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A motorcycle fatality occurred on Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, June 22.
A visitor to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park perished last week when he tried to save a younger family member from drowning.
The arrival of the N.C. Arboretum’s newest exhibit was delayed due to COVID-19, but Nature Connects: Art with LEGO Bricks has now opened at the public garden in Asheville and will remain on display through Nov. 1.
Four larger-than-life butterflies now greet visitors as they enter the Cullowhee Community Garden, each representing a species that helps pollinate plants in this region.
A plan that would create a 150-mile-plus trail network through Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties is now out for public comment.
The Village Green has announced that the Friday night summer concert series, Groovin’ On the Green is canceled for the 2020 season due to COVID-19.
By Boyd Allsbrook • Contributing writer | In the past, the Fourth of July holiday has been counted on to draw visitors from across the country to Western North Carolina — and with them, a large portion of the tourist-dependent area’s revenue. This year, many are worried that the Coronavirus pandemic might take a toll on those traditionally high visitation numbers.
By Gerri Wolfe Grady • Special to SMN | Customer service is an important commodity for any business and particularly to those locations reliant on tourism. This is an area that isn’t necessarily taught or trained with new employees, often because of time constraints or because the business owner hasn’t given it any thought. This essay was developed to provide a different view of customer service and how it was conveyed for 20 years by my father, Jerry Wolfe, greeter at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
By Andrew Dundas • Contributing writer | This fall, Western Carolina University’s John W. Bardo Fine & Performing Arts Center celebrates 15 years of visual and performing arts programming for students and audiences in surrounding counties. The anniversary, however, comes in the midst of COVID-19-related closures and cancellations affecting events and spaces.
The Western Carolina University Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution removing the name “Hoey” from a campus performance facility.
Haywood County Public Health received notice on June 26 that three more Haywood County residents have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the number of cases recorded in Haywood County as of 2 p.m. on June 26 to 85. The individuals are currently in isolation at home.
The Terrace Bistro has opened at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center, offering a rare lakeside dining option in Haywood County. Located on the third floor of The Terrace Hotel, the restaurant has both indoor and outdoor dining options.
At approximately 5:20 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rangers responded to a drowning in progress on the Oconaluftee River behind the Mountain Farm Museum in Cherokee.
On Saturday, June 20, Grandfather Mountain bid farewell to Gerry the black bear. Gerry was humanely euthanized following a long history of debilitating arthritis. She was 31 years old. In the wild, black bears live into their early 20s, while those in captivity can live up to and beyond 30.
According to a press release, Shining Rock Classical Academy board of directors recently unanimous voted to accept the architectural designs and preliminary budget for a permanent school facility as presented by design-build partner, BC Construction Group (BCCG). In partnership with Shining Rock and BCCG, Performance CSD will be providing financial resources to fund and finance the project.
Macon County Public Health has identified a COVID-19 outbreak in staff at Macon Valley Nursing Home. Two staff members of Macon Valley Nursing Home have tested positive for COVID-19.
What are some good snacks for a person who has diabetes?
A hiker on the Abrams Falls Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park died following a cardiac event Monday, June 15.
Outdoors groups are hailing a recent vote by the U.S. Senate to pass legislation supporting funding for public lands as a historic victory.
The Senate voted in favor of the legislation on June 17 with a vote of 75-23. If enacted, the Great American Outdoors Act will permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as create a fund to address the $11 billion maintenance backlog on public lands.
New re-openings have been announced for the Pisgah National Forest.
BearWaters Brewing in Canton has announced a new partnership with longstanding Asheville taqueria and music hall The Grey Eagle this month.
To the Editor:
Seeing people take to the streets to demand reform of the police system is gratifying. Yes, we should ban chokeholds. Yes, we should get rid of bail. But we believe those calls are for “band aids,” not reforms.
To the Editor:
All candidates for office: please, please reimagine justice for everyone and provide us a clear and comprehensive reform policy on racial injustice in our county, state and nation. I have talked to African-American persons who have been beaten by the police for calling 911 and a Hispanic pulled by police for doing nothing wrong but taken in with a charge of resisting arrest because he used his cell phone to call his wife. I also know an African-American whose transportation was taken and never returned by police.
To the Editor:
The “Frame” is the view of the world news you get from the Main-Stream Media (MSM). The analogy is a picture in a “frame” where you can’t see what else the painter/photographer had in their total field-of-view; you only get to see what the painter/photographer wanted you to see.
By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist | I am in the market for a good, slightly used, Ouija Board. I need it to make accurate predictions of what is to come in Franklin and our westernmost counties as we face uncertain times and as we begin to reopen.
COVID-19 has been devastating health-wise as well as economically.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that the state’s Community Action Agencies have begun to receive flexible funds that can be used to help low-income individuals and families meet a variety of needs caused by the economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking in Raleigh, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch this week urged members of the N.C. Senate Judiciary Committee to close a legal loophole that, at the expense of victims, sometimes benefits those convicted of drunken driving.
By Boyd Allsbrook • Contributing writer | Few issues raise as much political ire in Western North Carolina as that of the ongoing drug abuse epidemic. Debates rage over methadone, harm reduction and Substance Use Disorder-linked homelessness at most local government meetings. Everyone has an opinion on addiction and what to do about it. But too often a fundamental truth is missed — those experiencing addiction are importantly, individually, human.
Construction of SECU Hospice House in Franklin has crossed the 50 percent completion mark. It is anticipated that the region’s new hospice inpatient facility will be operational this coming fall. Four Season, The Care you Trust, a hospice care provider currently serving Western North Carolina, will operate within SECU Hospice House once construction is complete.
The Pisgah National Forest warns visitors to North Mills River, Bent Creek Experimental Forest, and Black Balsam and surrounding areas on the Pisgah Ranger District to be on the look-out for black bears. On the Grandfather Ranger District, bears have also been active at Table Rock and the Old Fort Picnic Area.
Southwestern Community College officials confirmed on June 20 that a student has reported testing positive for COVID-19.
By Tom Fiedler
The legendary Miami Beach police chief Rocky Pomerance was asked in an interview with People magazine why he so passionately believed in the importance of police work. “Because,” he said, “we are the only social-service agency you can call on for help after 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.”
Several events typically on the fall semester calendar at Western Carolina University are canceled for 2020 as part of significant changes to campus activities necessitated by state and health care professional guidance in response to COVID-19.
As part of its mission to continuously provide communication solutions that evolve with the needs of our world, TekTone (based in Franklin, N.C.) has acquired majority ownership in Stay Smart Care, a company whose expertise lies in Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) solutions. Stay Smart Care will operate as a subsidiary of TekTone, allowing the two companies to provide a wider variety of intercommunication solutions and resources to care providers in a variety of markets.
Entering the eighth grade, it didn’t look likely that Logan would get a Big Brother. Big Brothers Big Sisters has a harder time matching older “Littles” than it does younger ones. But BBBS Haywood County lucked up when Dustin, a swim instructor and lifeguard, came to the rescue.
To the Editor:
When it comes to the internet, I am the first to proclaim myself as a troll. Although I do appreciate Haywood County Commissioner Mark Pless’ extreme level of pettiness recently when lashing out at a constituent’s $16 dollar tax bill from seven years ago on his personal social media, I am appalled at his lack of professionalism. I am even more so disturbed by his lack of humility and self-awareness.
To the Editor:
Inequality plays out in all aspects of American life. For the past few weeks we have been consumed by policing, judicial and legal inequality, ignited by the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis, which has played out through massive international demonstrations followed by signs of improvement. Economic inequality today is the source of so many of our societal woes.
To the Editor:
Don’t know who to vote for yet on Nov. 3 for Rep. Mark Meadows’ vacant U.S. House seat? Perhaps this will help with your decision.
To the Editor:
Donald Trump talks about making America great again. But he ignores two sins that haunt America. Those sins must be atoned. They are: our ancestors took North America from indigenous people, killing thousands in the process; two, our ancestors developed/exploited vast resources with African slave labor. Those two groups (victims of greed) were denied the wealth generated from North American resources.
A new report from the National Park Service shows that the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 14.9 million 2019 visitors spent $1.1 billion in communities near the park, supporting 16,341 jobs with a cumulative $1.4 billion benefit to the local economy.
After 11 months of stakeholder engagement and collaborative work, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has submitted the N.C. Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan to Gov. Roy Cooper.
A $464,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Community Forest Program will support the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina’s ongoing Oak Hill Community Park and Forest Project, located near downtown Morganton in Burke County.
A 38-acre conservation purchase on the North Fork Catawba River in McDowell County will add to the body of public land in Western North Carolina.
Several previously closed facilities along the Blue Ridge Parkway reopened June 13.
By Boyd Allsbrook • Contributing writer | Type “George Floyd Protests, Police” into your Google images search bar. What comes up? Picture after picture of menacing police dressed in riot gear facing down angry protestors. Brawling. Calls to abolish the police force. Cruisers engulfed in flames. Police stations graffitied with ACAB — “All Cops Are Bastards.” Riots. Looting. Arson. Tear gas. Rubber bullets. Cops shot in drive-bys. Protestors gone the same way. Storeowners beaten to a pulp.
More than half of the construction is complete on a major project to rehabilitate the westernmost 15 miles of Interstate 40 in North Carolina.
By Andrew Dundas • Contributing writer | Paper, a folder and pencils — both colored and No. 2. These are just some of the supplies required in Kara Faust’s art classes at Canton Middle School each semester. Yet, her school is not able to provide funding for these resources.
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
