Rep. Meadows stands for national security
 

Rep. Meadows stands for national security

To the Editor: “Government shutdown is not really about a wall.” Correct. It is the Democrat “resist, resist, resist” philosophy.…
Read More

Comment

Are we acting Christ-like?
 

Are we acting Christ-like?

To the Editor: The other night I dreamed I talked with Jesus. That’s right! Jesus! Jesus Christ! The same Jesus…
Read More

Comment

When the fault lies in ourselves
 

When the fault lies in ourselves

I used to teach seminars in composition, history, literature, and Latin to homeschool students. One day a bright young man…
Read More

Comment

Southern Highlands Reserve honors volunteers
 

Southern Highlands Reserve honors volunteers

The Southern Highlands Reserve is honoring two mountain residents as its volunteers of the year. 
Read More

Comment

Help feed the hungry
 

Help feed the hungry

Haywood Gleaners is looking for a co-field glean coordinator to assist in its efforts to feed the hungry with fresh…
Read More

Comment

Oconaluftee Visitor Center.  Trotter and Associates photo
 

Donation opens visitor centers for holiday weekend

Despite the ongoing government shutdown, two visitor centers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were open over Martin Luther…
Read More

Comment

Haywood County Extension Agent Rob Anderson trims buds for CBD trials. Donated photo
 

‘Wild West’ agriculture: N.C. Extension tests out cannabis production

Jeanine Davis has spent more than two decades researching new and emerging crops in North Carolina, but she’s never experienced…
Read More

Comment

When, not if: The case for and against cannabis in NC
 

When, not if: The case for and against cannabis in NC

With the recent actions of Michigan and Vermont, 72 million people in 10 U.S. states — 23 percent of the…
Read More

Comment

Cannabis legalization under study in Cherokee
 

Cannabis legalization under study in Cherokee

As states across the nation loosen restrictions on cannabis products, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is launching a study…
Read More

Comment

Noah Miller, assistant farmer manager, separates hemp buds through a sifter at Appalachian Growers. Jessi Stone photo
 

From the ground up: Appalachian Growers digging into hemp industry

It may look like marijuana and it may smell like marijuana, but it’s not marijuana. Without the THC component, the…
Read More

Comment

WCU chancellor search narrowed
 

WCU chancellor search narrowed

The committee leading the national search for the next chancellor of Western Carolina University has narrowed the pool of candidates…
Read More

Comment

Federal Shut-Down Food Drive
 

Federal Shut-Down Food Drive

The Federal Shut-Down is, or soon will be, affecting federal workers, federal and local food assistance deliveries, food-insecure citizens, and…
Read More

Comment

People speak out against consolidating the health department and the department of social services in Jackson County during a commissioner meeting last year. File photo
 

Jackson to re-examine health, DSS organization

With the one-year anniversary of Jackson County’s decision to consolidate its health and social services departments looming, commissioners are now…
Read More

Comment

Entegra Bank merges with SmartFinancial
 

Entegra Bank merges with SmartFinancial

Entegra Bank, which has locations throughout Western North Carolina, will soon merge with SmartFinancial, Inc., the parent company of SmartBank…
Read More

Comment

FBI agents remove records from the Qualla Housing Authority in February 2017. SMN photo
 

Qualla Housing ordinance tabled

An ordinance that would have codified a laboriously passed December resolution abolishing the Qualla Housing Authority was tabled during the…
Read More

Comment

HRMC limits visitation due to flu cases
 

HRMC limits visitation due to flu cases

Haywood Regional Medical Center has begun limited visitation at the hospital due to the increased number of positive flu cases…
Read More

Comment

Mission Health sale cleared by AG Josh Stein; Contract negotiated to address concerns
 

Mission Health sale cleared by AG Josh Stein; Contract negotiated to address concerns

Those who were unhappy with the original terms of the proposed sale of Mission Health to a for-profit heathcare giant…
Read More

Comment

Porch 40 is Brett Wilson, (from left) Drew Duncan, Scott Burr, Mitchell Metz and Carter McDevitt.
 

What lies beyond the horizon: Porch 40 kicks off ‘Pour 40’ tour, new album

Coming into seven years together, the members of Porch 40 continue to hold steady and elevate each other’s craft, with…
Read More

Comment

The backroads of Plattsburgh, New York. Garret K. Woodward
 

This must be the place: Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline

It’s like getting hit in the face with a frying pan. Stepping out of my parents’ farmhouse in Upstate New…
Read More

Comment

New monthly documentary program
 

New monthly documentary program

The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will be starting a monthly documentary series called “DocuWednesday.” 
Read More

Comment

Local officials weigh in on legal marijuana
 

Local officials weigh in on legal marijuana

On Jan. 15, The Smoky Mountain News contacted almost every elected official in Haywood County for whom an email address…
Read More

Comment

Park visitor centers to reopen for MLK weekend
 

Park visitor centers to reopen for MLK weekend

Friends of the Smokies announced Thursday that it will temporarily fund the reopening of Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tenn.,…
Read More

Comment

Donation will open Smokies visitor centers for holiday weekend
 

Donation will open Smokies visitor centers for holiday weekend

Despite the ongoing government shutdown, two visitor centers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be open over Martin…
Read More

Comment

Jackson inmate found unresponsive
 

Jackson inmate found unresponsive

A Jackson County Detention Center inmate is currently at Mission Hospital in Asheville after having been found unresponsive.
Read More

Comment

The homeless issue is not going away
 

The homeless issue is not going away

A genuine dilemma, or merely some people grousing? You tell me. We’ve been hearing complaints for months now that the…
Read More

Comment

Far-reaching consequences of the shutdown
 

Far-reaching consequences of the shutdown

Last week my boys flew on an airplane for the first time without me. I was a nervous wreck to…
Read More

Comment

Women empowerment is key to future
 

Women empowerment is key to future

To the Editor: No living human will witness a return to a preindustrial global climate. Humanity’s best efforts in transitioning…
Read More

Comment

Where are the pesos, Donald?
 

Where are the pesos, Donald?

To the Editor: “I’m gonna build a big, beautiful wall and Mexico is gonna pay for it, I promise you.” 
Read More

Comment

Hikers take in the view from Hump Mountain on the Appalachian Trail. Don Pugh photo
 

Funding conservation: Federal program’s expiration impacts local land trusts

On Sept. 30, 2018, a program that’s been pouring money into land conservation for more than 50 years expired. And…
Read More

Comment

Parkway nonprofit leaders earns award
 

Parkway nonprofit leaders earns award

The CEO of one of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s most important nonprofit partners recently received a prestigious national award. 
Read More

Comment

The blood moon gets its color from Earth’s atmosphere. Donated photo
 

View the lunar eclipse

A total eclipse of the moon will occur Sunday, Jan. 20, with multiple opportunities to view this Super Blood Wolf…
Read More

Comment

Grandfather Mountain experienced a temperature range of 83.8 degrees last year, including a low of -6.64 on Jan. 19. Skip Sickler/Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation photo
 

Grandfather Mountain has record wet year

Wet weather was the norm across Western North Carolina last year, and Grandfather Mountain was no exception — a record…
Read More

Comment

Barred owl spotted on the Balsam Christmas Bird Count. Don Hendershot photo
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Live and die by Lake J

Jan. 4, 2019 was a dreary day. It was more than that; it was a dreary Balsam Christmas Bird Count…
Read More

Comment

Waynesville steps up to address affordable housing crisis
 

Waynesville steps up to address affordable housing crisis

Like the region’s opioid crisis, if Western North Carolina’s affordable housing crisis could have been solved by meetings, panel discussions…
Read More

Comment

Pigeon Center seeks donations after fire
 

Pigeon Center seeks donations after fire

A small kitchen fire caused big problems at Waynesville’s Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center Jan. 8, prompting the organization to…
Read More

Comment

WCU chancellor interview process begins
 

WCU chancellor interview process begins

In a search that is now entering its second year, Western Carolina University’s Chancellor Search Committee is preparing to interview…
Read More

Comment

Park to restore accessibility, visitor services
 

Park to restore accessibility, visitor services

Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced that recently closed areas of the park were once again accessible to visitors beginning…
Read More

Comment

Semi-trucks still a hazard on Highlands Road
 

Semi-trucks still a hazard on Highlands Road

More signage and stricter law enforcement could be the solution to keeping tractor trailers off Highlands Road.
Read More

Comment

Effort underway to make WNC counties ‘Blue Zone’ certified
 

Effort underway to make WNC counties ‘Blue Zone’ certified

On the Greek island of Ikaria, its population of 10,000 people live an average of 10 years longer than Americans,…
Read More

Comment

David Riggs, former board chairman for Good Samaritan Clinic, (right) presents Blue Ridge Health CEO Dr. Richard Hudspeth with a check for $294,970. Jessi Stone photo
 

Good Samaritan’s last good deed

For 20 years, Good Samaritan Clinic provided much needed health care services to people of Haywood County. Even though the…
Read More

Comment

Scarcity, rising prices drive affordable housing crisis
 

Scarcity, rising prices drive affordable housing crisis

A booming real estate market brings with it many benefits and is a sign of a thriving economy, but some…
Read More

Comment

Waynesville officials have made it clear that this structure’s days are numbered. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Town to take action on homeless encampment

A beef between the Town of Waynesville and local property owner Ron Muse over an ersatz dwelling on an otherwise…
Read More

Comment

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is a federal agency, so those services aren’t available in Cherokee while the shutdown continues. Holly Kays photo
 

Tribe petitions Meadows to end shutdown

The ongoing federal government shutdown is having a negative effect on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and last week…
Read More

Comment

Community members share their thoughts on N.C. 107 with Chris Joyell of the Asheville Design Center. Holly Kays photo
 

Work begins on alternative N.C. 107 plan

More than 100 people filled the Jackson County Public Library’s Community Room Jan. 14 to help kick off the Asheville…
Read More

Comment

Entegra Bank mergers with SmartFinancial
 

Entegra Bank mergers with SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc., the parent company of SmartBank, and Entegra Financial Corp., the parent company of Entegra Bank, jointly announced Tuesday…
Read More

Comment

The first course dish from Mad Anthony’s recent farm-to-table food and craft beer pairing dinner. Garret K. Woodward photo
 

Combining the culinary arts: Mad Anthony’s pairs craft beer, fine dining

Just off Main Street in Waynesville, tucked down the hill below Bogart’s, and across the street from American Legion Post…
Read More

Comment

Kathy and Lucy.
 

This must be the place: Ode to my best gal

She’s known as “Wild Kathy.” At least, that’s what she was nicknamed while joyously roaming Bourbon Street in New Orleans…
Read More

Comment

WCU’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration
 

WCU’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration

Tying in with Western Carolina University’s 2018-19 campus learning theme “Defining America,” the keynote speaker for this year’s Martin Luther…
Read More

Comment

Jaylyn Logan, an eighth-grader at the new Catamount School in Sylva, approaches the finish line of the Girls on the Run 5K race with her teammates in December. Donated photo
 

Running toward her goals: Catamount student succeeds with Heart & Sole program

Born with cerebral palsy, Jaylyn Logan’s nana Marvellia Ross knew that her granddaughter’s life would have limitations. However, a new…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.