17 Summer Date Ideas
 

17 Summer Date Ideas

Everything about summer is romantic. What doesn’t speak love when you combine sunshine with fresh food, bare skin and more…
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Peach Salsa
 

Peach Salsa

It seems like every produce stand and farmers market in the south is bursting with soft, fuzzy peaches. This basic,…
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Soaking Up The Strawberry Super Moon
 

Soaking Up The Strawberry Super Moon

Having just celebrated the Summer Solstice last weekend, there is something so exciting and magical about welcoming the Strawberry Super…
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Warren Bielenberg photo
 

Tent ban extended at Mount Pisgah

A temporary ban on tents and soft-sided campers at Mount Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway has been extended…
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What is a Life to You?
 

What is a Life to You?

By Harmony Robin • Guest Columnist | As I sit and gaze out my window, the summer breeze cools my face.…
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Good Vibrations
 

Good Vibrations

By Sabrina Matheny • Rumble Contributor | Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of balancing a space by using a…
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Meet The Author of 'The Girl Explorers'
 

Meet The Author of 'The Girl Explorers'

  Meet the author of The Girl Explorers, Jayne Zanglein, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 26, at City Lights…
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Welding student named Sylva Rotary Student of the Month
 

Welding student named Sylva Rotary Student of the Month

The Rotary Club of Sylva chooses a student of the month for good grades and exemplary study skills.
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Parkway motorcycle crash results in fatality
 

Parkway motorcycle crash results in fatality

A June 5 motorcycle crash on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Laurel Springs left a 65-year-old North Carolina man dead. 
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FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge picks new director
 

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge picks new director

FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge has named Julie Whalen as its new executive director. 
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A four-legged hiker takes in the early March view from the Pinnacle. Holly Kays photo
 

Sylva discusses Pinnacle’s future

In February, Sylva’s town board gave its enthusiastic support to a plan that would bring 35 miles of multi-use trail…
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Crews pave Newfound Gap Road at the Morton Tunnel. NPS photo
 

Smokies paving project moves to nighttime work

Nighttime work has begun on an 8-mile section of Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 
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Cellist Michael Fitzpatrick plays for the Mountain View Garden Club. Donated photo
 

Garden club gets musical treat

The Mountain View Garden Club of Waynesville held its monthly meeting at the Jonathan Creek Biodome Art Studio of Nina…
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Surprised by Stewart’s ‘Very Good Things’
 

Surprised by Stewart’s ‘Very Good Things’

Most of us like comeback stories.
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Waynesville attorney didn’t deserve firing
 

Waynesville attorney didn’t deserve firing

The Waynesville town attorney serves at the pleasure of the board. Elected officials can fire or terminate him for any…
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A warrior faces second double lung transplant
 

A warrior faces second double lung transplant

By Maureen Miller • Guest Columnist | “Someone has to die in order for you to live.” The startling realization…
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We should fear for future elections
 

We should fear for future elections

To the Editor: Former President Donald Trump and the more aggressive of his cult members seem intent on destroying our…
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Marquees made me leave Maggie Valley
 

Marquees made me leave Maggie Valley

To the Editor: I have never done this in my 59 years, but I can’t rest until I voice my…
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Trump article was just too much
 

Trump article was just too much

To the Editor: This is in reference to the June 9-15 issue of The Smoky Mountain News. I thought this…
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Farm to School program teaches nutrition, connection to food
 

Farm to School program teaches nutrition, connection to food

Excitement could be heard in the unconstrained murmuring of elementary school students at Blue Ridge School Monday morning as they…
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Even after students moved in last August, bare earth still abounded at Zimmer’s development The Husk at Western Carolina University. Holly Kays photo
 

Contractors still unpaid in Zimmer development

The first students moved into The Husk at Western Carolina University last August, but nearly a year later the companies…
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Cheri Beasley visits with Lyndsey Marlar and Katie Spears, owners of Nest Organics in Asheville. Hannah McLeod photo
 

Beasley makes campaign stop in Asheville

Cheri Beasley, former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, announced her campaign for United States Senate in April. On Friday, Beasley…
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Mike Fitzgerald accepts a plaque recognizing his years of service form Town Clerk Debbie Coffey during his last meeting June 14. Donated photo
 

‘Mayor Mike’ steps down: Business as usual to continue at Fitzgerald Shoe Shop

After 16 years and one week on the job, Mike Fitzgerald is officially retired from Dillsboro’s town board— but not…
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The new trustbusters: Proposed legislation would rein in Big Tech
 

The new trustbusters: Proposed legislation would rein in Big Tech

Over the last two weeks, the most significant set of antitrust laws since the early 1900s were proposed in Congress,…
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Milestone moment for broadband in Haywood
 

Milestone moment for broadband in Haywood

A public-private partnership between Haywood County and local internet service provider Skyrunner will soon result in broadband service for more…
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Al Kopak and Alexa Singer. WCU photo
 

Data calls for empathetic approach to treating addiction

By Melanie Threlkeld McConnell • Guest writer | Two Western Carolina University professors with interests in jail populations and addiction…
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First tenant announced for EBCI’s Sevier development
 

First tenant announced for EBCI’s Sevier development

The 200-acre piece of land that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is developing along Interstate 40 in Sevier County…
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Macon purchases property for Nantahala library
 

Macon purchases property for Nantahala library

Macon County commissioners are trying to move forward with plans to give the Nantahala community a new library and community…
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Pure Prairie League (Michael Reilly, far left).
 

The attitude of gratitude: Michael Reilly of Pure Prairie League

In the annals of country-rock history, a handful of acts were able to ride the line of mainstream radio success,…
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The Bristol swimming hole. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)
 

This must be the place: White lace and feathers, they made up his bed, a gold covered mattress, on which he was laid

It was about 15 minutes into meeting Sailor Steve and Texas Jeff when I knew I’d met some of the…
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Waynesville comes up short in property tax rate cut
 

Waynesville comes up short in property tax rate cut

During a rare special-called meeting on the morning of June 16, aldermen shaved another 1.5 cents off the proposed ad…
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Bear euthanized following unprovoked attack
 

Bear euthanized following unprovoked attack

A bear has been euthanized and a backcountry site closed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after a 16-year-old…
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Bear encounters tend to happen more often in the late spring and early summer, before more nutritious food sources like nuts and berries are widely available. Donated photo
 

Bear activity prompts continued camping restrictions

A temporary ban on tents and soft-sided campers at Mount Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway has been extended…
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Spend an evening in the garden
 

Spend an evening in the garden

ArborEvenings is back at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville, offering opportunity to spend Thursday and Friday evenings strolling through the…
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Sylva, Jackson pass budgets
 

Sylva, Jackson pass budgets

The boards governing Sylva and Jackson County both passed budget ordinances this month that feature a change in tax rate,…
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Memories and Lessons Learned
 

Memories and Lessons Learned

“Memory is never a precise duplicate of the original… It is a continuing act of creation.” - Rosalind Cartwright
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Thankful for Dad this Father's Day
 

Thankful for Dad this Father's Day

Trying to speak honestly about the relationship I have with my dad can feel icky. It’s complicated — and I’m…
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Grateful for Dear ol' Dad
 

Grateful for Dear ol' Dad

Some people are so unique no adjective seems worthy. They are such distinct individuals that a written description eludes me.…
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Dine With Divas
 

Dine With Divas

Celebrate summer with an evening of entertainment that includes a delicious dinner and fabulous production. Dine With Divas drag dinner cabaret is…
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Ways To Celebrate Father’s Day in WNC
 

Ways To Celebrate Father’s Day in WNC

If your dad is like mine, finding a good gift can be difficult, but really what your dad wants is…
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Marina Taught Me How to Feel, Now Other Music Has No Appeal
 

Marina Taught Me How to Feel, Now Other Music Has No Appeal

By Daley Hooten • Rumble Contributor | On June 11, Welsh pop singer Marina released her latest album, “Ancient Dreams In…
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Fund established to support the MST
 

Fund established to support the MST

Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail received its largest individual gift ever when an anonymous donor gave $100,000 to…
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Forest service seeks to re-engage regarding Macon County projects
 

Forest service seeks to re-engage regarding Macon County projects

The Nantahala Ranger District is resuming work on two projects in Macon County whose timelines were affected by position turnover…
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Summer reading program celebrates animal life
 

Summer reading program celebrates animal life

The 2021 Summer Learning Program at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City will celebrate all things related to books and…
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Smokies car crash results in fatality
 

Smokies car crash results in fatality

A teenager is dead and two other people injured following a car crash on Monday, June 7, in the Great…
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Celebrate Juneteenth in WNC!
 

Celebrate Juneteenth in WNC!

Juneteenth Events in WNC:
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Cashiers StoryWalk to make its debut
 

Cashiers StoryWalk to make its debut

The first book of the new StoryWalk at the Cashiers Village Green, Cashiers, Come Play With Me!, will soon be…
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Cars progress slowly through Cades Cove on a busy day at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. File photo
 

Smokies, Parkway spared drop in park visitor spending

Visitor spending in national park communities during 2020 was just over two-thirds the amount spent in 2019, but parks in…
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Black Mountain Trail section closed for maintenance
 

Black Mountain Trail section closed for maintenance

A portion of the Black Mountain Trail on the Pisgah Ranger District will be closed through approximately Aug. 15 for…
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