Two sentenced for drug trafficking in Macon County
Macon County Superior Court recently saw guilty pleas and lengthy prison sentences of two drug trafficking defendants. In unrelated cases,…
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Economic development agency defunded; longtime director retires, earns state’s highest honor
Mary Ann Morgan was a one-woman show with a shoestring budget for more than 40 years but still, she managed…
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University of the streets: With new book, WNC writer chronicles the Baby Beat movement
At 69, Thomas Rain Crowe feels pretty good, considering. “I’m not looking forward to 70, it’s kind of a psychological…
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Haywood tourism continues to grow
The fiscal year for Haywood County’s Tourism Development Authority ended June 30, and now that all the data are in,…
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Jackson schools see gains and losses in school performance
Jackson County Schools showed mostly level performance over last year with the release of statewide school performance data for 2017-18…
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Cherokee widens window for election law changes
Tribal Council extended its deadline to complete a slew of amendments to its election ordinance with a unanimous vote during…
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Pretrial release program comes to Western NC
Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, Haywood and Jackson counties will be the first judicial district in the state to pilot a…
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Bridge over Lake Junaluska now open
The bridge over the Lake Junaluska dam is now open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic. All are invited to attend…
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District Attorney under fire for ‘mishandling’ cases
District Attorney Ashley Welch doesn’t have an opponent in the 2018 election, but an online petition to remove her from…
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Waynesville mayor takes plea deal in forgery case
Waynesville attorney Gavin Brown pled guilty Sept. 18 to two felony counts stemming from an incident in which he forged…
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Obamacare navigator funding eliminated
Jan Plummer is the Obamacare Navigator program coordinator at Mountain Projects, but probably not for much longer. Unsurprisingly, after a…
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Workforce housing coming to Sylva
Work will begin next year on a new apartment complex in Sylva aimed at providing housing rates affordable to working-class…
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Community comes together to offer veterans services
It’s no secret homelessness across the region is a problem, but as in most parts of the country, it’s a…
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Haywood Schools wants you to help plan future
When Dr. Bill Nolte was promoted to superintendent of Haywood County Schools this past summer, one of the first things…
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Cherokee from the heart: Beloved Woman reflects on a wandering life rooted in Cherokee language
If anyone ever had an excuse to leave her hometown and never return, it would be Myrtle Driver Johnson. Born…
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SCC grad receives prestigious award
Although Yesenia Navarro grew up with few material possessions, she always believed one catalyst for change was within her grasp…
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It’s OK to not be OK: Suicide prevention takes center stage at Folkmoot
Imagine this — you’re atop a hundred-story building, and it’s on fire. As the flames and smoke close in, you…
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Florence’s gas gouging passes WNC
While Hurricane Florence spared much of The Smoky Mountain News coverage area when it rolled through the region last week,…
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Haywood detective fired for theft
The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office has requested the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to conduct a…
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Political or not, Haywood tax collector issue won’t go away
More than a year after a contentious public comment session during which the Haywood County Board of Commissioners weighed the…
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WCU chancellor search resumes
While the University of North Carolina’s Board of Governors has yet to release a revised search process for Western Carolina…
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Housing shuffle planned at WCU
Student housing at Western Carolina University will see a massive shuffle over the coming years as university leadership looks to…
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Allegations of fraud, failure haunt Ghost Town developer
For months, Valerie Oberle has been the public face of the three-person partnership supposedly taking shape at the long-shuttered Ghost…
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Macon sheriff candidate gets Giglio order
Accusations of dishonesty and inappropriate behavior lodged against Macon County sheriff candidate Eric Giles have led the district attorney’s office…
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State of emergency in Haywood, Canton, Maggie Valley
Early on Sept. 14, a flurry of press releases from Haywood County, the Town of Maggie Valley and the Town…
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Hurricane Florence resources for Western North Carolina
Western North Carolina may not be over-“Flo”-ing with water just yet, but the region is awash in information about available…
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Ghost Town sale still not final
Slow progress and a string of broken promises from new Ghost Town operator and former Disney exec Valeria Oberle haven’t…
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WCU breaks enrollment records — again
Western Carolina University’s enrollment hit an all-time high this fall for the seventh out of the past eight years, with…
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Franklin board holds off on hospital purchase input
Franklin Town Council members decided to hold off on providing input to the attorney general regarding HCA Healthcare’s impending $1.5…
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Hurricane prep begins in Western North Carolina
As The Smoky Mountain News went to print Tuesday, a potentially catastrophic storm was barreling down on the Carolinas, with…
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LEADing the way: Jail diversion program aims to address opioid crisis
Between 1999 and 2016, more than 12,000 people in North Carolina died from opioid overdoses. Not only are families losing…
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Peer specialists go inside jail to assist inmates
Being incarcerated and not knowing what your future may hold is a terrifying experience, but being released from jail and…
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Cherokee strengthens free press law
Free press law in Cherokee got a little more free following Tribal Council’s passage of amendments to the tribe’s Free…
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McCoy alleges political motivation in marriage fraud prosecution
While the federal marriage fraud case that’s been the topic of much discussion on the Qualla Boundary over the past…
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SCC health building gets $2 million grant
Southwestern Community College’s planned health sciences building has earned recognition for its economic development potential — with dollar signs attached.
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Haywood County tax office fiasco continues
Recent uproar over dozens of tax payments improperly waived by Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews seemed to be quieted…
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Trooper saves drowning woman
A North Carolina State Trooper and a few good Samaritans helped save the life of a woman caught in rapids…
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Slight slip for Haywood Schools rank
Achieving high academic performance levels is one thing, but maintaining them is quite another, and after two straight years ranked…
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THE MILL VS THE HILL: Small town high school football in the rural South
Doug’s in Clyde is a typical manifestation of a stereotypical small-town barbershop in the rural American South. Its wooden walls…
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Falling into photography: the art of Bill Killillay
When you take in the totality of photographer Bill Killillay’s work, you might think it comes as the result of…
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Jackson health, DSS organization will be an election issue
After nearly a year of public hearings, votes and contentious meetings, Jackson County’s health and social services departments are back…
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Mission reaches purchase agreement with HCA Healthcare
Mission Health’s Board of Directors and HCA Healthcare have entered into a definitive agreement for HCA to acquire Mission Health.
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Haywood Tax Collector will pay for own mistakes
A slew of county tax penalties waived by Tax Collector Mike Matthews’ office will have to be re-added to some…
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Folkmoot honors inmates
It takes a lot of work throughout the year to produce the Folkmoot festival; much of that work goes on…
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Sylva to look for alternative N.C. 107 plan
The Town of Sylva will take MountainTrue up on its offer to look for a better design for N.C. 107,…
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Keil Nathan Smith - Friday Night
It's gameday in Haywood County! Here, for the first time anywhere, is Canton-based singer/songwriter Keil Nathan Smith's ode to one…
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Zoning snafu means redo in Waynesville
The Town of Waynesville dropped the ball on a minor procedural change to how some zoning decisions are made, but…
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Bullock murder case remains unsolved after 55 years
Ronnie Evans tries to remember his cousin as the beautiful and spunky woman pictured on the cover of his new…
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Suicide prevention training to be held Sept. 10
Many among us have been touched by the tragedy of suicide, and in the age of social media, many more…
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Bail bond industry a strong lobby in Raleigh
With widespread reports of abuse and fraud, the bail bonds industry in the U.S. doesn’t have the best reputation.
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