Landslide forces family into unsettled lifestyle
For more than a month, 25-year-old Slyenia Rhein and her three children lived in a single hotel room with her…
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County leaders to kick start discussions on Cullowhee planning district
The effort to introduce zoning laws in Cullowhee is being taken up by Jackson County Commissioners at an upcoming workshop…
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Balsam Lake high and dry as tourist season hits full stride
Repairs to the dam at Balsam Lake in the Nantahala National Forest have been delayed because of high creek levels,…
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Weaker planning regulations discussed June 17
Jackson County commissioners will discuss two sets of proposed planning regulations at an upcoming workshop at 2 p.m. on June…
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Sylva dips into reserves to avoid tax hike
Sylva town leaders have chosen not to raise taxes next year and instead delay town expenditures, save money where they…
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Swain revaluation bumps values up 16.5 percent
Four years after Swain County leaders trashed a skewed property reassessment, the county has completed a new revaluation.
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Some downtown Sylva leaders oppose church move
A church is looking to bring a little more religion to downtown Sylva, but some local business owners, as well…
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Police targeted by sweepstakes industry suits
For law enforcement, video gambling is like a bad case of poison ivy that keeps cropping back up all over…
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A good year to work for Macon: New pay plan includes salary hikes for everyone
Nearly two months after a majority of Macon County commissioners approved a slew of salary raises for all county employees,…
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Waynesville proposes to hold line on taxes, hike water rates and licensing fees
Waynesville officials are looking under a different couch cushion for additional revenue after losing income from sweepstakes operations and its…
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Adding it up
A traffic study was conducted to assess the traffic impacts of a new Super Wal-Mart and Home Depot complex coming…
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Lawsuit seeks lifting of subdivision moratorium
A group of Realtors and developers filed a lawsuit against Jackson County this week over a subdivision moratorium imposed by…
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Ghost Town opening delayed again: Park hammering out ride inspection glitches
After two false starts, Ghost Town in the Sky theme park in Maggie Valley remains closed this week.
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Site chosen for Cashiers liquor store
A new Jackson County liquor store will soon be under construction in Cashiers, with plans to open for business by…
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Jackson library supporters make last-ditch budget pitch
Jackson County commissioners were implored by library advocates this week to give the Sylva and Cashiers libraries a sizeable bump…
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State teaching center in Cullowhee could be shuttered by budget cuts
The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Jackson County had its funding slashed in half in 2011,…
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Cullowhee hitches its college-town dreams to the Tuckasegee River
Lackluster at best and run-down at worst, it’s no question the has-been commercial district on Western Carolina University’s doorstep needs…
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State grant bridges the gap for Jackson greenway
Jackson County will begin building the first leg of a long-awaited greenway along the Tuckasegee River this summer.
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Finding your element
David Burress wants to live forever. Not necessarily in the immortal sense though. Burress is an accomplished blacksmith. And for…
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Downtown Waynesville celebrates Appalachian heritage
An Appalachian Lifestyle Celebration will showcase mountain culture, heritage, music, dance, storytelling, arts and crafts and demonstrations from 10 a.m.…
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Novice Jackson tourism board flounders over budget
The Cashiers Chamber of Commerce leaders claim they have been slighted their fair share of visitor center funding from the…
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Jackson planning board further refines steep slope rewrites
Jackson County Planning Board members discussed axing part of the steep slope rules aimed at protecting mountain viewsheds. The viewshed…
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Meadows keeps pledge to make time for constituents
In his brief five months in Congress, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Cashiers, has kept busy — voting on several pieces of…
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Feds to foot more of bill in Cherokee storm clean-up
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will receive more federal aid than originally promised after January’s rainstorms, flooding and mudslides.…
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Tribe settles suit over sewage spills
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has settled a civil lawsuit claiming overflows from the tribe’s sewage treatment plant were…
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Battle over degrees at WCU could heat up
Western Carolina University is grappling with whether to cut unpopular or obsolete majors, posing a conundrum as it and other…
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Haywood settles into budget norm of making ends meet
Haywood County’s budget will increase by more than $2 million next fiscal year, but it will still be nearly that…
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Did that used to be a tree? The tragic legend of the ‘Hazelwood haircut’
It’s got more names than the Bible. The “round-over,” the “lollipop,” and the “bob” to name a few. No matter…
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Maggie’s Achilles’ Heel: lack of curb appeal
Maggie Valley’s slow and steady decline as a tourist destination comes down to aesthetics, a consultant hired to assess Maggie…
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Balsam Range hitting for the home team in Haywood tourism messaging
Members of the nationally acclaimed bluegrass band Balsam Range are now the bona fide ambassadors of Haywood County.
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Gettin’ together and feelin’ alright
This summer, there will be a new scent wafting through Lake Junaluska.
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Cathey selected by art commission, will raffle off artwork
Renowned metal sculptor Grace Cathey has been selected to create an art piece by the Waynesville Public Art Commission. Entitled…
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Macon schools budget could soon face time of reckoning
Macon County Schools may be in store for some noticeable changes come the start of school this fall.
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Ghost Town falls short of summer opening target
Ghost Town in the Sky did not open to much fanfare last weekend because, simply put, it didn’t open.
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Most oppose Duke rate increase and reliance on fossil fuels
Most who spoke during a public hearing at the Macon County Courthouse on Duke Energy’s proposed rate increases were not…
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Play On, Jackson County
After weeks of back-and-forth debate, deliberation and nail-biting, members of the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority have zeroed in on…
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Infrastructure repairs force Bryson City’s hand on tax hike
Despite cutting more than $50,000 from the town’s budget, Bryson City’s leaders plan to raise property taxes and town fees…
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Swain holds back on train deal as devilish details are firmed up
Swain County may soon seal a deal with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad to pay for the restoration of a…
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Waynesville’s wish of tourist railway derailed out of the gate
Since the advent of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, tourists flocking to Bryson City and Dillsboro to ride the scenic…
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Jackson urged to vet all options before dishing out railroad grant
A group of Jackson County residents have been making the rounds in recent weeks asking decision makers to think twice…
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Moving the chips of economic development in Haywood
An exploratory committee of Haywood County business leaders will examine in the coming months whether to reshuffle the county’s economic…
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Been there, done that
Haywood leaders are no strangers to overhauling their economic development strategy and structure. A major transformation played out just 10…
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Experts convene at rockslide response conference
When a rockslide shut down Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge in Haywood County three years ago, the N.C.…
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Cherokee tribal council candidates face primary election next week
Enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will head to the polls Tuesday, June 6, to vote in…
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Stopping voter fraud or just stopping voters?
A state bill mandating that voters show identification to cast a ballot has split opinions down the middle, with Republicans…
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WNC duo star on reality TV show
Lights, camera … Haywood County? During the past two years, a local reality show has become a phenomenon that’s being broadcast…
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Haywood room tax hike deep-sixed
Even though an “overwhelming majority” of community leaders in Haywood County support a lodging tax increase, a state bill that…
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Courthouse lawn to get spruced up in time for tourists
The Haywood County historic courthouse in Waynesville will be completely re-landscaped by the end of this week, just in time…
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Hospital for sale? All options on the table as MedWest hospitals contemplate future
Financial challenges faced by rural hospitals show no sign of a turnaround, prompting MedWest hospital leaders to consider what was…
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With lawsuit in the rearview, Canton plans to step up its game for public recreation
Canton leaders are already asking how they can do better making Camp Hope available to the public after a lawsuit…
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