Not all heroes wear capes.

At least not Amanda Seay. She seems more the utility pants and boots type. 

Raise your hand if you’ve been paying attention to Western Carolina University athletics this academic year. 

Million-dollar mountaintop vacation homes, phony moonshine from corporate mega-distilleries, dime-a-dozen seedy strip malls — none of these things are Appalachian things, and if one of the hardy old Mountaineers of yore was magically transported through time to the present day, they’d hardly recognize the place. 

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. 

For the third year running, freshman enrollment has increased at Western Carolina University, a metric that university leaders hope will signal an end to multiple years of falling enrollment in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

The staff of the Smoky Mountain News won 18 advertising awards, including three first-place honors, as well as 16 editorial awards, including five first places, at this year’s North Carolina Press Association awards banquet. Awards were won in Division C, the largest division for nondaily publications.

By Sabrina Matheny • Rumble Contributor |