Rice resigns, cites need to move forward
David Rice, CEO of Haywood Regional Medical Center for 15 years, resigned Monday in the wake of a financial crisis…
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Crisis brewing at HRMC
Doctors, patients, nurses, ambulance drivers — even hospital board members — were unaware of a crisis brewing at Haywood Regional…
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Swain's drug problem worries officials
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The beautiful mountain scenery that covers Swain County hides an ugly truth — the…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Franklin leaders mull downtown options
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Sandi Dotherow loves the town of Franklin so much that she spends all her…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Business owners and their trash
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Jackson County solid waste officials are cracking down on how businesses dispose of their…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Winter tourism up in WNC
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer As Shelli Milling of Georgia unpacked her minivan she watched her two sons play…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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