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Skyland Drive to get sidewalks
Sidewalks are coming to Skyland Drive in Sylva along a 0.7-mile section stretching from the Old Asheville Highway to its…
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WCU student dies in shooting; Two teens arrested in connection
A late-night shooting near the Western Carolina University campus Friday, Oct. 6, has left a student dead.
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Staying in the game: New policies could define Waynesville economic development for decades
After realizing small but consistent gains in local business development over the past few years, the town of Waynesville has…
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Candidate forums next week in Canton, Maggie Valley
To mark the start of early voting, The Smoky Mountain News will host a pair of free candidate forums in…
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Developer takes Jackson to court over permit denial
Denial of a permit to build a 388-bed student housing complex in Cullowhee will land Jackson County in court after…
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Bryson Senior Living close to completion
When Bryson Senior Living, an assisted living facility in Swain County, opens in January, a major void in the community…
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Bryson City secures new maintenance property
After months of negotiations, the town of Bryson City has finally closed on a piece of property that will allow…
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Pedaling toward Mitchell: Biking and biology go hand-in-hand for WCU professor
Darby Harris is going on a bike ride Saturday, Oct. 7, but how far he’ll pedal will be a mystery…
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Proceeds grow from Smokies plates
Sales of Friends of the Smokies license plates brought in $230,000 over the first half of 2017, a 6 percent…
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Grant funds to protect farmland
Three Western North Carolina properties are among those to be protected through $3.28 million in grants recently awarded by the…
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Dam removal to boost native species
A recent dam removal on Santeetlah Creek in the Nantahala National Forest is allowing native fish to return to high-quality…
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Scouts bring in the apple harvest
More than 600 pounds of apples wound up in the pantries of people in need thanks to the efforts of…
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When they bloom, ‘fall’s a-coming’
Late summer has slid into early autumn. The end of summer officially arrived with the autumnal equinox of Sept. 23,…
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Books that transcend the divisiveness
From Thanksgiving dinners to football games, from the floors of Congress to Joe’s Bar & Grill, from universities to kindergartens,…
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After tragedy in Vegas, where to from here?
I’ve never shot a gun. Nope. Not once. I come from a family of gun owners. I’ve held plenty of…
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A part of my generation’s soundtrack
We were pretty full of ourselves, I guess. Barely 19, barely finished with our freshman year in college, having left…
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We can survive the Trump era
To the Editor: President Trump never ceases to amaze me on his downward spiral to be the worst president in…
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Children’s healthcare must be supported
To the Editor: Last week the US Congress failed to reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Plan — CHIP — known…
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Air Force Academy general deserves praise
To the Editor: All men and women who have served in the armed forces can hold their heads high when…
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So retirees should relinquish rights?
To the Editor: I am completely mystified by a recent letter writer’s response to my letter questioning the legitimacy of…
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Business dedicated to saving bees
Spriggly’s Beescaping is a new small business located in Waynesville that offers workshops, products, and services to create environments that…
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Haywood County manager resigns
Haywood County Manager Ira Dove has resigned; a resignation letter was sent out the morning of Oct. 4 from Candace Way,…
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Déjà vu: candidates walk familiar path
A spate of early announcements by local candidates hoping to gain seats in the North Carolina General Assembly may have…
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Jackson restricts some referendums to high-turnout elections
The Jackson County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution Sept. 18 that will limit referendum votes on sales tax increases and…
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Swain installs Charters of Freedom
Swain County officials came together last week to dedicate the Charters of Freedom monument that can now be seen just…
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Swain elections director to sue county
Swain County Elections Director Joan Weeks recently informed the board of elections that she hired a lawyer and planned to…
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Waynesville inclusive playground approved
Play, it is said, is the work of children. But a substantial population of disabled kids who’ve up until now…
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Election Board orders runoff race in Birdtown; candidate files suit in Tribal Court
Uproar over the results of an election recount in the race to represent Cherokee’s Birdtown community on Tribal Council has…
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Cherokee’s attorney general resigns
The attorney general of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians appointed during the administration of Principal Chief Patrick Lambert has…
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Cherokee outlaws backpay with Council pay hikes
During its last days before swearing in newly elected members, the Cherokee Tribal Council unanimously passed an ordinance amendment that…
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Riverbend named Blue Ribbon School
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the 2017 National Blue Ribbon Schools, which included Riverbend Elementary School in Haywood…
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Canton continues pondering pigs as pets
Giggles, snickers, snorts and outright laughter echoed through the Town of Canton’s Sept. 28 board meeting as an ordinance regarding…
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Waynesville aldermen throw dogs a bone
Although Waynesville aldermen continue to seek a definitive answer on whether or not to rescind the town’s 15 year-old policy…
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Haywood Pathways Center expansion to help homeless
The causes of homelessness — and homelessness in Haywood County — are varied and numerous, but according to the Haywood…
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Tourism board looks to change grant funding methods
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is considering a number of major changes to increase its efficiency in collecting and…
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Franklin approves brunch bill with little fanfare
The Franklin Town Council unanimously approved the local adoption of the brunch bill, which will allow restaurants and stores to…
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Sylva approves Sunday morning alcohol sales
Sylva has joined the growing list of towns and counties approving Sunday morning alcohol sales following a 4-1 vote Sept.…
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Waynesville to reinstitute capacity use fees
Thanks to the N.C. Supreme Court and the North Carolina General Assembly, the Town of Waynesville’s about to be back…
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Franklin football banner incites religious debate
At a Friday night football game against Murphy, the Franklin High School cheerleaders took to the field like they do…
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WNC falls into October
Amid the innumerable reasons why we love Western North Carolina, the fall foliage of October might be the one key…
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Time of the season: WNC falls into October
Amid the innumerable reasons we love Western North Carolina, the fall foliage of October might be the common denominator that…
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Autumn leaves must fall, but not before being a WNC tourism draw
It’s September in the hills when Western Carolina University’s fall foliage forecaster Beverly Collins attempts to quantify the quality of…
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This must be the place: ‘You never slow down, you never grow old’
Tom Petty. I can’t remember a time without him and his band’s music in my life. It’s always been there,…
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Tourism board looks to change funding committees
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is considering a number of changes to increase its efficiency in collecting and allocating…
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Wildlife through a lens: Highlands couple explores the outdoors one photograph at a time
The years since retirement have been anything but dull for Highlands residents Ed and Cindy Boos. From Ecuador to Kenya…
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A wall can’t stop these migrants
Regrettably a wall through desert and riparian lowlands along the Mexico-U.S. border will have terrible effects on terrestrial fauna whose…
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Miss Julia’s saga is well worth the read
Miss Julia Springer lives in a small town near Asheville, where she is mourning the death of her husband of…
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Hand on heart or on bended knee — Americans all
This is what it means to be an American. I’m talking about NFL players and coaches and owners uniting to…
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Learning to let my emotions breathe
I’ve always been prone to bouts of melancholy. I’m not sure if it’s a writer thing or a woman thing…
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