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Jackson citizens asked to ‘imagine ... a library’
A coffee shop. That’s one of the more unique but interesting ideas that emerged during a series of public input…
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New ER director says transition going well
The board of the Haywood Regional Medical Center heard a glowing report last week on how the hospital’s emergency department…
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State considers controls on steep slope construction
Local governments balking at controlling development on steep mountainsides would be forced into action if the General Assembly passes a…
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Downtown Sylva gets free wireless access
When Rhonda Williams fired up her laptop in the Sylva library a couple of weeks ago, she was pleasantly surprised…
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TDA quiets some critics with festival funding hike
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority gave out twice as much money in grants for festivals this year, quelling some…
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Spring wonders: Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont makes nature hands-on
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Cameron Farlow, an intern at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s Oconaluftee Visitors Center,…
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New WCU business dean has academic, business experience
Ronald A. Johnson, who holds the JP Morgan Chase Chair in Finance in the Jesse H. Jones School of Business…
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Persecution of the dandelion
It seems that every lawn care commercial on TV or radio these days is aimed at touting a product which…
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Fluffy turns out to be a greaser
By Stephanie Wampler My fluffy white dog was no longer white — his snout was grey with grease, the hair…
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Re-thinking transportation is a must
Dark clouds were rolling in on Saturday as I sat in our Sylva office while Western North Carolina’s original environmental…
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Bog bet succeeds
When Gary Wein came on board as the executive director of the Highlands Cashiers Land Trust a year ago, he…
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Unique bog protected
Botanists are cheering the recent acquisition of a 38-acre tract that’s home to a mountain bog near Cashiers thanks to…
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They’re baaaaccckkk!
In late March there was a lot of talk on the Carolina birders’ listserv about early migration as Neotropical migrants…
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Artisans Bread Bakers Festival is community at its best
By Kathleen Lamont It was Saturday, March 24, and I was walking through the Greenlife Grocery parking lot in Asheville…
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Wilderness Society comes to WNC: National environmental organization opens office in Franklin
The Wilderness Society has signaled a strong interest in the future of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests with the…
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Road standards would help rescue vehicles
When a roaring forest fire whipped through a mountainside development in Swain County two months ago — burning nine homes…
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Studio 33 wins $10,000 start-up award from Haywood Chamber
Custom jewelry business Studio 33 and its owner Diannah Beauregard won the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce Business Start-up Competition…
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Swain leaders tout river access, horse ring upgrades
Not that many years ago, anglers and boaters wanting to gain access to the Tuckasegee River in Swain County essentially…
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Bush’s obstinance is a rare opportunity
With President Bush’s veto of the Democrats’ bill to set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq,…
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A distant memory of child’s play
By Kathryn Stripling Byer Soon school will be over for the year. Students will leave their classrooms and bound out…
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Nurses deserve support for speaking up
By Michael Rey I would like to offer some words of support for those Emergency Department Nurses at Haywood Regional…
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Letter to Haywood Regional Medical Center
Dr. Michael Ray, who worked for Haywood Emergency Physicians before quitting in summer 2006, wrote this letter to the Haywood…
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The right choices for healthier air
Roughly 45 percent of people (more than 2.9 million) in North Carolina lives in an area with unhealthful short-term levels…
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A peek at the watershed
One hundred and twenty people or so took advantage of Waynesville’s first Watershed Appreciation Month to see and learn more…
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Take a Hike: New hiking book offers tips, maps and history on local mountain trails
Danny Bernstein still remembers her first tough hike — a three-day journey in 1969 up Mount Marcy, the highest peak…
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A serendipitious selection of CDs
By Chris Cooper Ah ... the joys of moving. Once you’ve got everything boxed up and ready to go, there’s…
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All that jazz: New York City saxophonist Jed Levy teams up with Asheville jazz musicians for May 19 concert at Performing Arts Center in Waynesville
By Michael Beadle New York City has long enjoyed a reputation as a melting pot of music — especially when…
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Pied Piper stages at Smoky Mountain Community Theatre
By Michael Beadle An old German town has a very serious rat problem. Luckily, a stranger arrives with just the…
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Recommended diversions
Afternoon Naps with the Windows Open A recent dental surgery has left me at home the past few days in…
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Hootnoggers: History, definitely delightful
First, the tomatoes. Then the applause. Rob Neufeld’s Mountains, Heroes & Hootnoggers: A Popular History of Western North Carolina (The…
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Commissioners give HRMC board vote of confidence
All three Haywood Regional Medical Center board members were reappointed this week for another three years by the Haywood County…
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Deadline nears for public input on steep slope ordinance
The Jackson County planning board is accepting written public comment through May 14 on the latest version of a draft…
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Some highlights of the draft Jackson County steep slope ordinance
• The ordinance only applies to development on slopes greater than 30 percent. • Developers must file a hydrology report,…
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History buffs urge Macon to protect landmarks
Members of a heritage task force in Macon County want town and county leaders to form a commission with regulatory…
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Hospital response to story raises questions
An article that appeared in The Smoky Mountain News opinion section two weeks ago based on an anonymous interview with…
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Lawsuit seeks lifting of subdivision moratorium
A group of Realtors and developers filed a lawsuit against Jackson County this week over a subdivision moratorium imposed by…
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No resolution yet on Head Start property
Mountain Projects director Patsy Dowling hit another wall this week in her attempt to lease land from the county for…
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Kudzu goes barefoot
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Paul Bratter, a newlywed young lawyer, sits on the couch of his fifth-floor brownstone…
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When ‘it’ is right in front of you
By Chris Cooper Sia: Lady Croissant To a degree, it seems like Zero 7 makes “electronic” music for people that…
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Recommended diversions
Tomato plants If there’s one food that always tastes better fresh from the garden than bought at the store, it…
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The first lady of the South
First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis’s Civil War by Joan E. Cashin. Belknap Press, 2006. Civil wars are marked…
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Cherokee contemplates Wal-Mart’s impact
Some residents on the Cherokee Indian Reservation are calling for a referendum vote on whether Wal-Mart Stores should be allowed…
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The big drawdown
JD McCurry has seen his share of horror stories in his 20 plus years as a well driller. Take the…
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Impasse proves too much for Mountain Projects
A disagreement between Haywood County commissioners over an intergenerational Head Start and senior day care facility has come to an…
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Jackson planners take public advice, relax some proposals
Proposed development regulations in Jackson County were made later this week after dozens of written public comments flooded the planning…
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Planners already planning to revisit development rules
As public comments rolled in to the Jackson County planning office on a proposed steep slope ordinance, one provision that…
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Survey studies public input in Macon County
As county planner in Macon County, Stacey Guffey knows a little bit about controversy and soliciting public opinion.
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State, local well regulators on the way
No one knows how many wells are planted in the mountainsides of Western North Carolina.
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Real estate school for elected leaders
Money and politics. Right now in the mountains, we can add real estate to that equation.
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