All means all, y’all. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

2024 A Look Back: Trailblazer award

By the end of the 1900s, groups of marginalized Americans like women, Blacks, Hispanics and others had made great strides…
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Evy Leibfarth won bronze at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. File photo
 

2024 A Look Back: Hometown pride award

Evy Leibfarth was welcomed home in style this summer after her medal-winning performance at the Olympics. In her second Olympic…
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2024 A Look Back: Hometown hero award
 

2024 A Look Back: Hometown hero award

When Tropical Storm Fred cut a half billion-dollar swath of destruction through the eastern part of Haywood County and killed…
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 North Carolina law prohibits filming people in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. File photo
 

2024 A Look Back: Big Brother award

In May, Payton McNabb shrouded herself in the cloak of Big Brother when she took to a Western Carolina University…
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2024 A Look Back: Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree award
 

2024 A Look Back: Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree award

This one goes out to the North Carolina General Assembly and Congress, but it will take a little explaining. 
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Fight for what you believe in — but not like, literally. File photo
 

2024 A Look Back: Ready to throw down award

It’s nice to have an elected board of representatives who care about their county and are willing to fight for…
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Rep. Chuck Edwards
 

2024 A Look Back: Keep quiet award

Rep. Chuck Edwards has refused to speak to The Smoky Mountain News since shortly after he was elected in 2022.…
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Bryson City residents proved that public input can have a tremendous effect on local government. File photo
 

2024 A Look Back: Public engagement award

You might think people don’t care about local government, but sometimes you’re reminded that they absolutely do. Bryson City’s town…
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2024 A Look Back: The steamroller award
 

2024 A Look Back: The steamroller award

We hate to belabor one topic, but we have more than one marijuana-related award to hand out this year.   The…
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Sylva Town Council addressed panhandling multiple times this year. Hannah McLeod photo
 

2024 A Look Back: If at first you don’t succeed try, try, try again award

Sylva first considered a proposal to address panhandling in November 2022 but ultimately decided against it after a majority of the board…
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HCS principals gather following the release of state testing data. HCS photo
 

2024 A Look Back: On the up and up award

Haywood County Schools’ stock just keep rising. This year the school system was ranked sixth out of 115 school districts…
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For some, the “Stoner’s Ball” was the “high” point of the year. File photo
 

2024 A Look Back: Audacity award

It makes potheads giggle and cops roll their eyes, and in Western North Carolina this year, the stoner holiday 4/20…
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2024 A Look Back: First in flight award
 

2024 A Look Back: First in flight award

After Hurricane Helene rocked the eastern reaches of Western North Carolina, Crystal Cochran sprang into action. A resident of Sylva,…
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2024 A Look Back: If it ain’t broke award
 

2024 A Look Back: If it ain’t broke award

Following this year’s budget season, Macon County maintains its position with the lowest property tax of any county in the…
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2024 A Look Back: Building the future award
 

2024 A Look Back: Building the future award

This year both Jackson and Swain counties received state grants of $52 million to build new middle schools. For Jackson County, this…
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2024 A Look Back: Maconians united award
 

2024 A Look Back: Maconians united award

Maconians are known among the citizens of Western North Carolina for robust and regular public input at local government meetings…
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Community support helps feed the hungry
 

Community support helps feed the hungry

To the Editor: The Maggie Valley United Methodist Church wishes to thank the community for their overwhelming support of our…
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At 105 feet, Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Andrea Walton photo
 

Word from the Smokies: Ramsey Cascades Trail reopens following multiyear rehabilitation

For the first time in nearly three years, the trail to Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s tallest waterfall is fully open…
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USDA implements new wood processing program
 

USDA implements new wood processing program

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled a new program to support American wood processing facilities. 
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Sunset at Lake Junaluska. Garret K. Woodward photo
 

This must be the place: ‘To let old habits die, wild geese are gonna fly’

Christmas Eve. With the sun fading behind the Blue Ridge Mountains, the sky transitioning into bright pink, purple and orange,…
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Wilderness Wildlife Week
 

Wilderness Wildlife Week

More than 90 free educational sessions, five days of outdoor excursions and key note speakers await attendees of Pigeon Forge’s…
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Fake News Freakout: Episode 9
 

Fake News Freakout: Episode 9

I started this annual feature nearly a decade ago to poke fun at the emerging scourge of fake news — lies, really…
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Complaints aren't founded in truth
 

Complaints aren't founded in truth

It is very hard for me to continue listening to the ongoing issues of housing when I know we have…
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Mark Beam stands up in front of the crowd with Program Coordinator Amanda Seay. Kyle Perrotti photo
 

A moment to celebrate: Haywood’s Recovery Court graduates second participant

Last Friday wasn’t Mark Beam’s first time facing a judge at the defendant’s table in Haywood County District Court, but…
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Comment

Congressional action is still expected to leave roughly $40 billion in unmet needs in North Carolina. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

After fiasco, Congress fails to meet North Carolina’s hurricane recovery needs

Hurricane Helene victims in Western North Carolina have eagerly been awaiting an expected holiday gift in the form of federal…
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School board considers options for Jackson Community School
 

School board considers options for Jackson Community School

Jackson Community School — Jackson County’s alternative learning center — is the most expensive school in the district per pupil,…
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Macon animal control in need of staff
 

Macon animal control in need of staff

After a team of volunteers converged on a Macon County Board of Health meeting to express concerns about the state…
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George Brown, dean of the David Orr Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts at Western Carolina University (left), and Denise Drury Homewood, executive director of Bardo Arts Center (right) meet with donors William Banks Hinshaw and Robin Markle Hinshaw. Donated photo
 

Macon County couple endows fund to diversify WCU Fine Art Museum collections

The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center will be broadening…
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Comment

Futurebirds at The Orange Peel.  Garret K. Woodward photo
 

This must be the place: Ode to the Futurebirds, ode to the ‘Heavy Weights’ of life

Last Thursday evening was a pure and present justification of why music (especially when performed live) has such an extremely…
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Upstream Rebellion to play Sylva
 

Upstream Rebellion to play Sylva

Rising regional Americana/bluegrass act Upstream Rebellion will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, at The Junction Pub…
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Outlaw Whiskey will play Bryson City Dec. 31 Garret K. Woodward photo
 

Ready for classic rock, country gold?

Haywood County rock/country act Outlaw Whiskey will perform as part of the “New Year’s Eve Party” at 8 p.m. Tuesday,…
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Lake Emory Dam.
 

Macon to address floodplain, Lake Emory Dam in new year

After almost a year of work, discussion and often tense disagreement on the issue, Macon County is set to continue…
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This conservation win adds almost a mile of protection to the East Fork of Overflow Creek, classified by North Carolina as an Outstanding Resource Water (ORW). Donated photo
 

Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust conserves 54.45 acres of forested land

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust (HCLT) announced the permanent conservation of 54.45 acres of forested land just two miles from downtown…
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Comment

Laurel Falls. File photo
 

Rehab efforts begin on popular Smokies trail

The National Park Service (NPS) will begin a major rehabilitation on Laurel Falls Trail, one of the most popular trails…
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Comment

Burning permit requirement reinstated in WNC
 

Burning permit requirement reinstated in WNC

The N.C. Forest Service has reinstated the requirement for open burning permits in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell,…
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Comment

Conditions have improved in Western North Carolina over the last week. From ncdrought.org
 

Drought conditions lessen in WNC

After several weeks of increasingly dry conditions, Western North Carolina has finally seen some much-needed rain, taking the whole region…
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Fabulous Equinox Orchestra will play Highlands Dec. 30. File photo
 

Orchestra rolls into Highlands

A renowned jazz/soul ensemble, the Fabulous Equinox Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30, at the Highlands Performing…
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Comment

HCC hosts spring hunter safety courses
 

HCC hosts spring hunter safety courses

Haywood Community  College’s Department of Arts, Sciences and Natural Resources and the  North Carolina  Wildlife Resources Commission  will offer two opportunities for…
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Comment

A new slope failure has delayed reopening Interstate 40.
 

Additional Slide Delays I-40 Reopening

An additional chunk of asphalt fell away from an eastbound lane of Interstate 40 in the Pigeon River Gorge this…
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Comment

Crews will conduct cleanups across private and public land, along and within the waterways, using boats and barges during the warm weather months. Donated photo
 

Haywood Waterways creates jobs to clean up Helene litter

After Tropical Storm Fred moved through Western North Carolina in 2021, litter cleanup throughout the East Fork and downstream along…
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Comment

Foothills Parkway. Joye Ardyn Durham photo
 

Design studies on tap for Foothills Parkway

The National Park Service will conduct additional design work and technical studies for Foothills Parkway Section 8D. This decision was…
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Sylva to host Cycle NC Moutain Ride
 

Sylva to host Cycle NC Moutain Ride

North Carolina Amateur Sports announced that the Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride is headed to Jackson County Aug. 1-3, 2025. …
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Comment

Historically, eastern hellbenders have been documented in 626 populations. Recent data indicate only 371 of these populations (59%) remain. Donated photo
 

Public comment sought on proposal to list hellbender as endangered

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to list the eastern hellbender as an endangered species throughout its…
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Comment

The DMAC classified all or parts of 93 counties experiencing moderate drought. ncdrought.org photo
 

State sees widespread moderate drought

Most of North Carolina continues to experience moderate drought, according to the latest advisory from the North Carolina Drought Management…
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Steve Troxler. File photo
 

Troxler encourages watershed protection applications

N.C. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler encourages communities impacted by Hurricane Helene to apply for the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program,…
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Comment

The North Country Woods. Garret K. Woodward photo
 

This must be the place: ‘Let the mind beware, that though the flesh be bugged, the circumstances of existence are pretty glorious’

Sunday. Late morning. I’m awakened by the sounds of a curious dog in my upstairs neighbor’s apartment. He’s a sweet…
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Comment

Prophets of Time will play Sylva Dec. 20. File photo
 

Rock, jam at Lazy Hiker

Jam-rock ensemble Prophets of Time will hit the stage at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in…
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Comment

'The Polar Express' is a popular WNC ride. File photo
 

All aboard 'The Polar Express'

“The Polar Express” train ride will roll down the tracks on select dates from the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot…
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Comment

Slow down, spread the joy
 

Slow down, spread the joy

To the Editor: I appreciate Scott McLeod’s sage advice to relax for the upcoming Christmas day and following New Years. One…
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Comment

Board approves athlete transfer policy without path for implementation
 

Board approves athlete transfer policy without path for implementation

Despite having no recommendation to do so from its policy committee, legal advice outlining the complications of such a move,…
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