Holly Kays
After a four-month lapse, services from physicians working for hospitals in Clyde, Sylva and Bryson City will be back in-network with UnitedHealthCare as of May 1. These services had been out-of-network since the previous contract lapsed Jan. 1.
A longtime democracy nonprofit director and self-proclaimed “watchdog” of political activity is calling for an investigation into how the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reports its donations.
A pair of bills now working their way through the state House and Senate would legalize sports betting on tribal lands, bringing to fruition a possibility that’s been discussed ever since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the subject in May 2018.
Appeals are underway following the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Board of Elections’ decision not to certify three candidates to run for election.
The Asheville Design Center will present its findings on alternatives to the current plan for N.C. 107 in Sylva during a community meeting 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at the Jackson County Public Library.
Hanging was the cause of death for a woman who died Jan. 18 while in custody of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, according to documents provided by the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Plans for a proposed housing development on South Painter Road in Cullowhee will proceed following the Jackson County Commissioners’ decision to accept a settlement agreement with Atlanta-based Mallory and Evans Development LLC.
As the June 6 Primary Election in Cherokee draws closer, The Smoky Mountain News will be updating this voter guide with responses from the 48 people running for legislative and executive office this year.
In an era when most environment-related news carries a hue of doom and gloom, the saga of air quality trends in Western North Carolina is a welcome exception.
In the 1990s, ground-level ozone was high — Asheville teetered on the edge of violating federal standards, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park actually did exceed them — and white haze emanating from area power plants made visibility so poor that visitors had a hard time seeing the waves of blue mountains for which the region is named. The tourism industry worried that poor air quality would deter travelers from stopping in the Smokies.
Three women who had filed for tribal office this year will not be allowed to run following the April 1 release of the certified candidate list.
Tribal Council got off to an unusual start in April of last year when Councilmember Tommye Saunooke, of Painttown, asked Tribal Council to begin the meeting by voting on a proposal that was absent from the day’s 28-item agenda.
“Mr. Chairman, at this time, I’d like to make a move that the only press allowed in our Cherokee chambers will be Cherokee press,” Saunooke said.
The Jackson County Commissioners tabled a vote March 19 that would have given a nonprofit group in Cashiers the go-ahead to get sidewalks built in that community.
Three candidates were dropped from the list of contenders for tribal office with today's release of a list of certified canddiates from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Board of Elections. The list of certified candidates did not include Teresa McCoy and Missy Crowe, who had both filed to run for principal chief, or Sharon Bradley, who wanted to run for Big Y School Board.
When John Mudge opened RollsRite Bicycles in 2002, his grandson Zack Moss was only 9 years old. Moss grew up on the other side of the country in Washington, and he didn’t really know his grandfather, or the bike shop. The first time he visited RollsRite was in 2018, after Mudge’s unexpected death on Nov. 6. Mudge was 71 years old.
In a mirror image of a vote taken seven months ago, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners has voted to reinstate independent boards to oversee its health and social services departments.
Jackson County residents will likely be asked to participate in a survey this spring gauging their support for an indoor pool at the Cullowhee Recreation Center.
Tribal Council approved a pair of appointments March 14 that added new members to two of the tribe’s most influential boards.
Construction on a 1,000-space parking deck expected to be complete at Western Carolina University by August of this year has been delayed for a May 2020 start.
An agreement allowing members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to gather sochan in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is now official following an event Monday, March 25, in which Smokies Superintendent Cassius Cash and Principal Chief Richard Sneed signed the historic agreement.
Every summer for the past seven years, the warmer months have brought opportunity for adventure and learning to the small group of students participating in Camp WILD.
Three years ago, Meg Hanshaw was in full-on planning mode for a camp that she hoped to see grow into something big, but that would — for that summer at least — roll forward hosted in her home with just two campers attending.
A National Park Service ranger who has focused on the scientific and educational significance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 20 years earned national praise in this year’s Public Lands Alliance awards ceremony, held Feb. 27 in Denver, Colorado.
Susan Sachs, education branch chief for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, received the 2019 PLA Agency Leadership Award for cultivating and leading partnerships, the result of a nomination from the Great Smoky Mountains Association.
Jackson County will likely be making some big changes to its health plan following the realization that it’s headed toward a $1.2 million deficit by June 30 if something doesn’t change.
Nine months after a traffic accident that resulted in a pair of drug possession charges for a lead law enforcement supervisor with the Blue Ridge Parkway, the officer is still barred from performing law enforcement duties — despite the charges being dismissed and expunged from the record.
A Feb. 26 announcement from Superior Court Judge Bradley Letts that he would retire from his seat but would not run for tribal office perplexed many in Western North Carolina. Speculation that Letts, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, would run for chief of that tribe had been widespread, both on and off the Qualla Boundary.
Following the conclusion of candidate filing for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' 2019 election season, below is the list of people who will be running for tribal office this year:
A Blue Ridge Parkway district ranger was arrested in Tennessee last year following a traffic accident in which he was under the influence of alcohol and in possession of drugs, according to public records. However, charges stemming from the incident were later dismissed.
John W. Bardo, who served as chancellor of Western Carolina University from 1995 to 2011, passed away Tuesday, March 12, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas.
After decades roving the backcountry of some of the largest parks in the Western United States, Lisa Hendy is returning to her home state of Tennessee to serve as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s first female chief ranger.
At least, that’s the headline picked up by news outlets across the country, and it’s true. Hendy will start her new job April 8, and it will be the first time a woman has served that role in the Smokies. But to Hendy, it’s not about gender. It’s about her ability to do the job, and do it well.
Despite a government shutdown that lasted most of the month, visitation in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was markedly higher this January than in the same month last year.
As the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority prepares for a $9.5 million sewer expansion project in Cashiers, another big change is under discussion for the plateau — the potential of offering a public water utility.
With the deadline to register getting nearer, the list of people running for tribal office in this year’s elections is getting longer. As of press time Tuesday, 29 people were signed up to run for 14 offices, with an additional four people signed up to run for three school board seats.
The second go-around in the search for the next chancellor of Western Carolina University is nearing completion with the Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote March 1 to approve a list of three names for consideration.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund was permanently reauthorized today following President Donald Trump’s signature on a law that received overwhelming bipartisan in both the House and the Senate.
Summit Charter School in Cashiers has chosen a new director to take over from interim director Billy Leonard, who has served since July 2018.
With nearly than a week left to go in the filing period for this year’s tribal elections, five people have already put their names forward to run for principal chief.
A recently released draft report bodes well for the possibility of removing the dilapidated Cullowhee Dam without compromising the water supply it was designed to protect — but Western Carolina University and the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority need additional questions answered before agreeing to pursue removal.
Congress voted to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund following a 363-62 vote of the U.S. House of Representatives Feb. 26.
For the past 79 years, Ella Wachacha Bird has lived a life defined by seasons and relationships rather than months and days.
Bird, the daughter of Rily Wachacha and Ancy Walkingstick, was born in a log cabin in the remote West Buffalo area of Graham County’s Snowbird community in 1939. She was delivered by her grandmother Maggie Wachacha, a midwife at the time who would later become a clerk to Tribal Council and, like Ella, a Beloved Woman in the tribe.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will have its first female chief ranger following the hire of Lisa Hendy, who currently serves as chief ranger at Big Bend National Park in Texas.
Two days after announcing a midterm retirement from the bench, Superior Court Judge Bradley Letts reversed his decision in a statement sent two minutes before the close of business on what was to be his last day in office.
The Sylva Board of Commissioners recognized longtime public works director Dan Shaeffer for his nearly 20 years of service to the town during its regular meeting today. The board presented Shaeffer with a resolution honoring his contribution to the town as well as the jokingly named "Order of the Short Leaf Pine Award," a title that plays on the governor-awarded Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
Of all the local governments in The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage area, Jackson County has some of the most complete closed session minutes and arguably the easiest system for obtaining them.
Of the nine closed-session discussions Sylva commissioners held last year, only three — all attorney-client privilege conversations related to an ongoing court case — are still sealed.
Amid widespread speculation about plans to run for principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Superior Court Judge Bradley Letts has announced plans to retire from his position — but not to run for tribal office. Letts said he has ruled out that possibility.
Jackson County is facing a plethora of capital projects over the next several years, and a new animal shelter will be one of them following a consensus that emerged from a four-hour budget planning meeting Feb. 21.
Congress has voted to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund following a 363-62 vote of the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park set a new visitation record for 2018, welcoming 11.4 million visitors to its 816 square miles last year.
Valley View Worms has an origin story that’s about as unusual as the vermiculture business itself, with plotlines hinging on a Facebook post, a felony conviction and 60 pounds of red wiggler composting worms.
Last week Jackson County commissioners got their first look at what a re-imagined Green Energy Park campus might cost, with the engineers at WithersRavenel offering a plan that would total $12 million over three phases.
