It’s raining cats and dogs (quilt blocks)
 

It’s raining cats and dogs (quilt blocks)

Inspired by the popular Haywood County Quilt Trail and the “Adopt Me” quilt block located at the Waynesville Animal Hospital,…
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The true story of Sparklehorse
 

The true story of Sparklehorse

The documentary “The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse” will be shown at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 28, at the…
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Canton Labor Day schedule announced
 

Canton Labor Day schedule announced

The 110th Canton Labor Day Festival schedule released on July 11 shows that organizers have been working just as hard…
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J. Creek Cloggers win top honors
 

J. Creek Cloggers win top honors

The J. Creek Cloggers picked up wins at the Appalachian Clogging Classic at Haywood Community College and ShinDig In The…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

You can’t ignore it. That little voice in the back of your head, always interrupting your daily train of thought,…
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Hitting the ground running: Franklin welcomes second brewery
 

Hitting the ground running: Franklin welcomes second brewery

Taking a right off East Main Street, just before crossing the bridge into downtown Franklin, you pull onto Lakeside Drive…
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Ghana, Romania denied Folkmoot visas
 

Ghana, Romania denied Folkmoot visas

Earlier today it was announced that Ghana and Romania will not be joining in on the Folkmoot festivities as planned.
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New tuition plan holds great promise for NC
 

New tuition plan holds great promise for NC

Tuition just got significantly cheaper at Western Carolina University, and as long as the legislature keeps its promises to fill…
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Not perfect, but not all gloom and doom
 

Not perfect, but not all gloom and doom

To the Editor: Reading two letter writers in the June 29 issue, I immediately remembered Ronald Reagan’s famous campaign retort,…
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The staggering true cost of HB2
 

The staggering true cost of HB2

To the Editor: North Carolinians know about the immediate economic fallout from HB2 — the so-called bathroom bill — as…
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False dichotomies play out  in black and white
 

False dichotomies play out in black and white

There are people who believe that the reason black men seem to keep getting shot and killed by police officers…
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Lungwort used for making beer, bread
 

Lungwort used for making beer, bread

Lungwort is the leaf-like lichen common on tree trunks several feet or more above ground level. It resembles liverwort but…
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Rule will allow tribal members to gather plants on park land
 

Rule will allow tribal members to gather plants on park land

Native Americans will soon be allowed to gather plants on national park land for traditional purposes following the National Park…
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Ginseng lottery open
 

Ginseng lottery open

The lottery is open for permits to harvest one of Western North Carolina’s most valuable plants. 
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LEGO masterpieces celebrate the natural world
 

LEGO masterpieces celebrate the natural world

Nature-inspired LEGO creations will add an extra incentive to hit up the N.C. Arboretum the next few months, with the…
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Sylva teen to compete in national angling competition
 

Sylva teen to compete in national angling competition

A Sylva teen is preparing to prove himself on the national stage of fly-fishing after qualifying for the U.S. Youth…
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Voting contest yields funds  for Smokies tower restoration
 

Voting contest yields funds for Smokies tower restoration

Clingmans Dome Observation Tower will get a makeover thanks to a $250,000 grant that supporters of the Great Smoky Mountains…
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Tackling the Beast: Prepping for a 60-mile mountain bike challenge isn’t easy
 

Tackling the Beast: Prepping for a 60-mile mountain bike challenge isn’t easy

By Jamie Arnold • Contributing writer It’s a 95-degree Sunday afternoon. Most folks are at the lake, or lounging on the…
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The glitterati’s influence not always what it seems
 

The glitterati’s influence not always what it seems

In her novel Under The Influence (William Morrow, 2016, 321 pages, $25.99), Joyce Maynard makes her title do double duty…
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Dogwood Crafters celebrates 40 years
 

Dogwood Crafters celebrates 40 years

The Dogwood Crafters Cooperative will be celebrating 40 years of creating space for local crafters at 1 p.m. Saturday, July…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

It’s when you know you’re home. Those places and faces, those sights and lights that truly signal the arrival back…
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Between the fingers lies the soul
 

Between the fingers lies the soul

They all do something with their hands. Meandering around Western North Carolina and greater Southern Appalachia, one thing becomes apparent…
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Tourism entities have same goal, different focus
 

Tourism entities have same goal, different focus

If a rising tide lifts all boats, it only makes sense for organizations with common goals to work together, but…
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Opportunity for change: Three seats open on Maggie Chamber board
 

Opportunity for change: Three seats open on Maggie Chamber board

As three members of the Maggie Valley Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors rotate off the board next month,…
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The value of a Maggie chamber membership
 

The value of a Maggie chamber membership

Businesses in the valley have varying views on whether being a member of the Maggie Valley Area Chamber of Commerce…
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Tribal Council favors amending deceased man’s will
 

Tribal Council favors amending deceased man’s will

Cherokee Tribal Council is closer to finalizing a decision to revoke part of a former vice chief’s will, following its…
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Food truck ordinance passed in Cashiers
 

Food truck ordinance passed in Cashiers

Cashiers recently completed its own effort to address food trucks with an ordinance approved by the Jackson County Commissioners last…
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Sylva to revisit food truck rules
 

Sylva to revisit food truck rules

After seeing the showdown over food truck rules playing out in Waynesville, Sylva is gearing up to take a look…
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Waynesville enters agreement to expand broadband
 

Waynesville enters agreement to expand broadband

The lack of high-speed internet in Western North Carolina has been more than just an annoyance to Netflix binge-watchers —…
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Former elections director sentenced for embezzlement
 

Former elections director sentenced for embezzlement

Kimberly Michelle Bishop, the former director of Macon County’s Board of Elections, was recently sentenced to six months in prison…
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After pedestrian fatality, county scrambles for funding
 

After pedestrian fatality, county scrambles for funding

After a June 9 accident that left a man dead and a community grieving, the effort to address a road…
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Maggie distillery gets help from town, sanitary district
 

Maggie distillery gets help from town, sanitary district

On July 11, Dave Angel’s plan to operate a 10,000 square-foot whiskey distillery on 1.7 acres at 3732 Soco Road in…
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Giving up the Ghost: Last respects at Ghost Town in the Sky
 

Giving up the Ghost: Last respects at Ghost Town in the Sky

Mike Withers loved Ghost Town in the Sky so much that in Spring 2015 at the age of 72, he…
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Vexed by bad luck, sawmill’s would-be savior burned again in lawsuit verdict
 

Vexed by bad luck, sawmill’s would-be savior burned again in lawsuit verdict

A lawsuit over the historic sawmill that burned down at Haywood Community College nearly four years ago was settled last…
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Haywood Halt: NCDOT set to improve interchange
 

Haywood Halt: NCDOT set to improve interchange

Drivers who use a section of U.S. 74 in Haywood County will be taking a slightly different route starting on…
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Battling the twin evils of gerrymandering and money
 

Battling the twin evils of gerrymandering and money

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist Most of Europe’s aristocracy didn’t think the infant United States would last a decade, and…
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Doing business with your neighbors
 

Doing business with your neighbors

In not every town do the children of doctors and lawyers go to the same schools as the children of…
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We are going to have to all help push the wagons
 

We are going to have to all help push the wagons

To the Editor: I recall some 65 years ago when citizens were often complaining about their governments, primarily about their…
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Combination science lab and amusement park
 

Combination science lab and amusement park

Weightless for two seconds is not a moonwalk but at the top of the Space Shot at Huntsville, Alabama’s (Rocket…
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Remembering the removal: Wayside markers trace the Trail of Tears in WNC
 

Remembering the removal: Wayside markers trace the Trail of Tears in WNC

A growing collection of roadside signs has been popping up along rural drives and main thoroughfares in Western North Carolina…
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Falling into the rabbit hole of fiction
 

Falling into the rabbit hole of fiction

For reasons unfathomable to me, I have spent the last two weeks on a fiction-reading jag. Until I was about…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

I turned around with 25,000 faces looking towards me.
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Discovering the world within yourself
 

Discovering the world within yourself

It’s about what you see in mirror, and what you’re willing to acknowledge within the reflection staring right back at…
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Tourism increases in Jackson County
 

Tourism increases in Jackson County

Visitation to Jackson County for the 2015-2016 fiscal year was the highest recorded in the four-year history of the Jackson…
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WCU voices support for tuition reduction plan
 

WCU voices support for tuition reduction plan

Ever since a controversial bill proposing to slash tuition rates at selected University of North Carolina schools popped up in…
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Tuition ‘buy down’ promises future entanglements
 

Tuition ‘buy down’ promises future entanglements

As the 2016-17 North Carolina budget came together, a significant part of it — touted by both Democrats and Republicans…
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Couple works to open wedding venue at family farm
 

Couple works to open wedding venue at family farm

Nearly five years ago, Taylor and Preston Gregg stood on top of Chestnut Ridge and recited their wedding vows.
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Food Fight: Anthony’s mad at Waynesville
 

Food Fight: Anthony’s mad at Waynesville

The Mad Anthony’s food truck debate culminated last week in what will go down in the annals of Waynesville lore…
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Macon applies for mental health assistance grant
 

Macon applies for mental health assistance grant

Macon County Emergency Management Services hopes to expand an existing health care model to better serve mental health patients in…
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TekTone Sound to expand operations in Macon
 

TekTone Sound to expand operations in Macon

With the help of matching grants funds from Macon County, TekTone Sound & Signal Manufacturing Inc. will expand operations at…
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