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Wood thrush adds to ‘quality of life’
To the Editor:
Amanda McFalls’ photo of the bird’s nest and eggs (featured on page 1A of the June 17 edition) appears to be that of one of the thrushes, perhaps a wood thrush (Hylocichila mustelina). I suggest this based on the nest composition and egg color, which are similar to one I photographed when I flushed the bird off a nest, but only about 4 feet above ground, in a thicket on the Blue Ridge Parkway several years back. The wood thrush is one of my favorite of the tropical songbirds with its flute-like “ee-o-lay, ee-o-lie” each morning in late May through July. I’ve heard between one and three nesting at my home from year to year but only one this year. I generally have observed them at elevations up to about 4,500 feet where its cousin, the veery (Hylocichila frucescens) breeds.
Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds describes the ranges for both species overlapping here in Western North Carolina and the winter range from Florida (for the wood thrush) to South America. Wood thrush has a rusty head with large black spots on its white breast while the veery is “uniformly cinnamon-brown or tawny.” These are deep wood nesters. Let us hope that timber cutting in Western North Carolina and their winter range does not result in the loss of the “quality of life” the tropical migrants provide for us.
Dan Pittillo
Sylva
Concerned about junk yards
To the Editor:
I am a resident of Allens Branch Road here in Sylva. I have a few concerns that I would like to address about my community.
1) Do the laws of our great country not apply to everyone on Allens Branch Road? I am beginning to believe that they do not. I called 911 a few times about a young man who had been driving an old, rusted, pickup truck up and down the main road and he doesn't even have a license or insurance on the vehicle. My concerns were not just for that fact but for the children that he was hauling in the vehicle and for the safety of other motorist on the road. But nothing was done because he is still driving the vehicle as of June 3rd, 2004. What is it going to take to get something done about this, someone being killed because that sure is what it seems like.
2) I know that Jackson County has a Junk Car ordinance, but yet when I visit my mother on Allens Branch Road, we have to thread our way through a drive-thru junk yard just to get to her driveway. Do they not enforce that ordinance or is it the “good old boy” politics that plays a role here? Just because the owner is a “good old boy" the laws should not apply? And why is it that our county politicians don’t do some thing is the big question here because there are children that have to walk that road everyday to get to the bus stop. I know for a fact that Janet Cantwell of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been contacted several times but yet the mess is still there. I just wonder when our political leaders of our great county are going to do something to help clean up our neighborhood?
Margaret Ramey
Sylva
County staff works 7.5 hours in lieu of breaks
To the Editor:
I would like to respond to (Commissioners’ Chairman Stacy) Buchanan’s suggestion of changing the county office’s hours of operation. The article as written, whether it was intended or not, gives the inaccurate impression the county employees are getting something for nothing and are not pulling their weight in meeting the needs of those we serve in Jackson County. For clarification only, the county employees agreed to work 7.5 hours per day in lieu of an eight- hour day with two 15-minute breaks as required by law.
I can only speak for myself and do not intend to or feel qualified to speak for the other county employees. I do not object to working the traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. day. However if the hours are changed, the employees will once again be entitled to two 15-minute breaks, thus reducing the work day from 8 hours to 7.5. What’s the difference?
In my particular job, what would the customers think if they were to come to the office for assistance, only to be told they will have to wait as the worker has just gone on her break? Doesn’t sound like good customer service does it? Or for the employee who works out in the field, are they going to stop doing a task in midstream to take their break?
Maybe the business hours should be changed to include the 15-minute breaks, then the employees will actually take one. As it stands, many of the employees do not stop long enough to take a bathroom break, much less just a breather. Their job demands are such that they are on the go constantly throughout the day and into the evening hours. If they are lucky, their work won’t carry over throughout the night.
The point is, if all the county employees have is the illusion of a shorter workday, so what? Considering what many of the county employees give of themselves daily that cannot be measured by a wage or hour on the job, the illusion is not such a bad thing. Ask the social workers who have 300-plus hours of comp time if 30 minutes of illusion is such a bad thing.
Diane Parker
Sylva
Not time to cross party lines
To the Editor:
I read with some interest last week’s letter regarding crossing party lines and supporting Vinroot instead of Easley for governor. I, too, am a lifelong Democrat.
The writer is correct in pointing out that North Carolina’s economy trails, but he is mistaken in where he lays the blame.
As one of the few remaining “manufacturing” states prior to the current recession, NAFTA, the WTO, “out sourcing” and “free trade” have decimated North Carolina’s economy. What jobs haven’t been moved overseas from North Carolina have been taken by poorly-paid illegal immigrants here. The blame lies squarely with the Bush administration.
In fact, Bush’s chief economic advisor has repeatedly spoken in favor of “out-sourcing” and “free trade,” blithely ignoring the impact on working families (an “uncomfortable” transition period, as he puts it).
Bush not only supports the exodus of industry overseas, he is also in favor of allowing more than 13 million illegal immigrants to stay and work here. According to him, they are only working jobs that American citizens do not want.
Gov. Easley has proposed, supported and signed into law every stimulus measure possible to provide economic growth for this state. He has also set forth every possible option, including a lottery, to avoid raising taxes. By my way of thinking he has done everything possible to prop up this state’s economy; he hasn’t missed a trick.
That Vinroot was the former mayor of Charlotte automatically disqualifies him by my way of thinking. To have been the leader of an Orwellian nightmare like that (including, but not limited to, closed-circuit TV cameras at intersections) is nothing to brag about.
So, although I do not always disagree with my Republican friends, this year’s governor’s race is one of the last places a Democrat needs to cross party lines.
Patrick Holleman
Sylva
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