WCU faculty closely monitoring $2 million Koch gift
A firestorm over a $2 million gift from political operative Charles Koch ignited the campus of Western Carolina University last…
Read More
Haywood County high-impact development ordinance passes
Children, the elderly, the ill, the mentally challenged and the incarcerated in Haywood County all have at least one thing…
Read More
Waynesville annexes charter school property
The Town of Waynesville’s area increased by 2.82 acres last week with the annexation of a parcel at 1023 Dellwood…
Read More
Cherokee council votes to keep vans gifted from Washington Redskins
A pair of Mercedes-Benz vans that The Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation once bestowed upon the Eastern Band of Cherokee…
Read More
Trump promises to ‘fix’ problems
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to a packed Asheville Civic Center on Monday as boisterous supporters cheered him on…
Read More
The biker politic
Motorcyclists have always been a distinct subset of the American population, long before they gained infamy in Hunter S. Thompson’s…
Read More
COMMENTARY: Fear and voting in Ashevegas
For 223 years, the highest office in the land has been passed from one man to another without bloodshed or…
Read More
COMMENTARY: The Donald and The Doomed converge in Asheville
“You’re a Nazi,” the 20-something female screamed into the face of an elderly veteran. The veteran shrugged off the comment…
Read More
Cat museum looking for volunteers
A museum honoring the American house cat is set to open soon in Jackson County, but cash and volunteer hours…
Read More
WCU to host congressional, state legislative debates
Western Carolina University’s Public Policy Institute and Department of Political Science and Public Affairs are seeking questions from voters to…
Read More
Jackson board tweaks cell tower ordinance
After surviving the first application process under the new wireless communication rules, Jackson County commissioners directed the planning board to…
Read More
Huge success for Canton Labor Day fest
The longest running Labor Day festival in the South is meant to commemorate the contributions of the organized labor movement…
Read More
Investigation results in 26 drug arrests
Macon County Sheriff’s Office concluded “Operation Thunderstruck” on Sept. 9 with 26 arrests for drug-related offenses while three suspects are…
Read More
Franklin to dole out funds to community charities
Fourteen Macon County charities are vying for a piece of Franklin’s $40,000 nonprofit funding pool, but not all organizations will…
Read More
Meadows introduces bill to save floating houses
U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Cashiers, introduced a bill last week to halt the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to ban floating…
Read More
Case dismissed in council pay raise suit
A lawsuit seeking to declare illegal a controversial Tribal Council decision to issue its members pay raises has been dismissed…
Read More
Cherokee give $50,000 to oppose North Dakota pipeline
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians threw its support behind the cause of the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota…
Read More
Asheville Regional Airport improvements continue
Geography and population conspire to make much of Western North Carolina a terrible place for an airport; west of Asheville,…
Read More
Elk hearing draws a crowd
A minor adjustment to elk depredation rules brought 70 people — about 40 of them college students — out to…
Read More
Choose Booze? Haywood County appears poised to end dry spell
This November, voters will have another choice to make at the polls — whether to allow beer and or wine…
Read More
Maggie Chamber elects new board, awards volunteers
Maggie Valley Area Chamber of Commerce recently elected three new members to the board of directors: Dave Angel, owner of…
Read More
Tourism economic impact growing in WNC counties
Allen Alsbrooks serves on the Maggie Valley Zoning Board, and used to serve on the town’s planning board; he’s also…
Read More
Anticipated Trout Capital designation likely to spur fly fishing tourism
If all goes according to plan, by this time next year Jackson County will have been declared the trout capital…
Read More
Great outdoors rakes in tourism dough for Macon
As outdoor recreation tourism continues to climb upward in Macon County, community stakeholders are trying to do a better job…
Read More
Charters of Freedom dedication delayed
Dedication of a new Charters of Freedom monument in Sylva originally planned for Sept. 17 — Constitution Day — is…
Read More
Work to begin soon on new Bryson City assisted living facility
It’s been almost a year since Cornerstone Assisted Living in Bryson City was closed down and more than 30 senior…
Read More
Western breaks enrollment records
Western Carolina University saw its previous high-water mark for enrollment blasted away this year as final student counts for 2016…
Read More
Maggie Valley to regulate outdoor sales
Although the closure of Ghost Town in the Sky several years back has left many Maggie Valley businesses struggling just…
Read More
Open houses for forest plan
National forest users who want to share their thoughts on issues and projects, including the forest plan revision, will have…
Read More
Wilderness advocates criticize congressman
A meeting to talk about wilderness started off with a bang last week when a group of pro-wilderness folks who…
Read More
Swain sheriff proposes gun range at Alarka School
Swain County commissioners are considering possible locations for a law enforcement gun range after Sheriff Curtis Cochran explained the inconvenience…
Read More
Haywood County to build animal shelter
Dr. Kristen Hammett had just left the current Haywood County Animal Shelter when she appeared before the Haywood County Board…
Read More
Charter schools a mixed bag, statewide and locally
Charter schools have long been touted by proponents as an innovative and enticing option for parents of children in low-performing…
Read More
Haywood schools improve in state rankings
School performance indicators issued last week paint a picture of a very good Haywood County School System that continues to…
Read More
Libertarian Party gaining momentum
It’s a great time to be a Libertarian, according to Brian Irving, the party’s North Carolina chairman.
Read More
Supreme Court denies McCrory’s request to reinstate voter ID
A request by Gov. Pat McCrory to reinstate North Carolina’s 2013 voter identification requirement and shortened early voting period was…
Read More
Safety construction concluding in Pigeon River Gorge
Orange barrels have been flying out of the Pigeon River Gorge on Interstate 40 near the North-Carolina Tennessee border. On…
Read More
National treasure: National Park Service celebrates 100 years
When President Woodrow Wilson scrawled the signature that brought the National Park Service into being — 100 years ago, on Aug.…
Read More
Drug use in Cherokee to come with a price
Possessing drugs on the Qualla Boundary will get a lot more expensive following a decision this month to ratchet up…
Read More
Group plans Second Amendment protest
Haywood County political activists hope to hold a gun rights rally on the grounds of the Historic Haywood County Courthouse…
Read More
Sylva endorses one-lane Mill Street
Mill Street in Sylva will likely become a one-lane road in the future following a vote from the town board…
Read More
Houseboat owners raising legal funds to challenge sunset provision
While the Tennessee Valley Authority seems unwilling to reconsider its decision to sunset all lake houseboats within 30 years, houseboat…
Read More
Harris provides new scoreboard
Harris Regional Hospital has provided a new scoreboard for the Carr Hooper Stadium and Babe Howell Field at Smoky Mountain…
Read More
Chamber director earns certified status
CeCe Hipps, president of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, was designated by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives…
Read More
Swain County buys property to create fairgrounds
With the purchase of 8 acres in Bryson City, Swain County will now have an outdoor event area to host…
Read More
New Swain library not possible without county support
The clock is ticking to get a new library constructed in Swain County before the land donation reverts back to…
Read More
Canton awarded $350K pool grant
The Canton Board of Aldermen was in high spirits Aug. 25 even before Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss walked in to…
Read More
New charter school campus behind schedule
Shining Rock Classical Academy leaders were hoping students would start classes this year at a new campus on Dellwood Road,…
Read More
Shining Rock seeks annexation
The future site of Shining Rock Classical Academy at 1023 Dellwood Road isn’t in the town limits of Waynesville, but…
Read More
Road to Nowhere lawsuit stalled for another month
It’s been about five months since Swain County filed a lawsuit against the federal government for $38.2 million, and commissioners…
Read More
