Learn how to two-step at Diamond K
 

Learn how to two-step at Diamond K

The Diamond K Dance Ranch in Maggie Valley will hold a Two-Step Workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on…
Read More

Comment

Audition for ‘Unto These Hills’
 

Audition for ‘Unto These Hills’

The famed Cherokee outdoor drama “Unto These Hills” will hold auditions from 3 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 22,…
Read More

Comment

Renowned historian and storyteller to give presentation in Haywood Jan. 16
 

Renowned historian and storyteller to give presentation in Haywood Jan. 16

The Haywood County Arts Council is proud to present Master Cherokee storyteller and historian Lloyd Arneach will perform at the…
Read More

Comment

Falling in love with the art of paper cutting
 

Falling in love with the art of paper cutting

A single piece of paper can bring all sorts of different things to our lives: the excitement of a love…
Read More

Comment

Free radon testing kits available in Jackson
 

Free radon testing kits available in Jackson

January is Radon Education Month and the Jackson County Center of N.C. Cooperative Extension is offering free testing kits for…
Read More

Comment

Mountain BizWorks offers planning course­
 

Mountain BizWorks offers planning course­

Mountain BizWorks will offer Foundations, an eight-week business planning course, starting Jan. 24 at its offices in Sylva. During the…
Read More

Comment

Old-time remedies focus of genealogical society meeting
 

Old-time remedies focus of genealogical society meeting

The Haywood County Historical and Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at the First Methodist…
Read More

Comment

Lottery money takes on new role as state budget cuts loom
 

Lottery money takes on new role as state budget cuts loom

By definition, the lottery is a gamble. There’s no guarantee of winning, no assurance that you’ll look back on your…
Read More

Comment

GOP may loosen rules on lottery proceeds
 

GOP may loosen rules on lottery proceeds

With the GOP takeover of the state General Assembly, lottery money and how schools use what they’re given will come…
Read More

Comment

Calm your cabin fever at Haywood’s Fire and Ice Winterfest
 

Calm your cabin fever at Haywood’s Fire and Ice Winterfest

Tired of being indoors this winter? Take your mind off winters chill and warm up with the Haywood County Chamber…
Read More

Comment

What price public service? Arizona shooting fuels discussion in WNC
 

What price public service? Arizona shooting fuels discussion in WNC

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, is getting the word out: from now on, he’ll be carrying a gun when meeting…
Read More

Comment

New York City? No wonder they left us out
 

New York City? No wonder they left us out

A spokeswoman with the state Department of Transportation said they didn’t intentionally leave out the state’s westernmost counties on an…
Read More

Comment

Letter alleges DOT fraud; investigation under way
 

Letter alleges DOT fraud; investigation under way

An anonymous letter alleging corruption — including bribery, embezzlement, overbilling and theft of state materials — among contractors hired to…
Read More

Comment

Fund for Haywood County announces grant recipients
 

Fund for Haywood County announces grant recipients

Fund for Haywood County has released $28,335 in recent grants to local nonprofit organizations supporting important community initiatives. The grants…
Read More

Comment

A special place in the heart of arborists
 

A special place in the heart of arborists

Winter is the season for thinking about pines. For the ancient Orientals, pines signified dignity and vitality, especially in old…
Read More

Comment

Farming the woods for forest crops
 

Farming the woods for forest crops

A one-day workshop called “Does Your Forest Talk Money?” will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Stecoah Valley…
Read More

Comment

Green Drinks series to highlight chestnut restoration
 

Green Drinks series to highlight chestnut restoration

A talk called “Forest Majesty: Bringing back the American chestnut tree” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19,…
Read More

Comment

Waynesville rec center now offers spin classes
 

Waynesville rec center now offers spin classes

Cyclists aiming to stay fit during winter or those looking for a change of pace in their workout should check…
Read More

Comment

Ski area to offer after-school program
 

Ski area to offer after-school program

Cataloochee Ski Area is offering after-school programs for elementary, middle and high school kids to learn to ski or snowboard…
Read More

Comment

Donation sets the stage for protection of Headwaters tract
 

Donation sets the stage for protection of Headwaters tract

The quest to protect the 8,000-acre Headwaters tract in Transylvania County — one of the last undeveloped tracts of its…
Read More

Comment

Bear license plate support projects the Smokies
 

Bear license plate support projects the Smokies

Special license plates sporting a black bear have proliferated across WNC, raising $356,000 in 2010 for Friends of the Smokies,…
Read More

Comment

Anglers offer fly-fishing class for beginners
 

Anglers offer fly-fishing class for beginners

Fly-fishing wannabes can learn the basics and try their hand at casting a line this winter thanks to an ongoing…
Read More

Comment

The Naturalist's Corner: A soggy record
 

The Naturalist's Corner: A soggy record

The twin banes of birding, wind and rain, combined to help set a new record low for the eighth annual…
Read More

Comment

The great white quiet
 

The great white quiet

Doug McFalls spent last winter as caretaker at LeConte Lodge in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The lodge is…
Read More

Comment

A cautionary tale of the dangers of excess
 

A cautionary tale of the dangers of excess

“The rich are different from you and me,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said to Ernest Hemingway, to which Hemingway…
Read More

Comment

Music offers break from winter doldrums
 

Music offers break from winter doldrums

Though most people think the music jams at the Bryson City library are just a summertime thing, they carry on…
Read More

Comment

Kids to get crafty with wintertime creations
 

Kids to get crafty with wintertime creations

A free ARTSaturday program for elementary school-aged children and their families will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on…
Read More

Comment

HART studio season begins with ‘Life in the Theatre’
 

HART studio season begins with ‘Life in the Theatre’

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will open its 2011 winter Studio Theater Season with a bit of backstage humor and…
Read More

Comment

WNC chefs face off at Fire & Ice
 

WNC chefs face off at Fire & Ice

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce will host a Western Carolina chef’s competition during the second annual Fire & Ice…
Read More

Comment

Liars Bench storytellers tip their hat to moonshine history
 

Liars Bench storytellers tip their hat to moonshine history

Moonshine will take center stage at the next Liars Bench, a variety show series paying hommage to aspects of Southern…
Read More

Comment

Paula Deen cooks up live show at Harrah’s
 

Paula Deen cooks up live show at Harrah’s

The cooking star Paula Deen will bring her flare for Southern cooking to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino with a live cooking…
Read More

Comment

Putting on a show: Franklin’s Overlook Theater Company banks on the appeal of timeless stage classics
 

Putting on a show: Franklin’s Overlook Theater Company banks on the appeal of timeless stage classics

Everybody loves a classic. At least that’s what the minds behind Franklin’s Overlook Theater Company were banking on when they…
Read More

Comment

This stretch of road deserves better care
 

This stretch of road deserves better care

To the Editor: As a Macon County native who learned to drive in these mountains more than 40 years ago,…
Read More

Comment

How can faith leaders support Dream Act?
 

How can faith leaders support Dream Act?

To the Editor: I read in the newspaper an article called “Faith Leaders support the Dream Act.” What reality do…
Read More

Comment

New group seeks political solutions
 

New group seeks political solutions

To the Editor: We live in the greatest country in the world, but we have serious challenges — challenges that…
Read More

Comment

Immigrants can enrich all of us
 

Immigrants can enrich all of us

To the Editor: Scott McLeod writes accurately and with emotion about the Dream Act (“Hagen, senate wrong on Dream Act,”…
Read More

Comment

Just shut up and bang it out
 

Just shut up and bang it out

I’ve never been big on New Year’s resolutions. But this weekend I decided to list five and work seriously toward…
Read More

Comment

Mistake is a reminder to tell it like it is
 

Mistake is a reminder to tell it like it is

“… but a belief in hard work and treating others fairly was ingrained from a very early age in my…
Read More

Comment

HCC offers help in managing time
 

HCC offers help in managing time

The Small Business Center of Haywood Community College will offer a free seminar entitled, “Organizing your Work and Life -…
Read More

Comment

Learn about animal rescue efforts
 

Learn about animal rescue efforts

Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation’s annual meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Haywood County…
Read More

Comment

Public hearing set for landfill problem
 

Public hearing set for landfill problem

Jackson County’s old solid waste landfill is leaking contaminants in higher concentrations than allowed into the groundwater, and satisfying state…
Read More

Comment

Commissioners demand ‘green’ wonder prove black-and-white dollar value
 

Commissioners demand ‘green’ wonder prove black-and-white dollar value

How fickle fortune can be, Timm Muth, the director of the oft-touted Green Energy Park, found upon tendering a simple…
Read More

Comment

Situation still bleak for builders in the region
 

Situation still bleak for builders in the region

By Colby Dunn and Quintin Ellison • Staff Writers Although retail businesses might have found some relief toward the latter…
Read More

Comment

Taking tabs on economic recovery: Economic situation in WNC seems to be improving for small businesses
 

Taking tabs on economic recovery: Economic situation in WNC seems to be improving for small businesses

By Colby Dunn and Quintin Ellison • Staff writers Despite a sour economy, many businesses in Western North Carolina are…
Read More

Comment

Needmore proposal back for debate; this time in Macon County
 

Needmore proposal back for debate; this time in Macon County

People for and against the state Department of Transportation’s plans to pave and widen a 3.3-mile section of Needmore Road…
Read More

Comment

West Elementary gets new classrooms
 

West Elementary gets new classrooms

Swain County’s West Elementary School will be getting a classroom expansion thanks to $1.8 million handed to them by Swain…
Read More

Comment

Haywood releases closed session minutes on its own accord
 

Haywood releases closed session minutes on its own accord

At their last meeting of 2010, the Haywood County Commissioners made what might seem like a rather mundane decision. They…
Read More

Comment

Crowd revs up against proposed dirt bike racetrack
 

Crowd revs up against proposed dirt bike racetrack

More than 100 people turned out recently to protest a Macon County farmer’s plan to save his land by building…
Read More

Comment

Vote for Western Carolina University's Pride of the Mountains Marching Band
 

Vote for Western Carolina University's Pride of the Mountains Marching Band

Southern California-area television station KTLA is polling Parade of Roses viewers to determine which participating band is the crowd favorite.…
Read More

Comment

A family full of marriage, but not quite bliss
 

A family full of marriage, but not quite bliss

Editor’s note: This George Ellison column was first published in December 2004. Most everyone agrees that marriage is a noble…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.