Smokies Life has announced the publication of “George Masa: A Life Reimagined,” the first comprehensively researched biography of the visionary Japanese photographer whose dedication to art and conservation helped spur the national park movement in the Great Smoky Mountains, as well as the creation of the Appalachian Trail. 

The 25th Annual Sorghum Festival will allow visitors to have the opportunity to observe sorghum cane being processed into molasses using a mule-powered mill on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site in Johnson City from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Nearly three years after a historic marker on Haywood County’s oldest continuously operating farm was damaged by Tropical Storm Fred, the Bethel Rural Community Organization has replaced it — this time, adding language that acknowledges the sacrifice of the enslaved people who kept the farm in operation until their 1865 emancipation. 

With their latest album, “Songs of Our Grandfathers,” rising Asheville Americana/folk duo Zoe & Cloyd decided to take a different approach to this most recent musical endeavor. 

The true location of one of the most iconic photographs of George Masa has been accurately identified. The photograph, depicting Masa on a rock outcrop with his camera and a companion, was previously believed to have been taken at Graybeard Mountain. Recent findings confirm that the actual location is Blackstack Cliffs in the Cherokee National Forest.  

Southwestern Community College (SCC), a crucial Western North Carolina educational institute since 1964, is exploring the possibility of hosting a scanning day. This event aims to create a comprehensive digital archive of SCC’s rich history. 

A little over three years ago, a stranger in a coffee shop with whom I’d struck up a conversation excused himself from the table, walked to his car and returned with a copy of Steven Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire.”

It is time to have a fact-based discussion about the biology and history of our knowledge about human reproduction. Much of the current discussion does not reflect the reality of human reproduction. Declaring a fertilized egg to be a person is ridiculous from biological, historical and religious perspectives. 

Anyone interested in the history of our country will benefit by reading “The Dogs of War: 1861” (Oxford University Press, 2011, 128 pages).

On Sunday, May 5, in cooperation with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the North Shore Cemetery Association will decorate the Woody and Hoyle Cemeteries on Forney Creek.