Holly Kays
Whenever Wes Eason runs across a potential customer who’s hesitant about eating farm-raised fish, he points to the picture on the front of the Sunburst Trout Farms brochure.
Cherokee voters may have the chance to approve legalized marijuana use for adults and by-the-glass mixed drinks at establishments off casino grounds through referendum votes this fall.
In a narrowly divided vote Thursday, June 1, the Cherokee Tribal Council delayed deciding on a resolution seeking to upend a planned referendum to approve the tribe’s first constitution in more than 150 years.
An earthquake that shook the Canton area during the early morning hours of Sunday, June 4, was the largest in a series of quakes centered around the same area along Crabtree Mountain Road about 3 miles north of downtown Canton.
Book details Carolina Mountain Club’s 100-year history
A coalition working to remove the aged Ela Dam in Swain County has raised $8 million of an estimated $10 million needed to complete the project.
During Tribal Council Thursday, June 1, the body will consider resolutions seeking to legalize cannabis use for adults 21 and older and to allow mixed drinks to be served at “qualified establishments” on tribal land.
The General Assembly declared 2023 the “Year of The Trail,” in hopes of getting more people to appreciate the state’s outdoor gems. But will it get beyond a marketing effort to a real investment in building and maintaining routes?
As it prepares for permanent closure this spring, the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton has received two new notices of violation from the N.C. Division of Air Quality, bringing its total violations since May 2021 to 13.
A criminal case in the Cherokee Tribal Court involving former Wolfetown Rep. Bo Crowe appears to be headed for trial.
Mill closure looms large in discussion of challenges facing WNC forests
The familiar challenges of climate change, invasive pests and development pressure peppered the conversation during a May 18 panel discussion on the issues facing forests in Western North Carolina — but the impending closure of Canton’s century-old paper mill dominated it. The closure is likely to have an earthshaking impact not just on the region’s economy, but also on the health of its forests.
FF Five candidates are running to earn a seat representing Yellowhill on Tribal Council 2023-2025, and the Primary Election Thursday, June 1, will send four of them on to compete in the Sept. 7 General Election. The two highest vote-getters there will win a two-year term on the tribe’s legislative body.
II In the most heavily contested race on the ballot in this year’s Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians election, six people are seeking a four-year term as the tribe’s top executive. The diverse field in the race for principal chief includes experienced politicians, political newcomers and a range in between. During the Primary Election Thursday, June 1, voters will whittle the field down to two, with the highest vote-getters facing off in the General Election Thursday, Sept. 7.
When A.L. Freedlander issued the 1966 fundraising challenge that birthed the Haywood Community College campus in Clyde, he envisioned a space dedicated not only to learning, but also to natural beauty. Freedlander gave $250,000 in seed money to the project, but with conditions attached: that the campus become “the most beautifully landscaped area in Haywood County” and that its grounds should contain “a good collection of dahlias,” Freedlander’s favorite flower.
UU Upholding a veto from Principal Chief Richard Sneed, on May 4 the Cherokee Tribal Council reversed an April decision that allocated $64 million to the tribe’s medical cannabis business. In his veto letter, Sneed expressed concern that the funding decision could jeopardize the tribe’s casino business and called for a “full accounting” of the $31 million already provided before giving the enterprise more money.
The fourth annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relative Walk and Vigil held in Cherokee Friday, May 5, aimed to do more than raise awareness for the ongoing epidemic of violence against indigenous people , especially women and girls — it was a call to action.
Each May, Crabtree couple invites the public to drink in field of blooms
Ricardo Fernandez Battini and his wife Suzanne Fernandez spent a stormy night in September 2004 holed up in their home along the Pigeon River in Crabtree, listening. Hurricane Ivan was dumping buckets on soil already saturated from Hurricane Frances’ arrival the week before, and the river was angry.
Following a veto from Principal Chief Richard Sneed, the Cherokee Tribal Council today reversed an April decision that allocated $64 million to the tribe’s medical cannabis business. In his veto letter, Sneed expressed concern that the funding decision could jeopardize the tribe’s casino business and called for a “full accounting” of the $31 million already provided before giving the enterprise more money.
AA proposed constitution for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is facing opposition from the EBCI Attorney General’s Office following Tribal Council’s unanimous vote April 6 to place it on the ballot for referendum this September.
Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust welcomes new director
For the first time in its 114-year history, the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust is saying goodbye to a full-time executive director and welcoming a new one. Gary Wein, who was hired as HCLT’s first full-time employee in 2006, is retiring after nearly 17 years of service. Lance Hardin, who previously served as the organization’s finance and development associate, took over Wein’s old job May 1.
Update: 4:47 p.m. Wednesday, May 3
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has reduced the scale of the search for Tampa resident Gordon Kaye, who was reported missing April 26 and last seen April 23 near a backcountry campsite in the Deep Creek area of the park near Bryson City.
II I don’t own a bathroom scale, which means I had no way of measuring the exact weight of the rust-colored pack I strapped on my back before climbing from the base of Max Patch April 13. And that was fine, because I was just there for a quick overnight — 2.5 miles in to the Roaring Fork Shelter on the Appalachian Trail that afternoon, then 2.5 miles out the next morning.
Six candidates are hoping to earn one of two seats up for election in this year’s race for Painttown Tribal Council, offering voters a diverse set of education, experience and policy priorities.
F Following more than an hour of discussion capping off months of debate, the Cherokee Tribal Council voted April 6 to fully fund its cannabis enterprise’s eight-figure startup funding request.
More than $1 million in purses was awarded and thousands of fans attended the first races resulting from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ quarterhorse racing venture in Kentucky.
Mainspring Conservation Trust will celebrate Arbor Day weekend with a slate of events ranging from a foraging walk to a greenway workday.
Discover Life in America, a nonprofit dedicated to learning as much as possible about the diverse species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, turns 25 on April 22 — which, fittingly, is also Earth Day.
The Blue Ridge Parkway has received the 2023 Byway Organization Award for Viewshed Improvement from the National Scenic Byway Foundation in recognition of the massive conservation project at Waterrock Knob that will transfer more than 5,200 acres into National Park Service ownership.
New detections of Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal ailment affecting cervids like deer and elk, have been reported in Cumberland and Wilkes counties, spurring N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Executive Director Cameron Ingram to invoke emergency powers.
A grand opening celebration for the Barbara McRae Cherokee Heritage Apple Orchard will be held 4-6 p.m. Friday, April 28, in Franklin.
KK Kituwah LLC broke ground Tuesday, April 11, on a new entertainment district within its 200-acre property off Interstate 40 in Sevier County.
Tears, hugs and applause exploded through the Tribal Council chambers April 6 when the body unanimously passed a resolution placing a tribal constitution on the ballot for the Sept. 7 General Election.
I In response to a new requirement from the UNC Board of Governors, Western Carolina University has adopted its first-ever All Funds Budget Forecast — a document that, despite the name, is not a budget, said Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Mike Byers.
A An autopsy report released by the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled the death of beloved Swain County educator Lambert Wilson a homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the neck, arms, chest and abdomen. It also reports a significant concentration of alcohol in his aortic blood.
The U.S. Forest Service will invest nearly $1.4 million in wildfire protection projects across the state as part of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program.
Run the first ever Farm Fresh 5K at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, in Waynesville, supporting Haywood Christian Ministry.
Some areas of the Greenbrier area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are now open for the first time since February.
Greenbrier Road opened as far as the ranger station April 7, allowing access to Old Settlers Trail and Grapeyard Ridge Trail with some roadwalking to the trailheads.
The N.C. Science Trail, a year-round digital guidebook to North Carolina’s science adventures, launched this month.
Spots are still available in the fifth annual Fire Mountain Inferno mountain biking event in Cherokee on April 22-23.
Nantahala Outdoor Center will kick off its 2023 season with the annual Spring Fling Celebration Saturday, April 22, at the NOC property in Swain County.
