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Grant to help kids explore the Great Smokies
A $20,000 Google Field Trip Days grant will help the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont give more kids and…
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FAQ: The effects of WNC’s 2016 fire season
Did the fires hurt wildlife? Prescribed burning is often used as a tool to benefit wildlife by regenerating their habitat,…
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Wildfire impacts range from barely there to complete char, but true effects remain to be seen
It’s a warmer-than-average January day, the contours of the mountains visible from the highway beneath a thin covering of leafless…
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Haywood man arrested for murder
Wayne Littrell, 72, of the Coleman Mountain community of Haywood County, was arrested Sunday, Jan. 29, and charged with the…
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‘Indivisible’ citizens group forms in Sylva
There will be a meeting of the Indivisible Sylva NC group at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Jackson…
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WNC progressive group gaining momentum
What started as a small group of like-minded people helping each other deal with aftermath of Election Day has now…
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Restoring hope for a community
Until last year, the old house languishing on Academy Street on Bryson City United Methodist Church’s property was seen as…
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Cherokee council considers results of investigation into chief’s administration
Rumors have been flying on the Qualla Boundary since an investigation into contract awards and human resources actions under Principal…
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Huge expansion planned for Hazelwood Ingles
Ingles Markets Inc. is growing in Waynesville again — this time, on Brown Avenue in Hazelwood.
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Federal hiring freeze will have local impacts
A blanket freeze on federal hiring is having a local impact as the agencies tasked with managing Western North Carolina’s…
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Room tax increase isn’t a slam dunk
Every few years, elected officials at the local and county levels of government dribble the ball down the court, passing…
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Transitional district taking shape along Howell Mill Road
The Jan. 24 rezoning of three tracts along Howell Mill Road signals a continued effort by the town of Waynesville…
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Lake Junaluska fire district in the works
The recent addition of eight full-time firefighters to the town of Waynesville — at a cost of $530,000 per year…
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A fix-it list for the record books
Think your honey-do list is long? Wait until you meet Jack Carlisle.
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Lake Junaluska forges go-it-alone path after abandoning merger with Waynesville
After five years of trying to merge with the town of Waynesville, the Lake Junaluska community has given up and…
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Tracing the fire’s path
Now that the wildfires that ravaged Western North Carolina a couple of months ago are no longer active, U.S. Forest…
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The love that we need: WNC welcomes Hayes Carll
Sitting in the back of his tour van in a Texas parking lot on a recent cold prairie night, Hayes…
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This must be the place: Ode to Butch Trucks, Texas sunsets
Popping the tailgate down in my truck, I jumped up, my eyes gazing straight ahead.
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Our allegiance is to the ideals, not to a president
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then…
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The digital divide is still way too wide
It was just a press release, one among the dozens a week that media outlets receive and that may or…
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How much did legislators get from Duke?
To the Editor: Those job killing North Carolina Republicans are at it again. The Republican General Assembly has cost North…
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Federal dollars fuel WNC farmland conservation: $8 million allocation is region’s largest ever
Land conservation groups across the region found something to celebrate this month when the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an…
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Winter storm causes road closures
Two U.S. Forest Service roads in Madison County have been closed for safety reasons,
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Waynesville Rec Center breaks records
A record 149,600 visits were recorded at the Waynesville Recreation Center in 2016, busting the previous record of 149,574 set…
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Wildlife refuge lands grant
The increasing number of wildlife requiring aid in Western North Carolina will benefit from a $5,000 grant that the N.C.…
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A search for Horace Kephart’s alcove
The setting for Horace Kephart’s posthumous novel Smoky Mountain Magic (2009) is the Cherokee Indian Reservation, Bryson City and Deep…
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Books about the American South will delight
Let’s go exploring. More specifically, let’s explore the American South.
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Creating a community: Haywood Arts celebrates 40 years
In her short tenure, Executive Director Lindsey Solomon has righted the unknown direction of the ship that is the Haywood…
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This must be the place: You want the house, I want the road
I had just enough water left. Squeezing the last of my water bottle onto my dry toothbrush, I managed to…
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The art and activism of Panhandle Slim
Savannah, Georgia-based artist Scott “Panhandle Slim” Stanton was born in Maryland and raised in Pensacola, Florida, but he has been…
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WNC marches for women’s rights
“Care more, judge less,” “Love trumps hate” and “Rise up” were just a few of the battle cries heard in…
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The pink hats are coming
By rain-slicked granite sidewalks they came, early that morning. In rubber boots, sneakers and sandals they came, not knowing exactly…
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Congressman Meadows optimistic about Trump
Although Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, has been Western North Carolina’s Congressman for only two terms, constituents in his heavily Republican…
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North Carolina GOP celebrates inauguration
Inaugurations make for early mornings. Getting into or out of the tangle of security and Humvees blocking the streets of…
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WNC supporters, opponents mark Trump inauguration
• North Carolina GOP celebrates inauguration• Congressman Meadows optimistic about Trump• The pink hats are coming• WNC marches for women’s rights• The art and activism…
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Jackson Health Department project to cost less than expected
Upgrading the Jackson County Health Department could prove a much less expensive undertaking than originally anticipated, if estimates contained in…
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Sylva considers reduced-size residential lots
The town of Sylva took a tentative first step this month toward easing residential zoning restrictions that some credit with…
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Sanitary district policy remains suspended
After listening to the concerns of property managers in its service area, the Junaluska Sanitary District board has decided to…
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Verizon proposes new tower at Lake Junaluska
Verizon Wireless has approached Haywood County commissioners once again about installing a new cell tower near Lake Junaluska to improve…
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Warm weather forces Cataloochee Ski closure
Unseasonably warm weather and the drought have combined to temporarily close Cataloochee Ski Area.
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Casino announces expansion: $250 million project will add fourth hotel tower, event space
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is stepping into its 20th year of operation with plans for a massive expansion that will…
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Public survey could make or break Haywood library expansion
Hopes for a major renovation and expansion of the Waynesville library were temporarily shelved by county commissioners last year and…
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Inaugural Photo Gallery
Photos from the inaugural week's ceremonies in Washington D.C., Jan 18-21, 2017. All photos by Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News. …
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DC dispatch: Saturday, Jan. 21
What a difference a day makes. After a Friday that left both protestors and police bruised and bloodied – and…
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DC dispatch: Friday, Jan. 20
Hillary Clinton emerged from the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building this morning, clad in white and looking out…
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DC dispatch: Thursday, Jan. 19
Amidst heavy security and a conspicuous law enforcement presence, Washington, D.C. is hoping for the best but preparing for the…
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The probably not so — Big Year
The 2011 movie “The Big Year” — a comedy starring Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson — didn’t ruffle…
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Braving the storm: Backcountry rescuers save lost hikers in snow, frigid temps
It was around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, when the two hikers stepped out of their red Ford Edge and…
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Smokies sets new visitation record
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park reeled in 11.3 million visitors in 2016, a 5.6 percent increase over the previous…
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Haywood Gleaners logs 30,000 pounds of produce donations
Fifteen tons of food that would otherwise have gone to waste found their way to hungry mouths in 2016, thanks…
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