood "ooring through the living, dining and kitchen area. The large open deck has a good mountain view. $154,900.

107419 – 2BD/2BA country cottage with mountain views. Wood "oors in great room. Jacuzzi tub in master bathroom. One car garage in basements and large barn/storage building. $139,000.

104252 – Ranch style 2BD/2BA home with full !nished basement. Basement o$ers two bonus rooms. This home is located in a beautiful wooded subdivision and ready to move in to. $134,900.

FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS Local: 828-837-2288 • Toll Free: 877-837-2288

Website: www.exitmurphy.comE-Mail: properties@exitmurphy.com

1900 Hwy. 64 West Murphy, NC 28906 Kathy & Corky Vetten

Owners/Brokers/CRS828-361-0360 or 828-361-0358