What looked like a risk to some was a dream for Diane Cutler and Andy Zivinsky.

The feeling of a new customer walking through the door never gets old for Haley Milner.

If you build it, they will come. If you brew it, they will come and party.

A loud roar echoed from the back of the building. The deafening sound is terrifying, yet exhilarating, with the smell of burning oil and gasoline permeating through the air.

It’s the sound of the ancient mountains, the unique people and rich culture of Southern Appalachia. It’s the sound of Soldier’s Heart.

When Myra Sawyer looks around the Sawyer Family Farmstead, she couldn’t image living anywhere else in the world.

It was a summer job that literally molded itself into a future.

Sweepstakes-style video gambling is making bold forays into the rural communities of Western North Carolina, back for yet another skirmish in the decade-long war against the betting devices. 

State lawmakers have tried to ban them. Police have tried to bust them. Judges have tried to reprimand them. 

During the last 20 years, the Western North Carolina craft beer scene has exploded. 

While Asheville’s nearly 20 breweries earned it the “Beer City USA” title, a loud rumble has also echoed out of the small towns west of the metropolis. Waynesville, Sylva and Bryson City have all thrown their hats into the craft beer ring.

The regional head of the N.C. Depart-ment of Transportation has been demoted after nine years at the helm of road building decisions in the mountain’s far western counties.