Archived (29788)
Children categories
Don’t generalize about race issues
To the Editor: It’s appalling that you only include a singular view by Michael Boatwright about the current reality involving…
Read More
Lent offers chance to abstain from meat
To the Editor: In Western churches, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides…
Read More
Put social districts to a referendum
To the Editor: On Thursday night, February 10, the Sylva Board of Commissioners, on a split vote of three to…
Read More
DOR begins mailing recovery checks
The N.C. Department of Revenue today began mailing one-time Business Recovery Grant payments to approved North Carolina businesses that applied to…
Read More
Man dead, second injured in Cherokee shooting
One man died and another was critically injured during a shooting that occurred at 11:22 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, in…
Read More
Rooted in home: Cherokee’s newest Beloved Woman reflects on life of service, learning and tribal identity
Carmaleta Littlejohn Monteith has taken countless flights to innumerable destinations during her 86 years on Earth, so she no longer…
Read More
A labor of love: After 20 years, Petty walks away from MDCS
Mountain Discovery Charter School in Swain County is celebrating its 20th year serving students in Western North Carolina. The school…
Read More
Maps set, candidates file, Cawthorn returns
After months of back-and-forth between the General Assembly, the Wake County Superior Court and the North Carolina Supreme Court, state…
Read More
Jackson begins budget talks with education capital needs
Jackson County Commissioners began the process of hammering out a budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year during a work session…
Read More
Advisory panel offers direction for growth in Cashiers
After a week of research and interviews with over 100 stakeholders in Cashiers, the Urban Land Institute Advisory Services Panel…
Read More
Downtown Waynesville Advisory Committee holds first meeting
With festival season rapidly approaching and a long list of items needing attention, members of the new Downtown Waynesville Advisory…
Read More
Jackson TDA hires digital media specialist
The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority (JCTDA) has hired Jon Moore as its new social media and digital content specialist.
Read More
Flirtin’ with disaster: Upcoming Haywood rock festival sparks controversy
Musicians, promoters and supposed sponsors are all upset about the marketing associated with an upcoming performance at the Smoky Mountain…
Read More
This must be the place: Sipping an old fashioned like a divorcee in Vegas, I’m too young to be feeling this way
I forgot to pull down the window shade and awoke to the early morning light on Saturday. There was a…
Read More
Press release says Cawthorn’s made his decision on where to run
Rep. Madison Cawthorn drew mixed reactions when he announced on Nov. 11, 2021 that he’d run in the newly drawn…
Read More
WCU lifts mask mandate
In a campuswide email sent this afternoon, Western Carolina University announced that its mask mandate will expire on Saturday, Feb.…
Read More
Kayaker dies on Oconaluftee
A kayaker died yesterday while paddling the Oconaluftee River near Smokemont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Read More
N.C. to supply 2022 Capitol Christmas tree
When Christmas 2022 rolls around, a tree from North Carolina’s national forests will adorn the U.S. Capitol building.
Read More
Tribe leads coalition to remove Ela Dam
What started as a groundswell of outrage over a massive sediment dump from Ela Dam in Swain County has become…
Read More
Students explore recycling for apartments
Environmental science students at Western Carolina University took a look at the logistics of getting off-campus apartment complexes to offer…
Read More
New inclusive trail open in Macon County
A new half-mile trail created to serve people with physical disabilities is now open at Mainspring Conservation Trust’s 16-acre Queen…
Read More
Smokies fills two leadership roles
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park recently filled two key leadership positions — Randy Scoggins has been hired as the…
Read More
Pancakes, with a side of ‘Craft & Culture’
Several years ago, when my children and grandchildren were gathering for a week at the beach in a house I’d…
Read More
A grand opportunity for the USFS and partners
The USFS recently released the final version of the forest management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala National forests After…
Read More
Finding joy in the past and present
They say nostalgia and reminiscing can do two things to the psyche: be a buffer against ailments like depression and…
Read More
School mask decision was a mistake
To the Editor: As parents and as a teacher and health care professional, we are troubled by the Haywood School…
Read More
Keeping the faith: Religious diversity flourishes in the mountains
One need look only to the hundreds of churches in Western North Carolina to see that the people of Southern…
Read More
Mountain Synagogue: Jewish community growing in WNC
There aren’t many synagogues in Western North Carolina, just one west of Asheville. Mountain Synagogue in Franklin is a community…
Read More
The Creative Thought Center: For many, the final step on a spiritual journey
On Sunday morning, silence falls in the Creative Thought Center, save the voice of Kim May as she leads her…
Read More
‘One brotherhood’: Asheville mosque offers rare prayer center for mountain Muslims
In the Muslim faith, corporate prayer is a pillar of the practice — and in Western North Carolina, there’s only…
Read More
East meets west at the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church
In a small room tucked away in the corner of a nondescript strip mall in the heart of Waynesville, spindly…
Read More
WNC schools repeal mask mandates
School systems in all four counties of The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area are no longer requiring masks in schools.…
Read More
Cooper urges mask mandate end as Omicron subsides
Case numbers continue to decline in Western North Carolina and statewide as the Omicron surge subsides.
Read More
Haywood commissioners evaluate fiscal health, budget requests
Debt is rolling off the books and sales tax revenue is still through the roof, but because Haywood County will…
Read More
Some details emerge, but questions remain in Maggie Valley motel death
More than a week after an unattended death was reported at Maggie Valley’s Our Place Inn, law enforcement officials still…
Read More
In search of a sense of community: Highly-anticipated pub opens in Waynesville
Serendipity is a word Makyia Blair has been using a lot lately.
Read More
This must be the place: Rock and roll is here to stay, come inside where it’s okay
It was that familiar smell that conjured a slew of memories.
Read More
French theme park company in talks with EBCI for Exit 407 project
Representatives of a world-renowned French theme park company met with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council this week…
Read More
Masks now optional in Jackson Schools
Effective Monday, Feb. 21, masks will be optional in Jackson County Schools. The decision was made at an emergency board…
Read More
Smokies, Parkway, top NPS visitation list for 2021
The two most visited national parks of 2021 are located right here in Western North Carolina, according to figures released…
Read More
Documentary to explore forest management debate
The Pisgah-Nantahala forest plan process is nearing its end, but a local filmmaker’s effort to produce a documentary exploring the…
Read More
Outdoor Gear Builders names executive director
Outdoor Gear Builders has hired Brad Taylor as its first-ever full-time executive director, marking a milestone for an organization that…
Read More
Forest Service plans prescribed burns
The U.S. Forest Service is planning prescribed burns for seven areas of the Pisgah National Forest this spring.
Read More
Conservation trusts protect additional lands
Area land trusts are celebrating several recent accomplishments in the quest to conserve and protect ecologically significant land.
Read More
Help available for Tropical Storm Fred losses
Farmers who suffered losses due to Tropical Storm Fred can now apply for help through the N.C. Department of Agriculture…
Read More
Haywood Waterways director moves on
Nearly two decades ago, Eric Romaniszyn joined the nonprofit world as the new project manager for Haywood Waterways Association .
Read More
Take the edge off winter with story hour
It’s late Saturday afternoon, February, that hour before supper when the little ones go bananas, and the 5-year-old and his…
Read More
No endings, only new beginnings
I can’t tell you how many goodbye columns I’ve read over the years from reporters leaving their posts, lamenting over…
Read More
From Me to We
“The story can’t be about the heroism of one person any more, it has to be about the heroism of communities.” —…
Read More
