BearWaters Brewing.
 

Crafting together community: How craft beer impacted WNC

According to recent numbers, there are around 75 breweries within Asheville and greater Western North Carolina. And 19 of those…
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This 1999 photo is of (from left) Neil Torda, Greg Boothroyd and me, the three founders of The Smoky Mountain News. Torda was a jack-of-all trades who did all the IT work and was a graphic designer. He now works in IT at Western Carolina University.
 

Twenty years later, another edition done

In the beginning, one doesn’t even think about the long run. When you’re fighting every day to survive, there’s no…
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Since the mid-1990s several groups have been working to return the GSMNP  to solid footing in WNC’s outdoor recreation and tourism-driven economy.
 

1999: Smokies works to overcome hurdles

It’s no coincidence that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the subject of The Smoky Mountain News’ first-ever front-page…
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Adult male elk can weigh up to 1,000 pounds, though 600 to 800 pounds is more common.  @bigrromantic photo
 

2001: Elk return to Western North Carolina

“A large herd gathered last week on a remote, historical farmstead maintained by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in…
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2003: The end of Eric Rudolph’s run
 

2003: The end of Eric Rudolph’s run

He was a seasoned dumpster diver by now. For the last three summers, he’d regularly swoop down in the dead…
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Many, including these residents of Clyde, lost everything. File photo
 

2004: Floods ravage Western North Carolina

The tiny central Haywood County town of Clyde lies more than 270 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, more than 400…
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2005: State passes education lottery system
 

2005: State passes education lottery system

Nearly 15 years after the North Carolina General Assembly narrowly passed a bill establishing an education lottery system, state legislators…
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2007: Journey from the Road to Nowhere
 

2007: Journey from the Road to Nowhere

If you can’t understand why people in Swain County are distrustful of the federal government, then you are among those…
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In this 2009 photo, Rick Boyd conducts a foreclosure sale of two large tracts owned by developer Legasus outside the Jackson County courthouse while concerned citizen Thomas Crowe follows along.
 

2008: Real estate takes a major hit

The housing bubble was finally bursting in 2008 as the Great Recession became the new reality in Western North Carolina…
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Visitors watch intently as one of Ghost Town’s performers participates in a mock gunfight in 2007. File photo
 

2009: Ghost Town comes crashing down

Decades after it first opened in 1962, Ghost Town in the Sky still commands a wistful loyalty from thousands of…
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2012: Table games come to Harrah’s
 

2012: Table games come to Harrah’s

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, an economic powerhouse that employs 5 percent of the workforce in the seven western counties and…
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2013: Southern Loop scrapped for good
 

2013: Southern Loop scrapped for good

For a road that has never existed, the infamous Southern Loop of Sylva sure has gotten a lot of ink…
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2014: Transition to for-profit health care
 

2014: Transition to for-profit health care

Area hospitals finally found some steady financial footing in 2014 after years of floundering, trying to keep their heads above…
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Smoke billows from the Chimney Tops during the early days of the fire that would eventually sweep a path of destruction through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. NPS photo
 

2016: Fire on the mountain

As you read this, I’ve just noted the passing of my third anniversary with this 20 year-old newspaper and as…
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Tribal Council Chairman Bill Taylor (left) and Vice Chairman Brandon Jones raise their hands in favor of bringing impeachment charges against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert on April 6, 2017. Holly Kays photo
 

2017: Cherokee impeaches its chief

When Patrick Lambert won the 2015 race for principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, he saw the…
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David Belcher and his wife Susan pose during the 2017 Homecoming Parade in downtown Sylva. WCU photo
 

2018: WCU sees a year of change

This roller coaster of a year at Western Carolina University started before it started, when the school’s beloved chancellor David…
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SEC claims Waynesville businessman defrauded clients
 

SEC claims Waynesville businessman defrauded clients

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged investment adviser Stephen Brandon Anderson, 41, of Waynesville, with defrauding clients by overcharging…
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Women dead following Parkway vehicle accident
 

Women dead following Parkway vehicle accident

A Brevard woman is dead following a car accident on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Devil's Courthouse. 
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Comedy star Ken Jeong brings stand-up to Harrah’s Cherokee
 

Comedy star Ken Jeong brings stand-up to Harrah’s Cherokee

Actor/comedian Ken Jeong will be performing live at 9 p.m. Friday, May 31, at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Event Center. 
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Why deny health coverage?
 

Why deny health coverage?

To the Editor: Many people in our Western North Carolina counties are in a health care coverage void. Through no…
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Trump threatens our ideals
 

Trump threatens our ideals

To the Editor: Thank you for publishing Norman Hoffman’s diagnosis of our president’s obvious disorder. Hoffman’s approach is logical, analytical,…
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HRMC leaders support HB 655
 

HRMC leaders support HB 655

To the Editor: You don’t have to look far to see that many in North Carolina — approximately 500,000 —…
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Memorial Day is more than flags and speeches
 

Memorial Day is more than flags and speeches

My wife, Lori, and I recently attended the wedding of my nephew in Fayetteville. While there, we wandered around downtown…
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Evangelical fingerprints all over abortion bills
 

Evangelical fingerprints all over abortion bills

By Hannah McLeod • Guest Columnist Living outside the United States makes it easier to ignore the day-to-day whirlwind of…
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A prayer for Mike and all who served
 

A prayer for Mike and all who served

I wish I knew where Mike is. I haven’t seen or heard from him in 10 years at least. I…
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The town of Marble got its name from various marble quarries in the community. Donated photo
 

WNC was once home to marble mines

(Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News in June 2004) The destiny of a given region…
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The story behind the man: First-ever Horace Kephart biography explores a complex man and momentous life
 

The story behind the man: First-ever Horace Kephart biography explores a complex man and momentous life

Horace Kephart has been dead for 88 years, but his name and his story still pull an undercurrent through Western…
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Help hellbenders
 

Help hellbenders

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission wants to hear about hellbender sightings, part of agency biologists’ ongoing effort to learn more…
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Boating fatalities abnormally high in 2018
 

Boating fatalities abnormally high in 2018

On the heels of a year when more people died from boating accidents in North Carolina than in any other…
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Sense of place is crucial to Hewson’s novels
 

Sense of place is crucial to Hewson’s novels

Some novelists display a real talent for capturing a place in words and then bringing that “little postage stamp of…
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Frank Kavanaugh, 1941.
 

This must be the place: Ode to my grandfather, ode to soldiers past and present

The first time I was aware that my grandfather, Frank Kavanaugh, served in the military was being nine years old…
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Marty Stuart. (photo: Alysse Gafkjen)
 

Whole lotta highway (with a million miles to go): A conversation with Marty Stuart

When you find yourself in the presence of Marty Stuart, you find yourself in the presence of the entire living,…
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Southwestern Community College firing range.
 

Low bid participation delays shooting range improvements

Planned improvements to the Southwestern Community College firing range aimed at reducing noise pollution and lead buildup will have to…
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Clusters of campaign signs are a common sight along Qualla Boundary roadways. Holly Kays photo
 

Primary election nears in Cherokee

Early voting is now over in Cherokee, with polls to open for the Primary Election on Thursday, June 6, in…
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Macon schools pleads for more resources
 

Macon schools pleads for more resources

Angela Phillips painted a painfully realistic picture of what it’s been like inside her second-grade classroom at Cartoogechaye Elementary for…
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A look at Jackson’s proposed budget
 

A look at Jackson’s proposed budget

Jackson County’s proposed budget for 2019-2020 won’t require an increase from the current property tax rate of 0.38 cents per…
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Curriculum coordinator proposed for Jackson Schools
 

Curriculum coordinator proposed for Jackson Schools

In the last few years, Jackson County has poured significant investment into its public schools, including $9 million in much-needed…
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Carter Hollifield, (front row from left) Mason Rathbone, Trent Decker, Brooks Barbee, Henry Blackburn, August Menck, Tanner Justice, Dylan Douville, Levi Jackson, Aiden Harris, Jacob Davis, (second row from left) Katy Robinson (teacher), Lisa Ourada (running buddy), Connor Willis (running buddy), Cameron Nixon (teacher), Becca Brown (teacher), Alex Masciarelli (principal). Runners not pictured: Gavin Chouinard, Chase Perkins, Alexander Wenzel.
 

Junaluska Elementary works to empower male students

Female empowerment is all the rage right now. From school-age programs like Girls on the Run to the #MeToo movement,…
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Marquee Maggie mayoral matchup expected
 

Marquee Maggie mayoral matchup expected

With municipal candidate filing little more than a month away, the race to replace outgoing Maggie Valley Mayor Saralyn Price…
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Sheriff Curtis Cochran has been lobbying commissioners for years to increase pay for his detention officers. File photo
 

Swain on track to pass status-quo budget

In preparing the proposed budget for 2019-20, Swain County continues to hold the line on the county’s low property tax…
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Nathan Duncan (right) is pictured along with Bonnie Brown during a Q&A session with Shining Rock Classical Academy parents during the search process for a new school director. Duncan was given the job in January 2018. File photo
 

Former charter school director fired following sexual harassment complaint

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of stories on Haywood County’s public charter school, Shining Rock Classical…
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Swimmer drowns in Lake Glenville
 

Swimmer drowns in Lake Glenville

An Iredell County man is dead following a swim at Lake Glenville Sunday, May 26.
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Holding a casting of a Bigfoot track, Carpenter discusses his understanding of the as-of-yet scientifically unacknowledged native primate known as Bigfoot. Holly Kays photo
 

Believing Bigfoot: Locals log Sasquatch evidence in North Carolina’s mountains

Jeff Carpenter knows the woods.  A native of Otto who’s spent most of his adult life the next county over…
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Cost-share available for organic certification
 

Cost-share available for organic certification

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications from producers looking for help to cover the cost of organic…
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Hiking club achieves nonprofit status
 

Hiking club achieves nonprofit status

As of March 18, the Nantahala Hiking Club is officially a 501c3 nonprofit. 
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N.C. deer harvest declines in 2018-19
 

N.C. deer harvest declines in 2018-19

Deer harvest in North Carolina declined 9 percent from the previous three-year average in the 2018-19 season, despite the fact…
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Parkway paving planned for 2019
 

Parkway paving planned for 2019

More than 115 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway will be resurfaced this year as part of a pavement preservation…
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Smokies plates celebrate milestone
 

Smokies plates celebrate milestone

Twenty years after the program launched, drivers in Tennessee and North Carolina have passed the $15 million mark in support…
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Gracie Burgess’ design won this year’s Kids in the Creek Art Contest.
 

Bethel student wins art contest

Eighth grader Gracie Burgess, of Bethel Middle School, will see her artwork worn by eighth-graders across Haywood County during Kids…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Eastern box turtle, our state reptile
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Eastern box turtle, our state reptile

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in a June 2001 issue of The Smoky Mountain News Taksi was a legendary…
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