Great Smoky Mountains Association names new director
 

Great Smoky Mountains Association names new director

The Great Smoky Mountains Association, a nonprofit that provides millions for visitor programs, conservation and special projects in the Great…
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Solar farm comes to Bethel
 

Solar farm comes to Bethel

The agricultural community of Bethel now has a new type of farm in its midst — solar.  Visible from U.S.…
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King is spot on with new short story collection
 

King is spot on with new short story collection

Being a lifelong Stephen King fan, I have always been pleased to note that King is always keenly aware of…
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Christmas at Lake J
 

Christmas at Lake J

“Appalachian Christmas” at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center will deliver the nostalgic charm of mountain hospitality to visitors…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

America, I’m tired. I’m tired of the violence, the bloodshed, the yelling, the anger, the hate, the misinformation, the way we…
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Haywood Habitat looks to 2016
 

Haywood Habitat looks to 2016

With the holidays currently underway, there’s plenty for all of us to be grateful for living here in Western North…
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The house that music built: Warren  Haynes’ ‘Christmas Jam’ rolls on
 

The house that music built: Warren Haynes’ ‘Christmas Jam’ rolls on

Twenty-seven years is a long time for anything. “It amazing to me that it’s still going on,” Warren Haynes said.…
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Diverse coalition coalesces to support forest plan
 

Diverse coalition coalesces to support forest plan

By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist In recent months I have watched a tense and difficult relationship play out nationally…
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Thanks for helping feed the hungry
 

Thanks for helping feed the hungry

To the Editor: Thanks to many, many individuals and businesses, the 2015 Turkey Drive sponsored by the Maggie Valley Area…
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Social injustice and our universities
 

Social injustice and our universities

To the Editor: In last week’s letter to the editor (www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/16807), Mr. Jones commented on the politicizing of WCU. Let…
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Economic injustice needs to be addressed
 

Economic injustice needs to be addressed

To the Editor: It is time to wake up and take a big whiff of reality. The shape of our…
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Forest Service needs capacity to manage
 

Forest Service needs capacity to manage

To the Editor: As the U.S. Forest Service proceeds through the plan revision for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests,…
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We can find a better cell tower location
 

We can find a better cell tower location

To the Editor: I hope to be understood that my family is as pro-wireless communication as anyone in Cashiers. Verizon…
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Candidates would strip us of rights
 

Candidates would strip us of rights

To the Editor: Below are several of the solutions proposed by many of the candidates running for president to end…
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Let’s play pretend politician: what issues would you own?
 

Let’s play pretend politician: what issues would you own?

I’m not running for office and never will, but as a citizen of Haywood County and Western North Carolina and…
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Two more sign on to run for Macon commissioner
 

Two more sign on to run for Macon commissioner

With the sign-up period for the 2016 election underway, two more candidates have tossed their hats in the ring to…
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Franklin to hire fulltime fire chief
 

Franklin to hire fulltime fire chief

As the demand for services continues to grow, Franklin will begin its search for a full-time fire chief to run…
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Republican candidate files for Jackson commissioner
 

Republican candidate files for Jackson commissioner

The race for county commissioner in District 3 of Jackson County will no longer be an uncontested one following Ron…
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Mercury testing expands at Lake Glenville
 

Mercury testing expands at Lake Glenville

After testing last year found Lake Glenville’s walleye fish to have some of the highest mercury concentrations in North Carolina,…
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County considers financing EMS headquarters
 

County considers financing EMS headquarters

Haywood County commissioners will hold a public hearing Dec. 21 regarding the construction of a new EMS headquarters beside the…
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Ghost Town rolls out new plan for 2016 season
 

Ghost Town rolls out new plan for 2016 season

Alaska Presley has had plenty of good intentions and ideas for Ghost Town in the Sky since she bought the…
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Finding a new fairway for disc golf course
 

Finding a new fairway for disc golf course

Plans are underway to relocate Waynesville’s disc golf course from the sprawling recreation park along Richland Creek to a more…
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Bringing back the bustle: New businesses move into downtown Sylva
 

Bringing back the bustle: New businesses move into downtown Sylva

Ask any Sylva long-timer, and they’ll tell you that Main Street today looks a lot different than it did ten,…
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Local steelworkers have to redo election
 

Local steelworkers have to redo election

Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, the United Steelworkers Local 9-507 in Canton has to redo its…
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Town deems temporary Fry Street closure a failure
 

Town deems temporary Fry Street closure a failure

While November is usually still a busy time for downtown Bryson City merchants, Paige Christie said her sales are down…
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WCU leaders, faculty at odds over Koch-funded free enterprise center
 

WCU leaders, faculty at odds over Koch-funded free enterprise center

Western Carolina University leaders bucked concerns of faculty when they voted last week to create a free enterprise center funded…
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WCU community grapples with academic pursuits in the face of politically-charged outside funding
 

WCU community grapples with academic pursuits in the face of politically-charged outside funding

A firestorm over the outside private funding of academia and its potential to undermine intellectual freedom has erupted in recent…
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Cherokee council vows to crack down on drug dealers
 

Cherokee council vows to crack down on drug dealers

Drug addiction is perhaps the biggest crisis on the Qualla Boundary, and it’s time that tribal government got serious about…
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Cherokee chief vetoes marijuana study; council upholds veto
 

Cherokee chief vetoes marijuana study; council upholds veto

Just over a month after voting unanimously to study the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana on the Qualla Boundary,…
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Horseshoe Rock phenomenon attracts writers’ attention
 

Horseshoe Rock phenomenon attracts writers’ attention

“As for the Horseshoe Rock, it is one of those curving balds of solid rock. The depressions found on the…
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NC leaders balk at federal carbon control plan
 

NC leaders balk at federal carbon control plan

North Carolina has issued a draft plan to comply with federal carbon-control rules, but the plan falls short of federal…
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Naturalist to give sneak peak at upcoming book
 

Naturalist to give sneak peak at upcoming book

Naturalist and historian George Ellison will preview his upcoming collection of essays, Literary Excursions, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9,…
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Lawsuit claims Wildlife Service not doing enough for wolves
 

Lawsuit claims Wildlife Service not doing enough for wolves

A lawsuit alleging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is falling down on its job to protect the world’s only…
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Rockslide temporarily closes 14 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway
 

Rockslide temporarily closes 14 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway

A rockslide has kept the 14-mile section of the Blue Ridge Parkway between Maggie Valley and Cherokee closed for a…
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Meteors, stars and planets, oh my!
 

Meteors, stars and planets, oh my!

Crisp wintry weather makes for perfect sky-watching weather, and the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman is planning a pair…
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Trail improvements coming to Fontana: Work begins on $380K trail project
 

Trail improvements coming to Fontana: Work begins on $380K trail project

National forest trails around Fontana Village are in for an overhaul, thanks to a federal grant that’s putting the final…
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‘Dead White Guys’ ideas still relevant
 

‘Dead White Guys’ ideas still relevant

Whatever our denominations or religious beliefs, many of us are familiar with the old adage of this season: “Peace on…
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Art After Dark in Waynesville
 

Art After Dark in Waynesville

The final Art After Dark of the year will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, in…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

It’s awfully quiet in here. As the rest of the newspaper heads out the door for home (or somewhere they used…
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Tapping into the next level: Boojum Brewing celebrates one year, signs distribution deal
 

Tapping into the next level: Boojum Brewing celebrates one year, signs distribution deal

It’s been a dream come true for Kelsie Baker. “This first year has really been a whirlwind of learning and…
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HRMC praised for patient care
 

HRMC praised for patient care

To the Editor: This is in praise of our new hospital, “new” meaning the Haywood Regional Medical Center, now run…
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Politicizing at WCU is just a bad idea
 

Politicizing at WCU is just a bad idea

To the Editor: It is my understanding from an article written in the Asheville Citizen Times that Western Carolina University…
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This holiday, it’s a family united
 

This holiday, it’s a family united

When I was 12 years old, there were few things I liked better than the Dallas Cowboys. Definitely my Farrah…
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Investing in what’s best about WNC
 

Investing in what’s best about WNC

While I was living in Elizabethtown in southeastern North Carolina in 1988, Walmart opened a brand-new store. Most everyone was…
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LEARN program established at WCU
 

LEARN program established at WCU

Western Carolina University, in collaboration with the University of Central Florida and Florida Atlantic University, received $1.8 million from the…
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Fulghum named Innovator of the Year
 

Fulghum named Innovator of the Year

Cheryl Fulghum, Haywood Community College’s distance learning coordinator, was recently named Innovator of the Year, Western Region by the NC…
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Jackson leaders plan for growing court needs
 

Jackson leaders plan for growing court needs

The start of business Thursday, Dec. 10, will mean the coming-to-order of five different court sessions in Jackson County, a…
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Jackson rec board pushes for indoor pool
 

Jackson rec board pushes for indoor pool

It’s been more than two years since Jackson County finished a recreation master plan declaring an indoor pool a top…
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Company looks to revive Cashiers development
 

Company looks to revive Cashiers development

In the nearly eight years the Cashiers-area Chinquapin development has been around, just 30 of the planned 200 lots have…
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Schools sue state for diverting education funding to inmates
 

Schools sue state for diverting education funding to inmates

School systems across the mountains are signing on to a lawsuit against the state to recoup hundreds of thousands of…
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