Moving the needle: Cashiers organizes to combat workforce development challenges
 

Moving the needle: Cashiers organizes to combat workforce development challenges

Spring can be a scramble at the High Hampton Inn and Country Club in Cashiers. Every year, after a long…
Read More

Comment

Larger labor pool, longer season make Sylva hiring easier
 

Larger labor pool, longer season make Sylva hiring easier

With a bigger local labor pool and a tourism season that wraps around most of the year, hiring in Sylva…
Read More

Comment

Help wanted: Haywood County employers need workers
 

Help wanted: Haywood County employers need workers

Although Haywood County shares many economic similarities with Cashiers, it also sees challenges distinct from those of Jackson County.
Read More

Comment

What's in the cards? Real estate industry growth comforting, concerning
 

What's in the cards? Real estate industry growth comforting, concerning

The climate and topography of Haywood County make it a place that people want to live.
Read More
TWSA rates to rise
 

TWSA rates to rise

Customers of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority will see their rates increase if the 2017-18 budget is adopted as…
Read More

Comment

New Waynesville Publix development a go
 

New Waynesville Publix development a go

A large-scale retail development featuring Lakeland, Florida-based grocer Publix as an anchor tenant moved forward without opposition after unanimous consent…
Read More

Comment

New Haywood warning system a collaborative effort
 

New Haywood warning system a collaborative effort

Emergencies like the Gatlinburg fires of 2016 and simulated emergencies like last week’s Operation Vigilant Catamount in Canton have brought…
Read More

Comment

Haywood extends manager contract
 

Haywood extends manager contract

Despite hiring challenges that persist across the region, Haywood County Commissioners had no trouble re-engaging a key employee June 19. 
Read More

Comment

AMC earns awards for stroke care
 

AMC earns awards for stroke care

Angel Medical Center in Franklin is the recipient of three prestigious awards given by the American Heart Association and the…
Read More

Comment

Macon commissioners split on budget approval
 

Macon commissioners split on budget approval

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer Following a somewhat contentious debate leading up to final budget approval, Macon County Commissioners…
Read More

Comment

Fair, schmair — nonpartisan redistricting to forever languish?
 

Fair, schmair — nonpartisan redistricting to forever languish?

Eminent figures have called for common sense, nonpartisan redistricting since even before Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry unwittingly lent his name…
Read More

Comment

Swain budget hearing set for June 22
 

Swain budget hearing set for June 22

Swain County commissioners will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 22, to hear feedback from the community…
Read More

Comment

Maggie restaurant bestowed with awards upon closing
 

Maggie restaurant bestowed with awards upon closing

Since announcing its closure after 51 years in business, Joey’s Pancake House owner Brenda O’Keefe and her staff have been…
Read More

Comment

A piece of plastic is all you got: Books still a revered treasure for Mary Judith Messer
 

A piece of plastic is all you got: Books still a revered treasure for Mary Judith Messer

A squat little cinder block shop tucked away in a quiet mountain cove on the outskirts of Waynesville caught fire…
Read More

Comment

Haywood Chamber awards business leaders
 

Haywood Chamber awards business leaders

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce recently presented its annual awards to business leaders who have gone above and beyond…
Read More

Comment

Pints in Papertown: BearWaters Brewing reopens in Canton
 

Pints in Papertown: BearWaters Brewing reopens in Canton

It was weird. Driving around downtown Canton this past weekend, it was weird to have a hard time finding a…
Read More

Comment

This must be the place: ‘Look in the mirror, who do you see?’
 

This must be the place: ‘Look in the mirror, who do you see?’

I look forward to it these days. Calling my dad at the end of the day. With my parents still…
Read More

Comment

BPR names new arts journalist
 

BPR names new arts journalist

Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) continues to invest in the development of local programming and content with the hiring of…
Read More

Comment

Front Street a success
 

Front Street a success

Wonderful blue skies, great entertainment and over 60 multi-talented artisans brought out more than 3,000 people to Front Street Arts…
Read More

Comment

Council expresses support for vice chief special election
 

Council expresses support for vice chief special election

The September ballot could include a special election for vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, pending a…
Read More

Comment

Dad was old school, but he accepted change
 

Dad was old school, but he accepted change

My dad’s been dead about 15 years now, and there’s still no fuzzy, larger-than-life, exaggerated memories that pop into my…
Read More

Comment

She’s 16, and somehow it snuck up on me
 

She’s 16, and somehow it snuck up on me

I should have been ready for it, but I wasn’t. My daughter’s sixteenth birthday couldn’t have come as a shock…
Read More

Comment

Trump’s dismissal of hacking is the problem
 

Trump’s dismissal of hacking is the problem

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist It’s easy to make a mistake, particularly when relying on another person’s promises or character.…
Read More

Comment

The best opportunity for health insurance
 

The best opportunity for health insurance

To the Editor: How many people do you know who are old enough to be eligible for Medicare insurance but…
Read More

Comment

Trails that dance: Cherokee opens 10.5-mile trail system with plans to expand
 

Trails that dance: Cherokee opens 10.5-mile trail system with plans to expand

The snip of a ribbon declared the destination that mountain bikers are hailing as “amazing” and “world-class” to be open…
Read More

Comment

Invest in WNC’s great outdoors
 

Invest in WNC’s great outdoors

The National Forest Foundation has named the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest as a Treasured Landscape, a designation that unlocks funding to…
Read More

Comment

A.T. plates fund conservation
 

A.T. plates fund conservation

Proceeds from North Carolina Appalachian Trail license plates resulted in $30,000 worth of awards to 12 projects intended to preserve…
Read More

Comment

Parkway superintendent to retire
 

Parkway superintendent to retire

Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Mark Woods has announced his retirement from the National Park Service following four years in the…
Read More

Comment

Perhaps ‘possums are figuring it out
 

Perhaps ‘possums are figuring it out

I bless my lucky stars that I’m a columnist assigned the pleasant task of writing about this region’s natural and…
Read More

Comment

Exercise tests federal, local catastrophe response
 

Exercise tests federal, local catastrophe response

By the dawn’s early light, about 300 members of the North Carolina National Guard along with a host of local…
Read More

Comment

Permit denied for Cullowhee development
 

Permit denied for Cullowhee development

A controversial request to build a 388-bed student housing complex on South Painter Road in Cullowhee was denied this week…
Read More

Comment

Public input will guide library’s renovation
 

Public input will guide library’s renovation

An ambitious dream of expanding and remodeling the main Haywood County library in Waynesville has been abandoned, with sights now…
Read More

Comment

Haywood Dems hold spring rally
 

Haywood Dems hold spring rally

Several candidates announced their intent to run for office as Haywood County Democrats held their Spring Rally at the Maggie…
Read More

Comment

Pool renovations finishing in Sylva and Cashiers
 

Pool renovations finishing in Sylva and Cashiers

If all goes according to plan, within the week folks in Jackson County will have their choice of pools to…
Read More

Comment

Maggie Valley adopts tight budget with small tax increase
 

Maggie Valley adopts tight budget with small tax increase

Haywood County’s 2017 property revaluation was like a bucket of cold water in the face of every local government official…
Read More

Comment

Mom delivers baby on way to hospital
 

Mom delivers baby on way to hospital

Expectant mother Caitlin Austin of Balsam never imagined giving birth to her second child in a car. 
Read More

Comment

Public not invited to meeting with Mission
 

Public not invited to meeting with Mission

Mission Health leaders finally agreed to hold a meeting in Franklin to discuss their controversial decision to close the labor…
Read More

Comment

Waynesville falls short in playground contest
 

Waynesville falls short in playground contest

Despite finishing first in an online contest with more than double the votes of its nearest competitor, Waynesville’s adaptive playground…
Read More

Comment

Haywood housing task force sets goal, issues recommendations
 

Haywood housing task force sets goal, issues recommendations

A strategic plan developed by a subcommittee of the Haywood County Affordable Housing Task Force that proposes 400 affordable housing…
Read More

Comment

Pisgah, Haywood Early College to get new principals
 

Pisgah, Haywood Early College to get new principals

Three Haywood County Schools will see new administrators this fall after the Haywood County Board of Education approved the personnel…
Read More

Comment

Broadband group begins mapping plans for service
 

Broadband group begins mapping plans for service

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer Broadband internet service is vital for future economic growth in Macon County, but it…
Read More

Comment

Franklin discusses climate change resolution
 

Franklin discusses climate change resolution

The town of Franklin is considering how to become more environmentally friendly after being presented with a climate solutions resolution…
Read More

Comment

Calling all vets: Macon County wants you
 

Calling all vets: Macon County wants you

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer A program designed to offer free I.D. cards to Macon County veterans for discounted…
Read More

Comment

Franklin wants to address noise complaints
 

Franklin wants to address noise complaints

Franklin Mayor Bob Scott was recently awoken at midnight on a Friday by a phone call from Franklin resident Janet…
Read More

Comment

Jackson’s comprehensive plan nears approval
 

Jackson’s comprehensive plan nears approval

After two years of meetings, research and public input, the Jackson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan must go through one…
Read More

Comment

Innovation Brewing to open Dillsboro location
 

Innovation Brewing to open Dillsboro location

The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR) has announced that Innovation Brewing will be the new tenant of the GSMR Dillsboro…
Read More

Comment

Cataloochee Ranch welcomes Chatham County Line
 

Cataloochee Ranch welcomes Chatham County Line

If you want to understand the history of bluegrass music, you need to look at its entire spectrum — of…
Read More

Comment

New Cherokee chief addresses employees: Richie Sneed calls for collaborative, equitable government
 

New Cherokee chief addresses employees: Richie Sneed calls for collaborative, equitable government

Principal Chief Richard Sneed laid out communication, collaboration and community as the guiding principles of his new administration in an…
Read More

Comment

A few thoughts on immigration
 

A few thoughts on immigration

To the Editor: Immigration has been a reality for hundreds of years as people leave the safety of their homes…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.