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Some people really can work miracles
By Stephanie Wampler I walked across the floor, the crowds cheering, the woman smiling as she handed me an award.…
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Land trust branches out, helps preserve community store
The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee has taken the protection of the historic landscape one step further with the…
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Recommended diversions
Brian Regan Live! Whether you purchase this CD or simply Google Brian Regan on your computer, you will find yourself…
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The nice ones are all red and shiny
By David Curtis If you are driving west along U.S. 23/74 and nearing exit 102, the Waynesville exit, you will…
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Transfer tax would help Swain schools
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer After several years of trying to secure funding for school improvements, Swain County officials…
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Bear frenzy over acorns attracts a crowd
Sometimes Bill Stiver, a wildlife biologist in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, feels more like a social scientist than…
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Who’ll pay the price?
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer It’s lunchtime in downtown Hazelwood, and the small area’s only parking lot of roughly…
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Highlands sets the table for a fall feast: Inaugural gathering of gastronomes holds great promise for the plateau
By Michael Beadle Indulge in a seven-course meal that includes roasted pheasant, foie gras and braised wild boar. Sip award-winning…
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What to do when you meet a bear
In his younger, more naïve hiking days, Joel Zachary found himself watching in slow motion as a bear charged toward…
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Halloween Ramblings, 2007
There’s a connection between being a musician and Halloween that goes beyond the obvious skulls/pumpkins/fake blood/heavy metal stereotype, at least…
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Decision expected soon on quarry permit
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Tuckasegee community members will learn next week if a rock quarry gets state approval…
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Ample options, no decision yet on Franklin Town Hall relocation
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer The possibility of relocating Franklin’s town hall has been a topic of debate among…
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Macon citizens deserve better from DOT on Siler Road project
A major road is in the planning stages, and neighbors and others in the community feel like it’s more of…
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Shelter plan irks Hall Top residents
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer It’s a typical neighborhood with houses, trees, bikes in the yard, a basketball goal…
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Lessons from the jungle
The Airmen and the Headhunters: A True Story of Lost Soldiers, Heroic Tribesman and the Unlikeliest Rescue of World War…
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Burmese need our voices our courage
By Michael Beadle The tired diatribes of partisan politics may continue to capture the headlines in the coming campaign months,…
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Spookables
It’s Halloween and goblins, ghouls, witches and vampires are wreaking havoc — and that’s before they get all that sugar…
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Paging all book lovers
Readers of the Smoky Mountain News are acutely aware of the writing and storytelling talent here in Western North Carolina.…
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Recommended diversions
Going to the movies Every now a then a great batch of movies is released, calling me to the movie…
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Island music in the mountains: Western Carolina University’s gamelan orchestra helps share the music of Malaysian culture
By Michael Beadle A few days before Halloween, strange sounds were coming from room 451 in the Coulter Building on…
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Smart Roads Alliance seeks answers on Southern Loop
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer In their fight to stop progress to the proposed Southern Loop, members of the…
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Watershed to be clearcut – planted in tobacco
OK, now that I’ve got your attention — there has been a recent flurry of hyperbole, rhetoric and misinformation regarding…
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A life in the rapids
By Jennifer Garlesky •Staff Writer The raging Class II rapids of the Cacapon River, which flows along the eastern panhandle…
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Martin removed as editor in Cherokee
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Last week Eastern Band of Cherokee officials made the decision to remove The Cherokee…
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When litter is good
Due to the virtual absence of wind and rain, the fall color season is lingering with us. But winter weather…
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Saving rain makes sense
By Kathleen Lamont This month’s column was a tossup. I was encouraged by a recent article on the Haywood County…
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Ever-evolving, always surprising
By Chris Cooper Mountain Heart released a fantastic album last year with Wide Open, demonstrating a remarkable ability to make…
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Macon makes mistakes in quest to pass school bonds
Macon County Schools superintendent Dan Brigman, school board attorney John Henning Jr. and the school board as a whole did…
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Sex offenders and civil liberties: Ordinance sparks debate over whether the two go hand and hand
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Convicted sex offenders don’t have many advocates, but a recent rush of laws banning…
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Incumbent Moody, newcomer Graham win in Sylva: Allen, Lewis tie will go to elections board
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Building a strong downtown district will be a top priority of the new Sylva…
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Brown unseats Foy in mayor’s race: Incumbents Feichter, Caldwell, Moore win; Roberson also in
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Former alderman Gavin Brown is now the new mayor of Waynesville, unseating 16-year incumbent…
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Some memories just spell T-R-A-U-M-A
I am pretty sure I am going to get lashed for saying this, especially as an English teacher, but I…
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Jackson Airport study OK’d
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Jackson County commissioners have decided to invest money in the county’s airport. Commissioners voted…
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Transfer tax goes down in Swain, Macon: Macon school bond, others all defeated
Voters in Swain and Macon counties soundly defeated land-transfer tax ballot initiatives Tuesday, dashing hopes that the newly approved measures…
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Franklin takes steps to fix sewage woes
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Franklin town leaders are in the process of fixing some of the sewage spills…
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Recommended diversions
Ski season Count me among those who continue to be like a kid at Christmas when it’s the beginning of…
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Faces of Neighbors: Photography exhibit focuses on the lives of local migrant workers
By Michael Beadle When nurse Josie Ellis set out to take pictures of Hispanic migrant families several years ago, she…
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Tuckasegee quarry permit denied
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Tuckasegee community members are at ease now that the state Department of Environment and…
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Carter through the eyes of a friend
Prophet From Plains: Jimmy Carter and His Legacy by Frye Gaillard. University of Georgia Press, 2007. 144 pages In the…
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Gauging a country’s greatness
By David Curtis Making the rounds in teacher’s email inboxes is a story about an educator from Arkansas who taught…
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Highlands prepares for mixed drinks, beer
By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer Restaurant patrons in Highlands will soon be able to sip on rum and coke…
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Election shows counties they have work to do before new funding OK’d
Last Tuesday’s vote was as illuminating as any recent elections, and it should send a few good signals to those…
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Haywood TDA shakeup underway
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Legislation passed in the most recent session of the General Assembly calls for the…
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Courthouse on track for bicentennial festivities
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The renovation of Haywood County’s historic courthouse is halfway complete, and things continue to…
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Winter preparation
If you’ve been getting out in the woods at all lately, you’re aware that it’s been an especially good season…
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Filling up a room with more than a table
By Sarah Kucharski Sunlight streams in our house’s south facing windows. The rays bring out the color in the Kiatt…
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Krauss and Plant deliver no less than expected
By Chris Cooper It’s not such an odd pairing when you think about it; two voices as recognizable as these,…
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Avian rescue at Central Elementary
It’s a little unsettling to hear your kindergartner’s voice when you answer the phone at midday. But I could tell…
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Snow blows at Cataloochee: Resort is once again among the first in the East to open
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Snow is once again blowing at the Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, marking…
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