News Headlines
Municipal candidates file for elections
Candidates across Western North Carolina have begun filing for the 2025 municipal elections, which will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Last week, The Smoky Mountain News conducted a survey across its four-county core coverage area to determine who plans to run again, and who doesn’t.
Edwards said ‘no interest’ in Medicare cut, votes to cut anyway
In Western North Carolina, where aging populations and rural poverty place extraordinary pressure on the social safety net, few programs matter more than Medicaid and Medicare. Congressman Chuck Edwards, who represents North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, has repeatedly said he and fellow Republicans had “no interest” in cutting Medicare, but his voting record tells the real story.
Forest Hills fights back: Village cancels planning contract with county over FRL withdrawal
In a move that evokes imagery from the biblical battle between David and Goliath, the tiny Jackson County municipality of Forest Hills is fighting back against county commissioners for their vote to withdraw from the Fontana Regional Library system late last month.
Lunsford federal gun case continued, again
James Lunsford, controversial proprietor of the “Haven on the Hill” campground, will begin another chapter in his federal gun case after hiring a new lawyer and receiving yet another continuance.
Following sexual assault charges, Swain County Sheriff retires
In the wake of numerous criminal charges from both the state and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tied to two alleged sexual assaults, Curtis Cochran has retired from his position as the Swain County Sheriff.
Two arrested with nearly 500 grams of meth
On July 4, the Haywood County Sheriff’s office announced that Kelly Diane Shelton, 42, and Charles Edward Morris, 56, both of Clyde, were arrested June 29 on multiple felony drug charges following an investigation by the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office.
Shining Rock loses public records lawsuit
A judge has ordered Shining Rock Classical Academy to turn over public records at the center of a civil bench trial heard in Haywood County Superior Court over a month ago.
Swain County Sheriff arrested for sexual battery, suspended from office
Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has been charged with several crimes after allegedly soliciting two women for sexual acts and is now suspended from office.
Cochran, who was first elected to office in 2006, was charged on June 27 with one count of sexual battery, soliciting a prostitute and assault on a female, all misdemeanors, as well as felonious restraint. In addition, Cochran has been charged with violations of the Cherokee Code; specifically, two counts of oppression in office and one count of abusive sexual contact.
Lawsuit alleges sexual abuse of minors at Waynesville Bojangles
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.
