Sylva will spend $25,000 on Fisher Creek Dam study
Sylva will have to spend $25,000 on an emergency action plan for Fisher Creek Dam, due to a 2016 state…
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Permanent tourism director hired in Jackson
The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority has its first permanent employee following a unanimous vote from the Jackson County Commissioners…
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Fontana houseboat owner seeks TVA appointment
After a successful campaign to keep houseboats on Fontana Lake, floating homeowner Erik Sneed is now campaigning for a presidential…
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High-density apartment proposal a no-go for Sylva
Sylva’s leaders have long grappled with how to spur the town’s stagnant residential tax base and get more high-density housing…
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Macon schools reach full capacity
Macon County elementary schools are near, at or over capacity, and administrators can only shuffle students around so much before…
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Corbin introduces bill to help Macon’s K-12 schools
When Kevin Corbin decided to run for state representative, one of his main goals was to secure adequate funding allocations…
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Franklin hears proposal to one-lane Main Street
Franklin’s town board has been hearing different proposals for improving Main Street’s parking and appearance — and the latest proposal…
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Franklin bike walk plan lays out potential projects
A proposed comprehensive plan to improve Franklin’s pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure includes more than 20 recommended projects to fix the…
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New school opening in Sylva
Plans are crystallizing for a new middle school in Jackson County, but it’s a race against the clock for Western…
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Tourism tax hike for Haywood is DOA
Haywood County Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Lynn Collins has been making the rounds like a travelling saleswoman lately —…
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Raleigh Roundup: bobcats and beers edition
With the new session of the North Carolina Legislature underway, a flurry of bills has been filed in both the…
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Casino expansion nearly nixed: Tribal Council decides in split vote to continue with $250 million project
A newly approved expansion project at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort was nearly derailed when a resolution to kill the project…
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Get real: WNC real estate market comes back swinging
Within the residential real estate industry lies an interesting contradiction. SEE ALSO:• Haywood housing demand is high but inventory is low• Macon…
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Selling a mountain lifestyle: Haywood housing demand is high but inventory is low
Brian Cagle is vice president and managing broker at Beverly-Hanks in Waynesville. Beverly Hanks doesn’t sell real estate, however; Beverly-Hanks…
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Macon making sustainable growth in real estate market
It hasn’t been a quick or easy recovery, but Macon County real estate is back on the rise and Realtors…
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Real estate rebounding in Jackson: Double-digit growth in Cashiers area; steady increase elsewhere
With the recession nearly a decade in the rearview mirror, the real estate market is once more robust in Jackson…
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Mountain cabins in high demand in Swain
Sherry and Gary Patterson vacationed in Bryson City for the first time about 20 years ago and now they can’t…
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Bryson Senior Living breaks ground
Affinity Living Group held a groundbreaking ceremony recently for its new assisted living community, Bryson Senior Living. Pictured moving the…
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Proposed room tax hike already in jeopardy
A renewed effort to increase Haywood County’s room occupancy tax from 4 to 6 percent has already run into almost…
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Shining Rock receives grant for outdoor classes
Shining Rock Classical Academy will be able to construct an outdoor classroom on its campus this year thanks to a…
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Recreation improvements coming to Waynesville
The active, outdoorsy lifestyle favored by residents of Western North Carolina has long been fostered by the Town of Waynesville,…
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Haywood looks to turn tax collector into appointed position
Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews has been a lightning rod for controversy since before he narrowly defeated veteran incumbent…
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Swain hospital: ‘ER is open 24/7’
Swain Community Hospital is still trying to overcome misperceptions in the community regarding its recent emergency department changes as well…
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FBI raids Qualla Housing Authority
A team of 26 FBI agents descended on Cherokee Feb. 2, filling the Qualla Housing Authority building and wheeling entire…
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‘Indivisible’ citizens group forms in Sylva
There will be a meeting of the Indivisible Sylva NC group at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, at the Jackson…
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Haywood man arrested for murder
Wayne Littrell, 72, of the Coleman Mountain community of Haywood County, was arrested Sunday, Jan. 29, and charged with the…
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Cherokee council votes to impeach Chief Lambert
To the boos of an outspoken audience, the Cherokee Tribal Council voted 9-3 Feb. 2 to begin impeachment proceedings against…
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WNC progressive group gaining momentum
What started as a small group of like-minded people helping each other deal with aftermath of Election Day has now…
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Restoring hope for a community
Until last year, the old house languishing on Academy Street on Bryson City United Methodist Church’s property was seen as…
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Cherokee council considers results of investigation into chief’s administration
Rumors have been flying on the Qualla Boundary since an investigation into contract awards and human resources actions under Principal…
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Huge expansion planned for Hazelwood Ingles
Ingles Markets Inc. is growing in Waynesville again — this time, on Brown Avenue in Hazelwood.
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Federal hiring freeze will have local impacts
A blanket freeze on federal hiring is having a local impact as the agencies tasked with managing Western North Carolina’s…
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Room tax increase isn’t a slam dunk
Every few years, elected officials at the local and county levels of government dribble the ball down the court, passing…
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Transitional district taking shape along Howell Mill Road
The Jan. 24 rezoning of three tracts along Howell Mill Road signals a continued effort by the town of Waynesville…
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Lake Junaluska fire district in the works
The recent addition of eight full-time firefighters to the town of Waynesville — at a cost of $530,000 per year…
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A fix-it list for the record books
Think your honey-do list is long? Wait until you meet Jack Carlisle.
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Lake Junaluska forges go-it-alone path after abandoning merger with Waynesville
After five years of trying to merge with the town of Waynesville, the Lake Junaluska community has given up and…
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Tracing the fire’s path
Now that the wildfires that ravaged Western North Carolina a couple of months ago are no longer active, U.S. Forest…
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The art and activism of Panhandle Slim
Savannah, Georgia-based artist Scott “Panhandle Slim” Stanton was born in Maryland and raised in Pensacola, Florida, but he has been…
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WNC marches for women’s rights
“Care more, judge less,” “Love trumps hate” and “Rise up” were just a few of the battle cries heard in…
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The pink hats are coming
By rain-slicked granite sidewalks they came, early that morning. In rubber boots, sneakers and sandals they came, not knowing exactly…
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Congressman Meadows optimistic about Trump
Although Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, has been Western North Carolina’s Congressman for only two terms, constituents in his heavily Republican…
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North Carolina GOP celebrates inauguration
Inaugurations make for early mornings. Getting into or out of the tangle of security and Humvees blocking the streets of…
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WNC supporters, opponents mark Trump inauguration
• North Carolina GOP celebrates inauguration• Congressman Meadows optimistic about Trump• The pink hats are coming• WNC marches for women’s rights• The art and activism…
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Jackson Health Department project to cost less than expected
Upgrading the Jackson County Health Department could prove a much less expensive undertaking than originally anticipated, if estimates contained in…
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Sylva considers reduced-size residential lots
The town of Sylva took a tentative first step this month toward easing residential zoning restrictions that some credit with…
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Sanitary district policy remains suspended
After listening to the concerns of property managers in its service area, the Junaluska Sanitary District board has decided to…
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Verizon proposes new tower at Lake Junaluska
Verizon Wireless has approached Haywood County commissioners once again about installing a new cell tower near Lake Junaluska to improve…
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Warm weather forces Cataloochee Ski closure
Unseasonably warm weather and the drought have combined to temporarily close Cataloochee Ski Area.
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Inaugural Photo Gallery
Photos from the inaugural week's ceremonies in Washington D.C., Jan 18-21, 2017. All photos by Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News. …
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