Macon County emergency vehicles will soon be equipped with new state-of-the-art cardiac defibrillators.
Commissioners voted 3 to 2 this week to spend nearly $400,000 on 12 pieces of the live saving equipment. One will be placed in each of the county’s ambulances, and two will be placed in the county vehicles of medical staff. They will replace existing defibrillators, some of which are 10-years-old.
A Waynesville sweepstakes operator was charged with a criminal misdemeanor last weekend when she refused to shut down her machines, considered a form of illegal gambling under state law.
Two breweries that nearly found themselves pitted against each other in a trademark lawsuit may soon make amends in the spirit of brotherly beermaker love, but also out of mutual gain.
It may still be too soon to declare an economic rebound, but recent construction data may point toward a housing sector comeback led by high-end, new home building in Jackson County.
Before a crowded room of town officials this week, Jackson County Commissioner Jack Debnam announced, in so many words, what many already knew: the county’s economic development committee in its previous form was dead and never coming back.
Federal regulators temporarily suspended operations at Cherokee bear zoo and fined its owners $5,000 for repeated animal welfare violations.
A Macon County commissioner, who prides himself on fiscal conservatism, has been staking out his positions lately.
After questioning the virtue of pay raises for Macon County workers two weeks ago, Commissioner Ron Haven has turned his attention to another proposed outlet of government spending: a large sports complex being considered outside of Franklin.
The newly formed Jackson County Tourism Development Authority voted last week to enter into a $50,000 contract with a nationally renowned branding and marketing company out of Virginia.
Amateur boxers will square off at the Haywood County Fairgrounds to vie in the Roughest and Toughest Brawl this weekend, pitting off-the-street fighters against each other for a chance to win $600 in each of the three weight classes. There is also a women’s category.
The newly formed Jackson County Tourism Development Authority is taking on the task of “branding,” an important first step for the entity that’s been tasked with developing a unified tourism promotion strategy for the county.
Although Jackson County’s Economic Development Commission has not met in several years, all its board members’ terms have expired and its director has long-since resigned, it technically still exists.
As Jackson County officials craft plans to open a liquor store in Cashiers, possibly as soon this summer, they must first determine whether the town of Sylva is in or out.
Proposed pay raises for county workers in Macon has prompted skepticism from at least two of the five county commissioners, who are asking if now is the right time for that.
The proposed pay raise would boost the salaries of all county government employees. The total plan would cost the county an estimated $750,000 per year and help all the county’s employees, more than 400 in all.
Macon County commissioners are analyzing the geographic system of electing county leaders after two commissioners from outlying communities questioned whether the process is too weighted in Franklin’s favor.
A rewrite of Jackson County’s development regulations are well underway by the Jackson County Planning Board. It will be several more months before they finish, and final changes are ultimately up to the county commissioners.
With more than 15,000 applications for just 1,500 freshman spots last year, Western Carolina University has no difficulty attracting students.
The harder part is getting them to stay.
Ghosts, spirits, swamp gas, gnomes and car headlights — there’s no shortage of hyphotheses behind the mysterious phenomenon along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The real question is, though, have you seen the light?
Despite being warned not to return to Cherokee without tribal permission, animal rights activists gathered once again last Saturday in front of Chief Saunooke Bear Park waving signs and even donning a bear costume to protest the allegedly inhumane condition of the bear pits.
Officer Michael Harrison has confiscated everything from buck knives and Airsoft pistols from students at Swain High — but never a real gun. Until last week.
Harrison and the principal discovered a .22 Remington rifle and assorted ammunition in the tool-box of student’s pick-up truck left behind in the school parking lot after the 17-year-old was arrested for unrelated charges.
Beer had been flowing from the taps of Headwaters Brewing Company in Waynesville for just a few months when the bad news arrived — a cease-and-desist letter from another brewery claiming rights to Headwaters’ name.
Victory Brewing Company out of Pennsylvania makes a beer called Headwaters Pale Ale, and while Headwaters Brewery had its name first, Victory Brewing beat them to the trademark punch.
Haywood County Rev. Lamont Foster still remembers the day he learned what it meant to be black.
It was the early 1960s; Foster was five years old at the time, living on a military base in North Carolina. His best friend, Timmy, was white.
Swain County’s oversized jail will lose about one-third of its current inmate population and a sizeable revenue stream when the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opens a new justice center, complete with its own jail.
Margie Bradley has called a ramshackle shack in the hills of Cullowhee “home” for almost 60 years. The ceilings sag, the floor is made of plywood and the wind enters through the numerous cracks scattered about the windows and walls.
For liquor stores in Western North Carolina, the combination of Christmas and the New Year makes for the busiest time of the year. But with 1,800 different types of products to choose from — from the old standbys like Jim Beam to the novelty high-end liquors gift wrapped and paired with tumblers — selecting the right booze to stock their limited shelf space can be a science in itself.
Most people have heard of a sightseeing tour, perhaps a wine or beer tasting tour, and maybe even the all-encompassing pleasure tour. But Sylva residents got an ear-dose when they followed a musician and sound expert on a not-so-common sound tour around town.
The economic situation seemed to be looking up in Jackson County: unemployment was on a steady decline; the real estate market was rebounding; and tourists were finding more expendable income to travel.
Since the town of Sylva’s curbside recycling program was reinstated about five years ago, its participation has stagnated, with the vast majority of residents not partaking.
Ever wanted a magic button you could press to make the stoplight turn green? Macon County Emergency Medical Services will soon hold that power for one stoplight at an intersection near its ambulance garage in Franklin.
Macon County residents hoping to save an old metal truss bridge spanning the Little Tennessee River scored a small win, but the victory is bittersweet.
While Western Carolina University’s budgets have been shrinking in recent years, its class sizes have been growing.
Citing a statewide shortage of dentists, East Carolina University is opening 10 clinics across North Carolina with the mission of training upper-class dental students as well as providing services to the underserved public.
From charity golf tournaments to bluegrass concerts to spare change jars, nonprofits lending a helping hand with heating costs for the needy use a variety of means to get people to pitch in for the cause.
It looked like any wood yard, piles of tree trunks in various stages of processing: long logs still bearing their bark, shorter stacks cut into rounds and neatly split triangles of firewood ready to be shoveled into a piping stove.
But to Richard Reeves, the woodlot at an abandoned factory site in Waynesville, is ground zero in the battle to fight winter’s impending cold.
Although college for many is an oasis of learning, fun and social interaction, it is also a sprawling crime scene for everything from drug busts to rape. Despite its idyllic mountain setting, Western Carolina University is no exception.
Last month, WCU officials released their annual crime statistics report for 2011. The campus showed noticeable declines compared to 2010 crimes rates, including a drop in the number of reported sex offenses, aggravated assaults and burglaries.
A group of Western Carolina University students are leading a charge to get N.C. 107 from Cullowhee to Cashiers designated as a scenic byway, but they first must appeal to skeptical county commissioners for their backing.
Jackson County is crafting a new long-range recreation master plan to set priorities and guide spending for its parks, open spaces and recreation centers during the next five years.
But, the process can be a tug-of-war between residents with varied interests, each advocating for their favorite pastimes — soccer versus softball fields, an indoor swimming pool versus greenways, a skatepark versus tennis courts. It can also be a balancing act for county recreation staff trying to delegate limited resources among competing goals.
Before the gravy had turned cold and the Thanksgiving Day turkey had been packed away in Tupperware, shoppers were already lining up at the Walmart in Waynesville for one of the earliest Black Friday door busters ever — Thursday night.
“Take me out to the ballgame,” is how the old song goes. But the question for Macon County residents in coming years may be “which one?”, as county commissioners lay plans to purchase an expanse of land that would be big enough for eight new fields fit for America’s favorite pastime.
The Smoky Mountain Flying Club is trying to get some wind under its wings again with a campaign to attract new members and buy a sporty plane, or two, for its pilots to use collectively.
Instead of the small planes traditionally flown by recreational pilots, the club is moving in the direction of the burgeoning class of light sport aircraft. These lightweight, maneuverable planes require less training and are cheaper to keep up than their larger counterparts.
When Monica Manrique was four months pregnant with her first child, her feet got so swollen with fluid she took to wearing slippers because her bulging ankles wouldn’t fit into regular shoes.
In its first year, popular weight-loss competition is bucking the trend of mounting obesity in the United States, especially the South, and giving participants a reason to slim down. But with the holiday gorge-fest on the horizon, participants in the third, and final, weight-loss round of 2012 may have the most difficult row to hoe.
As the Swain County high school football team marches towards another state championship, amid the fanatic cheers of the hometown fans who live to see the hard-hitting Maroon Devil boys take the field, there is another story unfolding.
Now that the children are gone, and art projects sit abandoned next to overturned desks and emptied cupboards, community members have a vision to bring life back into the old Cowee school outside of Franklin. But the community’s path to reclaiming the schoolhouse is facing growing opposition in the Macon County government as to how the initiative should be funded.
Waynesville Democrat Joe Sam Queen beat out Republican candidate Mike Clampitt by a commanding margin to take an open seat in the N.C. House.
N.C. Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill, was defeated after serving a decade in Raleigh.
It was one of the most surprising election results of the night, given Rapp’s popularity, accomplishments and likeability during his long tenure.
A $12,000 tractor stolen in Macon County and sold as scrap in Georgia for a fraction of the price; rusting automobiles yanked from lawns in the middle of night; copper wiring stripped from construction sites — rising scrap metal prices and subsequent thefts have prompted a new state law to counteract an increasingly attractive black market.
Two years ago, Gregg Fuller tried to fill a void in Sylva’s nightlife scene when he opened the No Name Sports Pub, featuring drinks, food and live bands three to four nights a week. But soon, the increasingly boisterous crowds and loud music became a bit too much for the nearby neighbors.
Despite pleas for leniency, the owner of a Sylva auto dealership faces a $500 fine for failing to build a sidewalk in front of his car lot.
Russ Cagle, owner of Concept Automotive, initially agreed to build the sidewalk last spring but since has attempted to persuade town leaders to allow him to skirt the requirement.
Plans made in the coming months could set the tone for the following decade or two of construction, renovation and development on Western Carolina University’s campus.
Faculty, staff, administrators and students at the school have been working since September to craft the institution’s next campus master plan — a process that is expected to last about 16 months and create a final product that is a general guideline for all aspects of the university’s infrastructure development.
A compact fluorescent light bulb uses about 75 percent less energy than the old-fashioned kind and lasts up to 10 times longer. They may cost more upfront, but a net savings of $25 during the life of each bulb has spurred American households to make the switch en masse to the energy-saving bulbs in recent years.
