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Jackson TDA announces quarterly cycle for Tourism Capital Project Fund

The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority (JCTDA) has announced a new quarterly cycle for the Tourism Capital Project Fund (TCPF), beginning in 2024-25. This change aims to streamline the application process and enhance responsiveness to community projects while maintaining a structured program. 

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Preorder Chris Cooper's latest book with discount promo code

Noted expert on southern politics and North Carolina politics Chris Cooper’s newest book will ship later this fall, and with the General Election right around the corner, “Anatomy of a purple state” couldn’t come at a better time.

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Sept. 11 commemoration invites first responders

A free event for all emergency responders and veterans will be held in Bryson City on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 3 p.m. at Riverfront Park, in remembrance of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

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Closure shorten schedule on White Oak Road

A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will finish paving a section of White Oak Road in two weeks instead of months during a full road closure slated to begin the night of Sept. 3. 

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Recreational marijuana coming next month: Cherokee announces adult-use cannabis date

Beginning, Sept. 7, anyone over the age of 21 will be able to purcha se and use marijuana on the Qualla Boundary.  

While the official announcement was made at 10:22 a.m. in the form of a post on the Great Smoky Cannabis Company’s X page, the news actually broke about an hour earlier during an Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council meeting. At the end of that meeting, Council Rep. Richard French, of the Big Cove community made it official. 

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Four days: Kamala Harris' unlikely journey, via Chicago, plays a huge role in Biden's legacy

Editor’s note: This story is a compilation of Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt’s pop-up daily dispatches, “Via Chicago,” originally published online from the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago the week of Aug. 19. 

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Bearers of the Tar Heel torch: North Carolina’s youngest DNC delegates reaffirm commitment to party in Chicago

Torches were passed at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, even more so than most people might have seen on their television screens. 

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Harris ticket energizes rural NC voters, but will it be enough?

The long and winding road to the White House passes through North Carolina, but in this swing state of nearly 11 million people, that road is more likely than in any other to be gravel or dirt. 

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Jackson County approves new library agreement

The Jackson County Commission has approved a new version of the Fontana Regional Library interlocal agreement that contains some significant changes to the revisions previously put forth by Macon County. 

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