County cuts to recreation saddle towns with added costs
In the eyes of Canton’s town leaders, the status quo in recreation funding just isn’t cutting it. For years, the…
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Sylva parking shortage in the eye of the beholder
A parking study of downtown Sylva conducted by a Western Carolina University graduate student has gotten local merchants talking and…
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Angel Medical, Mission consider partnership
Angel Medical Center in Franklin may soon come under the wing of Mission Hospital in Asheville. Smaller, rural hospitals are…
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Engineers still honing plan to stabilize remnants of Maggie landslide
Once repair work is complete, a precarious Maggie Valley mountainside destabilized by a major mudslide will be returned to its…
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The tribe’s audit is bound to cause bitterness
How do you kick out a member of a Native American tribe? The Eastern Band of Cherokee is about to…
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Downtown Waynesville entertainment venture wins state grant
A downtown Waynesville project that would put a live entertainment venue, a microbrewery and a pizza restaurant together in the…
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Friends of Jackson library finish fundraising miracle with help from federal stimulus money
The Friends of the Jackson County Main Library have completed their remarkable effort to raise $1.6 million to outfit the…
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Graham to vacate spot on Sylva board, but not until casting vote for next year’s budget
Sylva Commissioner Sarah Graham will step down from the town board at the end of June because her family has…
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America’s Favorite Journey
The Blue Ridge Parkway unravels gracefully across the landscape, at times suspended from high cliffs and etched into rocky crags,…
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Plans in hand, but money isn’t for Haywood park
$6,342,044. That’s approximately how much money needs to be raised before Haywood County residents can expect to see a recreation…
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Jackson County rides out budget storm unscathed
Jackson County Manager Ken Westmoreland said he would deliver a balanced budget with no cuts to services or staff and…
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Grant propels Waynesville skate park, but the price tag is still daunting
Ten-year-old Waynesville resident Zeb Powell has exclusive, 24-7 access to a skate park in town — it’s in his driveway.…
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New owners take long view on Balsam Mountain Preserve
As one development after another began to bite the dust two years ago, lenders who had bankrolled the mountain building…
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The EBCI enrollment audit at a glance
What is the enrollment audit? A review of the nearly 14,000 people on the tribe’s roll to determine whether they…
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Proposed road calls for bridge over N.C. 107 in Jackson
A new road that would traverse the campus of Southwestern Community College and provide a new link between two of…
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Haywood commissioners take heat for planned overhaul of trash and recycling
Haywood County commissioners are fighting opposition on all fronts after a county task force recently recommended major changes to trash…
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Cherokee enrollment quandary leads to talk of DNA testing
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is talking about moving to DNA testing as a way of verifying the blood…
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Bear gets put down after close encounter with Smokies visitor
A visitor in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park got nipped on the foot by a bear after getting too…
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Sylva cardboard box venture collapses
Stonewall Packaging, a cardboard plant in Sylva, laid off 43 workers last week and shut down operations after coming on…
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Farmers markets welcome the growing season
While the summer bounty of tomatoes, corn and green beans are still a couple of months away, there is still…
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Haywood commissioners balk at state plan for secondary roads
Counties usually have no choice but to accept unfunded mandates from the state, but this time, Haywood County commissioners are…
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HCC building feud persists unresolved
Haywood Community College leaders have chipped away more than $430,000 worth of features from its proposed creative arts building, but…
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Tribe plans to expand gambling reach
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians plans to build a Class II gaming facility in Cherokee County, but the project…
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Maggie slide victims still living in limbo
More than three months have come and gone since a major mudslide crashed through Maggie Valley’s Rich Cove community, and…
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Ghost Town owner Harper daunted but not deterred
As Al Harper watched the national recession undermine ticket sales at Ghost Town amusement park over the past two years,…
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Ghost Town saga reaches deeper into WNC
Western North Carolina is a patchwork of small communities, close-knit groups operating independently to make their own town or area…
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Cecil Groves leaves SCC with a legacy of regional growth
In 1970, Cecil Groves was the 30-year-old provost of Delgado College. The city of New Orleans was on fire, rent…
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Quest for cost savings leads Haywood to outsource trash and recycling
Faced with a tall and growing stack of bills in the solid waste department, Haywood County commissioners are seriously considering…
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Welsh TV crew visits Cherokee
Iolo Williams is one of the Wales’ most recognized TV personalities. “Wildlife” Williams, as he is known by some fans,…
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Friedman fails to give Haire a green scare
Phil Haire is a fortress as a state candidate. The seven-time incumbent is head of the General Assembly’s appropriations committee,…
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Ghost Town liability insurance lapsed prior to Feb. 5 mudslide
Ghost Town in the Sky failed to make timely payments on its liability insurance policy, and as a result it…
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$7 million investment rescues Ghost Town from bankruptcy
Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park in Maggie Valley will emerge from bankruptcy under a new corporate structure. One…
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Low voter turnout in primary elections
Mid-term election primaries are normally characterized by poor voter turnout, and that held true this year as only 14 percent…
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Macon primary shows strength of incumbents
Going into the primary elections in Macon County, every candidate stressed the need for a fiscally conservative mindset as the…
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Republicans suit up for race against Shuler
Republicans faced a major decision in the primary election: who is the best man to go head to head with…
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Cochran hammers Dover in sheriff race
Despite widespread criticism of the job he’s done, Swain Sheriff Curtis Cochran proved unstoppable in this year’s Republican primary. Cochran…
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Sylva cleans up town one property at a time
For the past year or so, Sylva Mayor Maurice Moody has been focused on cleaning up his town. “We’ve been…
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Ashe holds on in Democratic primary
Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe proved he could survive a tough race during the Democratic primary, defeating challenger Robin Gunnels…
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No Wal-Mart for Cherokee
Wal-Mart will not build a new Supercenter in Cherokee. After months of speculation that the deal between the tribe and…
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Lake Logan dredging could reduce flood danger
Removing sediment from Lake Logan would not only benefit its owner, Evergreen Packaging, it could potentially save homes and businesses…
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Peace for the World’s Children: 2010 Lake Junaluska Peace Conference
Join children’s advocates from across the United States at the third annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference September 18-21, 2010, as…
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Queen to face new challenger
After three straight match-ups with the same Republican challenger, Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, will face a new opponent on…
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Neighbors draw the line over latest rock quarry expansion
A grassroots effort to halt a mine expansion in west Waynesville jumped its first hurdle last week. Citizens have convinced…
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Crowded judge field narrowed
District Court judge candidates who made it past the primary hope the race will become more digestible to voters now…
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Shelton beats Brown in Jackson primary
Incumbent William Shelton beat challenger James Bo Brown by almost a two-to-one margin to win the Democratic spot on the…
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Haywood challenger emerges as top vote-getter
With the county budget on everyone’s mind, two Haywood commissioners received a vote of confidence on the job they’ve done…
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Debate over Duke power lines shifts to second front
Imagine buying an idyllic piece of land in the mountains only to learn you’ll be living under a giant, humming…
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A huge pile of good intentions
Haywood County Solid Waste Director Stephen King did not spend his interview with The Smoky Mountain News sitting at an…
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Rallying around a historic tree
Against all odds, a 250-year-old scarlet oak tree still stands on N.C. 110 south of Canton, despite being struck by…
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Ambitious development going nowhere
All visible signs of the grandiose megadevelopment known as Cataloochee Wilderness Resorts have vanished from public view in Haywood County.…
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