Archived (29061)
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Delving into dialect
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Gary Carden was in fifth grade when he learned to be ashamed of his…
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Momentum keeps building for Stop I-3 coalition
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The Stop I-3 Coalition — the grassroots organization that aims to prevent construction of…
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On Sacred Ground
By Michael Beadle Nearly two centuries have passed since the last time Cherokees held a council meeting on the sacred…
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Reece’s larger-than-life presence will be missed, say friends
Wade Reece, a well-known figure in Maggie Valley civic life and the tourism industry, passed away last week, leaving a…
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Purt, nigh Lizabethan
I’m no expert on regional linguistics, but through the years I’ve delighted in the dialect English still spoken here in…
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Authenticity often doesn’t lend itself to good drama
Back in 1952, when I was one of a dozen Western North Carolina high school students who wrote winning essays…
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Truth about kids and synchronicity
Before our son was born almost a year and a half ago, Tammy and I made an important decision. She…
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Once and for all, stop the influence peddling in Raleigh
For most people who live and work in Western North Carolina, the inner workings of our citizen legislature in Raleigh…
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Bryson City conserves 750 acres bordering Smokies
The town of Bryson City finalized a conservation easement this month that will protect a 750-acre tract known as Lands…
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Feds may reinstate roadless areas in Carolinas, Virginia
A ban on logging and road building in roadless areas of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests is on track…
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Can you say inevitable?
I recently saw some previews for the documentary “Grizzly Man.” You may remember the story. Back in 2003, after 13…
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Macon free dental clinic eyes expansion
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County’s Molar Roller is on the move in a forward direction. The mobile…
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Green power: no longer a pipe dream
By Michael Beadle At first it sounds too good to be true. Imagine being able to pipe methane gas from…
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In need of help
Steve Salerno’s SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless (ISBN 1-40005409-5, $24.95) is not only an attack on the…
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Recommended diversions
“Metropolitan” Writer-director Whit Stillman had a surprise hit with this comedy about a middle-class young man and his encounters with…
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Big sounds in this intelligent, intentionally bumpy ride
By Chris Cooper A rather popular band was recently branded with the criticism of being “a small band trying to…
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A high class affair: HART set to open summer blockbuster ‘My Fair Lady’
By Michael Beadle As a Broadway hit, “My Fair Lady” made Julie Andrews a star. As a film, it made…
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Duke could owe tribe Oconaluftee dam profits
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is questioning whether Duke Power concealed the boundary of its hydropower operation on the Oconaluftee…
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DSA rallies support to oppose funding cut
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Sylva town board members should expect a heated public comment session at their upcoming…
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Baby steps toward green power
Talitha and Louis Mes erected a 100-foot tall wind tower on a ridge above Crabtree last week to generate environmentally-friendly…
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Subject to tax, where applicable
Every few weeks, Scotty Ellis cruises the newspaper classifieds, scans Web sites and scrounges brochures from kiosks at visitor centers…
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Waynesville ‘blew them all out of the water’
Preliminary results of a zip code market analysis being conducted in Waynesville shows signs of a strong and healthy retail…
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Willing participation key to Greens Creek cleanup
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Fifty years ago, Jackson County’s Greens Creek was used as a dumping ground —…
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Work of hired consultant causes confusion among lodging community
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Late last month Macon County consultant Gary Nicholson sent out 351 letters to local…
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Careful of the jimson weed
“Jimson Weed is featured in a set of mystic books recently popular, Carlos Castaneda’s tales of mind expansion with the…
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Media freedom could easily slip away
When Federal Communications Commission officials came to Asheville last week to discuss media ownership regulations, they got an earful from…
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N.C. counties have gotten more democratic
By Lee Shelton After the primary election results were in, I offered a commentary on county government and the implications…
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EPA sued for failing to protect citizens from other states’ pollution
The North Carolina Sierra Club and Southern Environmental Law Center have filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for…
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Avian nomads
I have just finished by bird point survey for the Forest Service, which takes me to Mt. Mitchell and Roan…
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The race is on
By Michael Beadle You’ll have to excuse Greg Duff if he greets you out of breath. If he’s not in…
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Velvet Leaf Blueberry marks 5,000 species new to Smokies
The All Taxa Biological Inventory hit the 5,000 species milestone this summer in an ongoing effort to document every species…
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A Walk In The Wild: Encounters of the wildlife kind
By Ed Kelley If you spend much time in the outdoors, you will eventually have an encounter with wildlife. I…
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Someone who understands me
In every town I’ve ever lived in — and I have lived in several — I have made a Sports…
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Indian hemp for the long haul
For me, those plants found here in the Smokies region that have verified practical human uses are, in the long…
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Sylva town board cuts DSA funding
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Sylva town board members’ minds are unchanged about cutting the Downtown Sylva Association’s funding…
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Probe into unusual school spending account dropped
A former Haywood County school employee and Haywood Builder’s Supply have been cleared of wrongdoing in connection with an off-the-books…
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NC GreenPower is inexpensive way to take a small step
When Louis and Talitha Mes put up a 100-foot windmill two weeks ago in the Crabtree community of Haywood County…
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Park expands Junior Ranger program
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is inviting kids and their families to participate in a selection of summer programs…
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Chaos is upon us!
Remember the chaos theory — how the flapping of a single butterfly’s wings could produce unknown and unpredictable atmospheric change?…
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Rebel Records roundup
Rebel records, the venerable bluegrass-only imprint that’s as much a home to royalty like Ralph Stanley as it is young…
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Art partnership: Swain County couple Dee Dee and Robert Triplett share a love for creating and sharing one-of-a-kind art pieces
By Michael Beadle Dee Dee Triplett is a woman of the cloth. Her husband, Robert, is a man of strong…
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Recommended diversions
Instant Sociology Ever had one of those days where nobody, I mean nobody, made much sense? Baffling behaviors everywhere? Here’s…
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An open eye
Let’s imagine for a moment that it is Election Day in some unspecified city, and the proper government officials have…
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Duke says project does not extend to tribal land
Duke Power discounted accusations last week that a portion of the hydropower operation on the Oconaluftee River extends onto tribal…
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Franklin residents to help design new neighborhood
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County residents have the opportunity to help design the first New Urbanist traditional…
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Locals plead Duke case to congressmen
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer As the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hones its final recommendations for the mitigation Duke…
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Mountain Metal Fest raises a joyous noise
By Chris Cooper Hold one of your hands up, left or right, whichever you prefer. With your palm facing outward,…
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Recommended diversions
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Bruce Springsteen When my brother-in-law sent me this CD, I couldn’t wait to get…
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Chick check
The word “ubiquitous” is an apt adjective for Chick comics. They show up in motel rooms, garages, pool halls, laundromats,…
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