WCU Greek Challenge nets $1.5 million for Catamount Club; winners announced
Members of Western Carolina University fraternities and sororities contributed more than $1.5 million to the Catamount Club during the 2024-2025…
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Reinvigorated WCU retirees association elects officers, plans activities
Following a period of decreased activity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was exacerbated by the impacts of…
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Haywood man gets prison time for bomb threat
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced that a Waynesville man pleaded guilty this week to calling in a bomb threat…
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NCDOT lauded for Helene response
The N.C. Department of Transportation has been nationally recognized for its collaborative and dynamic emergency response to Hurricane Helene last…
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Waynesville to remove two advisory board members appointed improperly
The Waynesville Town Council will remove two members from the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment after an investigation by The…
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Gamble to captain USA Deaflympics volleyball team in Tokyo
From Sylva to Tokyo, Ella Gamble is making a name for herself on the volleyball court. As she heads into…
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Amid tourism slide, marketing muscle fuels Haywood rebound
Despite a decline in room occupancy tax revenue, the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is celebrating a banner year for…
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Kirkland sworn in as Swain County Sheriff, announces 2026 campaign
Brian Kirkland, who served as interim sheriff in Swain County following the scandalous retirement of Curtis Cochran, has been appointed…
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WCU instructor, local nonprofit partner on entrepreneurship camp for underserved youth
A Western Carolina University instructor of management will be leading a weeklong entrepreneurship and leadership camp for underserved youth in Western…
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Sylva candidate forum set for Aug. 21
Indivisible Commonground WNC will host a free candidate forum for the upcoming Sylva Board of Commissioners municipal election on Thursday,…
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Man pleads guilty to trafficking charges in Haywood
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch today announced the successful prosecution of a Swain County man on drug trafficking charges. A…
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NCDMV announces moratorium on driver license expirations
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles announced a moratorium on the expiration of Class C driver licenses in North Carolina.…
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Jackson commissioner violated state law by skipping ethics training
Unlike the other four members of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, John W. Smith did not take the basic…
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Chair resigns, Democratic gala lineup revised after NC-11 candidates protest
A blistering letter signed by four Democratic candidates for Congress in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District is raising questions about…
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Democratic candidates protest NC-11 gala exclusion, threaten boycott
A blistering letter signed by four Democratic candidates for Congress in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District is raising questions about…
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Sylva passes resolution in support of Fontana Regional Library
UPDATE: The initial version of this story noted that the resolution passed unanimously. Due to poor video and audio quality…
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The rise and ruination of Swain County Sheriff Curtis A. Cochran
For nearly two decades, a self-styled reformer with no law enforcement experience who toppled a longtime sheriff and rode a…
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‘A new direction’: Shining Rock shakeup signals shift in school strategy
In its first regular meeting since a superior court judge ruled that Head of School Joshua Morgan was responsible for…
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Waynesville officials ignore board term limits
Two members of Waynesville’s Zoning Board of Adjustment were improperly appointed by Town Council in violation of the town’s own…
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Swain County Board of Elections office to move
On June 17, the Swain County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize the Board of Elections to relocate to the…
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‘A new direction’: Shining Rock shakeup signals shift in school strategy
In its first regular meeting since a superior court judge ruled that Head of School Joshua Morgan was responsible for…
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Waynesville march honors the legacy of John Lewis
On the five-year anniversary of the death of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. Congressman John Lewis, more than 170…
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Volunteers overhaul Waynesville little league field following Helene
Mountaineer Little League Baseball has been around since the 1970s, but like everything else, once Hurricane Helene hit, its immediate…
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Report dives into ongoing child care crisis
The child care industry has been sounding the alarm for years now, but with federal stabilization grants drying up a…
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Ballots are set for upcoming municipal elections
With the end of the municipal election filing period, candidates are now gearing up to take their message to voters…
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Haywood allocates nearly $3M in opioid funds to treatment, prevention
Haywood County commissioners have adopted a resolution and corresponding ordinance that lays out how nearly $3 million in opioid settlement…
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Meet Chris Cox at Smoky Mountain Roasters
Local author and award-winning Smoky Mountain News columnist Chris Cox will make an appearance at Smoky Mountain Roasters in Hazelwood…
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Former Swain County Sheriff indicted on rape charge
Former Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran, who retired earlier this month amid sexual assault charges, is now facing a second-degree…
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Pioneer Heritage Festival comes to Clyde July 26
The Haywood County Historical & Genealogical Society is hosting a Pioneer Heritage Festival in Clyde, from 10 a.m. to 5…
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Locating I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge was a bad idea, but we’re stuck with it
If you’re like me, you avoid driving I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge like warm beer on a hot summer…
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Sylva’s Brown regrets ‘rookie mistake’ on Fontana library resolution
Two weeks after instigating the removal of a resolution supporting the Fontana Regional Library from a Sylva Board of Commissioners…
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Municipal candidate filing period ends on Friday
Candidates across Western North Carolina have begun filing for the 2025 municipal elections, which will be held on Tuesday, Nov.…
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Waynesville seeks forgivable loans for storm-damaged utilities
Facing aging infrastructure and costly repairs made worse by Hurricane Helene, the Town of Waynesville is preparing to apply for…
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Franklin hosts lecture on history of Cowee School
On Monday, July 21, the series “Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture,” will present a program on the history…
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Canton to purchase former ABC store parcel
A land purchase approved by Canton’s governing board July 10 will bring more parking to the town’s increasingly popular downtown…
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Mom wins court fight with charter school, defamation countersuit backfires
Rebecca Fitzgibbon hasn’t breathed easy since her 11-year-old son was put in the back of a police car by his…
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Jackson residents blast library exit, demand explanation
Public frustration boiled over at the July 1 Jackson County Board of Commissioners meeting, where speaker after speaker condemned the…
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Municipal candidates file for elections
Candidates across Western North Carolina have begun filing for the 2025 municipal elections, which will be held on Tuesday, Nov.…
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Edwards said ‘no interest’ in Medicare cut, votes to cut anyway
In Western North Carolina, where aging populations and rural poverty place extraordinary pressure on the social safety net, few programs…
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Forest Hills fights back: Village cancels planning contract with county over FRL withdrawal
In a move that evokes imagery from the biblical battle between David and Goliath, the tiny Jackson County municipality of…
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Lunsford federal gun case continued, again
James Lunsford, controversial proprietor of the “Haven on the Hill” campground, will begin another chapter in his federal gun case…
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Following sexual assault charges, Swain County Sheriff retires
In the wake of numerous criminal charges from both the state and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tied to…
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Two arrested with nearly 500 grams of meth
On July 4, the Haywood County Sheriff’s office announced that Kelly Diane Shelton, 42, and Charles Edward Morris, 56, both…
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Shining Rock loses public records lawsuit
A judge has ordered Shining Rock Classical Academy to turn over public records at the center of a civil bench…
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Swain County Sheriff arrested for sexual battery, suspended from office
Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has been charged with several crimes after allegedly soliciting two women for sexual acts and…
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Lawsuit alleges sexual abuse of minors at Waynesville Bojangles
An Asheville law firm has filed a civil suit on behalf of two minor female clients alleging that the girls…
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Latest Helene recovery act passes — without small business grant support
On the nine-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene, Gov. Josh Stein signed the North Carolina General Assembly’s fifth major installment of…
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Spirit of America celebration brings Republican senate candidates to Haywood
Last weekend, Haywood County’s Republican Party hosted a fundraiser at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds that featured music, professional wrestling,…
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Canton secures land for wastewater plant, launches bold bid for economic revival
In a move more than a half-century in the making, the Town of Canton has announced the pending purchase of…
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Pitt praises DWI pretrial program in Waynesville, calls for Haywood to act
Ellen Pitt has dedicated the last two and a half decades to combatting drunk driving in Western North Carolina, and…
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