21 write-ins get votes in Webster
In an unusual election storyline, voters in Webster cast ballots for a total of 21 write-in candidates because too few…
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Enamored with stacked stone and timber, planners push mountain look
Western North Carolina has so embraced mountain vernacular architecture that local planning boards across the area are prodding developers into…
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New leaders to forge future for Dillsboro with or without railroad
Faced with a collapsing tourism marketplace caused by a national recession and the pullout of its featured attraction — the…
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Fee charged to overseas visitors would fund tourism marketing abroad
A bill is moving through Congress that could help boost the local economy and create jobs by drawing international tourists…
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Residents value rural heritage and environment in highway debate
An overwhelming majority of citizens who showed up at a public hearing in Robbinsville spoke out against the Corridor K…
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Third party steps in to run Balsam Mountain Preserve
Balsam Mountain Preserve has been stripped of control and custody of its development as lenders continue their march toward foreclosure.…
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Fresh faces will lead Canton
As with the election two years ago, Canton will once again see three new faces on the board. Voters had…
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Franklin voters stick with familiar faces
Not one face is changing in Franklin’s local government despite close contests for mayor and aldermen. In a neck-and-neck race,…
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Regional election results
Clyde Town boardSeats up for election: 2Total seats on board: 4Carroll Mease (I) 103Jim Trantham (I) 95Alan Trantham 42Registered voters: …
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Price and Pauley ride easily into office in quiet Maggie race
After a feel-good race lacking much controversy, Maggie Valley voters have re-elected Saralyn Price to her second term on the…
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WNC juggles perceptions and realities of rockslide blockade
The main message that local and state authorities are frenetically broadcasting to the world is that Western North Carolina is…
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Tracing the roots of WNC’s signature style
Love it or hate it, mountain vernacular architecture has stubbornly planted its roots in Western North Carolina and shows no…
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Allen joins Knotts on Sylva board
Danny Allen, a former Sylva town commissioner who has been off the board for two years, will reclaim his seat…
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Hospital denies county commissioners a seat at the table
Despite their requests, Haywood County commissioners will not be guaranteed a spot on the new joint operating board of Haywood…
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Canton’s future pivots on heated board race
When voters head to the polls in Canton next week, they will face a daunting and even unwieldy list to…
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Balsam Mountain Preserve property owners pull off grassroots fundraising on a colossal scale
Affluent property owners in Balsam Mountain Preserve have raised commitments of $16.3 million in an effort to stave off foreclosure…
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Cullowhee a good sports town for athletes and spectators
By Gibbs Knotts • Guest Columnist Some local sportswriters have expressed bewilderment at a recent ranking by a nationally circulated…
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Meet the candidates
Two of the five seats on the Sylva town board are up for election. Both incumbents are running for re-election…
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Haywood-WestCare Joint Operating Agreement Frequently Asked Questions
Is it true that Haywood and WestCare have merged? No. The boards of Haywood Regional Medical Center (HRMC) and WestCare…
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Waynesville Rec Center struck by vandals
The Waynesville Recreation Center was vandalized late sometime late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. The vandals entered the building…
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HRMC, WestCare affiliation creates MedWest
A long-awaited affiliation of the hospitals in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties will become official in January 2010. That’s when…
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Sylva candidates split on funding for downtown projects
The election for Sylva town board next week will determine the philosophical direction for the town. The board has been…
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No quick fix for rock slide that closes I-40
Western North Carolina is bracing itself for the impact of a massive rockslide that will shut down a major chunk…
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Meet the candidates
There are 10 candidates running for four seats on the Canton town board. Only two sitting aldermen are running for…
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Haywood County braces for economic impacts of prolonged I-40 closure
By all indications, the closing of Interstate 40 due to a massive rockslide will be more than just a minor…
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Macon rallies to defense of river and wins
Macon County has won a partial victory in the fight over the permitting of an industrial wastewater treatment plant in…
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Downtown platform
Several candidates have made downtown revitalization the central tenet of their campaign and consider it the one of the most…
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Keeping commissioner on hospital board lends accountability
The joint board that will run the eventual Haywood Regional Medical Center-WestCare affiliation needs to have a sitting Haywood County…
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Three seek two seats on Maggie Valley board
The Town of Maggie Valley has a town board with four aldermen/alderwomen and a mayor with voting power. Each official…
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Drill mimics real disaster, right down to tunnel collapse
A drill simulating the collapse of a tunnel on Interstate 40 in Haywood County tested and prepared the full gamut…
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WCU raises $50 million for endowment
Western Carolina University last week announced that the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in university history has netted a grand total…
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Unfinished hotel mars Sylva landscape
The fate of an unfinished Clarion Inn in Sylva is up in the air after a bank foreclosed on the…
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Most make extra effort to hear public
As Haywood County commissioners grapple with a surge in this public input at their meetings, largely from the same crowd…
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Election guaranteed to bring new leadership in Dillsboro
This November, the Town of Dillsboro will elect all five members of its town board, along with a new mayor…
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Haywood again looks at old Wal-Mart for DSS building
Haywood County commissioners are once again considering the abandoned Wal-Mart shell for a new Department of Social Services building. The…
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Haywood says state shirking responsibility
Haywood County commissioner sent a strong message to Raleigh this week, chastising state government for not stepping in to help…
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Maggie hopefuls say tourists and locals important
If there’s a buzz word for Maggie Valley’s town board elections this year, it’s “balance.” Alderwoman Saralyn Price said she…
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Robust citizen input vexes public officials
Johnnie Cure said she never expected to become a local celebrity when she started speaking up during the public comment…
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Marc Pruett earns praise from all sides for his work
When Haywood County commissioners convened this week to discuss the fate of the county’s erosion control program, they were met…
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The mystery of Judaculla Rock
Located in a field in the rural Caney Fork community of Jackson County is Judaculla Rock, a soapstone boulder covered…
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Cherokee immersion school aims to save language
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians praised the new Kituwah Language Academy for the cultural renaissance that’s now unfolding within…
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In the running
The Town of Franklin has a town board with six aldermen/alderwomen and a mayor who votes only to break ties.…
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Oconaluftee Institute chooses Queen as program coordinator
Joel Queen has been named the new program coordinator and instructor at the Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts in Cherokee.…
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BMP’s problems not apparent
At first glance, it is hard to see why Balsam Mountain Preserve has been unable to satisfy the lenders behind…
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Swain auditor warns that drastic measures needed
An auditor for Swain County had a clear-cut message to pass on to commissioners this week: make drastic cutbacks in…
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Saving Judaculla Rock: Preservation work begins on local artifact
By Julia Merchant • Contributing writer Priceless artifacts often end up tucked safely away behind the protective glass cases of…
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Treadway, Reidmiller run unopposed
This year’s elections in Bryson City will be a cinch for Alderwoman Stephanie Treadway and Alderman Tom Reidmiller. Both are…
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Most like plans for Russ Avenue makeover
A proposed redesign of Russ Avenue, the main commercial thoroughfare in Waynesville, received strong public support among those who attended…
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New and improved appraisal method aims to better calibrate property values
An analysis of property values in Haywood County aims to reduce disparities between the value listed on the county’s tax…
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Amid tough times, DSS director denied raise
After much deliberation, Swain County commissioners voted 3-2 against an $8,800 pay raise for the Department of Social Services director…
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