Duke customers: ‘Pay for your own mistakes’
Western North Carolina residents recently made it clear they do not support Duke Energy Progress’s request for a 15 percent…
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Smaller increases slated for Waynesville electric customers
Duke Energy isn’t the only utility company raising its electric rates this year amidst rising energy costs, but some local…
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Duke proposes $62 million solar rebate program
Duke Energy is proposing a $62 million solar rebate program designed to help its North Carolina customers with the upfront…
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Selling Haywood County: Economic development partnership revs up
On the west side of Jonathan Creek Road in Haywood County sits a parcel of land where crops and cows…
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Shining Rock again violates open meetings laws
A North Carolina Open Meetings Law expert says Shining Rock Classical Academy’s School Board once again violated state laws regarding…
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Charter school selects new school director
After months of searching for someone to replace founding School Director Ben Butler, Waynesville public charter school Shining Rock Classical…
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Tribe hires first-ever TABCC director
The Tribal Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission gained its first-ever director with the hire of Terri Henry, who began work on…
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Chancellor search begins: Community forums to be held; search will be confidential
The 21-member committee charged with finding the next chancellor of Western Carolina University kicked off the search process with an…
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Funding lines up for new Cashiers sewer plant
Development in Cashiers will soon reach the end of a longstanding stalemate following the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority Board’s…
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'We will never go away': The 2017 Women’s March on Washington, revisited
The day after I stood before the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and watched Missouri Senator…
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Reclaiming the past: Cherokee land acquisition bill moves forward
A recent hearing on a congressional bill that would transfer 76 acres in Tennessee to the Eastern Band of Cherokee…
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Health, DSS consolidation moves forward in Jackson
An ongoing push to see Jackson County consolidate its health and social services departments will come to a head during…
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Community conversation focuses on homelessness in Haywood County
There’s a road in Waynesville called the homeless highway. It runs from Frog Level to Hazelwood and during any given…
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Minor parties seek NC ballot access
Disillusionment with the two-party American political system has been around for a long time, but with a polarizing President in…
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Welch to seek second term as DA
First-term District Attorney Ashley Welch recently announced her candidacy for re-election at the GEM Country Republican Women’s Club meeting in…
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Melrose to run for Superior Court judge
Waynesville attorney Mark Melrose has announced his intentions to run for Superior Court Judge for the 30th Judicial District of…
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NC Congressional districts struck down
Just one month before candidates start signing up to run for the 2018 elections, a three judge panel from the…
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Reroute planned for Blackrock Trail
The infamously steep trail leading up to Blackrock from Pinnacle Park will soon find itself with a gentler incline following…
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Brewery trademark dispute dismissed
The ongoing and exhaustive trademark dispute between Sylva’s Innovation Brewing and Bell’s Brewery is now over.
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Canton wants to help you sign up for Haywood alerts
Haywood County’s new emergency alert system startled many Jan. 11 with a “shelter in place” notification just after 6 p.m.,…
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Life in Limbo: Franklin native fighting to have rights restored
Hannah LeAnn Nix says she’s not the same person she was a few years ago when a judge deemed her…
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Canton water leaks irk public
A series of water line breakages in Canton during a recent period of extreme cold provoked unusually lengthy complaints from…
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Brunch Bill finally passes in Maggie Valley
It was déjà vu all over again in Maggie Valley, where the Board of Aldermen once again passed the controversial…
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Brunch Bill languishes in Maggie Valley
Sunday morning mimosas aren’t yet on the table in Maggie Valley because a proposed ordinance that would allow the sales…
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Contest could help fund adaptive playground
Thanks to Kiwanis International and Landscape Structures Inc., one lucky community will walk away with $25,000 in free playground equipment…
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Three Cherokee councilmembers decide not to run for re-election
Three seats will be up for grabs in Cherokee’s 2017 Tribal Council elections, with incumbent councilmembers from Big Cove, Snowbird…
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ADA compliant park coming to Waynesville
The Town of Waynesville will soon build a very special playground, thanks to a successful Connect N.C. bond application made…
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Girls on the Run: Training girls for a 5K, preparing them for life
Much can be learned through the process of training for a 5K race — physical strength, mental health, focus, determination,…
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Empowering a new generation of strong women
Girls at Junaluska Elementary School seem to have a renewed sense of pride in themselves and their peers after sharing…
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Dillsboro river park proposal draws a crowd
A proposed river park development in Dillsboro drew a crowd of roughly 75 people to a public hearing March 20,…
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Monteith remembered as man of the people
When speaking to the many people in Swain County and beyond who knew David Monteith either personally or professionally, they…
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Proposal would give Qualla area 24-hour ambulance
Harris Regional Hospital Emergency Medical Services is asking the Jackson County Commissioners to make changes to its service that would…
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Finding your ‘shero’: Bryson City woman explores state of women
Which female pioneers have paved the way for you to be where you are today? “Sojourner Truth,” Janice Inabinett answered…
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Oswalt becomes Cherokee’s third living Beloved Woman
Shirley Oswalt (pictured above, left, with sister Geraldine Thompson) was named a Beloved Woman of the Eastern Band of Cherokee…
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Cherokee laughter: Tribe’s newest Beloved Woman reflects on life full of love for language and community
Shirley Jackson Oswalt can still remember the first words she said in English. Her older siblings had prepped her before…
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Businesswoman offers leadership advice
For all the women out there wondering if they can have it all in life — the career, family and…
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Women’s contributions to workforce celebrated
Sometimes it can feel like one step forward, two steps back for women in the workforce, but this year’s theme…
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Honoring Women’s History Month
The Smoky Mountain News will be publishing a series of articles to showcase a number of women in Western North…
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Russ Avenue: growing pains in Waynesville
While most people agree that the $18 million Russ Avenue widening project in Waynesville is much-needed and long overdue, the…
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DOT to ditch ‘suicide lane’ on 441 in Franklin
With safety concerns at the forefront, a project to significantly alter U.S. 441 through Franklin has been ranked as the…
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Franklin considers changing ‘alderman’ title
The term alderman is defined as a member of a city legislative body, but it literally translates as “old man”…
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Kirkpatrick: ‘It feels like we have no representation’
Tensions between Haywood County and a state legislator are on the rise as commissioners called her out at a recent…
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Lawmakers want to make town elections partisan
Republican lawmakers in Raleigh have introduced several bills to make more local elections a partisan affair, and local leaders aren’t…
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Haywood considers investigation into leaked docs
The strange saga of Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews isn’t over, but for the moment the spotlight is back…
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Majority opposed to making school board partisan
A bill set to make school board elections partisan in Haywood County took current school board members — including the…
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Clampitt files legislation to recoup money for Swain
Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, has introduced House Bill 260 in an effort to help Swain County recoup millions of…
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Grants could offset cost of river park project
Jackson County is hoping that grants will offset the $847,000 cost of extending water and sewer connections to a piece…
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Haywood County schools budget reinstates cuts
After scrambling to cut $2.4 million from last year’s budget, the Haywood County School Board has weathered the storm and…
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Increased need prompts change in shelter management
Correction: In the March 1 issue, The Smoky Mountain News incorrectly reported that Jackson Neighbors in Need requested funding from…
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Petition effort seeks Tribal Council term limits
A petition drive is underway in Cherokee aiming to place term limits on Tribal Council members and give tribal members…
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