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Unaffiliated candidate mounts congressional bid
The five men — three Democrats, a Republican and a Libertarian — hoping to unseat Asheville Republican Congressman Mark Meadows…
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Parking decks planned for Western Carolina
Parking decks could come to Western Carolina University sooner rather than later following the Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote to…
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‘Your everlasting summer. You can see it fading fast’
Half the battle is just getting out of the house and on the road. Whenever we travel, we all understand…
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Psychologists, counselors and nurses will make schools safer
By Virginia Jicha • Guest Columnist I was in the process of writing about the need for school nurses when the…
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Time to take back the NRA
To the Editor: I would like to add some additional comments to Martin Dyckman’s guest column in the Feb. 21…
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Our senators are bought and paid for
To the Editor: Our state’s senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, have consistently opposed event he most modest form of…
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Liberals have lost touch with reality
To the Editor: In reference to a recent article I read in The Smoky Mountain News, maybe if you took…
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Horrific twister is catalyst for insightful novel
It was April 5, 1936, Palm Sunday, about nine o’clock in the evening. People were tidying up their kitchens, strolling…
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One mile at a time: Long-distance run will raise money for SCC students in need
The first time Matt Kirby attempted the 72-mile Georgia Death Race, he almost didn’t finish. “I had a friend who…
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Wildlife Commission votes on management changes
A proposal to add two weeks to the bear-hunting season in North Carolina’s Mountain Bear Management Unit didn’t pass muster…
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Hiker found dead near Waterrock Knob
A missing person search along the Blue Ridge Parkway last weekend ended when Jackson County emergency responders found the body…
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Environmental ed groups win cash
Three area organizations landed a collective $6,000 to support youth environmental education following an online voting contest hosted by Diamond…
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Pier under construction at Lake Junaluska
A new meditation pier that will extend more than 40 feet into the water and seat eight people is under…
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The woodcock — secretive, rotund and acrobatic
While walking stream banks or low-lying wetlands, you have perhaps had the memorable experience of flushing a woodcock — that…
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The gold in the mountain of our madness: A conversation with Wayne Coyne
For the last 35 years, the Flaming Lips have gone from a fringe rock act in Oklahoma to a highly-sought-after…
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This must be the place: ‘Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again’
When you’re young — full of confusion about the ways and means of a “stable adulthood,” amid a hazy sense…
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Cherokee to open first brewery
In keeping with the long tradition of women within indigenous cultures crafting fermented beverages, Seven Clans Brewing is born.
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Finding civility in a polarized society
Globalization has made our big world seem much smaller, but it’s also pushed us farther away from one another. Instead…
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Speakers call on interfaith work for social justice
Christian Perspective The Rev. T. Anthony Spearman hadn’t even started his talk from the Christian perspective, and already there wasn’t…
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Participants take home renewed faith
It’s easy to grow weary in a world that is deeply divided and when efforts to reach out to the…
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Meadows’ bill to reimburse counties with federal land
Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., introduced legislation to supplement counties that have expended local taxes on…
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Leading the Way: WCU celebrates $5 million gift; aims for $60 million by 2019
Excitement and purple attire filled the second floor of A.K. Hinds University Center at Western Carolina University March 1 as…
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Green Energy Park revival discussed; Plan would merge art, education and innovation
The Jackson County Green Energy Park has long been a topic of conversation in Jackson County — various boards of…
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Judges' order won’t allow Swain board to hear challenge
Around the same time people were packing into the board of elections office in Swain Monday afternoon, a three-judge panel…
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Swain sheriff’s eligibility for office questioned
Cars lined the sides of U.S. 19 in Bryson City Monday night as people tried to find their way inside…
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Libertarians in it to win it in 2018
For the first time in a decade, citizens in much of Western North Carolina will have the chance to vote…
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Several last-minute candidates added to election roster
Regional Three-term incumbent Congressman Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, has a number of challengers this year, including one from his own party.…
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Agreement axed for Dillsboro river park
Eleven months ago, the Jackson County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve development of a river park on county-owned land along…
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‘Spirit of the Cherokee woman’: Swayney honored for life of service to tribe and country
A courageous leader. An empathetic caretaker. A driven taskmaster. An intelligent, resilient and love-driven organizer. A person who had no…
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McCoy pleads guilty in marriage fraud case
Ruth Marie Sequoyah McCoy, former deputy superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Cherokee agency, pled guilty to conspiracy to…
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Hunter to step down as Western Carolina basketball coach
After a 13-year tenure as Western Carolina University’s head Men’s Basketball coach that also saw him notch his 700th career…
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Ken Howle named executive director of Lake Junaluska
In keeping with the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center’s transformative efforts to remain a thriving spiritual and economic hub…
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The pendulum will swing — it has to
Would you turn your back on a long and meaningful friendship because of widening political differences? I won’t do it,…
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My faith is both strong and unique
I didn’t go to church growing up, but my parents were the godliest people I knew. They were giving, compassionate,…
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Attitudes toward guns have changed dramatically
To the Editor: I grew up in a small, rural community, one not unlike many of the small towns in…
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President’s budget is simply immoral
To the Editor: The White House budget for 2019 seems designed to hurt the elderly and people born with disabilities.…
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Americans deserve better health care
To the Editor: Politicians love the photo op with veterans. We celebrate the wounded warrior, but seldom praise the system…
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Environmental champions recognized
The Commission for a Clean County has announced the winners of its 2017 Community Pride Awards, which recognizes people and…
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Haywood Waterways elects new president
Tim Petrea, program supervisor at the Waynesville Recreation Center, has been elected president of the Haywood Waterways Association.
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Cataloochee ends 2017-18 night skiing
Prolonged warm temperatures have prompted Cataloochee Ski Area to cancel night skiing for the rest of the season.
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Working for the watershed: Clapp steps down after 14 years as WATR’s director
It’s been nearly four decades since Roger Clapp, then a math and science teacher for a middle school in Virginia,…
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Become a master outdoor educator
The Landmark Outdoor Educator Semester will return with classes May 9 through June 28, a 51-day program that yields a…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Birds in the hand
The Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History in York, South Carolina, is one of the few year round banding…
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Sucking the marrow out of a great word
What’s in a name? In You Are A Badass: How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness And Start Living An Awesome…
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Wind on the water, carry me home
When you simply mention the name Graham Nash, a multitude of sounds, images, movements and ideas flood your field-of-vision. You…
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This must be the place: ‘There’s no such thing as truth. Everyone has their own truth.’
Now, let’s get this out of the way. What happened to U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan from within the social…
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Student threats taken seriously after Parkland shooting
The latest mass shooting on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has spurred a number…
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‘On all of our minds’: Jackson County leaders plan to prevent school violence
When a teenage shooter shattered an otherwise normal day in Parkland, Florida, with gunfire and bloodshed, the ripples of fear…
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Swain High students walk out of class
Following a social media threat that led to a countywide school lockdown and an early dismissal on Thursday, Feb. 22,…
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UNC School of Government prepares local leaders
“First, congratulations. Second, why are you here?” he asked. The airy hotel conference room fell silent, nearly 200 eyeballs glancing…
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