The Great Smokies National Park After the Tornado

During the tornado outbreak this past April that swept through the Southeast, a tornado swept through the northeastern portion of the Great Smokies National Park, leaving a trail of destruction across 2,000 acres of the park. Several trails were closed until repairs could be made. The effort to clean up after the storm has been a long one, and some of the closed trails are now beginning to be reopened. You can keep up with road closures online...

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Bachmann Enters 2012 Race Video and Transcript of Announcement

I apologize for the late coverage on this story, but my Internet has been a bit unreliable for the past few days...here is the full video and transcript of Michele Bachmann announcing her run for President of the United States. Candidate Website Transcript: It's great to be in Iowa and even better to be in Waterloo where I was born. It's fitting to be here at the Snowden House, the place that once served as the home of the Waterloo Women's...

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Dear Frontier Communications: Where is My Internet?

Thanks to the utter incompetence of Frontier Communications, I've been unable to post to this blog lately. Several of my friends on Facebook have posted notices that Frontier has left them high and dry as well, so I know the problem isn't with my line. Allow me to vent... Dear Frontier Communications: How could you screw up the excellent DSL Internet Service that Verizon has so ably maintained so very badly??? Verizon hardly ever went down,...

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Early Morning Lightning

This lightning is part of a storm that moved through Towns County, Georgia a little after 3.30am today. I was watching it from 4 miles NNE of Franklin, NC. The storm was about 20-30 miles to my Southwest. Shortly after that the ubiquitous early morning fog moved in and ruined the show. ...

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The Smokies: Punished into Ecstasy

Here is a delightful little documentary of a hike in the Smokies by a couple of brothers and friends. From the video description: In the first week of April, 2011, I joined my older brother for a five-day trek along the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies. We were also joined by Ben's two friends, Jason and Casey. What ensued was an adventure and a trial that included numerous physical meltdowns, one hellacious storm, unexpected snow,...

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Weekly Republican Address Delivered by Representative Renee Ellmers

June 25, 2011Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC) delivers this week's address from the House Small Business Committee, where American job creators continue to voice their concerns about our fragile economic recovery which is prohibiting job growth. We know the president's "stimulus" package failed to create jobs, and additional reckless spending is not the answer. The House Republican Plan for America's Job Creators will reduce job-crushing...

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Chipmunk on the Squirrel Feeder

A chipmunk pays a visit to my squirrel feeder... ...

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Macon County Commissioners Video of the June 21, 2011 Meeting

The Macon County Commissioners met this morning at 8am in Franklin, NC. I was the only person from the local media present. During the meeting, Chairman Brian McClellan announced that Alan Bryson no longer wished to serve as the Macon County Representative on the Highlands ETJ Board. Chairman McClellan indicated that John Crow was willing to serve on the board. Commissioners agreed. Vice Chairman Bobby Kuppers informed Commissioners that...

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Photos and Video of The Braveheart 5K

The Braveheart 5K was held this Saturday to raise money for the Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin, NC during the Taste of Scotland Festival and 131 runners participated in the race. The top ten finishers were:  1 CANYON WOODWARD 18:02  2 JEFF HOWARD       18:08  3 PARKER BYRD 19:04    4 BRADLEY GREENE 19:12    5 MARTIN LENSKI 19:30    6 BRAD KNOPS 19:32    7...

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NC General Assembly 06-18-2011 Legislative Calendar Links to Bills and Live Audio Feeds

The North Carolina General Assembly is currently preparing to recess until the middle of July and here is the schedule for today. There are no committees meeting today, only sessions of the NC Senate (which has already met and recessed until July) and the NC House are currently scheduled. If you cannot listen to these meetings live, check back later to see if I have. If I have, I'll post the audio (and a download...

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NC General Assembly 06-17-2011 Legislative Calendar Links to Bills and Live Audio Feeds

The North Carolina General Assembly is currently preparing to recess until the middle of July and here is the schedule for today. There are no committees meeting today, only sessions of the NC Senate and the NC House are currently scheduled. If you cannot listen to these meetings live, check back later to see if I have. If I have, I'll post the audio (and a download link) for the meeting in the calendar. You can...

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