Cherokee considers needle exchange program
 

Cherokee considers needle exchange program

Cherokee hopes to combat the high Hepatitis C rates resulting from the heroin epidemic with a needle exchange program, aiming…
Read More

Comment

Jackson awards $1.1 million contract for Skyland Services Center renovations
 

Jackson awards $1.1 million contract for Skyland Services Center renovations

Work will soon begin on a remodel of Jackson County’s Skyland Services Center following commissioners’ unanimous approval of a $1.1…
Read More

Comment

Meadows still pushing for North Shore funds
 

Meadows still pushing for North Shore funds

While Swain County pushes forward with a lawsuit against the federal government to collect $38.2 million it’s owed in settlement…
Read More

Comment

What’s in the cards: Manufacturing starts small, thinks big
 

What’s in the cards: Manufacturing starts small, thinks big

Inside a nondescript miniature warehouse off Carolina Boulevard, Drew Singleton hovers about an imposing, intimidating metalworking machine; adjusting a knob here, spinning a wheel there, tweaking an armature and then stopping to assess the situation, he pauses and looks up to re-check his settings.
Read More
Sinkhole in Sylva causes road closure
 

Sinkhole in Sylva causes road closure

A leaking pipe in downtown Sylva has resulted in a sinkhole that’s had the road connecting the town’s main streets…
Read More

Comment

Swain looks to Clampitt for help with capital funding
 

Swain looks to Clampitt for help with capital funding

Swain County didn’t include any funding for capital projects in the 2017-18 budget, but commissioners are hopeful their state representative…
Read More

Comment

A Lake J Fourth family tradition
 

A Lake J Fourth family tradition

It’s not noteworthy to hear someone ‘round these parts say, “This will be the fourth generation of my family participating…
Read More

Comment

This must be the place: Ode to Lloyd, ode to the faces
 

This must be the place: Ode to Lloyd, ode to the faces

It’s the hardest part of this gig. As a journalist for just about a decade, I’ve been lucky enough to…
Read More

Comment

FBI charges 12 with marriage fraud
 

FBI charges 12 with marriage fraud

Twelve people will face federal charges following an FBI investigation into an alleged marriage fraud ring based in Cherokee. 
Read More

Comment

Support clean energy and coal country
 

Support clean energy and coal country

To the Editor: Coal has played an enormous role in the history of our country, and the infamous black rock…
Read More

Comment

A grand vision for Central Elementary
 

A grand vision for Central Elementary

To the Editor: Now that the Haywood County School Board is keeping Central Elementary, it’s a good time to consider…
Read More

Comment

Voting issues not hard to solve
 

Voting issues not hard to solve

To the Editor: The mere length and involved reasoning of your editorial reveals a level of nuance that makes issues…
Read More

Comment

Here come the tax cuts — again
 

Here come the tax cuts — again

To the Editor: Republicans are again touting the critical need for tax cuts for the upper economic classes.  This is…
Read More

Comment

Wrong vision for Haywood libraries
 

Wrong vision for Haywood libraries

To the Editor: As an inveterate library user, a long-time volunteer at the Haywood Public Library, a former Board member…
Read More

Comment

Raising a glass to Canton’s future
 

Raising a glass to Canton’s future

The opening of the new BearWaters Brewing in Canton is a great shot in the arm for one of most…
Read More

Comment

Adjusting to WAHM summer life
 

Adjusting to WAHM summer life

As I write this column, my two little boys are rummaging through LEGO bricks bickering about who needs which piece,…
Read More

Comment

Above it all: Fryingpan hike offers vast views, diverse plant life
 

Above it all: Fryingpan hike offers vast views, diverse plant life

It’s just a short walk from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Fryingpan Tower — 1.5 miles roundtrip — but in…
Read More

Comment

NASA comes to WNC
 

NASA comes to WNC

A new nationwide outreach program will bring NASA resources to Western North Carolina, with the Fontana Regional Library selected as…
Read More

Comment

Bear canisters required on Avery Creek
 

Bear canisters required on Avery Creek

Bear-safe food storage is now mandatory within 1,000 feet of Avery Creek Road following an Emergency Food Storage Order issued…
Read More

Comment

Study catalogues trout fishing’s economic impact
 

Study catalogues trout fishing’s economic impact

A recent study quantifying the economic impact of trout fishing showed that 149,000 trout anglers in North Carolina fished 1.6…
Read More

Comment

Duke funds will help improve fisheries
 

Duke funds will help improve fisheries

Coldwater fisheries will get a boost thanks to a $95,000 grant that Duke Energy’s Water Resources Fund awarded to Trout…
Read More

Comment

Help makeover Rainbow Falls
 

Help makeover Rainbow Falls

Volunteers are needed to help rehabilitate the 6-mile Rainbow Falls Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with workdays…
Read More

Comment

Bat populations remain low due to white-nose syndrome
 

Bat populations remain low due to white-nose syndrome

Results are back from this year’s winter bat surveys in Western North Carolina, and numbers have remained low following the…
Read More

Comment

Ash borer found in Asheville
 

Ash borer found in Asheville

The emerald ash borer has made it to Asheville, with its arrival to Craftsman Circle providing the first evidence of…
Read More

Comment

Waterrock Knob planning begins
 

Waterrock Knob planning begins

Planning is underway for the management of 5,329 acres that the Blue Ridge Parkway acquired around Waterrock Knob last year.
Read More

Comment

New fence will protect Smokies museum garden
 

New fence will protect Smokies museum garden

Elk will stay out of the crops at the Mountain Farm Museum following construction of a historically accurate fence funded…
Read More

Comment

The Naturalist's Corner: That’s a wrap
 

The Naturalist's Corner: That’s a wrap

Another spring, another season of bird points in the can. Each spring brings its own unique set of adventures, dilemmas…
Read More

Comment

Music from inside the Great Pyramid
 

Music from inside the Great Pyramid

Looking for something unique and different? Then I’ve got something for you.
Read More

Comment

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

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.