Cupid’s reading list
 

Cupid’s reading list

Valentine’s Day is just around the bend, and for anyone with even a breath of romance in the heart —…
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Time spent outdoors always validates itself
 

Time spent outdoors always validates itself

By Ed Kelley When I think of the mountains of Western North Carolina, I like to believe I know a…
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700 acres near Cashiers put into easement
 

700 acres near Cashiers put into easement

More than 700 acres outside Cashiers has been placed in a conservation easement by the Albert Carlton family, protecting the…
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Haywood development entity contributes to business start-up competition
 

Haywood development entity contributes to business start-up competition

The Haywood Advancement Foundation, a non-profit economic development entity, has pledged $2,700 to the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce start-up…
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New patient data system to link WNC hospitals
 

New patient data system to link WNC hospitals

Every patient knows the drill. Walk up to the window, tell the nurse your name, take the clipboard and seek…
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Mystery of the coveted mad stone
 

Mystery of the coveted mad stone

Last week’s Back Then column described a deer hunt conducted by Quill Rose and his relatives and neighbors in the…
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Consumer tips for dining out
 

Consumer tips for dining out

Eating healthy can also mean eating safe. In North Carolina, three food borne diseases are at the top of health…
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Watch what you eat: Consistency, cleanliness are paramount to good sanitation ratings
 

Watch what you eat: Consistency, cleanliness are paramount to good sanitation ratings

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Donna Stephens, owner and operator of The Yellow House bed and breakfast in Waynesville,…
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The difference between precaution and fear
 

The difference between precaution and fear

By Lee Shelton I found Scott McLeod’s column, “Living in Fear....” , in theJan. 18 issue of the Smoky Mountain…
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Congress debates longevity of the Endangered Species Act
 

Congress debates longevity of the Endangered Species Act

A move to rewrite the Endangered Species Act has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is expected to come…
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Local BMX teen aims high
 

Local BMX teen aims high

A 15-year-old from Waynesville hopes to be part of the women’s USA BMX bike team at the 2008 Olympics after…
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A lone cry of reason from the wilderness
 

A lone cry of reason from the wilderness

The January 2006 edition of “The Auk,” the journal of the American Ornithologists’ Union, includes a 15-page article by Jerome…
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The art of forgery: Jackson County blacksmiths learn the art of their business and the business of art
 

The art of forgery: Jackson County blacksmiths learn the art of their business and the business of art

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Deep in the mountains that surround Jackson County’s Tuckasegee community, the sound of metal…
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A little frisky — much better than fair
 

A little frisky — much better than fair

By Chris Cooper It’s harder than you would think to write a song. As a musician, it is tempting to…
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A Mysterious Island: ‘The Tempest’ twists and turns in WCU’s Hoey Auditorium Feb. 8-12
 

A Mysterious Island: ‘The Tempest’ twists and turns in WCU’s Hoey Auditorium Feb. 8-12

By Michael Beadle The Duke of Milan and his daughter have been shipwrecked on a strange island far from civilization.…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Most Secret I was given this book over Christmas and finally got around to reading it. It’s a fascinating tale…
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Elk negotiations continue
 

Elk negotiations continue

Dick Hamilton, director of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Biologists with…
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Cornell – it’s more than just ivory-billeds
 

Cornell – it’s more than just ivory-billeds

Cornell University and the ivory-billed woodpecker have been inextricably linked since the announcement in 2005 of the rediscovery of the…
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State sues TVA for polluting mountains’ air
 

State sues TVA for polluting mountains’ air

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority last week seeking to significantly reduce pollution…
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TVA lawsuit Q&A
 

TVA lawsuit Q&A

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper issued the following question and answer column on the state’s air pollution law suit…
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Hayseed’s latest falls flat on its grass
 

Hayseed’s latest falls flat on its grass

Some jokes are really, really funny. Some even get better with age, as if their repeated telling somehow increases the…
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Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein If you love the goofy wordplay of Spoonerisms — switching the beginning sounds of words…
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A changing audience
 

A changing audience

“Unto These Hills” first opened on July 1, 1950, as an outdoor drama to celebrate the history and honor the…
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Unto These Hills gets a facelift: Changes to include script rewrite, more Cherokee actors, better marketing plans, and more community involvement
 

Unto These Hills gets a facelift: Changes to include script rewrite, more Cherokee actors, better marketing plans, and more community involvement

By Michael Beadle For 56 years, the outdoor historical drama known as “Unto These Hills” has been a fixture for…
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A troubled talent
 

A troubled talent

I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone by Nina Simone and Stephen Cleary. New York: Pantheon…
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New collection brings old materials into sharp focus at Western library
 

New collection brings old materials into sharp focus at Western library

Working with four heritage partners, Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library is creating a virtual collection of objects, documents, letters, photos…
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Board majority said Horton violated trust
 

Board majority said Horton violated trust

Haywood County Manager Jack Horton was dismissed from his post in early January by a 3 to 2 vote of…
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County Manager resignation fallout spills over into Haywood Rotary Club
 

County Manager resignation fallout spills over into Haywood Rotary Club

The Waynesville Rotary Club has been caught up in the fallout following the forced resignation of Haywood County Manager Jack…
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DOT plows ahead despite outcry from residents
 

DOT plows ahead despite outcry from residents

Despite overwhelming opposition from residents, the N.C. Department of Transportation is moving forward with plans to widen Plott Creek Road…
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Downtown may get internally lit signs
 

Downtown may get internally lit signs

The Waynesville town board will consider a request to loosen sign regulations for the downtown district for the second time…
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Macon takes official stand against I-3
 

Macon takes official stand against I-3

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The Stop I-3 Coalition received a major boost in its efforts to prevent construction…
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Build the road, honor our sacrifice
 

Build the road, honor our sacrifice

Those who want the government to build the road it flooded when Fontana Lake was created say the issue boils…
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Call of the wild resounds loud and clear
 

Call of the wild resounds loud and clear

Environmental groups and outdoors lovers packed the public hearing in Bryson City last week to decry the idea of building…
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Cash: a better deal than a road
 

Cash: a better deal than a road

There’s more than one way for the federal government to make up its promise to Swain County to rebuild the…
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North shore to Nowhere: Controversy countdown or just another chapter?
 

North shore to Nowhere: Controversy countdown or just another chapter?

Opinions on whether to build a 34-mile road through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park seem to be falling into…
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Wal-Mart talk still going strong in Cherokee
 

Wal-Mart talk still going strong in Cherokee

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In the meat aisle of the Reservation Foodliner IGA a customer picks up a…
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A wide open race in Jackson
 

A wide open race in Jackson

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In what outgoing Jackson County commissioner Eddie Madden has called an “unusually quiet” election…
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Civil War in the Smokies
 

Civil War in the Smokies

The war in the Smokies proved to be an intensely personal conflict. A curious conjunction of terrain, history, politics and…
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Looking in on the iPod cocoon
 

Looking in on the iPod cocoon

It is now official. I am not young anymore. I guess I should have paid more attention to the signs,…
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Customers say restaurant grades matter
 

Customers say restaurant grades matter

Editor’s note: Last week The Smoky Mountain News cover story was about cleanliness at restaurants and what health department inspectors…
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Religion and public schools a volatile mix
 

Religion and public schools a volatile mix

When a high school biology teacher in Macon County asked students to compare evolution and creation from a scientific perspective,…
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Snowbird youth club gets a home
 

Snowbird youth club gets a home

A dream eight years in the making met reality earlier this month when the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians cut…
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Hospital sales on track to close this week
 

Hospital sales on track to close this week

The sale of the MedWest hospital trio in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties will go through on July 31, in…
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Folkmoot festival inspires Waynesville leaders to restore town funding
 

Folkmoot festival inspires Waynesville leaders to restore town funding

After oscillating on how much money to give Folkmoot USA during annual budget machinations last month, Waynesville town leaders have…
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Canton debates public alcohol ordinance
 

Canton debates public alcohol ordinance

A new push to change the public alcohol consumption and possession law in Canton has not come without controversy.
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Big dreams, but no money: A new library in Swain searches for funding
 

Big dreams, but no money: A new library in Swain searches for funding

A day earlier the room was full. Wall-to-wall children and snakes. “That was in this room,” said Swain County Librarian…
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Junaluska merger plan sidelined until next year
 

Junaluska merger plan sidelined until next year

Lake Junaluska homeowners have suspended their push to merge with the town of Waynesville until next year due to political…
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Maggie Valley mudslide lands in court
 

Maggie Valley mudslide lands in court

A lawsuit casting blame for a massive landslide in Maggie Valley four years ago is headed to a jury trial…
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WCU launches lifelong learning program
 

WCU launches lifelong learning program

Western Carolina University is launching a new lifelong learning institute aimed at people age 50 and older across Western North…
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Cullowhee development standards get reviewed
 

Cullowhee development standards get reviewed

The Cullowhee Community Planning Advisory Committee will meet July 31 to review proposed development standards for the area. The proposed…
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