Franklin budget proposal focuses on infrastructure needs
 

Franklin budget proposal focuses on infrastructure needs

Franklin’s proposed budget prioritizes a number of long-range infrastructure projects without increasing the tax rate.
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More firefighters needed, but is it worth a tax increase?
 

More firefighters needed, but is it worth a tax increase?

Waynesville leaders will face a big decision this budget year: whether to increase property taxes by 10 percent to pay…
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Cherokee moves toward marijuana legalization
 

Cherokee moves toward marijuana legalization

Cherokee took another step along the road toward legalizing medicinal marijuana with a vote last week to start drafting legislation…
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Farmers lease old Drexel factory in Whittier
 

Farmers lease old Drexel factory in Whittier

After years of sitting empty, the old Drexel Furniture factory in Whittier will now enter a new phase of useful…
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Gaming machines seized from local businesses
 

Gaming machines seized from local businesses

An undercover investigation into illegal gambling resulted in the seizure of more than 300 gaming machines from convenience stores across…
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Shining Rock stalled on mobile classroom contract
 

Shining Rock stalled on mobile classroom contract

Shining Rock Classical Academy is considering legal action against a modular building company for not being able to honor its…
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Haywood Schools to make layoff announcements this week
 

Haywood Schools to make layoff announcements this week

Budget cuts are forcing Haywood County Schools to lay off 10 teachers and staff at the end of this school…
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Haywood Schools dispute allegations surrounding Central Elementary
 

Haywood Schools dispute allegations surrounding Central Elementary

Haywood County school leaders went on record this week patently disputing the allegations in a lawsuit filed last week questioning…
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How sincere is your smile? Stakes are high in the never-ending quest for seasonal tourism workers
 

How sincere is your smile? Stakes are high in the never-ending quest for seasonal tourism workers

It happens like clockwork every year. As the calendar creeps toward May, the roads get crowded, lines at the grocery…
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Bomb threat made to Jackson, Swain and EBCI government buildings
 

Bomb threat made to Jackson, Swain and EBCI government buildings

A bomb threat was called into 911 during the 11 a.m. hour this morning, with a male voice claiming bombs…
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How may we help you? Tourism’s future in the hands of frontline workers
 

How may we help you? Tourism’s future in the hands of frontline workers

It’s a conundrum the best minds in tourism have been trying to crack for decades.
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Haywood commissioners support keeping houseboats
 

Haywood commissioners support keeping houseboats

Haywood County commissioners passed a resolution this week adding their two-cents to the debate over whether floating houseboats on Fontana…
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Hospitality help is hard to find: Tourism businesses looking for seasonal help
 

Hospitality help is hard to find: Tourism businesses looking for seasonal help

Melanee Lester has been sorting through a 4-inch-high stack of applications on her desk for the last couple of weeks,…
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Casino strategizes to keep good hires on board
 

Casino strategizes to keep good hires on board

Busy season is coming at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, and management there is working to get all hired up for summer. 
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Blue Ridge National Heritage Area tackles the $50,000 question of hospitality training
 

Blue Ridge National Heritage Area tackles the $50,000 question of hospitality training

The tourism industry doesn’t always agree on much. They argue over the best logos and ad campaigns, whether to fund…
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Large tax rate increase likely for Sylva
 

Large tax rate increase likely for Sylva

Sylva’s leaders have known for a year that taxes would have to go up in 2016, but it’s unlikely any…
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Search for new manager progresses in Jackson
 

Search for new manager progresses in Jackson

The interview process will soon begin in the search to replace Chuck Wooten, who will retire from his position as…
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EMS costs throw a wrench in Jackson budget talks
 

EMS costs throw a wrench in Jackson budget talks

Ambulance service in Jackson County could more than double in cost to taxpayers if commissioners decide to fund the full…
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Lawsuit filed over closure of Central Elementary
 

Lawsuit filed over closure of Central Elementary

A lawsuit was filed this week against the Haywood County School Board alleges ulterior motives were at play for closing…
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TVA to make a decision on houseboats May 5
 

TVA to make a decision on houseboats May 5

Tennessee Valley Authority officials have confirmed that its board of directors will make a decision on May 5 regarding the…
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Animal shelter estimate tops $5 million
 

Animal shelter estimate tops $5 million

When a report estimating cost and space needs for a new animal shelter came back with a staggering price tag…
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Businesses rally to change Maggie town plan
 

Businesses rally to change Maggie town plan

An alliance of business owners opposing Maggie Valley’s proposed town center master plan is growing stronger and becoming more organized…
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YMCA camp gets ready to open in Swain
 

YMCA camp gets ready to open in Swain

A little more than a year ago it was nothing more than an open grassy field surrounded by forest, but…
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Haywood Health Foundation sets high goals for 2016
 

Haywood Health Foundation sets high goals for 2016

The Haywood Healthcare Foundation managed to generate enough funding to have a major impact on the health needs of Haywood…
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Connecting Pets and People
 

Connecting Pets and People

In recognition of National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day on April 30, The Smoky Mountain News is highlighting the organizations…
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Promoting civility: Online posts prompt discussion about race and inclusiveness at WCU
 

Promoting civility: Online posts prompt discussion about race and inclusiveness at WCU

It started with a poster. Or, more accurately, with a collection of posters in the window of Western Carolina University’s…
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Maggie Valley to rethink town center design
 

Maggie Valley to rethink town center design

Maggie Valley leaders agreed to go back to the drawing board after several business owners expressed opposition to a portion…
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Bear zoo  case will go to appeal
 

Bear zoo case will go to appeal

After a federal judge ruled that the Cherokee Bear Zoo isn’t breaking the law with its treatment of the grizzly…
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Cherokee banishes 15 for drug offenses
 

Cherokee banishes 15 for drug offenses

Cherokee’s Tribal Council was all business this month as members plowed through a list of 15 names proposed for banishment.…
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Swain commissioners oppose removal of boathouses
 

Swain commissioners oppose removal of boathouses

Swain County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution last week opposing the Tennessee Valley Authority’s proposal to remove all boathouses from…
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Development being considered in Forest Hills
 

Development being considered in Forest Hills

The sleepy village of Forest Hills could look a good bit different over the coming years if a handful of…
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New CEO in the cards for Haywood Regional
 

New CEO in the cards for Haywood Regional

The CEO of Haywood Regional Medical Center stepped down suddenly last week, effective immediately.
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Foot chase by Waynesville police thwarts pharmacy break-in
 

Foot chase by Waynesville police thwarts pharmacy break-in

A foot chase by a Waynesville Police officer through downtown Hazelwood just before dawn last week ended with police nabbing…
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Budget cuts for assistant coaches reconsidered following backlash
 

Budget cuts for assistant coaches reconsidered following backlash

Budget cuts impacting assistant coaches at the middle and high school level will likely be restored in Haywood County Schools…
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WCU chancellor diagnosed with brain tumor
 

WCU chancellor diagnosed with brain tumor

Western Carolina University’s well-liked leader Chancellor David Belcher has been diagnosed with a small brain tumor, he announced last week.
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Political and racial discussions continue at WCU
 

Political and racial discussions continue at WCU

Sidewalk chalk was all anyone was talking about as campus woke up Thursday morning (April 21) at Western Carolina University.…
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A 21st century library: Waynesville renovation to address public demand for Internet access
 

A 21st century library: Waynesville renovation to address public demand for Internet access

Howard David Glawson was tucked in to his usual spot at the public computer bank at the Waynesville library last…
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Haywood leaders asked to endorse Waynesville library renovation
 

Haywood leaders asked to endorse Waynesville library renovation

Preparation and planning for a $6 million renovation and expansion of the Waynesville library have been playing out behind the…
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Late campaign finance report traced to state computer glitch
 

Late campaign finance report traced to state computer glitch

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is inadvertently 43 days late on his latest campaign finance reports due to a computer…
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Emergency management changes move forward
 

Emergency management changes move forward

Haywood County is continuing with efforts to update and improve its emergency management ordinance — a local regulation that came…
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Haywood Schools aim to keep standards high despite budget challenges
 

Haywood Schools aim to keep standards high despite budget challenges

Haywood County commissioners are once again standing by their commitment to public education, making good on a long-standing pledge to…
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Sylva leaders cheer affordable housing proposal
 

Sylva leaders cheer affordable housing proposal

Sylva’s leaders are applauding a plan to build a new apartment complex across the road from Harris Hospital as a…
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Vandalism at Judaculla: Leaders discuss how to protect Cherokee landmark
 

Vandalism at Judaculla: Leaders discuss how to protect Cherokee landmark

When Jerry Parker walked by Judaculla Rock on March 26, he saw that some newer markings covered the rock’s millennia-old…
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Haywood County passes outdoor shooting range rules
 

Haywood County passes outdoor shooting range rules

New rules are now in place to govern commercial outdoor gun ranges in Haywood County.
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TVA calls for removal of all houseboats
 

TVA calls for removal of all houseboats

The Tennessee Valley Authority has proposed doing away with more than 1,800 houseboats that occupy various lakes under its jurisdiction.
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Houseboat owners fight to keep their property
 

Houseboat owners fight to keep their property

Scott Collins’ family has owned a houseboat on Fontana Lake since 1965 — that’s five generations that have made lasting…
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Maggie Valley town center faces opposition
 

Maggie Valley town center faces opposition

There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air when Maggie Valley first unveiled its town center master plan.…
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Charting a new course: Upstart schools face animosity that usually softens over time
 

Charting a new course: Upstart schools face animosity that usually softens over time

A small group of parents had been working quietly for about three years to get the first charter school established…
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Franklin hires new fire chief
 

Franklin hires new fire chief

Kevin Rohrer, a captain with Morrisville Fire and Rescue Department, has been hired as Franklin’s fulltime fire chief to replace…
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Sylva board faces inevitable property tax increase
 

Sylva board faces inevitable property tax increase

As Sylva’s leaders work toward a new budget for the new fiscal year, there’s one big question on everybody’s mind…
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