The National Park Service is seeking tips from the public to aid in the ongoing investigation of an assault that occurred in the Deep Creek area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

On Dec. 22, 2025, at approximately 5:40 p.m., an individual approached two vehicles believed to have been involved in a motor vehicle collision near the Deep Creek Picnic Area.

The National Park Service is requesting tips from the public to aid in an investigation of a deer poached from fields near Sparks Lane in Cades Cove.  

On the morning of Dec. 22, park rangers responded to a report of a deer that had been shot with an arrow in a field off Sparks Lane within the Cades Cove Loop Road.

A still photo extracted from a deputy’s body-cam video shows a critical moment in the events of April 6, 2024, in front of a home near Lake Logan Road, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch told jury members this week. 

In the photo the defendant, Steven Hawkins, 49, is pictured. He grips a double-barreled shotgun and directly faces law enforcement officers. 

Sylva’s popular downtown social district will now stay open an hour later each evening after town commissioners approved a modest expansion meant to accommodate one of the community’s best-loved events. 

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced that a Waynesville man pleaded guilty this week to calling in a bomb threat last spring that forced authorities to evacuate Haywood County Justice Center. 

Brian Kirkland, who served as interim sheriff in Swain County following the scandalous retirement of Curtis Cochran, has been appointed to serve out the rest of the current term. 

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch today announced the successful prosecution of a Swain County man on drug trafficking charges.

A Haywood County Superior Court jury late Friday found Clinton Leslie Ensley, 45, guilty of: 

For nearly two decades, a self-styled reformer with no law enforcement experience who toppled a longtime sheriff and rode a rising red tide to four reelection victories enjoyed his unusual transformation from outsider to one of the most powerful law enforcement figures in rural Western North Carolina, but it came with a growing cost — budget troubles, payroll strife, political grudges and ultimately a cascade of criminal charges that would chase Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran from office, leaving behind an unanswered torrent of questions. 

Sometimes a book finds you when you need it and don’t even know you need it.

Over the last few years, I’ve read some of Andrew Klavan’s columns. He’s an excellent writer, the author of novels, film scripts and works of non-fiction.

An Asheville law firm has filed a civil suit on behalf of two minor female clients alleging that the girls were sexually abused while employed at a Bojangles fast food restaurant near Lake Junaluska in Haywood County.