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Smokies landslide could deal crushing blow to tourism if road repairs drag on
 

Smokies landslide could deal crushing blow to tourism if road repairs drag on

A rain-induced landslide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park left a gaping hole in U.S. 441, but its impact…
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Can the digital age save the Cherokee language? The halls of Facebook, Google and texting
 

Can the digital age save the Cherokee language? The halls of Facebook, Google and texting

Susan Gathers was kicked back in the student union one afternoon, her thumbs poised over her smart phone, simultaneously bantering…
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Haywood TDA introduces site tailored to lodging owners
 

Haywood TDA introduces site tailored to lodging owners

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has launched a new website with information specifically for lodging owners.
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Audit finds vacation rentals dodging the lodging tax
 

Audit finds vacation rentals dodging the lodging tax

A company hired by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has found a dozen businesses that have been evading a…
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County likely to take over reins of new Jackson economic commission
 

County likely to take over reins of new Jackson economic commission

Although Jackson County’s Economic Development Commission has not met in several years, all its board members’ terms have expired and…
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Is Cashiers ABC store a sure bet? Sylva weighs whether to cast its lot with county’s new liquor store endeavors
 

Is Cashiers ABC store a sure bet? Sylva weighs whether to cast its lot with county’s new liquor store endeavors

As Jackson County officials craft plans to open a liquor store in Cashiers, possibly as soon this summer, they must…
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Lake Junaluska winnows options as merger window narrows
 

Lake Junaluska winnows options as merger window narrows

Lake Junaluskans got their first glimpse this weekend at what it would take for the community to become its own…
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Descendents rekindle Civil War tale of sheriff shot 150 years ago
 

Descendents rekindle Civil War tale of sheriff shot 150 years ago

The death of Haywood County Sheriff John Phillip Noland — a murder story set against the backdrop of the American Civil…
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Time to fish or cut bait in Canton swimming pool dilemma
 

Time to fish or cut bait in Canton swimming pool dilemma

The decrepit state of Canton’s aging outdoor swimming pool has left town leaders with two options — bulldoze it and build…
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Macon ponders raises and salary realignments for county workers
 

Macon ponders raises and salary realignments for county workers

Proposed pay raises for county workers in Macon has prompted skepticism from at least two of the five county commissioners,…
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Macon leaders ponder new method for parceling up commissioner voting districts
 

Macon leaders ponder new method for parceling up commissioner voting districts

Macon County commissioners are analyzing the geographic system of electing county leaders after two commissioners from outlying communities questioned whether…
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HCC craft student wins national award
 

HCC craft student wins national award

Haywood Community College Professional Crafts Fiber student Rebecca Porche is the recipient of the Handweavers Guild of America’s Dendel Scholarship…
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HART makes big leaps in theater fundraising
 

HART makes big leaps in theater fundraising

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville has raised $160,000 since last summer in a capital campaign to build a second…
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Fire & Ice gallery show opens
 

Fire & Ice gallery show opens

Onlooker John Highsmith takes a gander at “Blue Heron,” the latest metal sculpture from Grace Cathey at the “Fire &…
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Theater troupe brings Civil Rights to life for Jackson students
 

Theater troupe brings Civil Rights to life for Jackson students

Theatrical productions of “Struggle for Freedom” and “George Washington Carver and Friends” will be put on for local school students…
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The art of stereotyping: Have Southerners gotten a fair shake from pop culture?
 

The art of stereotyping: Have Southerners gotten a fair shake from pop culture?

Times may change, but stereotypes tend to linger. Venturing into the off-color humor and often offensive images of Southern culture…
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Northern siskins ‘irrupting’ right now at my feeder
 

Northern siskins ‘irrupting’ right now at my feeder

“The opportunistic nature of the species and its partial indifference to constraints of time and space make it an intriguing…
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Big investment made in local bio-fuels
 

Big investment made in local bio-fuels

A consortium of Western North Carolina public agencies and private organizations will receive a grant of $766,000 from the N.C.…
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Working farmland protection plan being crafted in Swain
 

Working farmland protection plan being crafted in Swain

Swain County farmers, landowners, and other interested individuals are invited to share their thoughts and idea on a new farmland…
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I feel the earth move…
 

I feel the earth move…

It may not have shaken the Richter scale like the stampede of Republican lawmakers and their realtor and developer lobbyists…
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Weather or not: Local Yokel Weather fine tunes forecasts for your neck of the woods
 

Weather or not: Local Yokel Weather fine tunes forecasts for your neck of the woods

Have you ever been told by the evening news to expect three inches of snow overnight, but after stocking up…
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Historian presents a factual story of Cleopatra
 

Historian presents a factual story of Cleopatra

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” — Cicero, 106 B.C. Stacy…
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A different perspective on guns and government
 

A different perspective on guns and government

To the Editor: As someone who has lived in four different countries and traveled to several others over the last…
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Shame on Jack Debnam and Jackson’s citizens
 

Shame on Jack Debnam and Jackson’s citizens

To the Editor: Friends, they’ve out-waited us. And, motivated by the smell of money, they appear to have outlasted us…
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Some want to lead by using fear
 

Some want to lead by using fear

To the Editor: Don’t let anyone tell you there’s no conspiracy or that conspirators are not busily at work here…
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‘Gun Free Zones’ are danger zones
 

‘Gun Free Zones’ are danger zones

To the Editor: Legislation has created a zone where the only people protected by a “gun free zone” are the…
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U.S. Postal Service should be left intact
 

U.S. Postal Service should be left intact

To the Editor: We have just been through a holiday season during which the U.S. Postal Service and its workers…
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State GOP leaders’ tax plan would benefit wealthy
 

State GOP leaders’ tax plan would benefit wealthy

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist A 1996 New Yorker cartoon — poking fun at Steve Forbes’s presidential campaign plank…
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Muddy waters: WNC feels the blues following unrelenting rainstorms
 

Muddy waters: WNC feels the blues following unrelenting rainstorms

A four-day stretch of heavy rains fell on Western North Carolina, leaving residents wondering if it would ever end. Some…
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Farewell, Mayor Phyllis Waynesville’s longtime town clerk retires
 

Farewell, Mayor Phyllis Waynesville’s longtime town clerk retires

The longest-serving town clerk in Waynesville’s written history will retire next week, taking with her a vast store of institutional…
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Contenders line up to be next Haywood Sheriff
 

Contenders line up to be next Haywood Sheriff

Three men, all with impressive law enforcement backgrounds, are vying to be Haywood County’s next sheriff. The current Sheriff, Bobby…
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New concert venue in the making for Maggie Valley
 

New concert venue in the making for Maggie Valley

Carolina Nights, a closed-down dinner theater in Maggie Valley, could make a comeback as an entertainment venue under new owners.…
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Jackson commissioners hold final say on looser steep slope rules
 

Jackson commissioners hold final say on looser steep slope rules

A rewrite of Jackson County’s development regulations are well underway by the Jackson County Planning Board. It will be several…
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WCU casts wide net to reel back freshmen dropouts
 

WCU casts wide net to reel back freshmen dropouts

With more than 15,000 applications for just 1,500 freshman spots last year, Western Carolina University has no difficulty attracting students.…
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Theories swirl around perplexing mountain lights
 

Theories swirl around perplexing mountain lights

Ghosts, spirits, swamp gas, gnomes and car headlights — there’s no shortage of hyphotheses behind the mysterious phenomenon along the…
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What lies beneath: A night on the town with Sylva’s musical renaissance
 

What lies beneath: A night on the town with Sylva’s musical renaissance

“Once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right…”– Grateful…
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Blues-rock spills into WNC
 

Blues-rock spills into WNC

Blues guitarist Husky Burnette will be performing at 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at the No Name Sports Pub in…
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Calling all chocoholics to Bryson City
 

Calling all chocoholics to Bryson City

Cooks of all things chocolate will square off at the “Sixth Annual Chocolate Cook-Off” from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.…
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Rising country group to play Franklin
 

Rising country group to play Franklin

Rising country music group Eden’s Edge will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at the Smoky Mountain…
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Steep slope rules on the rocks? Jackson planning board seeks middle ground in ordinance rewrite
 

Steep slope rules on the rocks? Jackson planning board seeks middle ground in ordinance rewrite

Jackson County’s planning board is knee-deep in a page-by-page rewrite of the county’s steep slope rules — a controversial process…
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Swain lands state grant for riverside pocket park in Bryson
 

Swain lands state grant for riverside pocket park in Bryson

Plans for a riverfront park behind the historic courthouse in Bryson City got a boost thanks to $150,000 from the…
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Tribe keeps tap flowing for Sequoyah a while longer
 

Tribe keeps tap flowing for Sequoyah a while longer

“If at first you don’t succeed, simply make your case again” is the lesson the executives at the tribally owned…
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PETA protests bear zoos in Cherokee on heels of undercover video
 

PETA protests bear zoos in Cherokee on heels of undercover video

Despite being warned not to return to Cherokee without tribal permission, animal rights activists gathered once again last Saturday in…
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Cherokee brings more health care in-house with new hospital
 

Cherokee brings more health care in-house with new hospital

When pediatricians at Cherokee Indian Hospital retreat to their desk between patients to log data, research puzzling symptoms or review…
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Canton’s fight to keep Camp Hope takes a new turn
 

Canton’s fight to keep Camp Hope takes a new turn

Canton leaders are pondering how much time and money to invest in an abandoned summer camp and mountain property left…
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Schools weigh cost of increased safety
 

Schools weigh cost of increased safety

Officer Michael Harrison has confiscated everything from buck knives and Airsoft pistols from students at Swain High — but never…
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Veteran apartment proposed in Canton
 

Veteran apartment proposed in Canton

An empty eyesore in Canton’s downtown could get a new lease on life. The former Jackson’s Appliance store, at the…
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Headwaters now BearWaters after trademark tangle
 

Headwaters now BearWaters after trademark tangle

Beer had been flowing from the taps of Headwaters Brewing Company in Waynesville for just a few months when the…
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DSS says faith-based aid groups help fill in gaps
 

DSS says faith-based aid groups help fill in gaps

As government aid shrinks and church groups step up to fill the void, the thin and sometimes fuzzy line between…
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Looking out on a busy day in Bryson City
 

Looking out on a busy day in Bryson City

For some, graveyards are morbid places. When I was a boy, I never liked to pass by or walk through…
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