Beekeepers school held in Haywood
 

Beekeepers school held in Haywood

A beginning beekeepers school will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Haywood County…
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Fisheries society honors Bill McClarney
 

Fisheries society honors Bill McClarney

Senior Scientist and Aquatic Program Specialist Dr. Bill McLarney, a senior scientist and aquatic program specialist for the Land Trust…
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Public comment on sought on Smokemont stables project
 

Public comment on sought on Smokemont stables project

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seeking public comment on a proposal to build a new 36-stall barn at…
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Hiking season with Friends of the Smokies starts March 11
 

Hiking season with Friends of the Smokies starts March 11

Outdoors author and blogger Danny Bernstein will once again lead this year’s Friends of the Smokies Classic Hikes, which kick…
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Hooked for life: Mills reels in memories with artisan rods
 

Hooked for life: Mills reels in memories with artisan rods

There’s nothing abnormal about the pair of armchairs in Jim and Baraba Mills’ living room, or about the television —…
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Let it snow! Area photographers capture winter beauty in WNC
 

Let it snow! Area photographers capture winter beauty in WNC

For every degree of cold or inconvenience, wintry weather adds two of beauty. Members of Waynesville’s Lens Luggers photography club…
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HCC Wildlife Club to host wild game dinner fundraiser
 

HCC Wildlife Club to host wild game dinner fundraiser

The Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College is hosting the 8th annual Wild Game Dinner at 6 p.m. Friday, March…
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Sports for youth
 

Sports for youth

Girls volleyball prep league at Waynesville Recreation Center A volleyball development league for girls in fourth through sixth grade will…
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Learn to grow mushrooms in a log
 

Learn to grow mushrooms in a log

Learn to grow shiitake mushrooms from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Macon County Environmental Resource…
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Teaching farmers to be businessmen
 

Teaching farmers to be businessmen

Boosting sales at farmers’ markets, marketing to restaurants, finding farmland and tapping agritourism are just a few of the topics…
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Commissions wants input on how to manage Needmore game land
 

Commissions wants input on how to manage Needmore game land

A public meeting on management plans for the Needmore game land in Macon and Swain counties will be held from…
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New reference book on Unicoi and Snowbird mountains available
 

New reference book on Unicoi and Snowbird mountains available

Owen Link McConnell liked the Unicoi and Snowbird mountains so much, he wrote a book about them. And not just…
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Tallulah Hike steps off a year of wilderness
 

Tallulah Hike steps off a year of wilderness

A guided hike along the Tallulah River in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness will be held on Saturday, Feb. 15, to…
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Outhouse race to run in Sapphire
 

Outhouse race to run in Sapphire

So, when else would you have an opportunity to race an outhouse down a ski mountain? Thought so. 
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WNC Nature Center reaches record attendance for 2013
 

WNC Nature Center reaches record attendance for 2013

A whole lot of people visited the WNC Nature Center last year. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center report…
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Haywood teacher recognized for conservation education
 

Haywood teacher recognized for conservation education

A Haywood County teacher, Janet Frazier, has been named the 2013 North Carolina Elementary Conservation Education Teacher of the Year.
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Macon hiker talks about life feat
 

Macon hiker talks about life feat

Octogenarian Jim Pader will talk about his record-setting hike up Mount Whitney from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12,…
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Dinosaurs, LEGOS and toads, oh dear
 

Dinosaurs, LEGOS and toads, oh dear

No better way to celebrate a big thaw than an impromptu field trip. We rounded up kids, friends and friends’…
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You yellow-bellied sapsucker
 

You yellow-bellied sapsucker

In my youth, never did a B-western movie make it to the end without the bad guy being cornered and…
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Agritourism contributors needed
 

Agritourism contributors needed

Buy Haywood is collecting listings for an agri-tourism guide to feature produce stands, farmers markets, value-added products with local ingredients…
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Students to participate in regional science fair
 

Students to participate in regional science fair

The Western Regional Science and Engineering Fair will bring students from across the region to Western Carolina University on Wednesday…
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Photography happenings
 

Photography happenings

Photography workshop to focus on Appalachian barns A weekend photography workshop called “The Appalachian Barn Workshop: The Barns of Haywood and…
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Birds of prey program to be held in national park
 

Birds of prey program to be held in national park

A program about birds of prey called “Heads Up for Hunters of the Sky” will be held at 2 p.m.…
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Polar Plunge makes final fundraising case before this weekend’s chilly jump
 

Polar Plunge makes final fundraising case before this weekend’s chilly jump

More than 60 brave souls are taking the Polar Plunge challenge by jumping into Lake Junaluska this Saturday, Feb. 1.
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“Armored” mammal spotted in Pisgah National Forest
 

“Armored” mammal spotted in Pisgah National Forest

Roger Skillman had just finished a hike and was driving home through the Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania County when…
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Forest fixer-upper: Logging clears the way for a more ecologically robust watershed
 

Forest fixer-upper: Logging clears the way for a more ecologically robust watershed

The silence seeped from the mountain ridges and hung heavily over the forest, silence like a deep well, so deep…
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Sylva restaurant highlighted for creative use of meat
 

Sylva restaurant highlighted for creative use of meat

A Sylva farm-to-table restaurant is featured in the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s (ASAP) Get Local initiative for its additional sourcing…
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WNC Nature Center reaches record attendance in 2013
 

WNC Nature Center reaches record attendance in 2013

A whole lot of people visited the WNC Nature Center last year. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center report…
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Keeping track in the Smokies
 

Keeping track in the Smokies

Tracking elk in Great Smoky Mountains National Park just got a little easier, thanks to a grant from Charter Communications.…
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Good times at Tube World
 

Good times at Tube World

Tube World in Maggie Valley treated 170 students from Clyde Elementary to a fieldtrip last week as part of a…
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New public river access launched along Tuckasegee
 

New public river access launched along Tuckasegee

Three new public access sites and boat put-ins have been developed along the Tuckasegee River in Jackson County:
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New fees tacked on to all-electric cars
 

New fees tacked on to all-electric cars

This year all-electric vehicles registered in North Carolina — about 1,600 of them — are required to pay a $100…
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Grant helps buy feed for abused horses
 

Grant helps buy feed for abused horses

STAR Ranch Rescue, a refuge for abused and neglected horses and other animals in Haywood County, has received a $750…
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Discovery Place
 

Discovery Place

Looking for something fun for the kids on a cold and/or rainy winter’s day. The Discovery Place in Charlotte has…
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Energy on the horizon: Debate on drilling still hypothetical, but groundwork is being laid
 

Energy on the horizon: Debate on drilling still hypothetical, but groundwork is being laid

From the oil fields of North Dakota to the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania, the U.S. oil and gas industry is…
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Rules rule and rulers rue it
 

Rules rule and rulers rue it

I mentioned the fact a couple of weeks ago that N.C. House Bill 74— the Regulatory Reform Act of 2013…
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Cold temps freeze Highland’s lake
 

Cold temps freeze Highland’s lake

Lindenwood Lake, a four to five-acre stretch of water in Highlands, froze over last week during the area’s record-cold temperatures.…
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Slide closes Tsali Trail loop
 

Slide closes Tsali Trail loop

The left loop of the Tsali Trail system popular among mountain bikers is closed due to a slide along the…
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News from the farmers market
 

News from the farmers market

New farmers market planned for Macon  The Macon County Heritage Center at the old Cowee School is launching a new…
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Race to support the Community Table
 

Race to support the Community Table

Registration is now open for the Assault on Black Rock, a seven-mile trail race in Jackson County that takes runners…
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Last call for Polar Plungers
 

Last call for Polar Plungers

Haywood Waterways Association is calling on lovers of clean water, those immune to the cold or anyone out there  crazy…
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Relocated white-tailed deer come to Cherokee
 

Relocated white-tailed deer come to Cherokee

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will receive 25 to 50 white-tailed deer every year for the next three years…
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The cost of cleaner air: New pollution standards would cost paper mill $50 million in upgrades
 

The cost of cleaner air: New pollution standards would cost paper mill $50 million in upgrades

Evergreen Packaging’s Canton paper mill will be writing some big checks over the coming years as it moves to comply…
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Ski Junaluska Weekends pair Christian fellowship with downhill fun
 

Ski Junaluska Weekends pair Christian fellowship with downhill fun

By Colby Dunn • SMN correspondent Perched atop the crest of a mountain, with two slim pieces of fiberglass strapped to…
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Bear hunting changes possible
 

Bear hunting changes possible

A public hearing on changes to the state’s hunting and fishing rules, including looser rules for black bear hunting, will…
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Deep Creek crossing wins photo contest
 

Deep Creek crossing wins photo contest

Hiker Danny Bernstein of Asheville, author of The Mountains-to-Sea-Trail Across North Carolina, won third place in the “People on the…
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Garden and landscape designer to give talk
 

Garden and landscape designer to give talk

One of the region’s premier garden and landscape designers will give a talk at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, at…
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CBC gods smile on Lake Junaluska
 

CBC gods smile on Lake Junaluska

The annual Balsam Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place Saturday, Jan. 4. In the weeks prior to the count many…
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Seeds of Change: Trading seeds is at root of effort to save crops
 

Seeds of Change: Trading seeds is at root of effort to save crops

Survey your supermarket and you’ll see pretty much the same stuff anywhere in the country: oranges from Florida, onions from…
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Time to rejoin the “battle outside”
 

Time to rejoin the “battle outside”

This appears especially true in the Old Home State where the (first in over 100 years) Republican triad used the…
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