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Cataloochee, Cades Cove accesses to close this winter
The main access roads into Cataloochee and Cades Cove will be closed for several months this winter due to road…
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Strong leaf season predicted
This autumn should yield vibrant fall colors in the mountains, according to Western Carolina University’s fall color forecaster Beverly Collins.
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The Naturalist's Corner: Santee surprise
During our annual summer beach trip to Isle of Palms, I often manage to sneak away one morning to visit…
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WCU to study alcohol sales at sporting events
The Western Carolina University Board of Trustees elected a slate of officers for 2019-20 and made appointments to several committees,…
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Swain room tax revenue exceeds $1 million
Swain County’s tourism industry recently marked a major milestone when the occupancy tax revenue from fiscal year 2018-19 exceeded $1…
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Jackson plans for growth
Last year was a good one for the tourism industry in Jackson County, with visitor spending in 2018 increasing by…
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Haywood’s tourism growth comes in unexpected places, times
Strong growth in winter and Haywood County’s smaller municipalities has local tourism numbers up over last year, in some cases,…
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Visitor spending in Macon on the rise
Outdoor recreation continues to be a major factor in Macon County’s steady increase in visitor spending year after year.
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Tourism spending up in WNC counties
As the summer season comes to a close, western counties continue to see a steady increase in visitor spending and room…
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Some Haywood County Schools buildings nearing capacity
With a major new administration facility proposed and a shuttered elementary school still sitting empty, Haywood County Schools finds itself…
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Input sought for Swain’s future
All indications show Swain County has a prosperous future ahead, but county leaders are looking for community input to determine…
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Big changes coming to N.C. Medicaid
As the state of North Carolina moves forward with some bold new changes to how it will administer Medicaid, Haywood…
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TWSA discusses ways to soften N.C. 107 impacts
With right-of-way acquisition for the N.C. 107 project in Sylva set to begin in January, the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer…
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Sylva’s White Moon serves up more than just coffee
It’s a serendipitous sort of happenstance when you stumble across the White Moon coffee shop. Tucked in the depths of…
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This must be the place: Where will you take me? What will we do?
Pulling off Interstate 87 onto Route 9, the fading sun lowered itself behind the cornfields and open meadows of the…
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Free camping available for Dorian evacuees
The U.S. Forest Service is waiving fees at campgrounds across its southern region — which includes the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest…
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Emergency Closure for Nantahala Gorge
Due to hazardous conditions in the Nantahala Gorge from multiple landslides, the U.S. Forest Service is issuing an Emergency Closure…
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Commercial Rafting and Kayaking Operations Suspended on Nantahala River
Hazards created by recent landslides into the Nantahala River within the Nantahala Gorge have resulted in a suspension of all…
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Buzzards have a beauty and power all their own
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News in August 2003. The recent heavy rains here in…
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Schooled in ag: School gives students a hands-on education
With a new school year just begun, the 300 students who participate in Waynesville Middle School’s robust agriculture program now…
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Man dies at Deep Creek
A Georgia man was pronounced dead in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Thursday, Aug. 22, following a cardiac…
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HCC student places in national competition
A Haywood Community College student recently took fourth in a national timbersports competition held in Wisconsin.
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‘Any Other Place’ provides lessons in living
Literature at its best is a fast-track course in human nature. From Shakespeare we can, if we are attentive, learn…
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We stand by our brand of journalism
It’s rare when one newspaper questions the integrity of another paper and the intentions of a hard-working journalist whose entire…
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Finding inspiration in Haywood Early College wolfpack
Leaving Watami Sushi & Noodles on Main Street in Waynesville, I smiled at the hostess, a girl named Hannah. She…
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We are the problem, and we must change
To the Editor: It has been a long time sense I have written to an Editor, but the opinion in…
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All we have left is our vote
To the Editor: The only constant left in this country is our laws. We are only a great people if…
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We have a societal problem
To the Editor: The most recent despicable, senseless and tragic “mass shootings” (California, Texas and Ohio) and “mass stabbings” (California)…
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Don’t fall for Trump’s talk
To the Editor: Trump’s been talking about reducing payroll taxes. Beware everyone! Don’t fall for his shell game. Payroll taxes…
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Right from the source: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival celebrates 50 years
Atop a hill on the western edge of downtown Waynesville, just past the invisible line where the delicious smell of…
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In their own words: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival
The 50th annual Smoky Mountain Folk Festival will be held on Aug. 30-31 at the Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat…
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Communities celebrate new future of Nikwasi
As Cherokee children joined hands with Macon County residents and led them in a traditional friendship dance in the shadow…
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Shining Rock faces charter renewal decision
The next few months could prove fateful for Haywood County’s only public charter school, Shining Rock Classical Academy, as a…
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House bill could be helping hand for broadband
There’s probably no bigger economic development issue in rural America than access to dependable high-speed internet service. “One hundred percent,”…
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Housing trust fund plan under development in Jackson
Housing is an issue across Western North Carolina, and Jackson County is no exception. Since June 2018, a newly created…
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Jackson buys land for recycling center
After a closed session discussion during its Aug. 20 meeting, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to buy…
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Homeless services provider receives nonprofit status
The organization tasked with managing homeless services in Jackson County for the year ahead received official status as a federal…
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Heavy rains cause four slides in Nantahala Gorge
A severe deluge dropped 3.5 inches of rain in the Nantahala Gorge in Swain County on Saturday and triggered slides…
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WNC to lose $9 million in mental health funding
The North Carolina General Assembly has proposed cutting millions of dollars in mental health funding in the recommended 2019-20 budget…
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Funds earmarked for Haywood drug court
A drug court could be established in Haywood County over the next couple of years if the North Carolina General…
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Tribe to vote on FY2020 budget
Tribal Council is slated to vote on a budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 on Thursday, Sept. 12,…
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Gov. Cooper visits SCC
This past summer, Andrew Allen had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get clinical experience at one of the state’s top teaching…
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Region gathers to find recovery solutions
More than 150 leaders from Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties in North Carolina gathered Aug. 16…
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This must be the place: Let it wander on my mind. Goodbye, Neal.
Heartbroken and stunned. That’s about all I can say or feel at this moment with the tragic passing of singer-songwriter…
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NCDOT clearing four slides in Nantahala Gorge
BRYSON CITY – N.C. Department of Transportation crews are working around the clock on U.S. 19/74 until the highway is…
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Slides close Nantahala Gorge
BRYSON CITY – A heavy rainstorm Saturday evening and four subsequent mudslides have closed U.S. 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge…
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The untold story: Smokies seeks to showcase history of African-Americans in the park
Many plotlines weave through the story of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but if the park were a book,…
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Haywood inmate dies in apparent suicide
An inmate at the Haywood County Detention Center, Zachary Nathaniel Lambright, 20, was pronounced deceased at Haywood Regional Medical Center…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Could the environment be, once again, a game changer?
I ran into a fellow at Ingles just the other day. Regrettably, I don’t remember his name, but I run…
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Book has important lessons, links to bygone era
In Ancient Rome, the Senate awarded a general who had won a great victory with a triumph, a parade that…
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