Local educators cheer ruling: Judge declares 25 percent law unconstitutional
Local school leaders and educators are celebrating last week’s court ruling declaring a 2013 law that doles out a small…
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Voucher program still in play
School vouchers are back on the table for the 2014-15 school year following a ruling in the North Carolina Supreme…
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Local NAACP chapters elect officers
Both the Haywood and Jackson county chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have elected officers. …
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Macon considers $50K for REACH
REACH of Macon County won’t find out for another month or so whether its application for a $909,000 grant toward…
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Money on the books: Jackson libraries request increased funding
Jackson County Librarian Tracy Fitzmaurice recently pitched her first proposal for library funding before county commissioners. She asked for a…
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Feature film to shoot in Haywood
Three Haywood County towns will be used as filming sites for an upcoming feature movie. The film — a Catalyst…
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ConMet to lease old Tuckaseigee Mills building
The mostly vacant Tuckaseigee Mills factory in Jackson County will soon become a warehouse and shipping site for ConMet, a…
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Hope is on the horizon for partial Road to Nowhere settlement
A $4 million payment to Swain County for the so-called Road to Nowhere cash settlement may soon be freed of…
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Capital from the crowd: Artists, entrepreneurs go online for a financial head start
A soda bottling operation. An original children’s book. A new music album. A mural downtown. Pallets and pallets of Mason…
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Dog survives shot, Canton man charged
A Haywood County terrier is earning points for toughness after surviving a gunshot to the face. “The dog is alive…
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Student jailed following alleged threats at Tuscola High
It was a pretty normal Wednesday morning was for most students at Tuscola High School last week, but as the…
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Grid failure sparks shooting, car chase
A man shot up the outside of a Verizon Wireless store in Waynesville last week following a town wide outage…
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WCU athletic professor gets top honor
James Scifers, professor of athletic training at Western Carolina University, received the North Carolina Athletic Trainers’ Association Educator of the…
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Downtown Waynesville a model of success
Downtown Waynesville was recently recognized as a model of success at the annual NC Main Street Conference this year, titled…
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Swain students attend advanced manufacturing expo
About 200 Swain County students recently got an up-close look at emerging technologies at a manufacturing expo at the Swain…
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Telecomm outage rattles public, but emergency services keep humming
A telecommunications outage hit the Waynesville area last Thursday evening, knocking out cell phones, TV, Internet and even landlines for…
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Application withdrawn for Forest Hills drug recovery home
Kingdom Care Ministries, a faith-based recovery home for women that had been looking to locate in the village of Forest…
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Incumbent shake-up: Bushyhead leads Swain revolution
With two of four incumbents losing their seats during the primary election, there will soon be some new blood on…
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Jane Hipps’ cakewalk ends, fight for N.C. Senate begins
Jane Hipps was quickly anointed front-runner status in the Democratic primary for N.C. Senate — from the day she entered…
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Donation gets ball rolling for new Swain library
Karen Wallace knows the importance of a library. “In a rural area, the library is the single greatest man-made resource offered…
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New portal to indulge public passion for planning debates in Jackson
Public outcry over a proposal to weaken steep slope rules in Jackson County has led to the creation of an…
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Republican runoff called in Jackson sheriff race
A single primary wasn’t enough to clear out the crowded field of candidates for the sheriff’s seat in Jackson County.…
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Cullowhee plan inches toward finish line
Don Kostelec stood in front of a flip pad in the cafeteria of Cullowhee Valley Elementary School. He asked for…
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Horse course: Horse therapy pilot program to be offered at South Macon Elementary
When summer school starts up at South Macon Elementary this year, a pair of horses will be standing in a…
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Graduation, and beyond
Alumni Tower is enjoying a late-semester afternoon on the Western Carolina University campus. Its clock keeps watch over students as…
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Cullowhee prepares for 2014 spring commencement ceremony
Western Carolina University will hold a trio of commencement ceremonies over a two-day period – Friday and Saturday, May 9-10…
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The Fund for Haywood announces $12,000 in grants
Three grants totaling $12,110 were recently awarded by The Fund for Haywood County. The grants include: • $5,000 to…
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Rabbit Creek Pottery wins Dillsboro business plan contest
As part of the Dillsboro Business Plan Competition, roughly a half dozen aspiring entrepreneurs and existing small business owners transformed…
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The lowdown on the high end
The vibe in the Cashiers library was thick with polite tension as Jackson County Manager Chuck Wooten recently stood before…
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Quid pro quo, or just due?
Cashiers area property owners have long complained that they pay more than their fair share when it comes to property…
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Swain’s smart money: School officials approach budget with commissioners
Swain County Superintendent Sam Pattillo is taking a new approach this year. He’s requesting that county commissioners participate in the…
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Enclosed pool coming to Highlands
A $1.1 million donation from residents Art and Angela Williams of the Old Edwards Inn will net the town of…
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Coffee shop owner launches farmers market sans permit
Justin Phillips narrowly avoided a stand-off with Maggie Valley town hall last week, but rest assured, he was ready to…
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Cost-of-living raise possible for Jackson County employees
Jackson County employees could be seeing a little extra in their paychecks next year if commissioners approve County Manager Chuck…
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Return to normal in sight for Macon Board of Elections
More than three months after the State Bureau of Investigation started looking into $50,000 worth of embezzlement from the Macon…
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Haywood taps compassionate thinker as new county manager
If there’s a word that precedes Ira Dove, it’s smart — really smart, very smart, even super smart. “He’s always…
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Not so fast: Counties struggle with new state social services computer system
It’s been over a year since North Carolina began the rollout of a new computer program called NC FAST, for…
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REACH aims for new shelter
For nearly a year, REACH of Macon County has been helping domestic abuse victims in Jackson County. The group has…
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The grass is always greener with a $28,000 irrigation system
Haywood County commissioners decided this week to install an irrigation system for the lawn of the historic courthouse to ensure…
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A fire that lasts: Cherokee culture grows in new museum director’s life, community
Give a museum director an open opportunity to tout his facility’s newest this, unique that and state-of-the-art these, and no…
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2014 Primary Election results
The primary election was held Tuesday, May 6, in counties throughout North Carolina. Here are the results from the local…
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Parsing out a position in party primaries
Next week is decision time for voters who disagree with the new conservative tack of North Carolina’s policy makers and…
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A serendipitous tale: ‘Catching Tadpoles’ finds home in Frog Level
A life-sized bronze sculpture of three children catching tadpoles will soon have a new pad in the Frog Level district…
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Church Shoes: ‘No catch’ with shoe giveaway in Macon schools
Not everyone was happy about the free shoes. Betty Cloer Wallace was more concerned about the “holy war.”
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Maggie Valley shop offers organic beans and conversation
By Jake Flannick • Correspondent He had gained enough wealth as a young marketing executive to fulfill almost any of his…
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Remembrance, respects and Southern goodbyes: Confederate veteran receives ceremony in Swain
The cemetery is up a dirt road, past an old barn and its bygone basketball hoop. A tread-worn path leads…
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Bridge Park is public place finalist
Whatever qualities make for an ideal public space, Sylva’s Bridge Park seems to have them. At least Sarah Graham thinks…
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Jackson steep slope rewrite on hold until after election
A controversial proposal to roll back Jackson County’s steep slope rules has become politically charged in the countdown to county…
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Students get hands-on with science
Rocky Peebler’s wearing waders and a white T-shirt as he kneels on the shore of the Oconaluftee River. His boots…
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SCC looks at options to remove 60 tons of lead from shooting range
It’s been three decades since the shooting range now operated by Southwestern Community College first opened, and the college is…
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