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Old houses, spirits and comfort food
By Karen Dill • Special to Smoky Mountain News October is a glorious month. Brilliant colors dot the mountains against…
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Hospital denies county commissioners a seat at the table
Despite their requests, Haywood County commissioners will not be guaranteed a spot on the new joint operating board of Haywood…
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Canton’s future pivots on heated board race
When voters head to the polls in Canton next week, they will face a daunting and even unwieldy list to…
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Balsam Mountain Preserve property owners pull off grassroots fundraising on a colossal scale
Affluent property owners in Balsam Mountain Preserve have raised commitments of $16.3 million in an effort to stave off foreclosure…
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Cullowhee a good sports town for athletes and spectators
By Gibbs Knotts • Guest Columnist Some local sportswriters have expressed bewilderment at a recent ranking by a nationally circulated…
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Meet the candidates
Two of the five seats on the Sylva town board are up for election. Both incumbents are running for re-election…
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A page from the past: Smokies’ artifacts tender rare glimpse into life before the park
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is home to one of the most intact and comprehensive collections of early Americana,…
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Withstanding winter’s cold
Editor’s note: George Ellison is on sabbatical this week and will return next week. This is a previously published column.…
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Irritating public comment must be tolerated
Haywood County elected officials may sometimes get fed up dealing with the incessant public record requests and the three-hour meetings…
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Haywood-WestCare Joint Operating Agreement Frequently Asked Questions
Is it true that Haywood and WestCare have merged? No. The boards of Haywood Regional Medical Center (HRMC) and WestCare…
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Waynesville Rec Center struck by vandals
The Waynesville Recreation Center was vandalized late sometime late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. The vandals entered the building…
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HRMC, WestCare affiliation creates MedWest
A long-awaited affiliation of the hospitals in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties will become official in January 2010. That’s when…
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A peculiar angst
Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy. Picador, 2000. 272 pages. Walker Percy not only wrote…
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Sylva candidates split on funding for downtown projects
The election for Sylva town board next week will determine the philosophical direction for the town. The board has been…
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No quick fix for rock slide that closes I-40
Western North Carolina is bracing itself for the impact of a massive rockslide that will shut down a major chunk…
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Meet the candidates
There are 10 candidates running for four seats on the Canton town board. Only two sitting aldermen are running for…
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The Naturalist's Corner
The rush to be green is making me blue Let’s see, automakers can get CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) credits…
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Haywood County braces for economic impacts of prolonged I-40 closure
By all indications, the closing of Interstate 40 due to a massive rockslide will be more than just a minor…
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Macon rallies to defense of river and wins
Macon County has won a partial victory in the fight over the permitting of an industrial wastewater treatment plant in…
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Downtown platform
Several candidates have made downtown revitalization the central tenet of their campaign and consider it the one of the most…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Slogging through the watershed It was dark, 39 degrees and a steady light drizzle when I walked from the house…
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Is this the change you waited for?
By Kirkwood Callahan • Guest Columnist In the election of 2008 many Americans aspired for hope and change when Barack…
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Keeping commissioner on hospital board lends accountability
The joint board that will run the eventual Haywood Regional Medical Center-WestCare affiliation needs to have a sitting Haywood County…
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Three seek two seats on Maggie Valley board
The Town of Maggie Valley has a town board with four aldermen/alderwomen and a mayor with voting power. Each official…
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Drill mimics real disaster, right down to tunnel collapse
A drill simulating the collapse of a tunnel on Interstate 40 in Haywood County tested and prepared the full gamut…
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Whimsical tales defy explanation
Willful Creatures Stories by Aimee Bender. Doubleday & Company, 2005. 208 pages Recently, Garrison Keilor mentioned a new writer, Aimee…
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Tales from the trail
Jennifer Pharr Davis, the female record-holder for the fastest thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail, spoke to a large crowd in…
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WCU raises $50 million for endowment
Western Carolina University last week announced that the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in university history has netted a grand total…
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Fishermen to hear report on mercury and walleye
Fish biologists will discuss mercury contamination in fish in mountain lakes at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, at the…
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Unfinished hotel mars Sylva landscape
The fate of an unfinished Clarion Inn in Sylva is up in the air after a bank foreclosed on the…
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Most make extra effort to hear public
As Haywood County commissioners grapple with a surge in this public input at their meetings, largely from the same crowd…
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Election guaranteed to bring new leadership in Dillsboro
This November, the Town of Dillsboro will elect all five members of its town board, along with a new mayor…
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Corridor K brings anywhere America right here to WNC
By Brent Martin • Guest Columnist When President John F. Kennedy formed a federal-state committee in 1963 known as the…
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Haywood again looks at old Wal-Mart for DSS building
Haywood County commissioners are once again considering the abandoned Wal-Mart shell for a new Department of Social Services building. The…
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Haywood says state shirking responsibility
Haywood County commissioner sent a strong message to Raleigh this week, chastising state government for not stepping in to help…
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The need for speed AT record-setter enjoys simplicity of fast, solo hiking
Jennifer Pharr Davis says she never set out be a speed hiker. When she first hiked the entire Appalachian Trail…
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Maggie hopefuls say tourists and locals important
If there’s a buzz word for Maggie Valley’s town board elections this year, it’s “balance.” Alderwoman Saralyn Price said she…
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Sylva ColorFest showcases work of regional artists
Downtown Sylva will host ColorFest: Art of the Blue Ridge from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 24. The event…
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Robust citizen input vexes public officials
Johnnie Cure said she never expected to become a local celebrity when she started speaking up during the public comment…
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A great observer of the Smokies
Arthur Stupka (1905-1999) was the first naturalist in the National Park Service in the eastern United States. That was at…
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Marc Pruett earns praise from all sides for his work
When Haywood County commissioners convened this week to discuss the fate of the county’s erosion control program, they were met…
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Woodsmen’s Team finishes in first place at meet
The Haywood Community College Woodsmen’s Team finished first in the 2009 John G. Palmer Intercollegiate Woodsmen’s Meet and Forest Festival…
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NOC to hold fly-fishing tournament with a twist
The Nantahala Outdoor Center will hold its first ever fly-fishing competition Oct. 17 and 18 on the Nantahala River in…
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Obama haters showing their true colors
His harshest critics delight in daring you to characterize their frothing hatred — and there is no other word for…
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The mystery of Judaculla Rock
Located in a field in the rural Caney Fork community of Jackson County is Judaculla Rock, a soapstone boulder covered…
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Fly-fishing duo takes top spot in local tournament
By Julie Ball As a teenager, Josh Stephens worked summers as a rafting guide on the Nantahala River. He’d watch…
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Cherokee immersion school aims to save language
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians praised the new Kituwah Language Academy for the cultural renaissance that’s now unfolding within…
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In the running
The Town of Franklin has a town board with six aldermen/alderwomen and a mayor who votes only to break ties.…
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The Naturalist's Corner
The leaves, they are a’ changing It seems like colors popped on the mountains almost overnight last Thursday or Friday.…
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