Who’s running in town races so far
 

Who’s running in town races so far

Candidates who want to run in town elections have until at 12 p.m. on Friday, July 15, to sign up,…
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Chief and vice chief trail in primary, signaling tough campaign ahead in Cherokee
 

Chief and vice chief trail in primary, signaling tough campaign ahead in Cherokee

The race for the title of principal chief has tightened in Cherokee, where Chief Michell Hicks found himself in second…
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Lake Junaluska balances heritage, progress
 

Lake Junaluska balances heritage, progress

Trevor Hudson has never liked the hymn “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.” The world behind me, the cross before…
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Dog walk raises cash for Sarge’s
 

Dog walk raises cash for Sarge’s

This year’s Downtown Waynesville Dog Walk will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, with sign-up at 9 a.m. The…
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More than two dozen jobs lost at state teaching center
 

More than two dozen jobs lost at state teaching center

A state teacher-training center based in Cullowhee has slashed half its workforce in the fallout of a nearly 50-percent budget…
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Find a place in hospice volunteering
 

Find a place in hospice volunteering

Haywood Regional Medical Center Hospice and Palliative Care will hold a volunteer training series from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.…
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Maggie Valley seeking contractor for park
 

Maggie Valley seeking contractor for park

Maggie Valley is now taking bids for improvements at Parham Park. Licensed grading contractors are welcome to submit construction bids…
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Deadline approaching for disaster assistance
 

Deadline approaching for disaster assistance

Farmers seeking assistance for crops damaged in 2009 have until Friday, July 29, to apply for help under the Revenue…
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WCU sees leadership change
 

WCU sees leadership change

Linda Seestedt-Stanford, who has been serving as Western Carolina University’s interim provost since last summer, is returning to her previous…
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Students tune into the digital world via SCC
 

Students tune into the digital world via SCC

Middle and high school students can experience various digital media through Southwestern Community College with a week-long series July 18-21…
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Macon buys downtown Franklin building
 

Macon buys downtown Franklin building

Macon County’s first move after buying a canary-colored bright yellow building in downtown Franklin will be to paint it, probably…
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DSA in search of new director
 

DSA in search of new director

The town of Sylva plans to start advertising soon for an in-house director for the Downtown Sylva Association. Julie Sylvester,…
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Late-night bands could be silenced by tougher Sylva noise ordinance
 

Late-night bands could be silenced by tougher Sylva noise ordinance

When it comes to noise, Commissioner Harold Hensley of the Sylva town board is clearly prepared to make a bit…
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Duke Energy rate hike: out of necessity or greed?
 

Duke Energy rate hike: out of necessity or greed?

A proposal by Duke Energy to hike electricity rates by 17 percent isn’t sitting well with many of the company’s…
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Challengers top field in Cherokee primary
 

Challengers top field in Cherokee primary

The field was narrowed from five to two yesterday in the race for principal chief of the Eastern Band of…
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More rabies cases spotted in Haywood
 

More rabies cases spotted in Haywood

The second case of rabies in eastern Haywood County in less than a week has been confirmed, marking the fourth…
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Day of Service features festivities in Jackson
 

Day of Service features festivities in Jackson

Western Carolina University’s Academic Success Program (ASP) is working with associates from the Sylva Wal-Mart for a day of service…
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Learn cooking tips with local chef
 

Learn cooking tips with local chef

A cooking program called “Fresh Ways with Local, Seasonal Food” will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 21, as…
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Haywood crowns outstanding volunteers
 

Haywood crowns outstanding volunteers

The Haywood County Volunteer Center awarded Judy Smith of the Fines Creek Community Association’s MANNA food bank program as the…
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New outpatient center to make health care more accessible
 

New outpatient center to make health care more accessible

MedWest Health System is breaking ground on a new outpatient services center  at 4 p.m. on Monday, July 11, on…
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Cuts target childhood development during critical early years
 

Cuts target childhood development during critical early years

When SmartStart, an early childhood education program, was launched in 1993, it was hailed nationally as a model for reaching…
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Macon’s steep slope debate mired in details
 

Macon’s steep slope debate mired in details

In a somewhat surreal meeting last week of Macon County’s planning board, progress on developing regulations for steep slopes were…
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Travel app coming soon to steer tourists through western counties
 

Travel app coming soon to steer tourists through western counties

Linda Harbuck doesn’t own a smart-phone herself, but that doesn’t stop the veteran Macon County tourism official from understanding and…
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River rats test homespun engineering in the Tuck Derby
 

River rats test homespun engineering in the Tuck Derby

It is not by swiftness, nor by strength and valor, that races are gained and battles won, but by sheer…
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Primary election showdown arrives in Cherokee
 

Primary election showdown arrives in Cherokee

In Cherokee this week, tribal elections are edging ever closer, with a primary scheduled for Thursday that will whittle the…
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‘I feel their pain’: Keeping pools in working order costs small towns big bucks
 

‘I feel their pain’: Keeping pools in working order costs small towns big bucks

Canton was one of the first towns in Western North Carolina to sport a swimming pool, something made possible thanks…
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Canton could get hosed by pool woes
 

Canton could get hosed by pool woes

The Canton swimming pool is on its last leg and without a major investment of $750,000 to $1 million, the…
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Popularity has its pitfalls
 

Popularity has its pitfalls

In the do-you-remember, they-were-right-after-all category, the enormous popularity of Jackson County’s new library has meant finding parking at the renovated…
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Cowboy preacher delivers maverick graduation speech
 

Cowboy preacher delivers maverick graduation speech

Graduation ceremonies are, by their nature, boring. The bookend of an educational phase is supposed to be a solemn occasion,…
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Everyone up for election in Franklin pledges to run again
 

Everyone up for election in Franklin pledges to run again

When Sam Greenwood retired as Macon County’s manager and almost immediately accepted the same position for the town of Franklin…
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Hotel a tombstone for WNC’s once booming real estate industry
 

Hotel a tombstone for WNC’s once booming real estate industry

When construction on the lofty Clarion Inn started in 2008, the town of Sylva thought it was finally going to…
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Roof on high school library suffers more storm damage
 

Roof on high school library suffers more storm damage

For the second time in as many months, strong winds ripped part of the roof off the school library, known…
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Sylva police packed in like sardines
 

Sylva police packed in like sardines

Just stepping inside the Sylva Police Department gives a person an immediate understanding of why Chief Davis Woodard is pushing…
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Sylva’s appointed aldermen must run for real this fall
 

Sylva’s appointed aldermen must run for real this fall

Easing congestion on N.C. 107 and general economic development issues look to shape the context of Sylva’s upcoming municipal elections.…
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Founder of Cherokee court system reflects on storied legal career
 

Founder of Cherokee court system reflects on storied legal career

Seventy-six years ago, Harry Martin decided he wanted to become a lawyer. He was 15, and knew little to nothing…
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First encephalitis case of the season reported in Franklin
 

First encephalitis case of the season reported in Franklin

Public health officials have reported that a child in Macon County has contracted LaCrosse Viral Encephalitis, a potentially serious illness…
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Talk explores life and times of Lake Junaluska
 

Talk explores life and times of Lake Junaluska

A program exploring the history of Lake Juanluska and its influence on Haywood County will be held at 9:30 a.m.…
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Need a helping hand on a house? Call Habitat
 

Need a helping hand on a house? Call Habitat

Haywood Habitat for Humanity is holding an open enrollment through July for prospective new-home partner families. Applicants interested in purchasing…
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Jackson to sell items from old library
 

Jackson to sell items from old library

The Jackson County Public Library will hold a “yard sale” on Saturday, July 9, from 8 a.m. until noon inside…
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Patient appreciation party for Smoky OB/GYN
 

Patient appreciation party for Smoky OB/GYN

Smoky Mountain OB/GYN will hold a patient appreciation day from 1 until 4 p.m. Saturday, July 9. All past, present…
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SMHS grad receives Jackson Paper scholarship
 

SMHS grad receives Jackson Paper scholarship

The Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company has awarded a $500 scholarship to Candace Erin Ridley, a Smoky Mountain High School graduate…
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Cackleberry Mountain raffle benefits Good Samaritan Clinic
 

Cackleberry Mountain raffle benefits Good Samaritan Clinic

Cackleberry Mountain’s yearly charitable campaign has returned, and through it, you can purchase a raffle ticket for $3 to benefit…
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Dowling appointed to HCC trustees
 

Dowling appointed to HCC trustees

Patsy Dowling, the executive director of Mountain Projects, has been appointed to serve on the Haywood Community College Board of…
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MedWest foundation names new director
 

MedWest foundation names new director

Steve Brown, the former head of the Haywood County Schools Foundation, has been named the director of foundations for three…
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Canton election field might calm down this year
 

Canton election field might calm down this year

Two years after its last major shakeup, the entire Canton town board is up for election again, though this time,…
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College, schools in Haywood collaborate
 

College, schools in Haywood collaborate

Haywood Community College and Haywood County Schools have signed an agreement between the schools that will give high school students…
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Maggie’s mayor to face challenger in fall election
 

Maggie’s mayor to face challenger in fall election

Rarely is there a lull in political turmoil in Maggie Valley, and this summer is no exception. With election filing…
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Waynesville alderwoman won’t run again
 

Waynesville alderwoman won’t run again

In Waynesville, it’s time again for a town board election, marking the end of four-year terms for both the mayor…
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Landslide hazard maps axed by state: Risky slopes in Jackson, Haywood to remain a mystery for now
 

Landslide hazard maps axed by state: Risky slopes in Jackson, Haywood to remain a mystery for now

Republican lawmakers have pulled the plug on the state’s landslide mapping unit, terminating a controversial project to assess which slopes…
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Row over property values in Haywood still raging unabated
 

Row over property values in Haywood still raging unabated

Haywood County commissioners continue to be dogged by outcries over new property values. Critics are openly deriding commissioners at every…
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