Jackson County Planning Board reconsiders rewrites
 

Jackson County Planning Board reconsiders rewrites

A proposal to loosen steep slope development rules in Jackson County is headed back to the drawing board. A large…
Read More

Comment

Film crew granted access to Judaculla Rock
 

Film crew granted access to Judaculla Rock

A film crew with the show “American Unearthed” will arrive in Jackson County this week to film an episode on…
Read More

Comment

MedWest hosts community meetings
 

MedWest hosts community meetings

MedWest Haywood will hold another series of community meetings in April and May. Feedback collected from the community during an…
Read More

Comment

Macon candidate challenges reveal rift between conservative, moderate Republicans
 

Macon candidate challenges reveal rift between conservative, moderate Republicans

Dueling challenges over the legitimacy of two Macon County commissioner candidates could have had far-reaching implications for the county’s political…
Read More

Comment

Macon assistant prosecutor to challenge Moore for DA job
 

Macon assistant prosecutor to challenge Moore for DA job

Assistant District Attorney Ashley Welch, a Republican from Macon County, announced this week she will be running for district attorney…
Read More

Comment

Wide-open race for district attorney in 2014
 

Wide-open race for district attorney in 2014

District Attorney Mike Bonfoey publicly announced plans to retire next year when his current term of office expires. Bonfoey has been…
Read More

Comment

Jackson sheriff’s race shapes up
 

Jackson sheriff’s race shapes up

With campaign season barely off the ground, the Jackson County sheriff’s race has already drawn a hefty list of candidates…
Read More

Comment

DOT explains N.C. 107 survey letter mystery
 

DOT explains N.C. 107 survey letter mystery

A controversial bypass around Sylva that was supposedly tabled by the highway department last year suddenly and mysteriously seemed to…
Read More

Comment

WCU staff and students improve libraries in area jails
 

WCU staff and students improve libraries in area jails

For most people, the word “jail” stirs up mental images of vertical bars and stark concrete walls, not of rows…
Read More

Comment

Deer reclaim historic home in Cherokee
 

Deer reclaim historic home in Cherokee

From clothing to art to clan names, deer are everywhere in Cherokee culture. But for the past couple of centuries,…
Read More

Comment

Jackson County Republicans ready for annual convention
 

Jackson County Republicans ready for annual convention

Jackson County Republicans have been busy during the winter season finalizing plans for their 2014 annual county convention, the NCGOP…
Read More

Comment

Steinem celebrates ‘escaping’
 

Steinem celebrates ‘escaping’

By Melanie Threlkeld McConnell • Correspondent Here is a simple solution for stimulating the economy in this country: give women equal…
Read More

Comment

WCU hikes citation fees
 

WCU hikes citation fees

Students and visitors to the Western Carolina University campus, whether in a car or on roller skates, will soon have…
Read More

Comment

Haven convinces board that motel is home
 

Haven convinces board that motel is home

In front of a crowded courtroom Tuesday, the Macon County Board of Elections voted unanimously to dismiss a challenge protesting…
Read More

Comment

Downtown Sylva bakery opens in April
 

Downtown Sylva bakery opens in April

A new bakery and bistro is coming to downtown Sylva. The Perk & Pastry Bistro will offer a wide array…
Read More

Comment

Community asked for input in prison makeover
 

Community asked for input in prison makeover

The trio of Christian ministries and advocates for the disadvantaged looking to transform the old state prison in Hazelwood into…
Read More

Comment

Canton school to be reborn
 

Canton school to be reborn

William McDowell remembers when segregation was a reality in Canton. “When I was a kid we weren’t allowed to sit…
Read More

Comment

Voucher legislation hits roadblock
 

Voucher legislation hits roadblock

After a morning of arguments from both sides of the school voucher debate, N.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ordered…
Read More

Comment

Haywood commissioners on a quest for a better courthouse lawn
 

Haywood commissioners on a quest for a better courthouse lawn

Nearly a year after cutting down the historic maple trees in front of the Haywood County Courthouse, the lawn still…
Read More

Comment

Fire at Cherokee motel under investigation
 

Fire at Cherokee motel under investigation

The cause of a fire that caused substantial damage to the Pageant Inn in Cherokee last week is being investigated. 
Read More

Comment

Officers push boundaries in quest for probable cause
 

Officers push boundaries in quest for probable cause

A big one got away in Cherokee earlier this year when the case against a drug dealer was thrown out…
Read More

Comment

No more Mr. Nice Guy
 

No more Mr. Nice Guy

With the bottomed-out real estate market still stagnant, some property owners are having trouble seeing the point of paying property…
Read More

Comment

Haywood chamber to drive economic development
 

Haywood chamber to drive economic development

The daunting challenge of courting industry, cultivating entrepreneurs, helping businesses expand — and ultimately adding new jobs to the economy…
Read More

Comment

Appointment process for advisory boards comes under fire
 

Appointment process for advisory boards comes under fire

The informal process for picking people to serve on the planning board in Jackson County has come under scrutiny, prompting…
Read More

Comment

Schools rebut charge of impeding efforts to start secular club
 

Schools rebut charge of impeding efforts to start secular club

Haywood County Schools’ attorney has countered accusations that Pisgah High School administrators allegedly hampered a student’s attempt to form a…
Read More

Comment

Jackson’s optimistic cheerleader
 

Jackson’s optimistic cheerleader

After a few months on the job, Jackson County’s economic development director laid out the landscape for community leaders. He…
Read More

Comment

Beachcombers find parts of lost research balloon equipment
 

Beachcombers find parts of lost research balloon equipment

The seventh Western Carolina University physics research balloon to be launched to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere – Cat…
Read More

Comment

Statewide races
 

Statewide races

U.S. Congress About the race: This used to be a toss-up district, but clever redrawing of voting boundaries by the…
Read More

Comment

Macon hopes for home run
 

Macon hopes for home run

Macon County commissioners decided in a split vote this month to spend $3 million building a tournament-scale baseball and softball…
Read More

Comment

Jackson public delivers message loud and clear: uphold steep slope rules
 

Jackson public delivers message loud and clear: uphold steep slope rules

A standing-room only crowd turned out for a public hearing on steep slope rules in Jackson County last week and…
Read More

Comment

State rejects former Swain DSS director’s appeal of firing
 

State rejects former Swain DSS director’s appeal of firing

A wrongful firing claim by the former director of the Swain County Department of Social Services has been rejected by…
Read More

Comment

Mad Batter to reopen in Sylva
 

Mad Batter to reopen in Sylva

From the ashes of a recent fire, Mad Batter Bakery & Café will reopen. But, instead of returning to the campus…
Read More

Comment

$1 million gift to Highlands-Cashiers Hospital Foundation matched by Mission
 

$1 million gift to Highlands-Cashiers Hospital Foundation matched by Mission

The Highlands-Cashiers Hospital Foundation is $2 million richer thanks to a $1 million donation by philanthropist Jane Woodruff and a…
Read More

Comment

WCU professor studies healthy eating demographics
 

WCU professor studies healthy eating demographics

Green space and gardens dominate much of the Western North Carolina landscape, but what determines whether people here actually eat…
Read More

Comment

Car charging stations to be installed in Waynesville
 

Car charging stations to be installed in Waynesville

Electric car owners will soon have the option of charging their vehicles in downtown Waynesville.
Read More

Comment

Waynesville looks to diversify fuel use
 

Waynesville looks to diversify fuel use

The town of Waynesville plans to convert half of its fleet of police cars — 15 in all — to…
Read More

Comment

Law enforcement lobbies for speedy, dependable fleets
 

Law enforcement lobbies for speedy, dependable fleets

Equipment replacement schedules were some of the first line items on the chopping block for local governments when the economy…
Read More

Comment

Parks and rec grants decrease across state
 

Parks and rec grants decrease across state

Macon County can count itself lucky for landing a $500,000 state recreation grant to help pay for a softball and…
Read More

Comment

The quest for perfection: Smoky Mountain basketball team heads into playoffs 24-0
 

The quest for perfection: Smoky Mountain basketball team heads into playoffs 24-0

There is no “I” in team for Jimmy Cleaveland. “Listen, I don’t know where you’re going with this story,” he…
Read More

Comment

Fired Swain DSS director steered aid to relatives
 

Fired Swain DSS director steered aid to relatives

A wrongful firing suit by Tammy Cagle, the former director of Swain County Department of Social Services, has shed light…
Read More

Comment

What was said: take a drive-by tour of some steep slope comments
 

What was said: take a drive-by tour of some steep slope comments

“A hundred years from now everybody in this room will have passed on but the mountains will still be baring…
Read More

Comment

Born to care: Olson looks back on 40 years of nursing
 

Born to care: Olson looks back on 40 years of nursing

When Becky Olson first began making house calls, she was barely old enough to walk. She spent her childhood following…
Read More

Comment

Pisgah student persists, forms secular club
 

Pisgah student persists, forms secular club

A club for non-religious students is being formed at Pisgah High School after a freshman enlisted the help of a…
Read More

Comment

Maggie businessman charged with child sexual abuse
 

Maggie businessman charged with child sexual abuse

A Maggie Valley restaurant owner who was also a figure in town politics has been charged with sexually abusing two…
Read More

Comment

Macon sheriff wants more money for drug buys
 

Macon sheriff wants more money for drug buys

Sheriff Robert Holland is looking to ramp-up his department’s crackdown on drug dealers in Macon County, requesting that the county…
Read More

Comment

Group hatches a plan for local products co-op in Sylva
 

Group hatches a plan for local products co-op in Sylva

A group of Jackson County locavores is hoping to bring the Ramp-Berry Community Market Co-op, a store that will sell…
Read More

Comment

Sapphire knows how to throw a ‘potty’
 

Sapphire knows how to throw a ‘potty’

Sitting on a toilet, Kyle Iezzi is ready for victory. “The main thing is that I hope we go straight,”…
Read More

Comment

New NAACP chapters spawned by protests against Raleigh legislation
 

New NAACP chapters spawned by protests against Raleigh legislation

Political backlash against the new conservative policies of state lawmakers has given rise to two local chapters of the National…
Read More

Comment

Jackson eyes courthouse expansion
 

Jackson eyes courthouse expansion

Just shy of a decade after county offices moved into a brand-spankin’ new Haywood County Justice Center, Jackson County is…
Read More

Comment

Macon County requests auditing assistance
 

Macon County requests auditing assistance

As the State Bureau of Investigations continues to probe embezzlement allegations in Macon County, the county is calling in the…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.