Cold Mountain Music Festival returns to Lake Logan
 

Cold Mountain Music Festival returns to Lake Logan

The third annual Cold Mountain Music Festival will take place May 31 and June 1 at the Lake Logan Conference…
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Harrah’s sponsors Habitat home
 

Harrah’s sponsors Habitat home

Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos have been a long time partner with Habitat for Humanity, but this year the company is taking…
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Town of Highlands making broadband progress
 

Town of Highlands making broadband progress

The town of Highlands is making major headway when it comes to providing broadband internet services to its rural residents,…
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Franklin proposes to hold tax rate
 

Franklin proposes to hold tax rate

Town of Franklin Manager Summer Woodard recently presented the town council with a proposed budget for 2019-20 that would maintain…
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Macon manager proposes tax increase
 

Macon manager proposes tax increase

For the first time in several years, Macon County Manager Derek Roland is proposing a small property tax increase moving…
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Michelle Haynes
 

New Shining Rock board chair Haynes speaks out

It’s been a tumultuous couple of years for Shining Rock Classical Academy, which has dealt with a variety of administrative…
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Shining Rock board members Mike Mehaffey (from left), Michelle Haynes and Melanie Norman toast to outgoing Board Chair Anna Eason (far right). Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Shining Rock defends interim head

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories on Haywood County’s public charter school, Shining Rock Classical…
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Beekeeper Cynthia Schwartz tends to the Maggie Valley Community Garden’s colony of pollinators. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Feeding the fight against food insecurity

On one of the first warm sunny Saturdays early in Western North Carolina’s tourist season, the traditional signs of a…
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Tammy Hooper
 

Sylva police chief to retire

After 22 years with the Sylva Police Department and two years as its head, Sylva Police Chief Tammy Hooper will…
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Plaintiffs have dropped their legal action against the town of Franklin for giving over its deed for the Nikwasi Mound.
 

Legal action dropped against Franklin

Five Macon County residents are dropping their legal action against the town of Franklin for deeding over the sacred Nikwasi…
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Homeless shelter management decision coming up for Jackson
 

Homeless shelter management decision coming up for Jackson

The return of warmer weather means that Jackson County’s cold weather homeless shelter has been closed for two months, but…
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Haywood budget presented to commissioners
 

Haywood budget presented to commissioners

For the second year in a row, Haywood County taxpayers can expect no increase in property taxes, thanks to increasing…
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Canton’s board of aldermen/women James Markey (from left), Kristina Smith, Dr. Ralph Hamlett and Gail Mull sit onstage with Mayor Zeb Smathers (far right) at the Colonial Theater in November 2017. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Canton joins opioid lawsuit

Of all the victims of the nation’s opioid epidemic, probably the most overlooked are the municipalities that have to expend…
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N.C. Senate opposes Catawba casino
 

N.C. Senate opposes Catawba casino

A bipartisan majority of senators in the N.C. General Assembly have signed a letter opposing a Congressional bill that would…
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Efforts to keep McCoy off Cherokee ballot continue
 

Efforts to keep McCoy off Cherokee ballot continue

Tribal member Robert Osley Saunooke is not giving up on his efforts to see Teresa McCoy barred from candidacy in…
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Teresa McCoy
 

Court bars decertification hearing for McCoy

In a divided opinion, the Cherokee Supreme Court decided that Teresa McCoy will not have to participate in a second…
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A group of teachers speaks on behalf of Interim head of School Joshua Morgan.
 

Shining Rock hiring decision will have to wait

The search for Shining Rock Classical Academy’s next head of school will continue, after the board took no action following…
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John “Trigger” Dupras takes in the view from Max Patch. Holly Kays photo
 

Life at two miles an hour: A.T. hikers share their stories

From flip-flops to overnights to the quintessential northbound thru-hike, there are many different ways to experience the Appalachian Trail on…
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John “Trigger” Dupras takes in the view from Max Patch. Holly Kays photo
 

A.T. hikers share their stories

From flip-flops to overnights to the quintessential northbound thru-hike, there are many different ways to experience the Appalachian Trail on…
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Trails Forever crews work on Rainbow Falls Trail, a project that wrapped up last year. NPS photo
 

Trillium Gap Trail rehab has begun

A two-year trail rehabilitation project is now underway at the Trillium Gap Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,…
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Find local food
 

Find local food

The 2019 edition of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Local Food Guide is now available, an essential source for finding…
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Jim Costa. WCU photo
 

Professor receives honor from New York Botanical Garden

Jim Costa, executive director of the Western Carolina University Highlands Biological Station and a professor of biology at WCU, has…
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Pain was the norm with old-time dentistry
 

Pain was the norm with old-time dentistry

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News on May 14, 2003. Old-time dentistry as practiced here…
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Deserving books that may pique your interest
 

Deserving books that may pique your interest

On the red wooden chair near my desk, 14 inches high, is a mound of books waiting for review. Three…
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David Crosby. Anna Webber
 

Buddha on a hill: A conversation with David Crosby

The world has gone haywire and David Crosby is mad as hell about it. And though the years may change…
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311 at Epicenter. Garret K. Woodward
 

This must be the place: You’ve got to trust your instinct and let go of regret

With the wind howling in my face, the Polaris ATV rounded the third curve of the Rockingham Speedway. The odometer…
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Combine reason and emotion, Democrats
 

Combine reason and emotion, Democrats

To the Editor: Reason and emotion are the two fundamental bases for decision-making. We are facing some historic decisions in…
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Help make schools safer
 

Help make schools safer

To the Editor: Each year since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the number of incidents of gun violence on…
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The friend everyone needs
 

The friend everyone needs

Let’s be honest for a minute. Most of us lie to our friends on a fairly regular basis and are,…
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When will the school shootings end?
 

When will the school shootings end?

“But for the grace of God, it could have been my child.” News of college and school shootings cut straight…
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Updating voter registration records
 

Updating voter registration records

Have you moved, changed your name, mailing address or phone number since you registered to vote in the county, state…
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Bethel bridge earns National Register designation
 

Bethel bridge earns National Register designation

The oldest metal truss bridge in the state of North Carolina has earned inclusion on the National Register of Historic…
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Dogwood Health Trust to transform communities
 

Dogwood Health Trust to transform communities

The Health Equity Coalition will hold a forum to explore new ways of connecting community to philanthropy. The $1.5 billion…
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Marsha Miller stands next to a civil rights monument in Montgomery. Donated photo
 

Reflections on Haywood NAACP pilgrimage

By Katherine Bartel • Secretary, Haywood County NAACP “My little brother Isaiah is, as you would call it, ‘a boy of…
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Insurance premiums rise for Jackson employees
 

Insurance premiums rise for Jackson employees

Jackson County employees are now paying significantly higher premiums for their health insurance following a plan change that went into…
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Previous projects for potential architecture firm McMillan Pazdan Smith include the Greenville Humane Society building. Donated photo
 

Price tag falls for Green Energy Park project

A Green Energy Park makeover under discussion in Jackson County could be a good bit cheaper than originally discussed, with…
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Principal chief candidate Teresa McCoy explains her opposition to the proposed ordinance. EBCI photo
 

Council nixes proposed penalties for campaign law violations

A proposed ordinance that would have laid out the criminal penalties for violating laws regulating election campaign practices was withdrawn…
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Shooter pleads guilty to second-degree murder
 

Shooter pleads guilty to second-degree murder

On Friday, May 3, Justin Scott Fuller, 31, of Waynesville, pled guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of…
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Canton officials hope to maximize the utilization of the historic Colonial Theater. File photo
 

Canton looks to maintain property tax rate

The Town of Canton’s preliminary proposed budget shows an increase over last year from $8.7 million to more than $9.2…
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River’s Edge Park in Clyde was designed as a flood storage channel, but also doubles as a park and playground. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Clyde park to reopen

Much like the Pigeon River itself, it’s been a long and winding journey for the Town of Clyde in recovering…
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Protest filed — again — against McCoy’s candidacy for chief
 

Protest filed — again — against McCoy’s candidacy for chief

Following a battle that involved hearings before both the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Board of Elections and the Cherokee…
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On the upswing: Golf industry changes with the times
 

On the upswing: Golf industry changes with the times

Golf is more than a game in Western North Carolina — the wellbeing of the popular past time can be…
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Shining Rock is currently seeking its third head of school in four school years. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Grievances filed against Shining Rock interim head

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories on Haywood County’s public charter school, Shining Rock Classical…
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The reintroduced elk have caused a surge in visitation to Cataloochee Valley over the last 18 years. @lookout_photo Photo
 

Make way for elk (and trout): Haywood, Jackson counties seek designation as state’s elk and trout capitals

If you want to see an elk, the Elk Capital of North Carolina would probably be a good place to…
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New mapping program available for farmers
 

New mapping program available for farmers

A new program will allow growers to map crops by herbicide-resistant traits. 
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Farm Bill causes changes for loan limits
 

Farm Bill causes changes for loan limits

The 2018 Farm Bill resulted in higher farm loan limits from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among other changes.
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Asheville Interagency Hotshot Crew. Nick Massey photo
 

Crews conquer fire in Linville

The Brushy Ridge Trail near Linville Gorge reopened last week following successful containment of a 3-acre fire there April 30. 
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Magnolia fraseri showing the auriculate leaves. Don Hendershot photo
 

Magnolia trifecta

It’s May! That means my 2019 Forest Service bird survey has begun — another six weeks of roaming the wilds…
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Still jazzy after all these years
 

Still jazzy after all these years

I first discovered Lawrence Ferlinghetti in high school and his book Starting From San Francisco and have read everything he’s…
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