On Sacred Ground
By Michael Beadle Nearly two centuries have passed since the last time Cherokees held a council meeting on the sacred…
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Momentum keeps building for Stop I-3 coalition
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The Stop I-3 Coalition — the grassroots organization that aims to prevent construction of…
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Verizon expands DSL service in rural areas
High-speed Internet access has been expanded into several rural areas in the region thanks to a technology investment by Verizon…
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Sylva slashes funding for downtown group
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Faced with a $20,000 budget cut, the Downtown Sylva Association is re-examining its plans…
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How to herd a bill
Sen. John Snow, D- Murphy, had a whopper of a week last week. He had four bills on the table…
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A moment of your time? Lobbyists courting lawmakers take center stage in Raleigh
Editor’s note: Smoky Mountain News reporter Becky Johnson spent two days in Raleigh last week covering local representatives at work…
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Pulling the right strings: Lawmakers work to bring home the bacon
It was a big week in the legislative building in Raleigh last week. The House of Representatives would vote on…
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Franklin hires Main Street coordinator
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer A month into her new job as Franklin’s Main Street Program Coordinator, Nancy Deeks…
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Haywood appoints second committee to study TDA
A study committee charged with examining the role and structure of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will be formed…
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Bethel survey
The Bethel survey polled a random sample of 273 residents in Bethel via telephone. The Bethel Rural Community Organization sanctioned…
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Macon survey
The survey in Macon County set out to quantify the value the public places on the landscape. Surveys sought to…
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Some question Rinehart’s TDA status after move to Asheville
Joetta Rinehart, a member of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority board, recently moved to Asheville, throwing into question her…
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TDA’s Reece injured in motorcycle accident
Wade Reece, a member of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority and a Maggie Valley businessman, was in a motorcycle…
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Land for Tomorrow: Will it pass the state legislature?
Land for Tomorrow is a statewide campaign to raise $1 billion in state funds to preserve farmland and forestland, create…
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Heritage Area program will give out $350,000 in 2006
The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area has announced its 2006 Heritage Grants Program, which will provide and leverage funding for…
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Hearing heated, but no surprises
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s public hearing regarding the recently released draft environmental assessment…
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Haywood considers wider tourism study
The town of Maggie Valley could be getting more than it bargained for when it called on fellow towns in…
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Geologists nearly finished with Macon landslide study
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer N.C. Geological Survey staff hopes to finish its survey of Macon County’s landslide prone…
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Farmers increasingly feel forced off their own land
Butch Deals’ day doesn’t fit the image of the simple farming life. Perched in the air-conditioned cab of a John…
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Bryson City developing first zoning plan
An influx of growth has prompted Bryson City leaders to address land-use planning with hopes of drafting the town’s first…
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Buchner’s father/son account wins literary acclaim
Craig Buchner and his father didn’t say much during their weekends in upstate New York checking spigots on sugar maples,…
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Feelin’ festive: Local event planners examine festival trends
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer June through October is known as festival season in the mountains, and its no…
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Elected officials meet to hear tourism complaints
Elected town and county leaders will be dragged into the Haywood County tourism saga this week. They will be asked…
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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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