Spill the beans
Confession is good for the soul. As any practicing Catholic will tell you, that old tune still plays true. You…
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Tourism board divided over festival funding
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is split over a budget for the coming fiscal year that would reduce funding…
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Doin’ the TDA shuffle: Haywood, Maggie Valley tourism entities ponder merger
A tug-of-war over the $600,000 in tourism tax money in Haywood County and how it is used to lure travelers…
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Sylva residents rate quality of life high
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer “Overall, citizens seem fairly satisfied with the quality of life in the town of…
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Momentum builds to challenge TDA
Dissatisfaction among the Haywood County tourism industry with the way tourism tax dollars are spent has long been a constant…
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Macon superintendent departs amid harassment suit
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County schools personnel director Tamra Tisdale has filed a sexual harassment suit against…
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Critics say FERC not tough enough on Duke
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s draft environmental assessment recommending removal of the Dillsboro…
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Swain teacher fills vital role for Latino students
By Michael Beadle Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on some of the issues faced by…
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An outpouring of support
When Rose Smith read about the tragic death of an 8-year-old boy left in a car in the parking lot…
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One mother’s struggle: Gibson hits dead-end in quest to balance childcare and work
When Michelle Gibson showed up at her son’s second-grade classroom with balloons, ice cream and a decorated birthday cake signed…
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‘Not guilty’: Michelle Gibson freed after jury rejects second-degree murder, manslaughter charges
Michelle Gibson, a single mother charged with second-degree murder in the death of her 8-year-old son, Devin, was found not…
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Celebrating 10 years as an A+ school
By Michael Beadle Central Elementary School capped its 10-year anniversary as an A+ school Friday, May 19, with students, parents,…
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Blue Ridge banking on cool cartons
The war on soft drink vending machines in schools has found an unexpected ally in Haywood County. Blue Ridge Paper…
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Railroad right of way claim could stall business expansion
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer A Dillsboro business owner’s recent attempt to purchase and develop land near the Great…
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Swain election protest appealed to state
An election protest in Swain County over alleged irregularities in the May 2 primary was dismissed in a 2 to…
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Pesticide contaminants found in subdivision
The Haywood County Health Department has asked for state assistance to conduct tests in two subdivisions after soil samples from…
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New Waynesville recreation director has marketing expertise
Rhett Langston with the Buncombe County Parks and Recreation Department has been selected from a pool of 63 applicants to…
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Learning the language
By Michael Beadle When Lori McLeod first started teaching English as a Second Language at Tuscola High School in Haywood…
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Divided Franklin board OKs vote on alcohol sales
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer This summer residents of Franklin will vote on whether to allow restaurants to sell…
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Building a better life
By Michael Beadle Norma Brown knows how hard it is to get legal citizenship in the United States.
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Where to from here? Graduates wishing to stay in the region find themselves facing career, lifestyle compromises
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Turn to the classified pages in any Western North Carolina newspaper and the employment…
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Peeping tom caugh in Ingles’ restroom
Kim Pettit and her husband were on vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains from Minnesota two weeks ago and had…
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Macon man honored for paper recycling efforts
The American Forest and Paper Association recently announced that Macon County resident Joel Ostroff has received the 2006 Ed Hurley…
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A good cause brings together local artists
As artist Ann Vasilik was nearing the home stretch in Quick Draw — an annual event in Waynesville where artists…
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Art auction brings in record amount
Quick Draw in the Mountains raised a record amount of money this year off a live and silent auction that…
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Swain commissioner candidate snapshots
Three candidates are running for Swain County chairman in the Democratic Primary.
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Political factions help define Haywood race
Two well-defined political factions emerged early in the Haywood County commissioners primary and have only grown stronger in the countdown…
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Old-style ‘machine’ a factor in Swain
A slate of challengers running in the Swain County commissioners race are speaking out against what they claim is decades…
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Jackson candidates weigh in on education issues
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer They’ve said they want to strengthen the economy. They’ve said they want to help…
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Enforcement issues cloud zoning debate
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer With growth on the forefront of Macon County’s election issues, commissioner candidates have staked…
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Bushyhead run puts spotlight on Swain-Cherokee relationship
For the first time in history, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is running for a…
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Who goes first? Haywood candidates debate county’s role in future growth discussions
Grasping the extent of development sweeping across the Haywood County landscape is not always easy. So Marc Pruett, the county’s…
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Pro-planning candidate holds ground at forum
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Democratic candidates running for two District 2 seats on the Macon County board of…
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Jackson County sheriff’s race reaches full tilt
By Sarah Kucharski The heated race for sheriff in Jackson County is closing in on the May 2 primary date…
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Growth is on Jackson’s agenda
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer This May 2 voters in Jackson County are faced with choosing a board of…
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Candidates weigh in on the North Shore Road
Every four years when a county commissioner election rolls around in Swain County, there’s one question commissioners know they have…
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Morgan runs to win: Swannanoa candidate says he’ll beat Shuler in Democratic primary
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Michael Morgan sits at a table near the back of Malaprop’s Bookstore Café in…
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Local PAC exerts influence
For the first time in Haywood County, a group of residents has formed a political action committee with the goal…
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Jackson Democrats must choose among a crowded field
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Voters in Jackson County will elect predominately Democratic county commissioners in this May’s primary…
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Armor – Eclectic to the nth degree: Highlands Republican wants to pry loose Taylors’ grip on 11th District
When CNN chose John Armor’s web blog as the political site of the day several years ago, coining him an…
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Cherokee anthem realized through WCU
What began as a request to translate “The Star-Spangled Banner” into Cherokee evolved instead into a new song, the “United…
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‘Spend or lose’ law leads to unspoken credo to use money
The investigation into an off-the-books account kept by the former Haywood County Schools maintenance director at Haywood Builders Supply has…
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Sylva leaders survey citizens about town services
By Sarah Kucharski * Staff Writer Is there enough affordable housing in Sylva? Do you feel safe in your neighborhood?…
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Subdivision ordinance talks continue in Macon
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County Planning Board members will continue their first discussion of a draft subdivision…
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State OKs sewage plan for part of Gorge development
A controversial high-end development along the Nantahala River in the Nantahala Gorge has received the green light for an alternative…
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Retailers get ready for opening day
By Michael Beadle As the opening date approaches for the North Carolina Education Lottery, local retailers in Western North Carolina…
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A raw deal for WNC
According to provisions in the state’s lottery law, about a third of the money raised in the lottery (35 percent)…
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Officials hope taping TDA will promote civility
Turmoil surrounding the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has landed the entity a regular slot on the government television station…
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N.C. Education Lottery sparks debate over how dollars will be spent
By Michael Beadle The North Carolina Education Lottery might be seen by state officials as a boon for public education,…
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Commissioners get slope ordinance from planners
Haywood County commissioners are examining a slope development ordinance that would regulate the safety of cut and fill slopes for…
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