×

Warning

JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 12658
Cherokee leaders green light second casino near Murphy
 

Cherokee leaders green light second casino near Murphy

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could open a new $110 million casino in Murphy as early as spring 2015,…
Read More

Comment

Trial by dirt
 

Trial by dirt

While sunlight, water and good soil may seem a simple enough equation for getting a plant from seed to fruit,…
Read More

Comment

WCU invites student and faculty input on campus master plan
 

WCU invites student and faculty input on campus master plan

Western Carolina University is open to suggestions — from students, faculty and the general public — as it undergoes a…
Read More

Comment

Let the tourists return: Smokies’ landslide fixed
 

Let the tourists return: Smokies’ landslide fixed

Landslide repairs to U.S. 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were completed early this week — reopening the…
Read More

Comment

Empty Bowl: a meal and music with a cause
 

Empty Bowl: a meal and music with a cause

The Empty Bowl fundraiser will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 26, at The Community Table in…
Read More

Comment

‘Greening Up the Mountains’ in Sylva
 

‘Greening Up the Mountains’ in Sylva

 The 16th annual Greening Up the Mountains street festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27,…
Read More

Comment

Dramatic comedy embraces small town life
 

Dramatic comedy embraces small town life

Haywood Arts Regional Theater in Waynesville will kick off its 29th main stage season this month with a stage adaptation…
Read More

Comment

Mom’s Music Fest returns to Waynesville
 

Mom’s Music Fest returns to Waynesville

The outdoor Mom’s Music Festival will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, in Waynesville, featuring…
Read More

Comment

Celebrate ‘Record Store Day’ in Sylva
 

Celebrate ‘Record Store Day’ in Sylva

A “Record Store Day Celebration” will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 20, at In Your Ear Music Emporium in…
Read More

Comment

Liars Bench to showcase Carolina Dusk
 

Liars Bench to showcase Carolina Dusk

The Liars Bench presents music group Carolina Dusk at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 18, in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium…
Read More

Comment

Carden monologue celebrates early vision of teaching college
 

Carden monologue celebrates early vision of teaching college

Renowned Appalachian writer Gary Carden will perform “Madison,” a monologue about the life of Dr. Robert Lee Madison, at 7…
Read More

Comment

Acclaimed Georgia artist featured at The Bascom
 

Acclaimed Georgia artist featured at The Bascom

The work of Linda Anderson, a prolific artist whose pieces depict her life in rural North Georgia, will be on…
Read More

Comment

‘Dead Man Walking’ opera hits Cullowhee
 

‘Dead Man Walking’ opera hits Cullowhee

A concert production of “Dead Man Walking” will come to the stage at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27, in the…
Read More

Comment

WCU Jazz Festival to feature innovative saxophonist, Slovakian drummer
 

WCU Jazz Festival to feature innovative saxophonist, Slovakian drummer

The 2013 Jazz Festival will take place from April 27 and 29 at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, featuring jazz…
Read More

Comment

Mélange puts culinary excellence on display
 

Mélange puts culinary excellence on display

Haywood County Chamber of Commerce held their annual “Melange of the Mountains” culinary gala at Laurel Ridge Country Club on…
Read More

Comment

The luck of the draw
 

The luck of the draw

All bets are on in Cherokee. The first major poker tournament held at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort has lured…
Read More

Comment

Serviceberry is recurring harbinger of spring
 

Serviceberry is recurring harbinger of spring

I have two options when driving back and forth from home to town. One is along a river and the…
Read More

Comment

Sylva climate change protest is lead up to Raleigh lobbying push
 

Sylva climate change protest is lead up to Raleigh lobbying push

In the buildup to a large environmental demonstration in Raleigh, a climate change rally will be held at 11 a.m.…
Read More

Comment

Arboretum to host Mountain Science Expo
 

Arboretum to host Mountain Science Expo

When science meets the mountains you get: The Mountain Science Expo. The expo will take place from 10 a.m. to…
Read More

Comment

News from the A.T.
 

News from the A.T.

Gotta love that A.T. A program on the importance of the Appalachian Trail and ways to promote and conserve it…
Read More

Comment

Springtime cleanup opportunities
 

Springtime cleanup opportunities

In an effort to clean up Scotts Creek in Jackson County, a coordinated workday will be launched by volunteers from…
Read More

Comment

A.T. license plate money awarded to local trail workers
 

A.T. license plate money awarded to local trail workers

The Carolina Mountain Club has been awarded $2,200 through the North Carolina Appalachian Trail License Plate Grant Program to help…
Read More

Comment

Big-time lumberjacks saw off in Haywood
 

Big-time lumberjacks saw off in Haywood

Professional and collegiate lumberjacks from around the East will soon converge on Haywood County to compete in a top-notch woodsman…
Read More

Comment

Love was in the air
 

Love was in the air

Love may be a little anthropogenic for toads, but the eons old “urge to merge” was quite prevalent last Sunday…
Read More

Comment

Help wanted: Engaged citizens with environmental ethos
 

Help wanted: Engaged citizens with environmental ethos

Do you consider yourself an environmentalist or an environmental activist? Do you feel frustrated with the way issues dear to…
Read More

Comment

Movies, book explore travails of Memphis Three
 

Movies, book explore travails of Memphis Three

They were known as the West Memphis Three: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr., three teenagers who were accused…
Read More

Comment

Serving up a taste of Appalachia
 

Serving up a taste of Appalachia

When Doug Weaver looks around Haywood County, he sees potential.  “We’re on the fence, right in the middle of where…
Read More

Comment

Recent charm offensive will influence Obama legacy
 

Recent charm offensive will influence Obama legacy

We have been hearing a lot lately about President Barack Obama’s charm offensive. He has been traveling a short distance…
Read More

Comment

Prescription drug industry needs to be reined in
 

Prescription drug industry needs to be reined in

What’s deadlier than a crazed maniac in a kindergarten class with a loaded assault weapon? In the most horrifying massacre…
Read More

Comment

Parsing out a majority in Haywood room tax debate proves murky
 

Parsing out a majority in Haywood room tax debate proves murky

Without support from the Maggie Valley Lodging Association, a bill to increase the room tax in Haywood County could die…
Read More

Comment

Stand and deliver Donald Davis weaned on mountain storytelling
 

Stand and deliver Donald Davis weaned on mountain storytelling

It’s been said that people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death, but for Donald Davis,…
Read More

Comment

Sylva faces tough budget choices
 

Sylva faces tough budget choices

Sylva town officials are staring down three unsightly options to balance the upcoming year’s budget: tax increases, budget cuts or…
Read More

Comment

Merchants field queries over missing courthouse trees
 

Merchants field queries over missing courthouse trees

Main Street merchants are used to answering tourists’ questions: how do you get to the parkway, what’s the best place…
Read More

Comment

How the axe fell
 

How the axe fell

Talk of cutting the historic courthouse maples in Waynesville has come and gone during the years. Reasons varied. It was…
Read More

Comment

Jackson tourism board offers tepid yet symbolic support of scenic railroad venture
 

Jackson tourism board offers tepid yet symbolic support of scenic railroad venture

The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority is the latest voice to enter the fray as the county ponders a $700,000…
Read More

Comment

Bills would reinforce optional student prayer
 

Bills would reinforce optional student prayer

Religion and public schools have never been a black and white matter anywhere in the U.S., but the shades of…
Read More

Comment

U.S. 441 work nears completion
 

U.S. 441 work nears completion

Repairs to U.S. 441 are nearing completion. A football-field-sized portion of U.S. 441, which runs through the Great Smoky Mountains…
Read More

Comment

Storied Judaculla Rock gets overdue recognition
 

Storied Judaculla Rock gets overdue recognition

Judaculla Rock, a prehistoric gem of the Cherokee and the most heavily inscribed petroglyph in the East, is putting Jackson…
Read More

Comment

River-lust spurs building rebound on Nantahala: Tiny riverside lots pose sewage conundrum
 

River-lust spurs building rebound on Nantahala: Tiny riverside lots pose sewage conundrum

Tom Anderson barely batted an eyelash when he plunked down $300,000 in cash for a tiny lot along the Nantahala…
Read More

Comment

From greenways to ball fields, state cuts could sideline local recreation wish list
 

From greenways to ball fields, state cuts could sideline local recreation wish list

Statewide parks and recreation funding is clashing with fiscal austerity in the current state budget process, in a showdown that…
Read More

Comment

WNC breweries to release collaboration beer ‘Ryeway 74’
 

WNC breweries to release collaboration beer ‘Ryeway 74’

All five Western North Carolina microbreweries west of Asheville collaborated on a craft beer that will be simultaneously released at…
Read More

Comment

Taste of Chocolate fundraiser returns to Maggie Club
 

Taste of Chocolate fundraiser returns to Maggie Club

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate will be delight partakers in the 14th annual Taste of Chocolate from 6 to 9 p.m.…
Read More

Comment

Folk, then jazz, at the Classic Wineseller
 

Folk, then jazz, at the Classic Wineseller

The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville will showcase live music from singer-songwriter Ben Wilson at 7 p.m. Friday, April 19, and…
Read More

Comment

Songwriters series returns to Balsam
 

Songwriters series returns to Balsam

The popular Songwriters in the Round series will return to the Balsam Mountain Inn at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 13,…
Read More

Comment

Sarge’s hosts annual pet photo competition
 

Sarge’s hosts annual pet photo competition

Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation’s Annual Pet Photo Contest award ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at…
Read More

Comment

The finer points of candlewicking unveiled
 

The finer points of candlewicking unveiled

A candlewicking workshop will be offered from 9:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, April 18, at the Jackson County Extension Office…
Read More

Comment

Community meals in Cashiers feature pickin’ on the side
 

Community meals in Cashiers feature pickin’ on the side

The Gathering Table is providing fresh, nutritious dinners from 5 to 7 p.m. every Thursday evening at the Cashiers Community…
Read More

Comment

Their own way of fishing
 

Their own way of fishing

I’m sometimes asked if the prehistoric Cherokees used any sort of poisons on their blowgun darts. These darts (slivers of…
Read More

Comment

Cullowhee race brings back crowd for a second year
 

Cullowhee race brings back crowd for a second year

The Valley of the Lilies Half Marathon and 5K will race through the Western Carolina University campus and greater Cullowhee…
Read More

Comment

The reporter that could
 

The reporter that could

Ahhhh. That is what was my first thought when the rock slipped from under my foot.
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.