WCU campus to get 4G with dorm-top antennae
 

WCU campus to get 4G with dorm-top antennae

Verizon Wireless will pay Western Carolina University to put an antennae on top of Scott Hall as it starts providing…
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WCU to host annual Red Zone campaign
 

WCU to host annual Red Zone campaign

Western Carolina University’s Division of Student Affairs will coordinate WCU’s annual Red Zone campaign during the fall semester. The Red…
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WCU announces membership of its strategic planning group
 

WCU announces membership of its strategic planning group

Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher has appointed a 36-member committee that will help guide the university’s direction over…
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Sheriff, newspaper’s portrayal of rape victim comes under fire
 

Sheriff, newspaper’s portrayal of rape victim comes under fire

Comments by Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe about a rape victim published in the weekly Cashiers newspaper two weeks ago…
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Haywood Chamber wraps up record setting membership drive
 

Haywood Chamber wraps up record setting membership drive

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce exceed goals set for its 2011 “Goin’ Coastal” Membership and Sponsorship Campaign. The campaign…
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Phil Drake to give how-to talk on business success
 

Phil Drake to give how-to talk on business success

Drake Enterprises CEO Phil Drake, who owns a family of 18 businesses based in Macon County, will give a free…
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MedWest urgent care center up and running in Jackson
 

MedWest urgent care center up and running in Jackson

A new urgent care center in Sylva is proving a welcome addition to the community. Before MedWest Health System opened…
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Waynesville parking deck could house electric car charging station
 

Waynesville parking deck could house electric car charging station

Electric car owners rejoice. Haywood County may soon be home to two electric car charging stations for the sustainably inclined.…
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Dog owners lobby for pooch park
 

Dog owners lobby for pooch park

Hampered by a leash law that keeps their canine friends at heel, an ad hoc group of Sylva residents hope…
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A cut above the competition
 

A cut above the competition

Haywood Community College can now boast a national champion after Daniel Jones took the title at the Stihl Collegiate Timbersports…
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Report will provide benchmark on health of WNC’s natural resources
 

Report will provide benchmark on health of WNC’s natural resources

A sweeping status report on natural resources in the mountains is being developed by a regional task force, serving as…
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Sylva native new downtown director
 

Sylva native new downtown director

A 24-year-old with family ties to Jackson County has been hired as the new leader of the Downtown Sylva Association…
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Global Poverty Project CEO to speak at WCU
 

Global Poverty Project CEO to speak at WCU

The 28-year-old co-founder and CEO of a global organization committed to eradicating extreme poverty will visit Western Carolina University on…
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Franklin town board facing no changes
 

Franklin town board facing no changes

There will be no new faces on Franklin’s town board after November’s elections, no matter which way voters decide to…
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Merchants float idea of downtown association in Bryson City
 

Merchants float idea of downtown association in Bryson City

Business owners in Bryson City’s downtown are following in the footsteps of neighboring towns, attempting to put together their own…
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Cherokee election rematch enters into final days
 

Cherokee election rematch enters into final days

Election season is closing in Cherokee, where races for principal chief, vice chief, tribal council and school board members will…
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Waynesville Recreation Center to close for maintenance
 

Waynesville Recreation Center to close for maintenance

The Waynesville Recreation Center will close for routine maintenance work from Sept. 12-18. The center will reopen on Sept. 19…
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Labor Day means fireworks in Maggie
 

Labor Day means fireworks in Maggie

Maggie Valley will have a free Labor Day weekend fireworks on Sunday, Sept. 4, with viewing from the Festival Grounds.…
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Fair tax advocate to speak in Cashiers
 

Fair tax advocate to speak in Cashiers

Laura McCue, district director of N.C. Fair Tax, will be the guest speaker at the Sept. 6 meeting of the…
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Maggie Valley loses another alderman
 

Maggie Valley loses another alderman

Maggie Valley Alderman and motel owner Scott Pauley is leaving his post, pushed out by the region’s sagging economy. Pauley…
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Religious graduation speech in Macon raises issues over separation of church and state
 

Religious graduation speech in Macon raises issues over separation of church and state

The Macon County School system has changed its tune on the controversial preacher who delivered an overtly religious speech at…
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Bible reading makes a comeback
 

Bible reading makes a comeback

In an out-of-the-way room on the ground floor, seven congregants of Longs Chapel United Methodist Church in Lake Junaluska gather…
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Airwaves up for grabs: Enviro group makes bid for grassroots radio
 

Airwaves up for grabs: Enviro group makes bid for grassroots radio

The Canary Coalition, a nonprofit group rooted in Jackson County that fights for air quality, might soon take to the…
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University fights environmental group for rights to radio frequency
 

University fights environmental group for rights to radio frequency

Western Carolina University, eager to broadcast Catamount sports and other school-based programming to a larger audience than it can currently…
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Asheville public radio’s reach threatened by new FM station
 

Asheville public radio’s reach threatened by new FM station

A new FM radio station in Western North Carolina means more than 108,000 people living in the region might not…
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The man behind the town An unabashed champion of Canton, Pat Smathers nears the end of his dozen year tenure
 

The man behind the town An unabashed champion of Canton, Pat Smathers nears the end of his dozen year tenure

Pat Smathers is what you might call a born politician. His first campaign was pitching Terry Sanford’s 1960 run for…
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What’s in their wallets? Salaries could be a factor in upcoming tribal election
 

What’s in their wallets? Salaries could be a factor in upcoming tribal election

Cherokee tribal elections are little more than a week away, and with the economy topping the list of major issues,…
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RV park planned for Scaly
 

RV park planned for Scaly

A new motorcoach resort for up to 21 recreation vehicles will be built on N.C. 106 in the Scaly Mountain…
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Tourism summit coming up at Lake Junaluska
 

Tourism summit coming up at Lake Junaluska

It’s not too late to register for this year’s Gather ‘Round the Blue Ridge, the fifth-annual meeting of the Blue…
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DOT plans new rest area in Balsam to serve other side of the highway
 

DOT plans new rest area in Balsam to serve other side of the highway

A new roadside rest area is coming to Balsam, serving westbound travelers on U.S. 23-74. It will sit on seven…
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Bryson residents needed to make town better
 

Bryson residents needed to make town better

HandMade in America has spent the past year assessing how to make Bryson City a better place to live, and…
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Sexual assualt suspects at large
 

Sexual assualt suspects at large

Investigators are looking for two men who followed a woman to her home in the Cashiers area and sexually assaulted…
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Chopping prowess lands woodsman coveted spot in national championship
 

Chopping prowess lands woodsman coveted spot in national championship

In 24 seconds flat, Daniel Jones can chop through a 13-inch white pine log, perched atop it and swinging his…
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Students — and their wallets — return to Jackson County
 

Students — and their wallets — return to Jackson County

Aside from the occasional “welcome WCU students” signs, there isn’t much visible evidence in Sylva that signals more than 7,000…
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Faculty packs overflow balcony to hear new chancellor’s opening address
 

Faculty packs overflow balcony to hear new chancellor’s opening address

Western Carolina University is facing, at best, an austere financial year. Chancellor David Belcher, in his first address to faculty…
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Macon planning board sends  toned-down construction rules to commissioners….again
 

Macon planning board sends toned-down construction rules to commissioners….again

Macon County’s embattled planning board has agreed on a handful of basic construction guidelines for developers building houses and roads.…
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WCU’s lack of college scene viewed by many as an asset
 

WCU’s lack of college scene viewed by many as an asset

Between the two of them, daughter Alison “Ali” Howie is clearly holding up better than her mother, Paula Dennis. “I’m…
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Divulging Lambert’s salary a political tug-of-war
 

Divulging Lambert’s salary a political tug-of-war

Principal chief candidate Patrick Lambert is calling foul after refusing to divulge his pay information to the tribe’s internal auditors.…
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U.S. Senator Burr gets back to basics with Waynesville businessmen
 

U.S. Senator Burr gets back to basics with Waynesville businessmen

U.S. Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C., didn’t don kid gloves when addressing a cross section of Haywood County business leaders representing…
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Produce vouchers connect farmers with the needy
 

Produce vouchers connect farmers with the needy

Food stamps and food pantry vouchers are finding their way into the farmers markets in Jackson and Swain counties, putting…
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Swain football team tackles summer reading list
 

Swain football team tackles summer reading list

There are a lot of things associated with the words “high school football.” Three-a-days. Pep rallies. Weight rooms. The quarterback…
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Fast for cars or pleasing for people? Tug of war rages over 107
 

Fast for cars or pleasing for people? Tug of war rages over 107

There’s a novel solution afoot for traffic woes on Sylva’s commercial thoroughfare: widen the road so much it obliterates most…
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Waynesville primed for makeover of South Main
 

Waynesville primed for makeover of South Main

Waynesville has one chance to get South Main Street right, or live with the consequences for decades to come. And…
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Macon County cites need for kidney dialysis center; closest one now in Sylva
 

Macon County cites need for kidney dialysis center; closest one now in Sylva

Macon County officials, concerned by the growing numbers of residents here forced to travel over Cowee Mountain to Sylva for…
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Haywood must pay up for firing courthouse contractor
 

Haywood must pay up for firing courthouse contractor

Haywood County is on the hook for $700,000 after an arbitration panel found the county wrongfully fired the contractor overseeing…
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Blood drive organized in honor of slain trooper, son
 

Blood drive organized in honor of slain trooper, son

The Tye Blanton Foundation will host its seventh blood drive for the American Red Cross on Sunday, Aug. 28.  …
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Golf tournament to benefit veterans
 

Golf tournament to benefit veterans

The 9/11 Armed Forces Golf Classic will be held on Sept. 10 and 11 at Sequoyah National Golf Club in…
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Improve your online skills with workshops
 

Improve your online skills with workshops

Two one-day Internet courses will be offered from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Agust 25 and 26 by Western…
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Jackson County alcohol vote likely in May
 

Jackson County alcohol vote likely in May

Jackson County commissioners are leaning toward the May primary for putting alcohol on the ballot rather than waiting until the…
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Wheels of justice turn too slowly for Cherokee’s taste
 

Wheels of justice turn too slowly for Cherokee’s taste

Weary of criminals languishing in the system before finally facing their day in court, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians…
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