Archived (28881)
Children categories
Thanks for helping feed the hungry
To the Editor: Thanks to many, many individuals and businesses, the 2015 Turkey Drive sponsored by the Maggie Valley Area…
Read More
Social injustice and our universities
To the Editor: In last week’s letter to the editor (www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/16807), Mr. Jones commented on the politicizing of WCU. Let…
Read More
Economic injustice needs to be addressed
To the Editor: It is time to wake up and take a big whiff of reality. The shape of our…
Read More
Forest Service needs capacity to manage
To the Editor: As the U.S. Forest Service proceeds through the plan revision for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests,…
Read More
We can find a better cell tower location
To the Editor: I hope to be understood that my family is as pro-wireless communication as anyone in Cashiers. Verizon…
Read More
Candidates would strip us of rights
To the Editor: Below are several of the solutions proposed by many of the candidates running for president to end…
Read More
Let’s play pretend politician: what issues would you own?
I’m not running for office and never will, but as a citizen of Haywood County and Western North Carolina and…
Read More
Two more sign on to run for Macon commissioner
With the sign-up period for the 2016 election underway, two more candidates have tossed their hats in the ring to…
Read More
Franklin to hire fulltime fire chief
As the demand for services continues to grow, Franklin will begin its search for a full-time fire chief to run…
Read More
Republican candidate files for Jackson commissioner
The race for county commissioner in District 3 of Jackson County will no longer be an uncontested one following Ron…
Read More
Mercury testing expands at Lake Glenville
After testing last year found Lake Glenville’s walleye fish to have some of the highest mercury concentrations in North Carolina,…
Read More
County considers financing EMS headquarters
Haywood County commissioners will hold a public hearing Dec. 21 regarding the construction of a new EMS headquarters beside the…
Read More
Ghost Town rolls out new plan for 2016 season
Alaska Presley has had plenty of good intentions and ideas for Ghost Town in the Sky since she bought the…
Read More
Finding a new fairway for disc golf course
Plans are underway to relocate Waynesville’s disc golf course from the sprawling recreation park along Richland Creek to a more…
Read More
Bringing back the bustle: New businesses move into downtown Sylva
Ask any Sylva long-timer, and they’ll tell you that Main Street today looks a lot different than it did ten,…
Read More
Local steelworkers have to redo election
Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, the United Steelworkers Local 9-507 in Canton has to redo its…
Read More
Town deems temporary Fry Street closure a failure
While November is usually still a busy time for downtown Bryson City merchants, Paige Christie said her sales are down…
Read More
WCU leaders, faculty at odds over Koch-funded free enterprise center
Western Carolina University leaders bucked concerns of faculty when they voted last week to create a free enterprise center funded…
Read More
WCU community grapples with academic pursuits in the face of politically-charged outside funding
A firestorm over the outside private funding of academia and its potential to undermine intellectual freedom has erupted in recent…
Read More
Cherokee council vows to crack down on drug dealers
Drug addiction is perhaps the biggest crisis on the Qualla Boundary, and it’s time that tribal government got serious about…
Read More
Cherokee chief vetoes marijuana study; council upholds veto
Just over a month after voting unanimously to study the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana on the Qualla Boundary,…
Read More
Horseshoe Rock phenomenon attracts writers’ attention
“As for the Horseshoe Rock, it is one of those curving balds of solid rock. The depressions found on the…
Read More
NC leaders balk at federal carbon control plan
North Carolina has issued a draft plan to comply with federal carbon-control rules, but the plan falls short of federal…
Read More
Naturalist to give sneak peak at upcoming book
Naturalist and historian George Ellison will preview his upcoming collection of essays, Literary Excursions, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9,…
Read More
Lawsuit claims Wildlife Service not doing enough for wolves
A lawsuit alleging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is falling down on its job to protect the world’s only…
Read More
Rockslide temporarily closes 14 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway
A rockslide has kept the 14-mile section of the Blue Ridge Parkway between Maggie Valley and Cherokee closed for a…
Read More
Meteors, stars and planets, oh my!
Crisp wintry weather makes for perfect sky-watching weather, and the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman is planning a pair…
Read More
Trail improvements coming to Fontana: Work begins on $380K trail project
National forest trails around Fontana Village are in for an overhaul, thanks to a federal grant that’s putting the final…
Read More
‘Dead White Guys’ ideas still relevant
Whatever our denominations or religious beliefs, many of us are familiar with the old adage of this season: “Peace on…
Read More
Art After Dark in Waynesville
The final Art After Dark of the year will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, in…
Read More
This must be the place
It’s awfully quiet in here. As the rest of the newspaper heads out the door for home (or somewhere they used…
Read More
Tapping into the next level: Boojum Brewing celebrates one year, signs distribution deal
It’s been a dream come true for Kelsie Baker. “This first year has really been a whirlwind of learning and…
Read More
HRMC praised for patient care
To the Editor: This is in praise of our new hospital, “new” meaning the Haywood Regional Medical Center, now run…
Read More
Politicizing at WCU is just a bad idea
To the Editor: It is my understanding from an article written in the Asheville Citizen Times that Western Carolina University…
Read More
This holiday, it’s a family united
When I was 12 years old, there were few things I liked better than the Dallas Cowboys. Definitely my Farrah…
Read More
Investing in what’s best about WNC
While I was living in Elizabethtown in southeastern North Carolina in 1988, Walmart opened a brand-new store. Most everyone was…
Read More
LEARN program established at WCU
Western Carolina University, in collaboration with the University of Central Florida and Florida Atlantic University, received $1.8 million from the…
Read More
Fulghum named Innovator of the Year
Cheryl Fulghum, Haywood Community College’s distance learning coordinator, was recently named Innovator of the Year, Western Region by the NC…
Read More
Jackson leaders plan for growing court needs
The start of business Thursday, Dec. 10, will mean the coming-to-order of five different court sessions in Jackson County, a…
Read More
Jackson rec board pushes for indoor pool
It’s been more than two years since Jackson County finished a recreation master plan declaring an indoor pool a top…
Read More
Company looks to revive Cashiers development
In the nearly eight years the Cashiers-area Chinquapin development has been around, just 30 of the planned 200 lots have…
Read More
Schools sue state for diverting education funding to inmates
School systems across the mountains are signing on to a lawsuit against the state to recoup hundreds of thousands of…
Read More
Cell tower companies eye Jackson
An application to build a new cell tower in Cashiers is back on the table, after the company, Crown Castle,…
Read More
Macon Bank acquires Old Town under new name of Entegra
Old Town Bank, a local start-up bank based Waynesville, is selling to Macon Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Franklin,…
Read More
Broyhill upbringing brought peace to Brunck
Roberta Brunk could have easily become a victim of circumstance. Growing up in an abusive home and being moved around…
Read More
Broyhill provides family setting for foster kids
Linda Morgan, executive director at Broyhill Children’s Home in Clyde, said she’s seen the pendulum swing many times during her…
Read More
Couple opens their home, heart for foster children
As Caroline Kernahan talked about why she wanted to be a foster parent, her 4-year-old daughter Claire climbed into her…
Read More
Foster home shortage a challenge for WNC counties
Donna Lupton, director of social work in Haywood County, admits that fostering a child or teen isn’t for everyone.
Read More
In search of a forever home: Number of children in foster care on the rise
In a perfect world, every child would have a loving family and a safe home to return to at the…
Read More
Sign ups are underway for commissioner seats
As candidate sign-ups get underway, Swain County commissioner incumbents plan to seek another term.
Read More
