Cullowhee Mountain ARTS programs
 

Cullowhee Mountain ARTS programs

There will be a handful of youth arts programs held throughout July as part of the Cullowhee Mountain ARTS summer…
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Haywood arts council gets new director
 

Haywood arts council gets new director

The Haywood County Arts Council recently hired Jodi John Pippin as their new part-time executive director as of June 2014. 
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Singing In The Smokies returns to Bryson
 

Singing In The Smokies returns to Bryson

The Singing In The Smokies Independence Weekend Festival will run from July 3-5 at Inspiration Park in Bryson City. 
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

It’s a sound that immediately turns your head. Sitting at a table within the 5 Walnut Wine Bar in downtown…
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High-caliber creativity and fearless fretsmanship shine on Grass
 

High-caliber creativity and fearless fretsmanship shine on Grass

By Chris Cooper Silly, psychedelic and monstrously musical, the teaming of Keller Williams with Larry and Jenny Keel on Grass…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism Haynes Johnson’s 2005 book isn’t frightening, but it should at least make thinking…
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Rash draws on his own Civil War ties in his new novel, The World Made Straight
 

Rash draws on his own Civil War ties in his new novel, The World Made Straight

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer History books and literature long have recounted and regaled the Civil War, examined its…
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Books that evoke special times
 

Books that evoke special times

Sometimes a book touches our hearts in a very special way. In the winter and spring of 1978, having saved…
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Carden wins Brown-Hudson Folklore Award
 

Carden wins Brown-Hudson Folklore Award

Author, storyteller and playwright Gary Carden of Sylva has been awarded the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award presented by the North Carolina…
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Commissioners get slope ordinance from planners
 

Commissioners get slope ordinance from planners

Haywood County commissioners are examining a slope development ordinance that would regulate the safety of cut and fill slopes for…
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N.C. Education Lottery sparks debate over how dollars will be spent
 

N.C. Education Lottery sparks debate over how dollars will be spent

By Michael Beadle The North Carolina Education Lottery might be seen by state officials as a boon for public education,…
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Officials hope taping TDA will promote civility
 

Officials hope taping TDA will promote civility

Turmoil surrounding the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has landed the entity a regular slot on the government television station…
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A raw deal for WNC
 

A raw deal for WNC

According to provisions in the state’s lottery law, about a third of the money raised in the lottery (35 percent)…
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Retailers get ready for opening day
 

Retailers get ready for opening day

By Michael Beadle As the opening date approaches for the North Carolina Education Lottery, local retailers in Western North Carolina…
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State OKs sewage plan for part of Gorge development
 

State OKs sewage plan for part of Gorge development

A controversial high-end development along the Nantahala River in the Nantahala Gorge has received the green light for an alternative…
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Subdivision ordinance talks continue in Macon
 

Subdivision ordinance talks continue in Macon

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County Planning Board members will continue their first discussion of a draft subdivision…
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Sylva leaders survey citizens about town services
 

Sylva leaders survey citizens about town services

By Sarah Kucharski * Staff Writer Is there enough affordable housing in Sylva? Do you feel safe in your neighborhood?…
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The doghobble’s claim to fame
 

The doghobble’s claim to fame

Whenever I’m conducting a native plant identification workshop, I try to note several regional plants — one each in the…
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There are many good reasons to get slope ordinances on the books
 

There are many good reasons to get slope ordinances on the books

There’s no more pressing issue in this region than enacting ordinances to control steep slope development. If we snooze on…
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Media consolidation just ain’t good
 

Media consolidation just ain’t good

It happened months back, but the request was typical of what we hear everyday in this business: will you do…
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A public grace worth emulating
 

A public grace worth emulating

By Stephanie Wampler I didn’t know her. I never met her. I haven’t even read that much about her. I…
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Filming on the fly
 

Filming on the fly

By Sarah Kucharski Standing in the shallows of the Tuckasegee River between Webster and Dillsboro, cold water flowing around the…
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Burroughs Wellcome Fund welcome
 

Burroughs Wellcome Fund welcome

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has renewed its commitment to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s inquiry-based, hands-on science education programs.…
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Park lifts ban on brookies thanks to long-term trout recovery
 

Park lifts ban on brookies thanks to long-term trout recovery

For the first time in more than 30 years, fishermen in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be allowed…
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‘Spend or lose’ law leads to unspoken credo to use money
 

‘Spend or lose’ law leads to unspoken credo to use money

The investigation into an off-the-books account kept by the former Haywood County Schools maintenance director at Haywood Builders Supply has…
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Supporters confident Wingate will be exonerated
 

Supporters confident Wingate will be exonerated

When Danny Wingate agreed five years ago to set up a credit line for the Haywood County Schools maintenance department,…
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Cast out the castor
 

Cast out the castor

The gardening season is upon us. Many gardeners here in the Smokies region are familiar with mole bean plant, also…
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Slaves to titillating news and ....
 

Slaves to titillating news and ....

You have already read or heard about the three guys who were arrested for “operating” — yeah, I guess the…
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Lottery funding formula needs to be changed now
 

Lottery funding formula needs to be changed now

It’s past time to keep rehashing the same old arguments about whether having a state lottery is a good idea.…
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Alien vs. Predator in the GSMNP
 

Alien vs. Predator in the GSMNP

A new breed of predator beetles that could help fight the hemlock wooly adelgid were released in the Great Smoky…
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Deep into Gorges State Park
 

Deep into Gorges State Park

By Ed Kelley Tiptoeing quickly across the Toxaway River, my ankle gaiters did the job and kept the cold water…
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Gus the gruffy grouse gets territorial
 

Gus the gruffy grouse gets territorial

Jerry Smathers is public enemy number one for a ruffed grouse named Gus that lives on the forest bordering Smathers’…
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Park: Don’t blame us for the ladybugs
 

Park: Don’t blame us for the ladybugs

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials say they have been erroneously blamed by some residents for introducing large, black and…
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I wanna another peep outta ya!
 

I wanna another peep outta ya!

Jeepers creepers, don’t ya here those peepers. Gram for gram, Pseudacris crucifer is one of the loudest amphibians out there.…
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The Doc is still in: Legendary Appalachian musician scheduled to play in Haywood County for Arts Council benefit concert
 

The Doc is still in: Legendary Appalachian musician scheduled to play in Haywood County for Arts Council benefit concert

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer There are two things Arthel Watson fans are sure to mention when asked about…
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‘Doctors for Doc’ takes the lead in Watson concert fundraising
 

‘Doctors for Doc’ takes the lead in Watson concert fundraising

As part of an innovative fundraising effort called “Doctors for Doc,” Haywood County physicians affiliated with Haywood Regional Medical Center…
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Solid country from outside the Nashville machine
 

Solid country from outside the Nashville machine

By Chris Cooper The name Radney Foster takes me back to the earlier days of home satellite dishes and music…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

National Poetry Month April may have been “the cruelest month” for poet T.S. Eliot, but for me it is truly…
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An attempt to straighten the world
 

An attempt to straighten the world

There is a passage in the heart of Ron Rash’s novel, The World Made Straight, in which Leonard Shuler remembers…
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Stillwell earns fans the hard way
 

Stillwell earns fans the hard way

By Chris Cooper What do the words “music career” mean to you? For many it’s big fancy studios, nice cars…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Drive-By Truckers: A Blessing and a Curse I first saw the Truckers eight or nine years ago in a little…
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Words on the wind: New Cherokee youth radio program offers students a chance to record and broadcast news reports, tribal culture and local history
 

Words on the wind: New Cherokee youth radio program offers students a chance to record and broadcast news reports, tribal culture and local history

By Michael Beadle It’s Thursday morning and Cherokee High School junior Brandi Oocumma is preparing to read a news story…
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Simple significance
 

Simple significance

Writers typically aim to give the reader a protagonist who is likeable. Most of us don’t want to spend hours…
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Cherokee anthem realized through WCU
 

Cherokee anthem realized through WCU

What began as a request to translate “The Star-Spangled Banner” into Cherokee evolved instead into a new song, the “United…
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Armor – Eclectic to the nth degree: Highlands Republican wants to pry loose Taylors’ grip on 11th District
 

Armor – Eclectic to the nth degree: Highlands Republican wants to pry loose Taylors’ grip on 11th District

When CNN chose John Armor’s web blog as the political site of the day several years ago, coining him an…
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Jackson Democrats must choose among a crowded field
 

Jackson Democrats must choose among a crowded field

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Voters in Jackson County will elect predominately Democratic county commissioners in this May’s primary…
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Local PAC exerts influence
 

Local PAC exerts influence

For the first time in Haywood County, a group of residents has formed a political action committee with the goal…
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Morgan runs to win: Swannanoa candidate says he’ll beat Shuler in Democratic primary
 

Morgan runs to win: Swannanoa candidate says he’ll beat Shuler in Democratic primary

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Michael Morgan sits at a table near the back of Malaprop’s Bookstore Café in…
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Squirrel stories
 

Squirrel stories

It seems to me that the general reputation of squirrels has declined within my own lifetime. I don’t recall hearing…
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Changing budget laws would save taxpayer money
 

Changing budget laws would save taxpayer money

The words still ring in my ears, coming as they did from a teacher who had spent years playing by…
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