Collins, Scott battle for mayor’s post in Franklin
Tensions are rife as Franklin Alderman Bob Scott and Mayor Joe Collins butt heads over the prize of a mayor…
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One of area’s first mega developments in trouble
Balsam Mountain Preserve, a mega development on 4,400 acres in Jackson County, has defaulted on the terms of a $19.8…
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New plan aims to corral chaotic thoroughfare
A plan to redesign Russ Avenue would dramatically alter the appearance and traffic flow along the frenzied main commercial artery…
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Maggie pins hopes on director to turn corner on festival grounds
The Town of Maggie Valley is moving closer toward hiring a festival director to market its struggling festival grounds. Aldermen…
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Libraries see increased usage as recession lingers
Local libraries report that more people are streaming through their doors as a direct result of the recession. Area residents…
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Angel Medical continues to stand alone
While neighboring hospitals count down the days until an affiliation is finalized, Angel Medical Center in Franklin continues to stand…
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Angel CEO says hospital investing in its future
When Tim Hubbs stepped down as the CEO of Drake Software, a Franklin firm that writes accounting software, he thought…
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Hazelwood clings to its post office under threat of closure
Hazelwood seems to be getting the short end of the stick these days. Once an independent blue-collar town boasting a…
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Price tag on land a deal killer for Jackson greenway
Despite their conceptual support for a greenway along the Tuckasegee River, Jackson County commissioners expressed hesitation about purchasing land to…
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Loss of transparency likely for Haywood under new hospital joint venture
Haywood Regional Medical Center and WestCare are in the final stages of forming a partnership, with plans to launch a…
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Duke’s rate hike request is poorly timed, not needed
The state should turn down Duke Energy’s request for a nearly 13 percent hike in utility rates and instead encourage…
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Task force wants final crack at honing road list
Dueling solutions for relieving traffic on N.C. 107 in Sylva are poised to make the final cut in the long-awaited…
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Bridging the divide: Maggie struggles to find new identity among tourists, second-home owners and year-round residents
Home to 3,000 motel rooms yet only 1,610 year-round residents, Maggie Valley can’t exactly escape the term “tourist town.” Anyone…
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Maggie chases festivals as ticket to tourism
When the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen purchased land for a town festival ground in 2002, it had high hopes…
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Graham and Swain part ways over Deal’s Gap debate
Graham County delivered yet another jolt to the three-month debate over who should provide emergency services to Deal’s Gap, a…
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Cat lovers quietly care for wild colonies
Move over rabbits, it’s cats that multiply like crazy in Haywood County. According to the Haywood Animal Welfare Association, there…
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Swain at last makes foray into animal control
Swain County Manager Kevin King has an ambitious idea for finally addressing the years-old issue of animal control, or lack…
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What’s in a name? Tourism web site succumbs to proper spelling
The Haywood Tourism Development Authority announced some good news last week for all those miffed by the incorrect spelling of…
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Shortchanged again, WNC demands highway dollars back
Western North Carolina has steadily lost out on tens of millions in federal highway dollars over the past decade, despite…
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Task force declared finished as draft plan advances for public review
Some members of the Jackson County Transportation Task Force feel like the list of road projects bearing their name has…
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Duke faces stiff opposition to proposed rate hike
Duke Energy’s rate hike request met strong opposition at a public hearing before members of the N.C. Utilities Commission in…
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Lasting precedent doubtful as county closes books on erosion suit
Developers looking for shortcuts around erosion laws won’t find amnesty in a recent court case between a landowner and Haywood…
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Corridor K inches forward
A road project known as Corridor K will boast the longest tunnel in the state of North Carolina if built…
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Webster scrambles to drum up candidates for town board
When voters head to the polls to elect town leaders in Webster this fall, the choices will be slim. Mighty…
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Local restaurants support Haywood County farmers
Local chefs are proving to be some of the best supporters of Haywood County farmers. “The Buy Haywood project is…
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Expert offers tips to keep downtown businesses kicking
Small business expert Tom Shay told local store owners in Franklin, Sylva and Waynesville that recessions are good for one…
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Buck Knob residents, officials seek fire protection compromise
After years of fruitlessly demanding fire protection from a local volunteer fire department, homeowners on Buck Knob Island in the…
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After delay, schools getting lottery dollars
By Julie Ball • Correspondent Some lottery money used to pay the debt on local school projects is coming to…
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Landslide maps one component of steep slope planning
The Macon County committee charged with proposing regulations for building on steep slopes is still swimming in a sea of…
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County settles Cameron lawsuit for $75,000
Haywood County is shelling out $75,000 for an out-of-court settlement that resolves an ongoing lawsuit by a landowner over the…
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The new caretakers: Through job losses and other factors, number of stay-at-home dads on the rise
By Julia Merchant • Contributing Writer A year and a half ago, Fatie Atkinson spent most of his time in…
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Peace conference aims to foster multi-faith dialogue
With much controversy circling around how to conduct the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a conference at Lake Junaluska this…
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Swain makes cuts to plug million dollar shortfall
The recession has finally caught up with Swain County. While other counties began bracing for declining revenues in late 2008,…
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Duke countersues Jackson
Duke Energy has fired back at Jackson County’s attempt to seize the Dillsboro Dam with a counterclaim of its own.…
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Judge refuses to dismiss Mathis slander case against Council on Aging board chair
Three years later, Denise Mathis, former director of the Haywood County Council on Aging, is still fighting to restore her…
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Sheriff, Swain point fingers over budget shortfall
The on-going tension between Swain County commissioners and the sheriff has surfaced yet again, this time over the root cause…
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Permit lapses for proposed Jackson County golf course
Plans for a 300-acre golf course on Cullowhee Mountain in Jackson County have been temporarily sidelined after developers failed to…
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Sign snatching a futile effort to enforce ordinance without teeth
Illegal temporary signs are so commonplace in Waynesville that Byron Hickox — the town’s land use manager — does a…
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Watershed assessment still underway
The team of experts conducting an ecological assessment of Waynesville’s 8,600-acre watershed has collected so much data that they have…
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Dam fight between Duke, Jackson goes to federal court
Jackson County’s lawsuit against Duke Energy to seize the Dillsboro Dam and surrounding river shore through eminent domain has been…
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Macon wades gingerly toward transportation plan
As the main coordinator of a comprehensive transportation plan for Macon County, Ryan Sherby faces a long road ahead of…
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A seven-year vigil for peace
A quiet gathering of people stood outside Haywood County’s courthouse on a recent Wednesday afternoon holding colorful signs and flags…
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Emotional healthcare debate brings out both sides in Sylva
The battle over healthcare reform hit home in Sylva last week. A crowd of more than 50 people gathered on…
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Business expert to offer tips in three WNC downtowns
With an economy still recovering from a recession, local businesses are reaching for ways to keep customers coming. Downtown associations…
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Lake J seeks state help for dam, sediment
Lake Junaluska Assembly is asking Haywood County commissioners to help it land state grants for maintenance on the lake and…
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WCU to pass on electric rate hike
Those who buy their power from Western Carolina University have historically enjoyed cheaper electric bills than their neighbors, but that…
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Haywood gets rolling on methane project
Haywood County commissioners have taken the first step in constructing a more than $1 million methane collection system at two…
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Borrowing bikes a big hit at university
Ever since the launch of the Yellow Bike Project in late August, a new bike culture has quickly sprung up…
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Macon group takes aim at day care shortage
By Julie Ball • Correspondent Working parents in Macon County have few choices when it comes to child care for…
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Player death prompts sickle cell testing for Western Carolina student athletes
Western Carolina University has enacted mandatory testing for the sickle cell trait among all student athletes following the death of…
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