Obfuscate is defined as “to make so confusing or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand.” Within the last two weeks there have been several examples of government obfuscation. In today’s Opinion of the Readers, there is a letter...

I would like to comment on the front page article entitled “Schenck Job Corps’ Future Remains Unclear,” published in The Transylvania Times on June 6. Perhaps I can add to the ongoing conversation launched by the U.S. Forest Service when it sai...

Monday, June 17, the Brevard City Council will adopt the city’s 2020 budget. When they do so, they green-light all capital projects within this document. In his budget summary, Brevard City Manager Jim Fatland talks about the $800,000 set aside...

Watching Donald Trump wrap himself in the American flag in Europe last week was a near sickening experience, one that soiled the names and heroics of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the bloody beaches of Normandy in 1944. This...

I was looking at the article about Mr. Fatland’s Memorial Day uniform and, more specifically, his attempt to obtain a copy of his DD-214. He stated he paid $119 to get a copy of his DD-214. The Transylvania County Veterans Service Office processes...

This past Memorial Day weekend, Pisgah National Forest was so crowded it took visitors up to an hour to exit the forest. The traffic was backed up from the forest entrance at the intersection of U.S. 276 and N.C. 280 past Avery Creek Road, a...

Watching the D-Day ceremonies at Normandy this morning (Thursday, June 6) and viewing the almost 10,000 graves of our fallen servicemen who gave their lives to preserve freedom, liberty, and democracy was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Seeing the...

What an experience last Thursday! World-class cellist Amit Peled filled the air with sounds that brought an audience jumping to its feet at the end. It was the spring fundraiser for the Brevard Philharmonic, held in the beautiful home of Kristine...

On May 25, 2019, The Transylvania Times posted several photos to its Facebook page of the annual Memorial Day parade that took place that morning. One of those photos shows a gentleman in uniform walking in the parade and carrying a banner. Upon clos...

It’s impossible to respond to the recent letter from Ms. Rokotnitz because of the inaccuracies. It was just another diatribe against the president and this time it is from a European. The diatribes have become boring and meaningless. She needs to...

Today marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy by Allied Forces that helped lead to the end of World War II in Europe. The invasion did not occur without heavy costs, particularly at Omaha and Utah beaches where primarily...

Our current fire district taxing policy is both inequitable to our taxpayers and has the potential to present a safety issue. The existing system has fire tax districts that have evolved over the years with little adjustment for changes in population...

There has been a trend in the past few decades to determine the quality of schools based solely on a few factors, primarily student performance on standardized tests. As has been discussed in previous editorials, grading schools primarily on these...

I’m just a simple person and I have a few questions for the letter to the editor crowd. Why does a Trump supporter buy an imported car, beer and wine when domestically produced equivalents are easily available? Would we need tariffs if Americans...

It seems that every year during the Memorial Day weekend many people don’t understand the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I cringe when people who recognize me as a veteran say, “Happy Memorial Day,” for this is a very somber...

The county commissioners received a budget proposal last Tuesday evening to increase the fire tax rate in North Transylvania’s fire district from 14 cents to 21.39 cents per $100 to meet the budgetary needs of the department. Last year, the county...

  When Anna Yount became the director of the Transylvania County Library 25 years ago, the library had an exceptional staff and good programs. But the library, which was housed in what is now the County Administration Building, was too small, too...

This letter is to all of the festival and dog lovers of our community, If you love your dogs, and I know you do, please leave them at home when you come to our festivals in 90 degree weather. It is way too hot on that pavement for their little paws....

Not the good kiss, just the Keep It Simple Stupid – KISS. I’ve just read three letters to the editor regarding pro-abortion. I’m tired of hearing about termination of pregnancy, etc. Now we should all call this termination of a baby. How many...

This weekend we have honored, individually and as a community, those Americans who gave their lives in times of war. Transylvanians have always stepped forward to serve. One need only look at this paper’s obituaries to see the number of people who...

As an American woman and a Christian minister, it’s been clear to me for most of my 73 years that the anti-abortion movement is rooted not in any serious respect for life but in a deep disrespect for women’s lives, bodies and ability to make mora...

It has been evident in the movement toward strict anti-abortion laws being passed in several states, that the issue seems to be the anti-abortion proponents deny the privacy rights as defined in Rowe vs. Wade, which set the current law allowing...

The letter in the edition of April 29 from Don Stinchcomb was impossible to ignore. The blanket acceptance of “all that Trump has done” is exactly what his so called president wants. NATO “is starting to pay up” (it always has) and “a...

In my 30 years in pediatrics it was unusual to see the father come into the office with the child for a “well child visit” much less a sick visit. It was usually mom. Then there was the mother depressed, trying to breast feed, exhausted,...

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed, one of its major components was expanding Medicaid coverage. The idea was that by expanding Medicaid coverage and providing subsidies to those who made too much to qualify for Medicaid, nearly all...