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Vision for Appalachian Women’s Museum stalled
A long-range plan to create a museum highlighting the role and contribution of Appalachian women might be in limbo. The…
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Overrun by demand, Community Table needs help with move to bigger building
The blue-plate special fundraiser is a tradition in Sylva. On the last Wednesday of each month, Jackson County residents sit…
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Wong trial testimony to follow jury selection
Court testimony could start this week in the case of a Florida man who gunned down state Trooper Shawn Blanton…
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Cherokee stands together to cope with loss of fallen trooper
Charlotte Littlejohn has spent much of her morning in a bustling kitchen preparing traditional frybread. Next to her, Donavon Crowe…
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SCC eyed for federal law enforcement training
Four donated modular units should help ease a space crunch at the Public Safety Training Center in Macon County, but…
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Waynesville debates which special events merit street closings
Waynesville’s town board is drawing the line at 14 Main Street closings annually. As a result, the town has rejected…
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Swain leaders take back raise amidst quagmire over policy
After violating their own policy, Swain County commissioners convened a special meeting Wednesday (June 23) for a do-over on a…
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O’Connor’s life and characters
Two weeks ago, a friend and I traveled down into Central Georgia looking for Flannery O’Connor. My friend, whom I…
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State must do better job at Allens Creek quarry
Finding the sweet spot in government regulation, like on a wooden baseball bat, is often difficult. It’s the place where…
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The Naturalist's Corner
A sure bet I’m sure that if you belong to any environmental/conservation organization or if you have donated to causes…
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Memorial garden marks a lasting love
With the single-mindedness of Ahab and the devotion of a wounded heart, Phil Schmidt is building a monument for his…
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Who’s visiting the Smokies?
While conducting a research study a few years ago, tourism official David Huskins came across an Atlanta resident who thought…
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Nantahala Gorge ready for the world
“The Nantahala River has been many things to many people, but it’s never been a World Championship destination,” said Joe…
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Government is in need of a little belt-tightening
Most Americans are surely aware our economy is still in trouble. The downswing in the last year of the Bush…
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Home Depot site for sale — for $4 million
Home Depot is still trying to unload a 12-acre tract in Waynesville after sidelining plans for its first store west…
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One-legged soccer coach inspires young players
At 9 years old, Italian Joseph Di Lillo lost his leg as a civilian casualty in World War II. He…
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Secret poems of the Cherokee
I have always been struck by the sacred formulas (chants or incantations) that the Cherokee medicine men used to create…
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WNC tourism trends
Motorcyclists Maggie Valley business owners have seen an uptick in motorcycle enthusiasts with the opening of the Wheels through Time…
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Testing points to potential sediment runoff issues at quarry
Water pollution stemming from a Waynesville rock quarry is 100 times higher than that allowed under state standards, according to…
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Franklin, Waynesville downtown organizations thriving
While Sylva’s downtown organization struggles for stable financial footing, similar programs in Waynesville and Franklin are seeing the results that…
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DSA’s future tenuous without more money
Recently, the town of Sylva passed a $1.6 million budget on a 3 to 2 vote. The most contentious line…
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New Bartram Trail map offers all the details
Hikers and map geeks will revel in poring over a new map of the Bartram Trail being released this week.…
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Sylva town board to appoint Graham’s replacement
The Sylva town board is in for another shakeup. The board will vote at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 1,…
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Replacement to Sylva town board sets stage for new voting majority
The make-up of Sylva’s town board shifted this week when board members voted 3-1 to replace outgoing board member Sarah…
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Runoff election for Swain sheriff sets stage for brisk competition come fall
Swain County residents overwhelmingly chose John Ensley in Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff for sheriff — those who voted anyway. Ensley,…
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Cashing in the cash settlement for property tax holiday lacks traction among Swain leaders
At a special session of the Swain County board last week, Commissioner David Monteith stood up and stunned the crowd…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Still soaring after all these years Eagle Lady Doris Mager enjoyed a “rock star” reception last Friday (6/18) at the…
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Quarry neighbors square off against workers at public hearing
A packed public hearing last week over a Waynesville rock quarry pitted neighbors opposing an expansion of the mine against…
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Coastal Crusaders
When asked how he felt about the catastrophic BP oil spill, Robert Young paused for the first time during the…
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Building boom underway in medical field
Every hospital in the MedWest Health System — which covers Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties — will see new construction…
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Tribe moves to implement DNA testing for new applicants to Cherokee rolls
The Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has passed a new enrollment ordinance that requires DNA testing…
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Beekeeping in the mountains
Editor’s note: This column first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News in June 2003. Honey was a primary sweetening agent…
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Horror in Haywood
Eric S. Brown’s neighbors have probably noticed him — planted in his car day and night, writing furiously in spiral…
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Quarry regulations fall between the cracks
A Waynesville rock quarry where a major slide occurred last year was operating without rules governing the stability or safety…
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Sylva budget passes on split vote
Funding for the Downtown Sylva Association has caused a rift in the Sylva town board for the fifth year running.…
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Perhaps the real terrorists are here among us
By Thomas Crowe • Guest Columnist With the recent rash of mining disasters, oil and gas spills here in the…
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Trooper honored with bridge naming
The N.C. Department of Transportation dedicated the bridge at Exit 31 of Interstate 40 in Haywood County in honor of…
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Runoff election for Swain sheriff sets stage for brisk competition come fall
Swain County residents overwhelmingly chose John Ensley in Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff for sheriff — those who voted anyway. Ensley,…
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Franklin clinic demonstrates V.A.’s great leap forward
The Veterans Administration’s community-based outpatient clinic in Franklin will be just two years old in August, but it’s already operating…
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Sylva aims to ban downtown workers from parking on main shopping drag
The town of Sylva plans to impose a new parking law to stop shop owners and employees from taking up…
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Swain to hire animal control officer, yet still lacks vehicle and shelter
Long-awaited relief for Swain County’s dire animal control problem has finally arrived. For years, residents had no recourse if a…
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Can’t pop the top
As part of the major renovation of the historic Jackson County Courthouse, workers from Brantley Construction were set to remove…
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Slow corruption
The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell. Plume/Penguin Group, 2008. 196 pages. Several years ago, I read an amazing…
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Summer poses challenge for feeding low-income kids
Thousands of poor and low-income children across Western North Carolina rely on schools to get least at one square meal…
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Quarry expansion plan fuels residents’ complaints
Jackie Shuler has lived in the shadow of the Waynesville rock quarry most of her life. But as blasts have…
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Holding on to an identity
Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf. Clarion Books, 2007. 208 pages. On May 27, 1942, resistance fighters who had…
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Longtime legal counsel receives WCU Trustees’ Award
Rich Kucharski, chief legal counsel for Western Carolina University, became the seventh person in university history to receive one of…
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Watching the world’s game
Every four years the World Cup interrupts business as usual for a month in countries that have nothing else in…
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Sylva woodworker goes back to the future
In our commodity-driven world, it may seem absurd to spend a year making a table. But for Sylva woodworker Brian…
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Quarry plays vital role in economy
Harrison Construction’s rock quarry on Allens Creek in Waynesville mines granite for building roads, driveways and concrete house pads. The…
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