Don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear?
 

Don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear?

Standing in front of the ancient waterfall, I watched the lagoon sparkle like some long-lost stash of emeralds and sapphires.…
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Falling in love with a writer
 

Falling in love with a writer

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and I have fallen in love. Again. Three years ago, Nina George entranced me with…
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Junaluska’s story as told through historians
 

Junaluska’s story as told through historians

Editor’s note: This column first appeared in a February 2002 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. Every reader of this column…
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N.C. efforts aid Texas turkey population
 

N.C. efforts aid Texas turkey population

A trap-and-release effort based in North Carolina is helping to boost wild turkey populations in Texas. 
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Water champions honored
 

Water champions honored

Three water champions were recognized for their work to improve Haywood County’s rivers, streams and reservoirs during 2018 at Haywood…
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Disaster payments go out to farmers
 

Disaster payments go out to farmers

The federal government shutdown created some delays in getting applications processed for the Agriculture Disaster Relief Program of 2018, but…
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Many Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust properties are located in the Cashiers Valley. Donated photo
 

Land trust celebrates 100 properties conserved

Conservation of six new places last year brought Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust to a landmark total of 100 conservation projects completed,…
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Brothers Parker (from left), Walker and Tucker stand with one of the seed stock cattle bred at Guy Brothers Farms. Guy Brothers Farms photo
 

‘Effort like they’ve never had to give’: Farmers get older and fewer, but hope remains for ag’s future

Zac Guy grew up on the back of a tractor.  His father worked in sales and his mother was a…
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Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale speaks at the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ legislative priorities conference. Chris Baucom/NCACC photo
 

Macon leaders attend legislative goals conference

Macon County Commissioners Jim Tate and Ronnie Beale and County Manager Derek Roland recently joined voting delegates from counties throughout…
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Cherokee approves early gaming disbursements for housing
 

Cherokee approves early gaming disbursements for housing

Young Cherokee tribal members could soon be able to use their gaming allocations to pay for housing following a unanimous…
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Major new Haywood schools facility proposed
 

Major new Haywood schools facility proposed

It’s $13 million now, or $40 million later, according to a presentation by Haywood Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bill Nolte…
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Fresh eyes, fresh ideas: Haywood budget process begins
 

Fresh eyes, fresh ideas: Haywood budget process begins

It’s not Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead’s first budget, but it is his first budget in Haywood County. 
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Dogwood Health Trust now in operation
 

Dogwood Health Trust now in operation

With the completion of Mission Health System’s sale of assets to HCA Healthcare, Dogwood Health Trust is now officially operating…
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Destri Leger, Jackson County Coordinator for Center for Domestic Peace (right) and Victim Advocate Ruby Lawrence talk about CDP’s transition into a standalone agency. Jessi Stone photo
 

Domestic violence organization forming in Jackson

Seven years have passed since REACH of Jackson County suddenly shut down operations due to financial issues, leaving the county…
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A pair of chairs sits empty in a small homeless encampment in Haywood County. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Face to face: Local homeless remain elusive

Huddled together in the dark near an old wood stove beneath an elaborate rigging of tarps and tents on a…
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Meth, not bear attack, caused death in park, autopsy says
 

Meth, not bear attack, caused death in park, autopsy says

An autopsy recently completed on a man who died in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last September determined that…
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HCA completes purchase of Mission Health
 

HCA completes purchase of Mission Health

HCA Healthcare, a leading healthcare provider with 185 hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care in 21 states and the…
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The tide is turning on marijuana
 

The tide is turning on marijuana

The libertarian in me believes in the “live and let live” mantra, which when it comes to legalizing pot means…
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First the boots, then the heavy lifting
 

First the boots, then the heavy lifting

“It is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own…
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Rational conclusion: shutdown was all Trump
 

Rational conclusion: shutdown was all Trump

To the Editor: In last week’s guest opinion column, Isaac Herrin invited us to think rationally about the government shutdown and…
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We need the wall for our security
 

We need the wall for our security

To the Editor: Cannot the “Resisters of the Wall” and Democrats who suggest we don’t need a wall because it’s…
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Stricter laws will solve problem
 

Stricter laws will solve problem

To the Editor: For the last 19 years I’ve been reading (frequently) how semi-trucks are a hazard on Highlands Road…
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Despite the shutdown, visitors congregate Jan. 7 at Newfound Gap. Holly Kays photo
 

Back to work: Shutdown ends, but effects likely to linger through 2019 season

After 35 days of furlough, National Park Service staff are back to work at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,…
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A pair of bald eagles at their Lake Junaluska nest Jan. 30 doing more housekeeping. Don Hendershot photo
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Lake Junaluska eagles – do over?

It appears the eagles that nested unsuccessfully last year at Lake Junaluska are back for another go at it. There…
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Mary Oliver. Donated photo
 

A poet offers thoughts on life and death

When someone dies, we look for words to assuage our grief and the grief of others. We deliver eulogies, we…
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Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.
 

In pursuit of the moment: Greg Ormont of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

In a day and age where everything that glistens and captures society’s short attention span is seemingly a smoke screen…
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Garret and Emily, high school graduation.
 

This must be the place

Meandering down the desolate Route 8 in the southern Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York last weekend, my truck came…
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Women’s March embarks on third year; Organizers strive for inclusivity for all women
 

Women’s March embarks on third year; Organizers strive for inclusivity for all women

This year marked the third annual Women’s March on Asheville — part of a national movement to rally for equal rights…
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Omkari Williams marches during the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Halfway home: pink hat marchers soldier on

A little over two years ago, I woke up in Alexandria, Virginia, less than 24 hours after the inauguration of…
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Habitual felons convicted in Haywood
 

Habitual felons convicted in Haywood

According to the District Attorney's Office, it’s gotten quieter in the Dutch Cove community near Canton since Matthew Dillon Smathers,…
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Dan Forest.
 

Run, Forest, run: Lt. Dan declares for governor

An architect by training, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest became only the second Republican in the last 120 years…
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Ice rink in Maggie Valley opens next week
 

Ice rink in Maggie Valley opens next week

It’s a perplexing dichotomy. Maggie Valley has been portrayed as a town that rolls up the sidewalks once the leaf-lookers…
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Tuscola sports classification not all fun and games
 

Tuscola sports classification not all fun and games

Grumblings about Tuscola High School’s athletic reclassification from 2A to 3A seem to have fallen on deaf ears, but administrators…
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EBT funds for March still up in the air
 

EBT funds for March still up in the air

The federal shutdown didn’t have as much of an effect on Haywood County’s social services as one might think, but…
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Sunrise over Waynesville. A Shot Above photo
 

Downtown Waynesville Association sets ambitious plan

The organization charged with maintaining and revitalizing Waynesville’s downtown core is setting an ambitious plan of work for 2019, to…
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg — A Life Written by Jane Sherron De Hart.
 

Author with Bryson City roots publishes RBG biography

Born of the same generation but in different parts of the country, Jane Sherron De Hart and Ruth Bader Ginsburg…
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The property that became a Pepsi-Cola plant was originally developed as an industrial plant by the now-defunct Jackson County Economic Development Commission. Holly Kays photo
 

Jackson will not buy Pepsi property

Following a series of closed session discussions, Jackson County has opted to cancel its $500,000 contract to buy a 5.61-acre…
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The 72-bed Jackson County Detention Center was built in 2003. File photo
 

SBI investigating Jackson jail death

The recent death of a Jackson County Detention Center inmate has spurred a probe from the N.C. State Bureau of…
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The preliminary plan would include a walking path and dog park atop the old landfill and a new animal shelter and innovation center alongside the existing artisan studios. WithersRavenel graphic
 

Plan presented for Green Energy Park makeover

Jackson County got its first glimpse at what a reinvigorated Green Energy Park campus might look like when a preliminary…
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Untreated sewage discharged in Clyde
 

Untreated sewage discharged in Clyde

The Junaluska Sanitary District experienced a discharge of untreated sewage from a blockage in a manhole due to mop heads,…
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N.C. 107 meeting postponed
 

N.C. 107 meeting postponed

A meeting to discuss possible solutions to the N.C. 107 issue in Sylva scheduled for today was postponed due to…
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Smokies closed for winter weather
 

Smokies closed for winter weather

Normal operations at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park resumed for the first time since Dec. 22 on Saturday, Jan.…
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WCU's MLK speaker promotes inclusion through effort
 

WCU's MLK speaker promotes inclusion through effort

Diversity and inclusivity are easy goals for a university to set, inclusion educator Aminata Cairo said during her keynote address…
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Habitual felons convicted in Haywood
 

Habitual felons convicted in Haywood

According to the District Attorny's Office, it’s gotten quieter in the Dutch Cove community near Canton since Matthew Dillon Smathers,…
Read More

Comment

HRMC to host emergency drill
 

HRMC to host emergency drill

Haywood Regional Medical Center will host a public service training and emergency response simulation with local law enforcement and emergency…
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Comment

Jackson will not buy Pepsi property
 

Jackson will not buy Pepsi property

Following a series of closed session discussions, Jackson County has opted to cancel its $500,000 contract to purchase a 5.61-acre…
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Comment

The inherent flaw of a rush to judgment
 

The inherent flaw of a rush to judgment

His is the face that provoked untold millions of posts on social media, the teenage boy from Kentucky face-to-face with…
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Let’s think rationally about the government shutdown
 

Let’s think rationally about the government shutdown

By Isaac Herrin • Guest Columnist OK, let’s get the opposing comments out of the way: “Rationally, Trump should open…
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