Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

A Tall One Earlier this month North Carolina won five medals at the 2006 Great American Beer Festival Competition —
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Ashes to ashes
 

Ashes to ashes

Before Cormac McCarthy’s nameless father and son have ventured more than a few yards down The Road, we realize that…
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Haywood County school board race
 

Haywood County school board race

There are four seats up for election on the Haywood County school board this November. The county is divided into…
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Health care costs remain important issue for voters
 

Health care costs remain important issue for voters

From behind the prescription counter at Village Pharmacy in Waynesville, Jim Winfree has a bird’s eye view of rising drug…
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What role should the federal government play in helping to make health care more affordable for low- and middle-income Americans?
 

What role should the federal government play in helping to make health care more affordable for low- and middle-income Americans?

Heath Shuler: America is truly facing a health care crisis. Over 46 million Americans are currently living without health insurance…
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Planning ahead a critical first step in escaping abuse
 

Planning ahead a critical first step in escaping abuse

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer If you or someone you know is thinking about leaving an abusive relationship, there…
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The landscapes of our lives
 

The landscapes of our lives

By Michael Beadle Shafts of sun pierce through a misty forest. A thick river of fog rolls through ancient mountains.…
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Raging rockabilly courtesy of Big Sandy  and his Fly Rite Boys
 

Raging rockabilly courtesy of Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys

By Chris Cooper “Timeless” is one of those words tossed around a lot in reference to music. Everybody wants to…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Book By Book Michael Dirda, a reviewer for The Washington Post Book World and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for…
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Sifting through the stack
 

Sifting through the stack

For many people, autumn means more than colorful leaves and blue, crisp days. For them fall is, like spring, a…
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An open letter to Sylva
 

An open letter to Sylva

Most of us in the course of a week find a reason to go to downtown Sylva. We may go…
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Candidates evenly split on North Shore Road
 

Candidates evenly split on North Shore Road

Some voters in Swain County consider the North Shore Road a litmus test for candidates in the county commissioners race…
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Case management key issue in DA’s race
 

Case management key issue in DA’s race

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The race for District Attorney is garnering what some may say is an unusual…
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Differences are obvious, say Haire, Carpenter
 

Differences are obvious, say Haire, Carpenter

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The candidates for the District 119 House race describe themselves as polar opposites.
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How do you stand on the North Shore Road issue?
 

How do you stand on the North Shore Road issue?

Charles Taylor: The federal government should live up to its 60-year-old commitment to Swain County residents and complete the North…
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What is the North Shore Road?
 

What is the North Shore Road?

The North Shore Road is proposed to go through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Bryson City to Tennessee…
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The road ends here
 

The road ends here

If Congressman Charles Taylor is defeated in two weeks, it could spell the end of plans to build a road…
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Swain challengers question spending
 

Swain challengers question spending

All five seats on the Swain County Board of Commissioners are up for election this year. The winners will serve…
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Ancient animals of the Blue Ridge
 

Ancient animals of the Blue Ridge

Names of places throughout the Blue Ridge country pay tribute to the familiar wildlife of the region: Bear Wallow Stand…
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Optimisim reigns at Blue Ridge
 

Optimisim reigns at Blue Ridge

The ups and downs across a graph that tell of a business’ profits and losses may not be very interesting,…
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Finding ways to help the innocent
 

Finding ways to help the innocent

Over the last two decades, the number of drug-affected infants has been growing. It is estimated that as many as…
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A survival guide for direct-to-consumer ads
 

A survival guide for direct-to-consumer ads

By Mark Jaben In the 1970s, a book written about a doctor’s internship experience, The House of God, reached near…
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Using development to save mountain farms
 

Using development to save mountain farms

Not too long ago there occurred an unlikely meeting of the minds. Sylva developer John Beckman and Whittier farmer William…
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Recesses in nature: Bryson City group sets up new caving club
 

Recesses in nature: Bryson City group sets up new caving club

By Michael Beadle There are still dark corners in this world yet to be explored.
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Winter means waterfowl at Lake Junaluska
 

Winter means waterfowl at Lake Junaluska

Anyone who follows the Naturalist’s Corner knows that I have devoted much ink to the birds one might encounter at…
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Keith Presnell
 

Keith Presnell

1. What specific legislation or policies are at the top of your list? Jobs, to make sure we have infrastructure…
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Joe Sam Queen
 

Joe Sam Queen

What specific legislation or policies are at the top of your list?
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Three commission seats up for grabs in Macon
 

Three commission seats up for grabs in Macon

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County’s three Democratic commissioners are facing a challenge from three Republican contenders in…
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Voters need to look closely at the Good Governance Legion
 

Voters need to look closely at the Good Governance Legion

By Lee Shelton As the Nov. 7 election date approaches, the “Good Governance Legion” is, again, “banging their noise makers”…
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Smith thrills in his new dark suspense
 

Smith thrills in his new dark suspense

“The Ruins does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches.” — Stephen King The Ruins by Scott…
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The value of endorsements
 

The value of endorsements

Come Nov. 7, voters will choose candidates based on many different factors. In almost all cases, those choices will be…
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Mixed allegiances make Haywood race especially difficult to call
 

Mixed allegiances make Haywood race especially difficult to call

The scene at Haywood County commissioner meetings today is quite different from that four years ago. In the year prior…
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The horrifying beauty of Halloween made simple
 

The horrifying beauty of Halloween made simple

“Excuse me, miss, but did you happen to see a princess and a small cow come through here a minute…
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How ‘bout them toad suckers? Ain’t they clods?
 

How ‘bout them toad suckers? Ain’t they clods?

When my wife came home the other evening, she asked if I had heard about the toad-sucking dog on NPR.
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Simple living
 

Simple living

By Kathleen Lamont Have you heard? The recent marriage of sustainable food production and big business is on the rocks.
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Macon sheriff's race
 

Macon sheriff's race

Robert Holland, 39, has been Macon County Sheriff for four years and with the sheriff's department since 1991. He is…
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Spotlight on Endangered Species in WNC
 

Spotlight on Endangered Species in WNC

Green Salamander — Although listed by the state as endangered and recognized as a species of concern by the U.S.…
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Paying for the purchase
 

Paying for the purchase

Here’s how Swain County plans to pay for the school land purchase.
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Cowee Mound preserved for future generations, historic interpretation
 

Cowee Mound preserved for future generations, historic interpretation

Cowee Mound, a 71-acre site in Macon County and once a major Cherokee village, will be preserved thanks to a…
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Some critical of price paid for Swain land
 

Some critical of price paid for Swain land

The price of a recent land purchase by Swain County for school expansion has raised some eyebrows among candidates running…
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Most Swain candidates cite need for land planning
 

Most Swain candidates cite need for land planning

As growth and development accelerate in Swain County, discussion over the need for road and slope regulations has increasingly taken…
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Five vie for three seats on Haywood board
 

Five vie for three seats on Haywood board

There are five candidates running for three seats on the Haywood County Board of Commissioners. Kirk Kirkpatrick, Democrat, attorney Kirkpatrick…
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Taylor’s touts congressional clout on campaign trail
 

Taylor’s touts congressional clout on campaign trail

By Michael Beadle It’s a chilly fall morning in downtown Bryson City, and U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor steps up into…
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Shuler camp presses message that change is needed
 

Shuler camp presses message that change is needed

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer It’s 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, and Andrew Whalen, 11th Congressional District candidate Heath…
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Candidates divided on county’s role in initiating planning efforts
 

Candidates divided on county’s role in initiating planning efforts

All five candidates running for Haywood County commissioner say they support a proposed slope development ordinance, which is poised for…
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From the pick of the old time pickin’ litter
 

From the pick of the old time pickin’ litter

By Chris Cooper Rafe Stefanini: Ladies Fancy Rafe Stefanini is something of a walking encyclopedia of old-time fiddle and banjo…
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Old instruments sing again: Community band effort provides new homes for neglected instruments
 

Old instruments sing again: Community band effort provides new homes for neglected instruments

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jacob Clark, a sixth-grader at Waynesville Middle School, likes the trumpet. “It’s easy to…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Freakonomics OK, I’m often late to the game, but this book published a few years is just fascinating. While working…
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