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Canton election hangs on vision for town
 

Canton election hangs on vision for town

How Canton residents envision the future of their town could play a pivotal role in who gets elected this fall.…
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Sanford affair is either high school drama or Greek tragedy
 

Sanford affair is either high school drama or Greek tragedy

There is only so much you can do to help a child recover from a broken heart, especially the first…
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New bike shop opens in Bryson
 

New bike shop opens in Bryson

Andy Zivinsky and Diane Cutler were determined to move to the mountains. Their passion for all things outdoors was making…
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Vice mayor aspirant to challenge incumbent for mayor
 

Vice mayor aspirant to challenge incumbent for mayor

Two-term Franklin Alderman Bob Scott has wanted a turn as vice mayor going back a while — an honor that…
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PETA targets bear zoos in national campaign
 

PETA targets bear zoos in national campaign

Recently, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians found itself the whipping boy of an unlikely opponent. Much to the tribe’s…
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Stimulus funds boost WNC mass transit
 

Stimulus funds boost WNC mass transit

Mass transit is set to get a boost in Western North Carolina thanks to some economic stimulus money targeted for…
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Jackson eyes options for current library site
 

Jackson eyes options for current library site

In the game of musical chairs stemming from the library moving out of its current digs on Sylva’s Main Street,…
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Cold Mountain Heritage Tour attracts many to the rich stories woven into Haywood County’s history
 

Cold Mountain Heritage Tour attracts many to the rich stories woven into Haywood County’s history

By Michael Beadle On a quiet perch atop Bethel Cemetery, two unmarked graves are all that’s left of a pair…
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Cherokee needs new superintendent after personnel upheaval
 

Cherokee needs new superintendent after personnel upheaval

The Cherokee School Board is on the verge of appointing a new superintendent following the termination of Rosemary Townsend after…
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How Bob Barker took on the Eastern Band
 

How Bob Barker took on the Eastern Band

Bob Barker?! The involvement of famed television host Bob Barker in the fight to end the Cherokee bear exhibits took…
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A nose for finding rare plants
 

A nose for finding rare plants

I enjoy leading natural history workshops, but I no longer derive much pleasure from herding people along a trail while…
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Rainforest style eco-adventure comes to the Nantahala Gorge
 

Rainforest style eco-adventure comes to the Nantahala Gorge

The Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tour will debut this month with a half-mile series of forest-enveloped ziplines, where people hang from…
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Jackson farm and garden tour has it all
 

Jackson farm and garden tour has it all

Farmers and gardeners in Jackson County are inviting the public to traipse through their garden rows during the third annual…
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The Naturalist's Corner
 

The Naturalist's Corner

New neighbors I have always had a good number of neotropical migrants nest every season in the woods around my…
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Hearing set for Little Tennessee discharge permit
 

Hearing set for Little Tennessee discharge permit

A public hearing over a sewer discharge permit into the Little Tennessee River will be held on Tuesday, July 7,…
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Freaks and morality
 

Freaks and morality

Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor by Brad Gooch. Little, Brown and Company, 2009. 464 pages. “Whenever I am asked…
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Will Sylva vote expose usual fault line?
 

Will Sylva vote expose usual fault line?

The race for the Sylva town board this fall could once again gauge the extent of shifting demographics of the…
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Who’s running and who’s not?
 

Who’s running and who’s not?

Canton Mayor Pat Smathers could face opposition this fall from his leading opponent on the town board, Alderman Eric Dills.…
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Tourism office takes tech strides
 

Tourism office takes tech strides

In her nearly six-month tenure as executive director, Lynn Collins has been helping Haywood County’s Tourism Development Authority make strides…
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Tindall-Taylor leaving HRMC
 

Tindall-Taylor leaving HRMC

The director of Haywood Regional Medical Center’s Foundation and Corporate Communications Department for the past 20 years, Robin Tindall-Taylor, has…
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Public Art Commission paver design coming to fruition at new police station
 

Public Art Commission paver design coming to fruition at new police station

The plaza at the entrance to the new Waynesville Police Station is nearing completion. Workers are placing the final touches…
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Recipes, 6/24/10
 

Recipes, 6/24/10

Rainbow trout with lemon caper sauce: Grill filleted trout over medium-hot coals. Baste with butter and fresh herbs (parsley, chives,…
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Mountains of mushrooms
 

Mountains of mushrooms

Is this going to be a bumper year for wild mushrooms? Maybe so, if the rainfall we have been experiencing…
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Ode to the Sylva Coffee Shop
 

Ode to the Sylva Coffee Shop

Most small southern towns have a place like The Coffee Shop in Sylva — a cafe that has become a…
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Franklin followed the law by leaking Duke’s counteroffer
 

Franklin followed the law by leaking Duke’s counteroffer

The town of Franklin acted appropriately by making public the terms of an out-of-court settlement offer extended to the town…
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Downtown merchants anticipate homecoming for county workforce
 

Downtown merchants anticipate homecoming for county workforce

Downtown merchants in Waynesville hope to get a boost in customers when the Haywood County Historic Courthouse throws open its…
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The Naturalist's Corner
 

The Naturalist's Corner

WNS impacts western Carolina caving The USDA Forest Service issued an order on May 21 closing all caves and abandoned…
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Lawmakers veer way off path
 

Lawmakers veer way off path

By Bob Scott • Guest Columnist North Carolina Legislators have declared war on tube roses. Tube roses are little roses…
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Great Smokies become instant recipe for tourists
 

Great Smokies become instant recipe for tourists

The mountains of Western North Carolina were no stranger to tourism prior to the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains…
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Humanizing literature
 

Humanizing literature

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Dial Press. 277 pages For…
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No we aren’t becoming socialists
 

No we aren’t becoming socialists

Don’t you just love how words and labels take on a life of their own in the ideological debate that…
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Waynesville seeks input on pedestrian plan
 

Waynesville seeks input on pedestrian plan

A master plan for making Waynesville even more pedestrian friendly has been unveiled after a year in the making. The…
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Historic courthouse welcomes back county offices
 

Historic courthouse welcomes back county offices

After two-and-a-half years of operating in temporary quarters, the big move is here. Stacks of boxes are piled high in…
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Casino to buy liquor in bulk, but from whom?
 

Casino to buy liquor in bulk, but from whom?

Cherokee isn’t the only one that potentially stands to make money off the sale of alcohol to patrons at Harrah’s…
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In search of hidden lookout towers
 

In search of hidden lookout towers

The line-up of hikes in the Lookout Tower Challenge spans Western North Carolina. Seven are located in the Nantahala National…
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Katrina refugee wades into the fray against Duke
 

Katrina refugee wades into the fray against Duke

As Jackson County leaders continue their fight against Duke Energy, an unassuming local lawyer that few have heard of has…
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An unfortunate object of affection
 

An unfortunate object of affection

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has long been synonymous with black bears. From the first automobile tourists to today’s…
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Carolina Mountain Club challenges hikers to seek views from the top
 

Carolina Mountain Club challenges hikers to seek views from the top

By Peter Barr • Guest writer The Carolina Mountain Club is challenging hikers to seek out some of Western North…
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Swain backs down from hardline stance with Bryson City Fire Department
 

Swain backs down from hardline stance with Bryson City Fire Department

Swain County will continue contracting with the Bryson City Fire Department to provide county fire service, despite threatening to cut…
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Sunburst: Fantasy and Reality
 

Sunburst: Fantasy and Reality

By Karen Dill Sunburst. The word evokes a magical image. Yet, in my childhood community of Bethel, Sunburst was simply…
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Buy local
 

Buy local

Haywood Sunburst Trout FarmMakes: Smoked Tomato Jam, trout dip, trout cakes, trout jerky, trout sausage, trout caviar, marinated trout.Find it…
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Value-added products up the ante for homegrown goodness
 

Value-added products up the ante for homegrown goodness

Across Western North Carolina, an increasing number of people are discovering new and creative ways to use the bounty of…
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Tour retraces Haywood County history
 

Tour retraces Haywood County history

By Ellen Cirino • Special To The Smoky Mountain News The fifth Cold Mountain Heritage Tour, a self-driving tour to…
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WCU braces for housing crunch in face of growth, construction delays
 

WCU braces for housing crunch in face of growth, construction delays

Come the start of fall semester, some Western Carolina University freshmen could find themselves residing in unusual living quarters. A…
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Maggie festival embraces all things trout
 

Maggie festival embraces all things trout

Maggie Valley will celebrate the trout heritage of the Smoky Mountain region with its annual Trout Festival, held from 9…
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Out like trout
 

Out like trout

Anybody who knows any thing about Western North Carolina is aware of the bountiful rivers and stream waters that paint…
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Casino donates money to national park non-profit
 

Casino donates money to national park non-profit

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino has donated $10,000 to Friends of the Smokies in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Great…
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NC Utility Commission OK with dam seizure
 

NC Utility Commission OK with dam seizure

Jackson County appears to be on firm footing in its quest to seize the Dillsboro dam from Duke Energy as…
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Swain budget cuts target Sheriff’s office
 

Swain budget cuts target Sheriff’s office

Swain County commissioners have opted to target one department rather than spreading out county budget cuts among all county employees.…
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Tensions escalate between commissioners, audience
 

Tensions escalate between commissioners, audience

A member of the public was escorted from a Haywood County commissioners meeting Monday (June 15) by a deputy after…
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