Archived (29788)
Children categories
Haywood to buy old Wal-Mart to replace aging DSS, Health Department buildings
Year after year, Haywood County commissioners recognized the social service and health department buildings were falling apart. Yet they passed…
Read More
I, Church Mouse: The Day and Life of a Church Mouse
NOTE: Gracie Mayer won the Building Small Essay Contest held in conjunction with the N.C. Arboretum's Building Small exhibit and…
Read More
Close-up of a crumbling facility
Fire code violations, compromised client confidentiality, leaking roofs, freezing pipes, lack of energy efficiency, severely limited space, windows that won’t…
Read More
Kimmel bankruptcy threatens construction management donation to WCU
The bankruptcy of one of Western Carolina University’s largest supporters will hurt the school’s fast growing construction management program. In…
Read More
Elk delisting draws ire of protectors
“Elk don’t know how many feet a horse has.” That’s the advice Bear Claw Chris Lapp gave Jeremiah Johnson as…
Read More
If you reform a reform, is it still reform?
Michael Watson, assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, contends the state’s overhaul of its behavioral health…
Read More
National Guard soldiers deserve better
The Smoky Mountain News cover story last week about the troubles faced by returning National Guard soldiers after deployments in…
Read More
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver record DVD live in Franklin
Audience members knew from the start that this concert would be different. Instead of beginning the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver…
Read More
A tale of both despair and hope
Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Elizabeth and Michael Norman. Farrar,…
Read More
Smokies not pleased with Wildlife Commission stance on elk
The North Carolina Wildlife Commission is at odds with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the status of the…
Read More
New club nurtures growing interest in bees
A beekeepers association has formed in Haywood County. The club meets at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month…
Read More
The Naturalist's Corner
And then there were none Atlee Yoder’s purple martin houses are in storage, out of the raw Ohio weather, awaiting…
Read More
A look at John Preston Arthur
One of my favorite accounts of this region’s varied history is provided by John Preston Arthur, who published his 659-page…
Read More
Jackson loses critical court case over Dillsboro dam
Duke Energy could start tearing down the Dillsboro Dam any day after Jackson County lost a final and critical legal…
Read More
Congregation backs leaders’ stand on prayer
Responding to a Smoky Mountain News article covering the debate over prayer at public meetings, a group of Macon County…
Read More
Lawyer’s actions aroused suspicion among clients, law enforcement community
An attorney that forged judges’ signatures was caught thanks to the sharp eyes of a law enforcement officer, a fellow…
Read More
Soldiers face a second battle at home
Citizen soldiers. The National Guard’s moniker evokes the best of American values and hearkens back to a Greek ideal. The…
Read More
Commissioners commit to former Wal-Mart site
After a marathon five hours of discussion on Wednesday (Jan. 13), Haywood County commissioners voted unanimously to buy the abandoned…
Read More
Antenna users left in the lurch
Television viewers in Jackson and Macon counties who get their reception the old-fashioned way — with an antenna — have…
Read More
Three new developments move forward in Waynesville
At a time when Waynesville’s appearance standards are under scrutiny for being too strict, three proposed developments cruised past the…
Read More
License plates take off during Smokies 75th anniversary
Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park received a record $385,000 from drivers sporting the special “black bear” license plate…
Read More
Video gambling industry undeterred by steep fees for “sweepstakes” machines
The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently upheld a state law that bans video gambling everywhere but the casino in…
Read More
DOD-funded programs support local counseling initiatives
For the first time in history, the government, the military and private healthcare providers are working together to deliver the…
Read More
Haywood County poised to buy abandoned Wal-Mart
Haywood County Commissioners are expected to vote this week to buy the abandoned Wal-Mart shopping center near Lake Junaluska and…
Read More
Golf club to restore Upper Cullasaja
The Upper Cullasaja Watershed Association and the Cullasaja Club are pursuing state funding to restore the headwaters of the Cullasaja…
Read More
Training effort bolsters enforcement of elder abuse
Elder abuse takes many forms and, thanks to a national grant program, law enforcement officers in Western North Carolina now…
Read More
Haywood Regional projects positive financial picture
Haywood Regional Medical Center was in better financial shape than expected as it embarked on an affiliation with neighboring hospitals…
Read More
Plastic bottle ban tough to police, but getting results
It may be illegal to throw away plastic bottles in North Carolina these days, but don’t expect a landfill patrol…
Read More
Canton Mill pursues new pollution permit
Evergreen Packaging, a large paper mill in Canton, is seeking a new water pollution permit for the Pigeon River. The…
Read More
Attorney admits forging judges’ signatures to help clients
A 31-year-old attorney in Jackson County pleaded guilty this week to forging judges’ signatures and creating phony court documents. John…
Read More
Finding a WNC solution for ‘aging in place’
With so many unknowns ahead, it’s comforting there are proven solutions to one big challenge — the aging of the…
Read More
Striking a balance between religion and religous freedom
Religion and its place in local government have once again arisen as issues in North Carolina. This means that many…
Read More
Ice carvers set to compete at Haywood County’s innaugural Fire & Ice festival
Fellow ice carvers Jeff Pennypacker and Cary Shackelford are ever ready to etch out any sculpture that will satisfy their…
Read More
Suspenseful guest drives novel
For some 30 years now, Bernard Cornwell has been one of the most prolific writers in the western hemisphere. With…
Read More
A snowflake by any other name
It was one of those rare winter mornings when Haywood County Schools were on a two-hour delay. Izzy, my second-grader,…
Read More
Masters of the night sky
The New Year has arrived and the great horned owls have commenced their annual “singing” along the dark ridges. These…
Read More
Latest prayer case rekindles controversy
A federal magistrate’s recommendation that limits prayer before government meetings in Forsyth County has touched off a fiery debate across…
Read More
Christians cling to one of last vestiges of prayer in public life
They haven’t gone quietly, and they haven’t gone quickly, but Christians are losing the battle over prayer in public life.…
Read More
More than population stats hinge on accurate census
The census has been part of government since Roman times and it has the baggage to prove it. As the…
Read More
Undaunted, elected leaders vow to keep praying as they please
Threat of a federal lawsuit won’t be enough to stop some county commissioners in Western North Carolina from praying in…
Read More
Database breach raises concerns over Web security
In August a computer hacker broke into a North Carolina Community College System server and potentially gained access to the…
Read More
Jackson airport to get repairs, new level of attention
The Jackson County commissioners have breathed new life into the county’s airport authority by taking it over. After appointing themselves…
Read More
Foreclosure barrels down on Balsam Mountain Preserve
Foreclosure against Balsam Mountain Preserve could happen by month’s end barring a last-ditch financing deal by developers in the next…
Read More
Macon residents still waiting on McCoy Bridge plan
A year ago, state officials promised a group of Macon County residents that they would get a cost estimate for…
Read More
What to take from 2009? How about some positive signs for the year ahead
What to say about 2009? How about this: it ended on a high note for the overall economy, and that…
Read More
My year-end list obsessions won’t go away
I have an irresistible urge to make a list. Apparently, it is what people must do at year’s end, especially…
Read More
Bluegrass legend to record live DVD at Franklin concert
Area music fans will have a unique opportunity to help make history as a bluegrass/gospel music legend celebrates the 30th…
Read More
New generation takes over at City Lights Books
What is a bookstore? The question was unimaginable when Joyce Moore bought City Lights Books in Sylva from Gary Carden…
Read More
Characters mirror SMN readers
Rain Gods by James Lee Burke. Simon and Schuster, 2009. 448 pages. Readers of this column know that some authors…
Read More
Bankrupt development conserved for future state park
A failed megadevelopment in the Lake Lure area around Chimney Rock has been conserved at a fire sale price, but…
Read More
