It happened to me, again. Somebody stole my laundry. All of it. And it wasn’t even in the dryer yet. They ran out the door of my neighborhood laundromat in downtown Waynesville with two loads of wet clothes, never to be seen from or worn out and about one more time. 

I started this annual feature nearly a decade ago to poke fun at the emerging scourge of fake news — lies, really — that had popped up at local government meetings. It was a prophetic move, unfortunately, and in the intervening nine or so years it’s only gotten worse. 

A special production of “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19-21 and 2 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. 

As part of my gifts for Father’s Day this year, my daughter bought me a book. She apologized before handing it to me, saying “It’s really terrible and silly, and I almost didn’t give it to you.” 

There are always seasons in life when you feel the need to get away from your day-to-day, and I have found myself in just such a season.

All of us, to one extent or another, make our way through a world of unexamined phenomena. 

It’s a complex world, and we generally glide through it without thinking too much of its parts and machinery. We all carry mini-computers in our pockets, but ask us to explain how we can look at the screen of our phone and read a newspaper from New Delhi, and the best most of us can do is shrug.

Welcome to the eighth installment of The Smoky Mountain News’ annual Fake News Freakout. I feel like I say this every year, and I do, but this satirical feature was initially conceived as a one-off back in 2016, when it seemed the whole world had gone mad with literal fake news. 

À chacun son gout, as the French say: “To each his own,” or if you prefer, “There’s no accounting for taste.” Best to keep that thought in mind in this review.

It’s said that the pun is the lowest form of humor — unless it’s yours. 

Ever had one of those times when every day brought bad news?

In addition to our boatload of national catastrophes these last two months, the last two weeks brought me one report after the other of the struggles of friends and family members.