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Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:47

Hiking club rolls out two new trail challenges

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, the Carolina Mountain Club Challenge committee has added two new hiking challenges this year to its lineup.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:46

Sign-up for behind-the-scenes look at the Smokies

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is beginning a new program that allows nearby residents, business people, teachers and community members to see the everyday workings of the national park.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:44

News for gardeners

Beginning farmers in Swain and Jackson counties can get an agricultural microloan of up to $35,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:39

Conservancy adds on to protected Roan Mountain lands

A 601-acre tract in Avery County near Roan Mountain has been purchased and conserved by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. The tract is adjacent to the Pisgah National Forest and near the Appalachian Trail in the Highlands of Roan. The…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:37

Arrrggghh – a wintry mix

Limeade, tequila and cointreau is not a wintry mix — that is a margarita; something you may resort to when a wintry mix turns your driveway into a sheet of ice. The ingredients for a wintry mix are a combination…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:35

National A.T. gathering making the trek to Cullowhee this summer

A large Appalachian Trail gathering is coming to Western Carolina University this summer, and local trail clubs hosting the week-long conference are recruiting volunteers to help during the event The Appalachian Trail Conservancy will hold is biennial meeting in Cullowhee…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:33

150 and counting: WCU grad student research helps get a handle on impacts of mounting numbers of elk

By Jill Ingram • Guest writer, WCU public affairs office Covering long distances in and around Cataloochee Valley, a Western Carolina University student is researching the growing, and sometimes problematic, elk population in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:28

Kerouac still matters, though the perspective has shifted

Of all the Beat writers of the 1940s and 1950s — Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, John Clellon Holmes, Gary Snyder, and others — it is Jack Kerouac who most fascinates post-millennial readers. His works remain in print; he has inspired…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:12

We need to keep track of all firearms

To the Editor: I miss Martin Luther King. His enlightened reason and fervent advocating for equal rights is sorely missed. Unfortunate that a man with a gun chose to end his life. Make no mistake about it, there have always…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:11

Timber harvest at Devil’s Courthouse a good idea

To the Editor: Nature abhors a vacuum. Mother Nature assures change. Organisms are constantly adapting, changing, improving, evolving. Understand-ing life cycles in nature assists man in many ways. We can collect water, grow vegetables, clear land, harvest timber, fish for…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:10

Last issue of SMN painted a vivid picture

To the Editor: How incredibly serendipitous that your newspaper of Jan. 23 should headline the flooding and landslides that occurred during the four days of local heavy rains while at the same time highlighting the ongoing review of the Jackson…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 14:09

More than ever, schools need forest service money

By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist When the 1911 Weeks Act was passed, allowing the federal government to purchase land and create a national forest system in the eastern United States, an agreement was established between the federal government and…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 13:58

Upcoming improvement projects on I-40

Tunnel projects to delay work on I-40 The N.C. Department of Transportation will perform work on three tunnels in the Pigeon River Gorge on Interstate 40 in Haywood County during a two-week period starting Monday, Feb. 4. • Traffic reduced…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 13:56

Medical foundation appoints new chairman

The Haywood Regional Medical Center Foundation Board of Trustees recently appointed Laura Leatherwood as the new chairman of the board. Leatherwood is the vice president of Student and Workforce Development at Haywood Community College, where she has worked since 2000.…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 13:54

Hope on the horizon: Hung up by park service, Swain’s cash settlement has been in limbo

A long overdue $4 million payment may finally make its way to Swain County after languishing for the past year in the budget dungeons of the National Park Service. The payment is part of a larger $52 million cash settlement…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 13:48

The biggest little show in Haywood

Editor’s Note: Given the national debate over gun legislation and controversy swirling around gun shows in particular, The Smoky Mountain News was curious to see just what goes on at a gun show. Join our reporter on a stroll through…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 13:47

Wait for it…a tourism tagline coming soon for Jackson County

The newly formed Jackson County Tourism Development Authority is taking on the task of “branding,” an important first step for the entity that’s been tasked with developing a unified tourism promotion strategy for the county.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 13:43

Smokies landslide could deal crushing blow to tourism if road repairs drag on

A rain-induced landslide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park left a gaping hole in U.S. 441, but its impact could leave a lot bigger hole in the local economy if park officials are not able to fix the road…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Can the digital age save the Cherokee language? The halls of Facebook, Google and texting

Susan Gathers was kicked back in the student union one afternoon, her thumbs poised over her smart phone, simultaneously bantering with friends while texting — sometimes even texting the same person she was talking to. This impressive skill to seamlessly…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Haywood TDA introduces site tailored to lodging owners

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has launched a new website with information specifically for lodging owners.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Audit finds vacation rentals dodging the lodging tax

A company hired by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has found a dozen businesses that have been evading a 4 percent lodging tax.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

County likely to take over reins of new Jackson economic commission

Although Jackson County’s Economic Development Commission has not met in several years, all its board members’ terms have expired and its director has long-since resigned, it technically still exists.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Is Cashiers ABC store a sure bet? Sylva weighs whether to cast its lot with county’s new liquor store endeavors

As Jackson County officials craft plans to open a liquor store in Cashiers, possibly as soon this summer, they must first determine whether the town of Sylva is in or out.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Lake Junaluska winnows options as merger window narrows

Lake Junaluskans got their first glimpse this weekend at what it would take for the community to become its own town. Incorporating as its own town comes with a host of regulatory, political and logistical hurdles. A task force studying…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Descendents rekindle Civil War tale of sheriff shot 150 years ago

The death of Haywood County Sheriff John Phillip Noland — a murder story set against the backdrop of the American Civil War — sounds as if it belongs in the pages of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Time to fish or cut bait in Canton swimming pool dilemma

The decrepit state of Canton’s aging outdoor swimming pool has left town leaders with two options — bulldoze it and build a new one or simply close it.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Macon ponders raises and salary realignments for county workers

Proposed pay raises for county workers in Macon has prompted skepticism from at least two of the five county commissioners, who are asking if now is the right time for that. The proposed pay raise would boost the salaries of…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Macon leaders ponder new method for parceling up commissioner voting districts

Macon County commissioners are analyzing the geographic system of electing county leaders after two commissioners from outlying communities questioned whether the process is too weighted in Franklin’s favor.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

HCC craft student wins national award

Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Fiber student Rebecca Porche is the recipient of the Handweavers Guild of America’s Dendel Scholarship for 2012.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

HART makes big leaps in theater fundraising

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville has raised $160,000 since last summer in a capital campaign to build a second theater. The total price tag of the second facility is $950,000. The second theater, which is only in preliminary conception…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Fire & Ice gallery show opens

Onlooker John Highsmith takes a gander at “Blue Heron,” the latest metal sculpture from Grace Cathey at the “Fire & Ice: Pottery, Glass and Metalwork” gallery reception on Jan. 27 at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

Theater troupe brings Civil Rights to life for Jackson students

Theatrical productions of “Struggle for Freedom” and “George Washington Carver and Friends” will be put on for local school students at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina…
Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00

The art of stereotyping: Have Southerners gotten a fair shake from pop culture?

Times may change, but stereotypes tend to linger. Venturing into the off-color humor and often offensive images of Southern culture portrayed by cartoonists throughout American history, Western Carolina University will address the issue head-on in its newest exhibit opening next…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:54

Northern siskins ‘irrupting’ right now at my feeder

“The opportunistic nature of the species and its partial indifference to constraints of time and space make it an intriguing subject.” — E.W. Dawson, North American Birds Online   Volcanoes “erupt,” birds “irrupt.” We haven’t experienced any eruptions of that…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:48

Big investment made in local bio-fuels

A consortium of Western North Carolina public agencies and private organizations will receive a grant of $766,000 from the N.C. Bio-fuels Center, to advance the bio-fuels industry in the region.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:46

Working farmland protection plan being crafted in Swain

Swain County farmers, landowners, and other interested individuals are invited to share their thoughts and idea on a new farmland protection plan to support agriculture in Swain County.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:37

I feel the earth move…

It may not have shaken the Richter scale like the stampede of Republican lawmakers and their realtor and developer lobbyists in Raleigh back in 2011, clamoring to cut funding for the state’s Landslide Hazard Mapping program, but there were more…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:33

Weather or not: Local Yokel Weather fine tunes forecasts for your neck of the woods

Have you ever been told by the evening news to expect three inches of snow overnight, but after stocking up on bread, toilet paper and flashlight batteries, you walk out the next morning, snow shovel in hand, to find only…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:30

Historian presents a factual story of Cleopatra

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” — Cicero, 106 B.C. Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer prize-winning historian and a guest editorialist for the New York Times, has written a fascinating historical biography…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:25

A different perspective on guns and government

To the Editor: As someone who has lived in four different countries and traveled to several others over the last 11 years, I can tell you that no people who I have encountered continually demand that their government institutions solve…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:23

Shame on Jack Debnam and Jackson’s citizens

To the Editor: Friends, they’ve out-waited us. And, motivated by the smell of money, they appear to have outlasted us as well and are – right now – in the process of outmaneuvering us. Jackson County’s land-use ordinances were enacted…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:21

Some want to lead by using fear

To the Editor: Don’t let anyone tell you there’s no conspiracy or that conspirators are not busily at work here in our “exceptional” country full of “superior” people. It’s not written anywhere. There’s no agenda to read or way to…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:20

‘Gun Free Zones’ are danger zones

To the Editor: Legislation has created a zone where the only people protected by a “gun free zone” are the evil criminals that come there to break the law. No one can stop them. Good people are forbidden to carry…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:20

U.S. Postal Service should be left intact

To the Editor: We have just been through a holiday season during which the U.S. Postal Service and its workers have served us well. Millions of cards, letters, and packages have passed from city to city, home to home. Stamps…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 14:18

State GOP leaders’ tax plan would benefit wealthy

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist A 1996 New Yorker cartoon — poking fun at Steve Forbes’s presidential campaign plank — pictured two men dining on steaks at a posh private club. “I’ve been thinking about the flat tax and…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 13:54

Muddy waters: WNC feels the blues following unrelenting rainstorms

A four-day stretch of heavy rains fell on Western North Carolina, leaving residents wondering if it would ever end. Some areas witnessed up to 10 inches. The following collection of stories and interviews captures the drama and tension of the…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 00:00

Farewell, Mayor Phyllis Waynesville’s longtime town clerk retires

The longest-serving town clerk in Waynesville’s written history will retire next week, taking with her a vast store of institutional knowledge of the town’s inner workings.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 00:00

Contenders line up to be next Haywood Sheriff

Three men, all with impressive law enforcement backgrounds, are vying to be Haywood County’s next sheriff. The current Sheriff, Bobby Suttles, is retiring next month, but with two years to go until the next sheriff election, a replacement must be…
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 00:00

New concert venue in the making for Maggie Valley

Carolina Nights, a closed-down dinner theater in Maggie Valley, could make a comeback as an entertainment venue under new owners. A Haywood County couple with a track record as local business partners bought the building last month for $235,000.
Wednesday, 23 January 2013 00:00

Jackson commissioners hold final say on looser steep slope rules

A rewrite of Jackson County’s development regulations are well underway by the Jackson County Planning Board. It will be several more months before they finish, and final changes are ultimately up to the county commissioners.
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