Celebrate Independence Day
Many generations of families look forward to the Fourth of July festivities at Lake Junaluska every year, and this year’s…
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Moving the needle: Cashiers organizes to combat workforce development challenges
Spring can be a scramble at the High Hampton Inn and Country Club in Cashiers. Every year, after a long…
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Exercise tests federal, local catastrophe response
By the dawn’s early light, about 300 members of the North Carolina National Guard along with a host of local…
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All good things must end: Joey’s Pancake House to close next week
Some institutions are meant to last forever, while others have their place in time and then they’re gone. After Tuesday,…
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B-Day Victory! Community celebrates WWII veteran’s birthday, service
They say “Ask and thou shalt receive,” but Nancy Bolding of Otto probably received way more than she bargained for…
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Swain fights to change school funding formula
While many local school districts are struggling to make ends meet these days, Swain County Schools is facing a much…
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Thrill of the dig: Gem mining alive and well in Macon County
Susan Boyette and her mother Martha Drew drove down from Tennessee early Friday morning to Rose Creek Mine outside of…
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Progressives, citizens criticize Congress, President
After a busy week of rallies around the country, the state and the county, progressives gathered at the Historic Haywood…
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Student center aims to reach parentless students, increase graduation rates
On virtually any college campus, they’re there — students who have recently exited foster care, are homeless, wards of the…
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Haywood GOP leaders overthrown
A power struggle has embroiled the Haywood County Republican Party over the past several months, culminating in the mass overthrow…
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Police cameras in WNC
The increasing use of body-worn and dash-mounted police cameras in Western North Carolina has sparked privacy concerns from citizens and…
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Tapping Western North Carolina: Local craft breweries spill onto economy, culture
By all accounts, the craft beer business continues to boom in Western North Carolina. And that’s not just in Asheville…
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Honoring Women’s History Month
The Smoky Mountain News will be publishing a series of articles to showcase a number of women in Western North…
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WNC communities help redesign their five-lane highways
Waynesville, Sylva and Franklin’s main commercial thoroughfares are getting a makeover in the coming years that could reshape the fabric…
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Gladys Knight, husband announce Canton community center
A dilapidated segregation-era high school in Canton purchased by a former student will become a $5 million community center by…
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Behind the scenes: Artist brings theater productions to life
Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville is fortunate to be one of few theaters to have a talented scenic artist…
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In front of the lens: Tax collector faces uncertain fate
Haywood County Commissioners are locked in an increasingly bitter power struggle with elected Tax Collector Mike Matthews over his job…
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Get real: WNC real estate market comes back swinging
Within the residential real estate industry lies an interesting contradiction. SEE ALSO:• Haywood housing demand is high but inventory is low• Macon…
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Tracing the fire’s path
Now that the wildfires that ravaged Western North Carolina a couple of months ago are no longer active, U.S. Forest…
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WNC supporters, opponents mark Trump inauguration
• North Carolina GOP celebrates inauguration• Congressman Meadows optimistic about Trump• The pink hats are coming• WNC marches for women’s rights• The art and activism…
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Another runway extension in the wings for Macon airport
With the last Macon County Airport runway extension project barely in the rearview, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has…
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In the wake of the drought, Haywood towns besieged by water shortage search for answers
As days slid by without rain last fall, and the days stacked into weeks, Neil Carpenter watched the water gauge…
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2016: A Year.
The tidal wave of negative political news in 2016 was staggering in its magnitude and emotionally overwhelming. Thankfully all that…
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Christmas giving in WNC
Christmas is a time of year when communities band together to help others in need, and there’s definitely no shortage…
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Full-time work, part-time pay
Harry S. Truman’s Secretary of State Dean Acheson said upon his return to private life, “I will undoubtedly have to…
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Haywood County wipes the dust off the bottle
The State of North Carolina has long had a conflicted relationship with alcohol; although largely unregulated during colonial times, it…
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George Ellison releases new book, reflects on decades of life lived in nature
The Fourth of July, 1976, was just around the corner when George and Elizabeth Ellison embarked on a hike that…
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The last chapter: Reflections on Mark Swanger’s political era
Mark Swanger tucked into his leather armchair beside a roaring gas fire, an expansive view of his Fines Creek family…
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Firefighters battle 50-plus square miles of WNC wildfires
Western North Carolina is ablaze with 22 wildfires currently burning through more than 50 square miles in the seven most…
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Western NC struggles with historic drought
Western North Carolina continues to be in a severe drought as wildfires rage through the mountains. The lack of rain has…
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Graveyards threatened by cremations and costs
Some of Western North Carolina’s greatest historical assets are in cemeteries. They serve as the final resting place to founding…
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At gathering of tribal nations, Dakota Pipeline discussed as catalyst for advocacy
Strength in unity. Identity in culture. Power in the past. Momentum toward the future. Despite the diversity of traditions and…
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Women in Business 2016
Women climbing the corporate ladder or owning their own business is nothing new, and in fact North Carolina is among the…
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Mountain Faith wins big in Raleigh
Western North Carolina played a big role in this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association awards held last weekend in Raleigh.…
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The Wait of War
It is known by many names. Some call it the Second Indochina War. Some call it the Resistance War. Some…
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Growing elk population triggers landowner conflicts, land conservation efforts
Elk may be the most polarizing animal in Western North Carolina right now, but William Carter has kept a closer…
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Trump promises to ‘fix’ problems
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke to a packed Asheville Civic Center on Monday as boisterous supporters cheered him on…
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Tourism economic impact growing in WNC counties
Allen Alsbrooks serves on the Maggie Valley Zoning Board, and used to serve on the town’s planning board; he’s also…
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National treasure: National Park Service celebrates 100 years
When President Woodrow Wilson scrawled the signature that brought the National Park Service into being — 100 years ago, on Aug.…
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Task force to tackle affordable housing shortage
• Affordable housing issues on Haywood County’s horizon• Habitat houses give people hope• Old hospital’s rehab into low-income housing falls flat• Affordable housing…
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Living well: A look at health and fitness in WNC
• Clyde woman finds strength and spirituality in aerial skills• Fusions Spa relocates to downtown Sylva• Fitness by the numbers at…
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Maggie Valley landmark more than just a restaurant
The year was 1966; “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” was on the big screen, “Bonanza” was on the…
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Putting the pieces together: Archeologists continue to uncover mysteries of Cowee Mound
While most people come to Macon County in the summer for a relaxing mountain vacation, Kathryn Sampeck makes the trip…
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WNC artist visits Cuba in search of its political and cultural meaning in the 21st century
It’s about 855 miles between the quiet mountain town of Waynesville, North Carolina and the urban hustle and bustle of…
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Tourism entities have same goal, different focus
If a rising tide lifts all boats, it only makes sense for organizations with common goals to work together, but…
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WCU voices support for tuition reduction plan
Ever since a controversial bill proposing to slash tuition rates at selected University of North Carolina schools popped up in…
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A look at how local governments utilize the web
Having a website used to be an added bonus for local governments, but now it has become a necessity and…
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Rare wood hunter unearths irresistible beauty in salvaged burl wood
Stephen Metzger was like a kid in a candy shop as he clambered over a massive mound of behemoth tree…
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Gatekeeper to the Smokies: Longtime Western Carolina University Head of Special Collections retires
I was five minutes late. Trying to track down a parking spot outside the Hunter Library at Western Carolina University…
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Moral Monday comes to the mountains
The Jackson County Branch of the NAACP will host more than a dozen like-minded Western North Carolina organizations in Sylva…
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