To mark the second anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, there will be an Occupy the Courts rally for Western North Carolina outside the Federal Courthouse, 50 Main Street, Bryson City, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 20. The rally is part of a national event to heighten public awareness regarding the Citizens United decision related to “corporate personhood.” It will be conducted by the Western North Carolina affiliate of Move to Amend, a grassroots coalition in the forefront of a coordinated campaign to help local groups advance ballot initiatives and resolutions rejecting the 2010 Supreme Court decision.

For months and months we had to read in this publication all the contrived stories about the effect of extending the runway at the airport by a few hundred feet, which was necessary for safety reasons.

A small and most irritating group promulgated scare stories about 747s landing here, airplanes flying into the schools, huge traffic jams on the Airport Road, noise pollution, private jet traffic and other garbage lies that were just conjured up. Everything they said didn’t amount to a hill of beans then, or now!

The Macon County Department of Social Services would like to extend our appreciation to the following sponsors for their generous contributions, which helped to brighten Christmas for our children in foster care:

As a wildlife correspondent and North Carolina resident, I am appalled by Brasstown’s planned New Year’s Eve “Opossum Drop.”

During the event, a live opossum who has been snatched from the wild is suspended above a raucous crowd in a Plexiglas box for hours before being “dropped” about 40 feet, a terrifying ordeal for a timid animal who naturally avoids human contact. The frightened opossum is subjected to a screaming crowd, fireworks, and gunfire. It’s no wonder that eyewitnesses have reported that opossums used in previous years were shaking in fear. Afterwards, the traumatized opossum is apparently released in a parking lot, putting her in danger of being hit by a car.