Katahdins proving to be great sheep for these mountains
 

Katahdins proving to be great sheep for these mountains

Maybe I’m just self-absorbed, but I swear that when I’m interested in something, it often seems as if the whole…
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For better or worse, for normal or weird
 

For better or worse, for normal or weird

One of the advantages of getting older is that you learn a few things if you pay attention. For example,…
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Grab bargains at indoor yard sale
 

Grab bargains at indoor yard sale

An indoor yard sale will take over the Ramsey Regional Activity Center at Western Carolina University from 8 a.m. to…
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Create soaps, salts, rugs at crafting classes
 

Create soaps, salts, rugs at crafting classes

Learn to make scented soap, bath salts or a hooked mug rug in three new classes from 10 a.m. on…
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Writers’ group welcomes local author
 

Writers’ group welcomes local author

Heather Newton, author of Under the Mercy Trees, will be the speaker for the Mountain Writers’ Network at 1 p.m.…
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‘Shipwrecked’ to stage at HART
 

‘Shipwrecked’ to stage at HART

The Haywood Arts Regional Theater is gearing up for its next production, “Shipwrecked,” showing at 7:30 p.m. on April 8…
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Dance and dine at monthly contra day
 

Dance and dine at monthly contra day

A free contra dance will be held from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, at the Bridge Park…
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Take the A train with WCU stage play
 

Take the A train with WCU stage play

Western Carolina University theater students will present the unconventional “The Atrainplays, Vol. 2” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, through…
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Voices in the Laurel 15th Anniversary Gala Concert
 

Voices in the Laurel 15th Anniversary Gala Concert

Western North Carolina’s renowned youth choir Voices in the Laurel will perform with award winning composer and guest conductor Dr.…
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Overlook Players to do ‘Sound of Music’
 

Overlook Players to do ‘Sound of Music’

Franklin’s Overlook Players will perform Rogers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” April 14 through 17 at the Smoky Mountain…
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Curly Hollow: From Canton to Nashville and back
 

Curly Hollow: From Canton to Nashville and back

By DeeAnna Haney • Smoky Mountain News Intern Although Curly Hollow might sound like the perfect picnic area down some…
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Waynesville considers compromise on parking in front of building
 

Waynesville considers compromise on parking in front of building

Waynesville leaders will vote this month on whether to loosen town guidelines governing growth. A special task force spent the…
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Take a walk in her shoes
 

Take a walk in her shoes

Men and their families are invited to Take A Walk In Her Shoes, a sexual assault awareness event, will run…
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Enroll in Red Cross babysitter’s training
 

Enroll in Red Cross babysitter’s training

The Haywood County Red Cross is encouraging boys and girls ages 11 to 15 who would like to start their…
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Dropouts stay-in more in Jackson County
 

Dropouts stay-in more in Jackson County

Jackson County Schools’ dropout rate has decreased by 56.2 percent – from 4.43 in 2008-09 to 1.99 in 2009-10.   …
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Bridge near Highlands slated for replacement
 

Bridge near Highlands slated for replacement

A bridge will be replaced over the Cullasaja River on Mirror Lake Road near Highlands in Macon County. A $577,544…
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League to discuss health care
 

League to discuss health care

The League of Women Voters of Macon County will present a program on affordable health care in North Carolina at…
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Program encourages families of the disabled
 

Program encourages families of the disabled

The author of “Grown Man Now,” and Western Carolina University professor Jane B. Schulz, will speak at a program geared…
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Paint pottery for a cause
 

Paint pottery for a cause

Paint a bowl to fill a bowl – proceeds from pottery painting at Claymates from April 1 to April 17…
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Railroad will return to Dillsboro for less than originally requested
 

Railroad will return to Dillsboro for less than originally requested

Bringing regular train service back to Dillsboro greatly depends on whether Jackson County commissioners come up with dollars to help…
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Train contemplates engine turn-around, but search for the right site continues
 

Train contemplates engine turn-around, but search for the right site continues

Private land in Dillsboro might spare the historic Monteith House site from becoming home to a turntable for the Great…
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Learn about butterflies this Easter
 

Learn about butterflies this Easter

Easter Butterflies: Magical, Mystical, Majestical is the topic of an April program through the Lake Junaluska Live and Learn Committee.…
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Tips, help on coping with depression
 

Tips, help on coping with depression

Ladies Night Out is holding a special follow-up program in Macon County to a March event on overcoming depression and…
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Maintenance work to boost economy
 

Maintenance work to boost economy

Canton’s Evergreen Packaging mill’s is due for major maintenance this spring, bringing more than 1,000 contractors to the area to…
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Golf tournament to feed the hungry
 

Golf tournament to feed the hungry

The Pasquale’s Charity Golf Tournament is coming to the Waynesville Golf Resort on Sunday, April 17, to benefit Friends of…
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Real estate roller coaster throws Jackson, Macon property revals off track
 

Real estate roller coaster throws Jackson, Macon property revals off track

This isn’t the easiest time to be a real estate agent in Jackson and Macon counties, not with the crippled…
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New values based on hyperlocal formula
 

New values based on hyperlocal formula

Haywood County’s property revaluation was a massive undertaking: appraisers had to lay eyes on 50,000 properties, from condos to fast-food…
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What new property values mean for your taxes
 

What new property values mean for your taxes

Property owners in Haywood County faced a Catch 22 when their new property values arrived in the mail last week.…
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Despite fears, Haywood property values hold their own: Land and lots fall, while median-priced homes rise
 

Despite fears, Haywood property values hold their own: Land and lots fall, while median-priced homes rise

When Mollie Weaver put her house on the market two weeks ago, she was bracing for the worst. She’d been…
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Jail escapee found in Myrtle Beach
 

Jail escapee found in Myrtle Beach

After sprinting out the front door a few weeks ago, an escaped Haywood County inmate is back behind bars. Frank…
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Take part in Macon County’s Special Olympics
 

Take part in Macon County’s Special Olympics

The Macon County Special Olympics Games will be held Friday, April 8, at the Macon Middle School track.   Opening…
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Waynesville wins concessions  in Junaluska water negotiations
 

Waynesville wins concessions in Junaluska water negotiations

Waynesville officials have finally signed an agreement with the Junaluska Sanitary District that marries the two entities for 10 more…
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WCU Faculty Senate debates whether to intervene in dispute between professors and administration
 

WCU Faculty Senate debates whether to intervene in dispute between professors and administration

At least three internal reorganizations in just five years have spurred a growing number of faculty members at Western Carolina…
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WCU chancellor pick expected Friday
 

WCU chancellor pick expected Friday

A new chancellor for Western Carolina University will be announced this Friday during the N.C. Board of Governor’s meeting in…
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Reorganization efforts at WCU focus of faculty meetings
 

Reorganization efforts at WCU focus of faculty meetings

At least three internal reorganizations in just five years have spurred a growing number of faculty members at Western Carolina…
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A blemish by any other name
 

A blemish by any other name

Systems of mature trees and shrubs are covered with blemishes that signal age: cankers, seams, burls, butt scars, sterile conks,…
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National Park offers fieldtrips for students
 

National Park offers fieldtrips for students

Take advantage of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a classroom through the Spring Parks as Classrooms program, running…
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Sign up for Lake Logan camps under way
 

Sign up for Lake Logan camps under way

Registration is under way for the Rivercourse Coldwater Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp at Lake Logan Center in Haywood…
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Foundation allocates money for 2011 projects
 

Foundation allocates money for 2011 projects

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation has given $500,000 in funding for projects and programs on the parkway. The projects for…
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Learn about benefits of land conservation
 

Learn about benefits of land conservation

Haywood County landowners can learn about conserving their land Monday, April 4, at the Haywood Agricultural Center in Waynesville. The…
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The Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Awards
 

The Roosevelt-Ashe Conservation Awards

Through some kind of mix up in the mail, I received a nomination from Wild South’s Roosevelt-Ashe Society for “Outstanding…
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Festivals celebrate onset of AT hiking season
 

Festivals celebrate onset of AT hiking season

Thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail — those hearty souls who attempt the entire 2,170-mile trek from Georgia to Maine from…
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Poet captures WNC culture in new book
 

Poet captures WNC culture in new book

Jackson County resident Thomas Crowe will read from and sign copies of his new collection of poems, Crack Light, at…
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Author discusses adventure on the Appalachian Trail
 

Author discusses adventure on the Appalachian Trail

Jennifer Pharr Davis will discuss her book, Becoming Odyssa: Epic Adventures on the Appalachian Trail, at 6 p.m. on Saturday,…
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Biography recounts the life of a quiet hero
 

Biography recounts the life of a quiet hero

In “Twelfth Night,” Shakespeare wrote: “Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have…
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Growing the connection between farms and consumers
 

Growing the connection between farms and consumers

Friends of mine in the Jackson County farming community have launched a joint CSA, which is short for Community Sustained…
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The attack of the killer jumping worms
 

The attack of the killer jumping worms

It wiggles nicely on a hook at the end of a fishing line. It also has such a large appetite…
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The real costs of energy consumption
 

The real costs of energy consumption

To the Editor: Humans need to know that our lives have meaning. Our searches for meaning are labeled religion and…
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Still no jobs from new GOP leaders
 

Still no jobs from new GOP leaders

To the Editor: Where are the jobs? The new Republican majority in the North Carolina state legislature promised just that…
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GOP takes hypocrisy to a new low
 

GOP takes hypocrisy to a new low

To the Editor: Hypocrisy is defined as the “condition of a person pretending to be something he is not, especially…
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