Give the gift of local news
To the Editor:
My wife and I are part-time residents of Western North Carolina, and regardless of where we are we rely on The Smoky Mountain News to keep up with what is happening locally. We make a (very) nominal monthly contribution to the newspaper, recognizing that it is the best source of local and hyper-local news in the region.
Tourism to national park contributes $2 billion to local economy
A new National Park Service report shows that approximately 12.2 million visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2024 spent more than $2 billion in communities near the park. That spending had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of more than $2.8 billion.
This must be the place: ‘When they get here, I’ll be swimming in the ancient light’
I woke up with sunshine streaming into my bedroom, the mountains surrounding my town illuminated in bright green vegetation. And yet, I felt in no mood to celebrate Independence Day.
Got workers? Thank immigrants
To the Editor:
Why are people so afraid of immigrants, treating them as the other while regularly slandering and marginalizing them? The truth is immigrants contribute greatly to our work force and our economy, paying into Social Security and Medicare with no hope of benefitting from the programs.
