Blue Ridge Paper Products changes name, moves headquarters
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Blue Ridge Paper Products, long one of the largest employers in Western North Carolina,…
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Deed faux pas gives animal shelter to airport
Jackson County accidentally gave away the county’s animal shelter to the Jackson County Airport Authority 10 years ago, and now…
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On being Heath Shuler
The Smoky Mountain News caught up with Rep. Heath Shuler at his home in Haywood County. Here’s what he had…
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Case between McClure, Jackson County rages on
A lawsuit against Jackson County for disbanding the Jackson County Airport Authority two-and-a-half years ago is headed for another round…
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Voter rolls in Swain get house cleaning
The Swain County Board of Elections last week purged 110 voters from its rolls who had listed their voting address…
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Mussel shoals: Researchers study endangered mussel in the Tuckasegee River
Families piling into rafts at the Dillsboro put-in on the Tuckasegee River last week cast a leery eye at what…
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Hospital defends timing of expansion
Haywood Regional unveiled plans for a $16.5 million expansion two weeks ago on the heels of a workforce reduction designed…
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HRMC announces $16.5 million expansion
Haywood Regional Medical Center is planning a $16.5 million expansion including a surgery support wing, an endoscopy unit, a new…
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Shuler goes to Washington: WNC’s freshman House representative is already turning heads in congress
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Heath Shuler’s time so far in the House of Representatives is shorter than his…
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Republicans to Taylor: Make up your mind
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Ever since Democrat Heath Shuler’s upset of incumbent Charles Taylor in the 2006 election,…
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County wins bidding war for Jonathan Creek land
Haywood County has emerged as the high bidder for 22-acre tract of land in Jonathan Creek that will become a…
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Macon leaders finally address animal shelter crisis: Five years with no animal laws wore public thin
After years of debate over stray animals in Macon County — namely the lack of anywhere to take them —…
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Canton bridge project to cause delays
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Construction is slated to begin immediately on a structurally deficient bridge in downtown Canton,…
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New TDA make-up leaves questions unanswered
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer New legislation to restructure the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority calls for a drastic…
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Duke tries to get out of dredging behind dam
Duke Power does not want to dredge backlogged sediment from behind the Dillsboro dam before tearing it down despite both…
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Muddy math plays into sediment calculations
Calculating the volume of mud that washed downstream with the collapse of a large earth dam at Balsam Mountain Preserve…
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Dam escaped state permit threshold: Cause of failure stemmed from construction techniques
Balsam Mountain Preserve is off the hook on one front: it didn’t need a permit from the state dam safety…
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Clean-up slow in wake of dam break: Patience runs thin with Balsam Mountain Preserve
Balsam Mountain Preserve has failed so far in its promise to make things right following a dam break that unleashed…
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Many in Macon excited about rec center prospects
After visiting the Town of Waynesville’s recreation center, Michelle Green left marveling at the range and quality of activities the…
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Swain appoints members to re-configured TDA
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The restructuring of the Swain County TDA is well under way with a host…
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Macon leaders ask voters for property transfer tax
Macon County will be the first in Western North Carolina to test the idea of a new tax on real…
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Vice Chief candidates address a broad range of issues
Candidates for vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians shared their views on an array of issues facing…
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High and dry: Fontana boat dock owners losing money as TVA lowers lake
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer One of the driest periods in the last 118 years is prompting TVA to…
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How-to of dam removal still a source of debate: State, feds object to backlogged sediment being unleashed downstream
Duke Energy has cleared a major hurdle in its efforts to tear down the nearly 100-year-old Dillsboro dam. Duke got…
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Orthopedist shortage costs HRMC patients, revenue
Every morning, the dispatcher for Haywood Emergency Medical Services starts his shift with a call to the emergency room of…
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Haywood records highest-ever room tax collections
Haywood County experienced its best tourism year ever during the 2006-2007 fiscal year, according to lodging tax figures released by…
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Profile: Rose Johnson
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The woman at the forefront of Haywood Community College’s progressive new vision of sustainability…
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The nuts and bolts of the property transfer tax
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer A bill hailed by state and local officials as a way to help pad…
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Q&A with David Rice
Has there ever been a workforce reduction at HRMC in the past 15 years, and does this workforce reduction indicate…
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Maggie Valley sways vote on recreation site
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer A sudden turn of events in Haywood County’s bidding for a 22-acre tract slated…
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Cherokee candidates square off at forum
With just one month left until the election, candidates for chief and vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee…
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Jackson gives final OK to new development regulations
Jackson County commissioners have given final approval to what are generally regarded as the state’s toughest subdivision and steep slope…
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SCC’s Macon campus named after college president Cecil Groves
It’s a first for the president and a first for Macon County. Southwestern Community College Board of Trustees named the…
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HRMC eliminates 36 jobs as patient volume drops
Haywood Regional Medical Center has downsized its workforce by 36 positions in response to a decrease in patient volume and…
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Passing school bonds in Macon could prove a tough sell
If retirees Fred Plesner and Ray Behr are any indication of how voters in Macon County are reacting to a…
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Housing industry, county leaders stage battlefield as tax debate heats up
A battle over whether to tax property transactions will soon be playing out in communities across the state, but likely…
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Dayco deal finalized after three-year process
An abandoned rubber plant in Waynesville that once seemed destined to rust into the ground was officially turned over to…
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Health services building marks beginning of Millennial Campus
N.C. Gov. Mike Easley signed a $20.7 billion budget bill Tuesday, July 31, that includes $46.2 million in funding for…
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Swain seeks more input on road regulations
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Contractors, Realtors and graders in Swain County claim they need more time to comment…
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Deal underway to preserve Dean Island from development
A 40-acre island in the Little Tennessee River will be protected from development if the owner can successfully hammer out…
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Feeding the need: New power plants destined for state’s future barring radical action
A state energy bill expected to pass this week has received mixed reviews from environmentalists for failing to go far…
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Two bite the dust
On one hand, Avram Friedman couldn’t believe Duke Power’s announcement two years ago that it wanted to build a twin-unit…
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Haywood pitches unique tomato
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Vidalia onions. Georgia peaches. Washington apples. Haywood County tomatoes? The formal name is still…
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Emergency department expansion slated for Harris Regional
Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva is planning an $18.45 million renovation project to expand and modernize the emergency department. The…
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Room tax will pay for visitor center
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Swain County commissioners have approved a measure that will carve out up to one…
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Waynesville searching for Russ Avenue fix
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Increasing congestion coupled with pressure from candidates in the upcoming election is forcing the…
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Jackson should lift subdivision moratorium Aug. 6
Jackson County commissioners heard yet another round of public comment last week in the final countdown to passing the most…
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Forest Hills coin toss election returned to voters this fall
The voters of Forest Hills will get the chance to weigh in on their preference for mayor this fall after…
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What other towns have done
• Bryson City recently conserved the old Lands Creek watershed, getting $1.5 million from the Clean Water trust fund to…
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Reaching out: Hispanic market looms large for WNC businesses
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Hispanic culture has infused nearly every aspect of American life — from restaurants to…
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