Sandburg expansion bill heads to president's desk

The home site of poet and author Carl Sandburg in Flat Rock is closer to being expanded. A bill authorizing the expansion of the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site and a new visitor center there is headed to President Bush's desk after passing the House, according to the Hendersonville Times-News.

The Consolidated Natural Resources Act passed the House on Tuesday. The bill had previously cleared the Senate and now heads to President Bush's desk for approval.

"The Sandburg Home is an important part of both our heritage and our economy in Western North Carolina," said U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, who co-sponsored the bill in the House. ...

The legislation authorizes the historic site to expand on its western boundary if land becomes available from willing sellers. The National Park Service supports the expansion, wanting to prevent development from encroaching on the park. The bill authorizes the acquisition of up to 115 acres. Up to five of the acres would be for the visitor's center and an expanded parking lot.
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The land around Connemara, the name of Sandburg's home, is gorgeous, and the entire site is probably one of the least-known of the state historic sites. The home is left pretty much how Sandburg lived; it's a snapshot in time.

Sandburg won two Pulitzers, one for his Abraham Lincoln biography and one for The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg.

Quick hits: Sandburg, smoking and (a hit to) sippers

Carl Sandburg's Flat Rock home listed as one of '10 Great Places'
"Take the fork in the road and see the landscapes that inspired some of America's best-loved poets," writes USA Today online. "April is National Poetry Month, a good time to visit the homes of some of the nation's most renowned poets. J. D. McClatchy, poet, editor of the Yale Review and author of American Writers at Home, shares his recommendations with Kathy Baruffi for USA Today."

One those homes is Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, N.C. (pictured).

" 'The son of Swedish immigrants, Sandburg (1878-1967) was born in Illinois and made his name with poems about Chicago (Hog Butcher of the World). He won the Pulitzer Prize twice, was friendly with presidents and movie stars, but he never forgot his humble beginnings,' McClatchy says. Hence, his somewhat baronial estate, 30 miles from Asheville, N.C., may seem out of character to some visitors. A herd of goats is a reminder of the dairy farm his wife once ran here. ..."

Weakened statewide smoking ban passes House committee -- again"A ban on smoking across North Carolina, bounced back from the House floor in a dispute over business owners' rights, again won the support of a House committee Tuesday in a weakened form that put much of the onus for restrictions on local governments," writes WRAL.com.

"The modified bill would still ban smoking statewide in restaurants, hotels and state government office buildings. However, it would specifically exclude restaurant-bars that are age-restricted and smoking-designated hotel rooms.

"Local governments would have the authority to override those exceptions and to bar or restrict smoking in public places, workplaces, local government buildings, public transportation and schools. ..."

Frost turns grapes and vintners blue
"Peaches and apples weren't the only crops hurt by the Easter weekend freeze," writes the Charlotte Observer.

"Across North Carolina's young wine industry, grape growers and wine makers are assessing damage to their fields -- and waiting to see how bad it gets when warm temperatures return and vines begin to grow again.

"Agriculture agents in grape-growing counties, particularly around the Yadkin Valley, report heavy losses in white-wine grapes such as chardonnay, pinot gris, viognier and riesling. Those vines break into buds early, and warm temperatures before the freeze pushed them as much as two weeks ahead.

"Red-wine grapes, particularly cabernet sauvignon, are hardier and break bud later, so they sustained less damage. ..."