WCU enjoys a surge in popularity
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer When Callie LaDue started shopping for a college, there was only one school that…
Read More
Researchers use interviews to develop preservation tools
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Sometimes, amid the focus on such divisive issues as growth regulations or steep slope…
Read More
Macon group vows to fight proposed school consolidation
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer As Macon County officials move forward with plans to build two new schools, community…
Read More
DOT accused of convoluted planning
Opponents to the Southern Loop again urged the N.C. Department of Transportation to halt planning for the new highway last…
Read More
Is feeding the hungry bad for business?
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer It’s lunchtime at the Open Door, a 12-year-old soup kitchen in the Frog Level…
Read More
Franklin leaders mull downtown options
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Sandi Dotherow loves the town of Franklin so much that she spends all her…
Read More
Room tax plan would split Macon into three districts
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer A plan to distribute Macon County’s occupancy tax has been formulated, leaving the final…
Read More
As Cowan ponders whether to run, a rematch in the making
Voters in Jackson County could have a rematch in the May primary between two candidates who ran against each other…
Read More
Development regs at issue in Jackson election
When Jackson County commissioners passed strict mountainside development regulations last year, opponents pledged to get even come election time.
Read More
Local and regional agencies are making strides in the fight against online predators, but much work remains to be done
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer It’s a scenario that plays out every day: A bored 12-year-old girl named Crystal…
Read More
Gems from the used bin
By Chris Cooper Ah, the joy of finding good stuff in the “undeservedly discarded disc” section of any music store.…
Read More
Sylva wants to diversify Pinnacle Park usage
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Sylva Town Board members want to see hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers sharing…
Read More
Franklin adopts new rules for floodplain construction
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Macon County’s eight-month moratorium on the permitting of recreational vehicles in the floodplain will…
Read More
Swain chooses negotiators for North Shore settlement
By Jennifer Garlesky & Julia Merchant • Staff Writers Two Swain County employees will join representatives from the Department of…
Read More
Business owners and their trash
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Jackson County solid waste officials are cracking down on how businesses dispose of their…
Read More
Mountain roads cited as among the state’s most dangerous
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Driving a tractor-trailer in Haywood County or a motorcycle in Swain? Use caution. Both…
Read More
Living with a green state of mind: Western North Carolina residents take steps to reduce their carbon footprint
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Living “green” is a way of life for Mark and Darcia Bondurant. The Haywood…
Read More
Body found in Macon in missing hiker case
Skeletal remains found in Macon County’s Nantahala National Forest Feb. 2 are those of an 80-year-old hiker who disappeared in…
Read More
North Shore Road proponents fear wilderness designation
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer With a potential end to the North Shore Road saga looming, supporters of constructing…
Read More
More than 150 attend Swain’s historic first MLK celebration
More than 150 people traveled from all over Western North Carolina to attend the first official Martin Luther King Jr.…
Read More
Public weighs in on future of U.S. 441
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Progress on Jackson County’s corridor study for U.S. 441 is taking shape after three…
Read More
Clean water for Racking Cove: Contentious water fund decision will provide Jackson residents with safe water
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer It’s been almost a year since Bonita Fox and her family have taken a…
Read More
Sylva rescinds resignation vote, re-hires Denton
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Sylva’s search for a new town manager ended Jan. 17 after Town Manager Jay…
Read More
The growing issue of elder abuse in WNC
The senior citizen population is growing in Western North Carolina, and with that increase comes the increasing potential for abuse,…
Read More
Coal, energy needs at center of first lieutenant governor debate
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Coal-fired power plants and renewable energies took center stage as topics at last Saturday’s…
Read More
Familiar face, new challenges: After 17 years away, Jack Horton returns to manage a changing Macon County
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Macon County welcomed its new County Manger Jack Horton back to Western North Carolina…
Read More
The search for solutions: HRMC steps up to help fix mental health care
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Emergency rooms crowded with mentally ill patients. Sheriff’s deputies spending 96 hours supervising one…
Read More
Sales tax may be answer to HCC’s $70 million needs
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer In one room, a jagged crack runs from wall to wall, evidence of an…
Read More
Remembering a great leader: First MLK commission established in Swain County
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer When Denise Tyson realized she would have to trek to another county to take…
Read More
Denton waits for green light on EDC job
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer After working two years as Sylva’s town manager, Jay Denton will be leaving his…
Read More
Jackson’s Green Energy Park to appear on UNC-TV
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Viewers across the state will have the opportunity to learn about Jackson County’s green…
Read More
TDA chair says pot charge no problem
The chair of Haywood County’s Tourism Development Authority says a misdemeaor marijuana charge against the organization’s executive director will not…
Read More
The state of mental health care: A fractured system is in danger of breaking down completely, leaving officials wondering — how did it get this bad?
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Patricia Frisbee Meyer’s son needed help. The mental illness he had battled since childhood…
Read More
Residents hear about alternatives for Southern Loop
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Tom Dowell searches a large topographic map of Jackson County for his home located…
Read More
Lack of due diligence cited as reason for dam removal protests
The state recently gave Duke Energy the green light to tear down the Dillsboro dam, a move that Jackson County…
Read More
Winter tourism up in WNC
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer As Shelli Milling of Georgia unpacked her minivan she watched her two sons play…
Read More
Change is on the way for Howell Mill Road: DOT expansion project will carve through the heart of community
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The widening of Howell Mill Road in Waynesville will take years to complete, cost…
Read More
Commissioners take a more aggressive stance in Dillsboro dam fight
Jackson County commissioners are contemplating drastic measures in their fight against Duke Energy to stop the Dillsboro dam from being…
Read More
An account of Haywood County
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The crowning achievement of Haywood County’s bicentennial celebration is a 600-page, hardcover book that…
Read More
Restaurant owners scramble to comply with mandatory recycling law
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Landfills in North Carolina should become a lot emptier due to a new law…
Read More
Cowee group fights to keep school community-owned
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer For more than 60 years, students have been learning at Cowee Elementary School. But…
Read More
Rapp tries to round up support for slope development bill
When back-to-back tropical storms hit the mountains with heavy rains in 2004, the saturated soils triggered more than 140 landslides.…
Read More
On Cataloochee Wilderness: Project spokesman Frank Singleton talks about fitting into the community and facing possible opposition
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Frank Singleton, the spokesman for the 4,500-acre proposed Cataloochee Wilderness Resort in Haywood County,…
Read More
Why he rode: Continental cyclist A.J. Rowell returns home to Sylva after nearly 10,000 miles on the road
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer On June 1, 2007, A.J. Rowell left Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and began pedaling a…
Read More
Mining company appeals decision; quarry’s future remains uncertain
A Franklin-based mining company has filed an appeal against the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources decision denying…
Read More
WCU trustees OK fee increases
Western Carolina University’s board of trustees unanimously approved proposed tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year, including increases to…
Read More
Fed OKs $6 million for North Shore Road payment
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer After 64 years, it looks like the battle over the North Shore Road in…
Read More
2007: A year for development news
This year marked a turning point across Western North Carolina when it comes to political will and the development industry.
Read More
TWASA waits for capacity expansion go-ahead
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Officials at Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority are waiting for the go-ahead from the…
Read More
