Archived

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Moratorium opponents suffer setback

A group of Realtors and developers challenging the legality of Jackson County’s five-month moratorium on new subdivisions lost the first round in court Thursday (May 24.)

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Jackson planners propose exempting existing lots from steep slope rules

For the second week in a row, the Jackson County planning board watered down proposed development regulations following rounds of public comment.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Ressurecting the Ghost of Maggie past

Bob Cordier likes a challenge. So, when the 25-year veteran of the amusement park industry decided he was bored with building houses and was ready to get back into the business, Ghost Town in the Sky seemed a natural fit.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Sky-high hopes: Maggie Valley’s theme park destination looks to the future with an eye on the past

After they opened Joey’s Pancake House in 1966, Brenda O’Keefe and her late husband would calculate how much pancake batter they’d need based on the number of cars they saw at local hotels on their way to work. Brenda and…

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

A new park opens

“Ghost Town is one of the biggest things that has happened to the western end of North Carolina in many a day. It has proven a giant boost to the economy of a people long hampered by a natural terrain…

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Election probe likely to swing on interpretation

A state election investigator is trying to determine whether a Swain County voting drive targeting the poor and elderly crossed the line from exceptionally ambitious to improper.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

A hard day’s work

On Earth’s Furrowed Brow: The Appalachian Farm in Photographs by Tim Barnwell. W. W. Norton, 2007. 224 pages. For a time my father’s love affair with decaying barns and farmhouses became something of a family joke. If he decided to…

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Recommended diversions

A Homecoming, Of Sorts (whilst never leaving Main Street) I’ve lived in WNC for nearly four years now. I’ve written about the musicians and venues around here. I’ve poked a little fun at Sylva and Cullowhee but taken an outsider’s…

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Taking steps in the right direction

By Chris Cooper If a band stays together long enough, it’ll probably morph into something a little beyond its starting point. At least, that’s the idea. With King Wilkie, this evolution involved letting the straight bluegrass roots of their beginnings…

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Dazzle of Light: John Phillips’ new Fire and Light Glass Studio and Gallery in Otto offers artwork, classes and glass art supplies

By Michael Beadle There’s a dance of light in a work of glass. Move around the piece and it changes color as if it were alive.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Open space requirement set at 25 percent

How much open space should be required in new developments? That question has caused the most contention among Jackson County planning board members over the past four months as they have hammered out a revolutionary array of new development regulations.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Proposed election law change follows Swain nursing home irregularities

The General Assembly is considering a bill that could solve a Catch 22 in election law: how to legitimately help nursing home patients vote without creating a climate ripe for abuse.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Ghost Town re-opens

After being closed for five years, a North Carolina icon, Ghost Town In The Sky, is re-opening on May 25.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Fun Facts about Ghost Town

• Ghost Town in the Sky first opened its doors to the public in June 1961. Construction began in September 1960, with the extensive removal of 70 feet from the mountain top for the western townsite. Thousands of yards of…

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

History of Ghost Town in the Sky

Businessman R. B. Coburn, who was inspired to build a park with a western theme after visiting several ghost towns in the American West, conceived Ghost Town in the Sky.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

Ghost Town goes silver screen

Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town “The Movie” will premiere at the Eaglenest Entertainment Center in Maggie Valley at 7 p.m. on June 2.

Wednesday, 23 May 2007 00:00

The mountain rhodo show

Rhododendrons are a part of the heath family (Ericaceae), which includes such diverse members in regard to size and habitat as pipsissewa, trailing arbutus, mountain laurel, doghobble, and sourwood. There are three evergreen rhododendron species in the southern mountains: rosebay…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Pedaling my America: Jackson County native A.J. Rowell prepares for 10,000-mile summer cycling ride from Arctic Alaska to Cullowhee

By Michael Beadle Before you ask the most obvious question – why? – remember, it’s not a race or a sudden urge to drop out of society so he doesn’t have to pay his bills. Like the bumper sticker reminds…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

The Naturalist's Corner: Fuel for thought

Biofuels have been getting a lot of media and blogosphere attention lately, and with the price of gas at $3 per gallon and climbing that’s not likely to change. Whether you get your news from the Internet, the newspaper or…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

A surprising reminder of a common bond

By Stephanie Wampler One morning in early spring, I woke up before anyone else and went out on my porch. The air was cool and clear, the thin morning mist was a veil over the grey trees of winter. A…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Park Service opinion could seal road’s fate

The road, it appears, stops here. Now, elected leaders and citizens must demand a timetable for the $52 million settlement due Swain County.

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

I’m sorry for all the impotence ads

By John Armor • Guest Columnist There are certain categories of ads on TV which offend me, and no doubt you, whenever they appear. There are the impotence ads. (Known as “E.D.” to its friends.) Plus the constipation/diarrhea ads. Plus…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Just looking around

I’m rediscovering that it’s good to just slip out of the office and amble around town for a few minutes. The semi-urban landscape here in Bryson City — or any of the other little mountain towns — provides an interesting…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

What they’re saying

“It’s well past time to bury this boondoggle and resolve the issue in this positive way for the park and the people. The ‘Road to Nowhere’ has been a dark cloud over the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Judge rules Realtors’ loss is not irreparable

A group of Realtors and developers challenging the legality of Jackson County’s five-month moratorium on new subdivisions lost the first round in court Thursday (May 24).

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

The end of the road? Park Service recommends cash instead of road

The National Park Service has finally chosen sides in the long-standing debate over whether to build a 30-mile road through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park backcountry outside Bryson City.

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Cherokee dedicates first section of downtown greenway

A long-range plan to make Cherokee a friendlier place to walk, visit and shop moved forward last week with the dedication of a quarter-mile section of a proposed three-mile greenway.

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Another look at Wolfe

Thomas Wolfe: An Illustrated Biography by Ted Mitchell. Pegasus Books, 2007. 341 pages. Thirty-three years ago this month, at the dreg-ends of an evil winter and a harsh spring, I went to the library at the University of Connecticut and…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Recommended diversions

Memorial Day with a soldier He’s just a kid, 23 year old I think, dating one of my young cousins. My brother, a veteran who is 51, and I stood against the privacy fence at a weekend cookout in Fayetteville…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Good music for nice people

By Chris Cooper John Prine and Mac Wiseman: Standard Songs For Average People John Prine just sounds like a nice guy. You can almost hear the side of his mouth curl into a grin as he finishes a line, even…

Wednesday, 30 May 2007 00:00

Dance of the people: Women use traditional art form for fun and exercise

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer With vigorous hip pops and shimmies, members of the Sidra bellydancing group are sending small metal coins and beads flying. The costume decor rolls and bounces across the hardwood floor and the dancers smile,…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 15:11

Taking God out of schools was mistake

To the Editor: Just over five weeks ago a mentally disturbed 19-year-old young man went into a school in Connecticut and slaughtered 20 young people and 6 adults. Mentally disturbed people caused similar incidents in the last few years, including…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 15:11

Jackson should not sell out to developers

To the Editor: Thank you for your excellent reporting on the consideration to a change in the development rules in Jackson County. The economy is not a reason for a change in the rules. Once a mountain is changed there…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 15:09

Majoring in philosophy? More power to you

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is trying to temper disparaging remarks he made early last week about the value of a liberal arts education. He certainly needs to, and while he’s at it he should assure this state’s citizens that he…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:57

Zombie lore, one bite at a time

If you are literate and moderately aware of what passes for entertainment in film, popular novels and comics, then you are acquainted with of the strange “zombie” craze that is currently dominating much of the popular arts. In recent years,…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:54

Oil lamps have long history of lighting the way

Surprisingly, a recent column about wood-burning cookstoves attracted as much attention as anything I’ve written for years. Folks who live in The Smoky Mountain News distribution area and can pick up the print edition were the most numerous e-mail correspondents,…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:36

Local fisherman lands silver at championships

Angler and Sylva native Josh Stephens recently earned a silver medal in team competition during the National Fly Fishing Championship in Bend, Ore., as a member of one of the Team USA squads competing.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:34

Donation will go to Smokies priorities

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park was recently awarded $2,000 from Sustainability for Generations to Come, a Western North Carolina organization formed to support conservation efforts in the mountain region.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:30

Farmers get a helping hand with diversification grants

28 Western North Carolina farmers received nearly $150,000 total in grants to help diversify their farm businesses. The money was awarded by WNC AgOptions grant program, which is funded through the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. Most of the awards…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:30

Fees proposed for forest service recreation sites

The U.S. Forest Service may increase, or begin charging, fees at seven recreation sites within the national forests in North Carolina. The Sliding Rock Recreation Area, within the Pisgah National Forest and three shooting ranges in the Nantahala National Forest…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:27

Hops finds a home in WNC soil and economy

A free program on “The Business of Growing Hops” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Haywood Community College.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:26

The Rainbow to Nowhere?

What happens when you finally get to the end of the rainbow and there’s no gold in the pot? Perusing The Smoky Mountain News the other day, I ran across Becky Johnson’s piece about the $52 million dollar cash settlement,…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:20

Dark skies — and the stars that go with them — slowly disappearing

Although the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a protected expanse of land, all types of contamination — from air pollution to mercury contamination — manage to creep in. One of the more unusual suspects, but probably the most apparent,…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:14

Jackson County asks towns to dissolve economic development commission

Before a crowded room of town officials this week, Jackson County Commissioner Jack Debnam announced, in so many words, what many already knew: the county’s economic development committee in its previous form was dead and never coming back.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:12

State torn on driver’s licenses for children of illegal immigrants

It’s a right of passage for teens, the Holy Grail of high school, an iconic symbol of young adulthood freedom — that tiny piece of plastic called a driver’s license.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:10

Paddlers hit the river in wake of torrential downpours

The recurring deluge of heavy rains has brought paddlers out of hibernation and onto Western North Carolina rivers over the past few weeks.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:08

HCC plans Entrepreneurship Week activities

Haywood Community College will celebrate National Entrepreneurship Week Feb. 16-23 with a week-long schedule of events. The events will allow HCC to highlight the college’s strengths in the areas of entrepreneurship, sustainability and creativity. The following events are planned: •…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:07

Cherokee bear zoo fined and suspended over violations

Federal regulators temporarily suspended operations at Cherokee bear zoo and fined its owners $5,000 for repeated animal welfare violations.

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:03

Batter up: Macon weighs costs and benefits of proposed recreation complex

A Macon County commissioner, who prides himself on fiscal conservatism, has been staking out his positions lately. After questioning the virtue of pay raises for Macon County workers two weeks ago, Commissioner Ron Haven has turned his attention to another…

Wednesday, 06 February 2013 14:02

Sylva teacher wins statewide teaching award

Deanne Oppermann, a chemistry instructor at Southwestern Community College in Sylva, is the recipient of the R.J. Reynolds Excellence in Teaching Award for 2012-2013 by the North Carolina Community College System. Oppermann is known at SCC for embracing multiple teaching…

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