Archived (29788)
Children categories
Public records requests shed light on closed sessions
In its role as government watchdog, The Smoky Mountain News submitted public record requests to county and municipal governments in…
Read More
Behind closed doors: Public records laws have exceptions
Woe to those public bodies that fail to comply with North Carolina’s sunshine laws; transparency underpins American democracy to the…
Read More
Closed sessions easily accessible in Jackson
Of all the local governments in The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area, Jackson County has some of the most complete…
Read More
Detail varies in Sylva minutes
Of the nine closed-session discussions Sylva commissioners held last year, only three — all attorney-client privilege conversations related to an…
Read More
Bryson City tackles personnel issues in closed meetings
Personnel issues have been the only reason why Bryson City Aldermen have held closed meetings in 2018.
Read More
Swain uses closed meetings for contract talks
Swain County commissioners typically hold two meetings per month, and it’s not unusual for them to have a closed session…
Read More
Franklin business rarely out of public view
Of all the town and county governments in The Smoky Mountain News coverage area, the Franklin Town Council had the…
Read More
Closed meetings the norm in Macon
A vast majority of Macon County Board of Commissioners meetings end with a closed session. In fact, commissioners spent more…
Read More
Development, personnel drive Haywood closed sessions
As the largest local government unit in The Smoky Mountain News’ four-county coverage area, Haywood County sees more action —…
Read More
Waynesville closed sessions boring, but by the book
The Town of Waynesville Board of Aldermen meets every two weeks, or about 24 times a year, depending on the…
Read More
Small-town closed sessions few, far between
Haywood County’s five local governments more or less fall into two tiers — there’s the county and there’s Waynesville, and…
Read More
Hometown hate: Haywood Republicans welcome anti-Muslim speaker
Aided by the left and abetted by the media, violent jihadists are slowly but surely infiltrating our government, our schools…
Read More
Judge Letts to retire: Superior Court will see vacancy four months after Election Day
Amid widespread speculation about plans to run for principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Superior Court Judge…
Read More
Slide shifts traffic on U.S. 74
A slide on the westbound side of U.S. 74 on Sunday morning in Jackson County temporarily diverted traffic just west…
Read More
I-40 slide cleanup causes closure
Cleaning a rockslide on Interstate 40 near the Tennessee State lane will require the N.C. Department of Transportation to keep…
Read More
Animal shelter planning to start in Jackson County
Jackson County is facing a plethora of capital projects over the next several years, and a new animal shelter will…
Read More
Citizens Police Academy still seeking applicants
Not long after retired U.S. Air Force officer and former teacher Mary Ford moved to Waynesville with her husband, she…
Read More
Open government is part of who we are
Whereas the public bodies that administer the legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, and advisory functions of North Carolina and its political…
Read More
Great schools, staff are community assets
Both my parents were teachers. My earliest memories are of my dad sitting at our dining room table grading papers…
Read More
The socialists are coming!
To the Editor The socialists are coming, the socialists are coming! Hide your cows and pickup trucks! The green new…
Read More
Thanks for exploration of homelessness issue
To the Editor Cory Vaillancourt created a powerful, informative and moving piece of journalism (“Face to face: local homeless remain…
Read More
The American people are not stupid
To the Editor I am not stupid and neither are most people I know. However, numerous politicians, pundits and officials…
Read More
Devil on my shoulder: With new live album, The Get Right Band to play Boojum
The hardest balance for a rock band is to straddle the line between honest emotions in your lyrics and also…
Read More
This must be the place: Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must lead
In a recent New York Times article, “What Charles Bukowski’s Glamorous Displays of Alcoholism Left Out,” the piece analyzed and…
Read More
In need of craft therapy?
The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will be starting craft therapy. This get-together will be the first Tuesday of…
Read More
Collective plans artwork in Dillsboro, sets town hall meetings
In partnership with the Appalachian Women’s Museum and the Jackson County Public Library, Western Carolina University’s LIVLAB Artist Collective will…
Read More
Yiddish noir novel hits the mark
So, how many Yiddish authors do you know? If you’re like me your answer would be none. That is until…
Read More
Road work underway in the Smokies
A pavement preservation project is underway on Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, expected to result…
Read More
New relay planned for Western NC
A relay race set to debut this year will offer teams of four the challenge of traveling from Asheville to…
Read More
Statewide wildfire response drill comes to Haywood
In the midst of an exceptionally warm, dry winter, a wildfire erupted on Mount Lyn Lowry. About 170 acres when…
Read More
Education program earns regional recognition
Muddy Sneakers, an outdoor science education program based in Brevard, recently won two awards in a Blue Ridge Outdoors voting…
Read More
Smokies records highest-ever visitation
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park set a new visitation record for 2018, welcoming 11.4 million visitors to its 816…
Read More
Arboretum to expand environmental education
A $1 million grant will allow the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville to expand its innovative K-12 science education programs to…
Read More
Congress votes to reauthorize Land and Water Conservation Fund
Congress has voted to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund following a 363-62 vote of the U.S. House…
Read More
The Naturalist's Corner: The St. Croix chronicles
St. Croix’s adolescent hormones were coursing through his lean muscular body when the urge to leave the Black Hills of…
Read More
Shining Rock head of school fired
Barely a year after he was hired, Nathan Duncan is out at Shining Rock Classical Academy.
Read More
Smokies records highest-ever visitation in 2018
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park set a new visitation record for 2018, welcoming 11.4 million visitors to its 816…
Read More
Hysteria yes; a national emergency, no
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-eight dead. Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Thirty-three dead. Stoneman Douglass High School, Parkland,…
Read More
N.C. legislators have a chance at redistricting
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The North Carolina General Assembly is where good bills go to die. So it…
Read More
Climate change must be addressed
To the Editor: As the undeniable scientific evidence of climate change and its causes and consequences mount, it is unfortunate…
Read More
Living soil: Waynesville woman digs into worm farming
Valley View Worms has an origin story that’s about as unusual as the vermiculture business itself, with plotlines hinging on…
Read More
Agriculture grant winners announced
Five local farms are among the 39 businesses awarded a total of $216,000 in this year’s WNC Agricultural Options grant…
Read More
Congress moves forward on Land and Water Conservation Fund reauthorization
The U.S. Senate voted Feb. 12 to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, an important funding source for…
Read More
New state natural area achieves milestone
A recent 1,500 acre land purchase by the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and North Carolina State Parks marked acquisition…
Read More
Fly fishing museum seeks donations
Donations are wanted to help create a display set for the Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians and Appalachian…
Read More
Reading aloud is good medicine for all
Here are two books about books, one aimed at amusement, the other at instruction. Or so they were written and…
Read More
African-American history at Sunburst oft overlooked
In a county as old as Haywood, there exist all manner of half-remembered places and faces long gone from the…
Read More
Mission CEO takes job with HCA
According to an internal email leaked to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Mission’s CEO Dr. Ron Paulus will be leaving his post…
Read More
