It was a rather strange place to have a life-changing epiphany, but there he was, on the set of a British reality TV show in 2007, deep in the bowels of the Borneo jungles, when Jonathon Bryant found a purpose in life.
Set in some of the most remote jungles on the planet, “Adrenaline Junkie” was shooting its third series. Starring Jack Osbourne, son of the famous rocker Ozzy, and five tag-alongs, the show took viewers through the primitive Pacific island, encountering wild boar, bloodsucking leeches and the secluded people of the Penan, exotically adorned with drooping ear lobes, weighted earrings and body tattoos.
After a tumultuous start to hashing out a blueprint for this year’s finances, the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority reached a moment of harmony last week when its members unanimously adopted a budget.
Since Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort added table games with live dealers last year they’ve had to round up hundreds of new card dealers — and they’re still looking for more.
There was no shortage of work to be done when N.C. Missions of Mercy, a mobile dental camp, came rolling into town last week and set up shop in Cullowhee.
Jackson County plans to build a $1.6 million state-of-the-art 911 call center and emergency headquarters along U.S. 441 south of Dillsboro.
The Main Street gazebo in Franklin could soon see a facelift, or, even be replaced with an entirely different structure.
Presented with a tempting yet expensive offer, the Village of Forest Hills has to choose whether to buy an abandoned golf course in the center of its small community, or stand by and watch it be developed.
What goes in must come out: that’s the basic premise behind your water and sewer bill. Sewer fees simply mirror the water bills.
Macon County could once again find itself with a bigger airport runway — this time wider.
Lake Junaluska resident Hattie Polk finally inched her way to the front of the line and released her clutch on what she believed to be an English monastery lantern dating to the reign of King Henry VIII, circa late 1800s — proudly offering it up to the antique appraiser with a glimmer in her eye.
It make have taken 50 million years, give or take, but the small, armored animal known as the armadillo is finally making into the hills into Western North Carolina after its humble roots in South America eons ago — and it could be here to stay.
The news of stalled talks between the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and Jackson County was met with mixed feelings in the little village of Dillsboro, which once served as the hub for the bustling scenic railroad.
Pool sharks rejoice. The town of Franklin has lifted an antiquated law that banned pool tables from being on the same premises as booze, or booze from being on the same premises as pool tables.
It’s not quite the Jetsons’ flying car, but Jackson County is moving toward its own fleet of new-age vehicles powered by the emerging alternative fuel propane.
Recycling receptacles are coming to downtown Sylva soon, at last giving shoppers and strollers a green option for pitching their bottles, cans, cups and last week’s copy of The Smoky Mountain News.
The debate over the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority budget was bumped up another notch last week when dozens of business owners and members of the Cashiers community flooded a budget meeting demanding more money for the Cashiers visitor center.
Western Carolina University’s off-campus Cat-Tran may soon go the way of the horse and buggy.
Adam Cartwright walked a thin line on the way back to his home in Cullowhee. He hugged the side of Ledbetter Road, feet on the white paint, and frequently stepping off the pavement onto the scrubby grass if he heard a car approaching.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado formed during an afternoon of thunderstorms and high winds that ripped through Western North Carolina two weeks ago.
Leaders of the Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce are pushing for more funding from the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority in the upcoming budget year.
Franklin will soon be saying goodbye to its sitting mayor and longtime town politician Joe Collins. The Franklin native has announced he will not seek re-election in the approaching race, bringing to a close a 10-year stint as mayor and a total of 16 years serving in local politics.
Sylva Mayor Maurice Moody has announced he will retire from town government and not seek reelection in the upcoming election. His departure, after 16 years on the Town Board of Commissioners, will leave a void of experience in local government and force Sylva voters to choose a new leader.
When moral Monday protestors gathered this week in front of the legislature in Raleigh to decrying the policies of conservative lawmakers, among them were a contingent of demonstrators from Western North Carolina.
This year’s PlottFest will give hound enthusiasts from the region, across the country and around the globe a chance to celebrate their favorite breed of dog in its ancestral home.
Although the fledgling festival, only in its second year, will showcase a wide variety of mountain music, fishing and other events, this year, organizers have decided to place an emphasis on the pride of Haywood: the Plott hound, which has been deemed the state dog of North Carolina.
Macon County has it sights set on building a new soccer field in Highlands, one of the few mountain communities where the sport is king of the fall season, not football.
Cullowhee community activists have finally made headway in a push to create a community land-use plan to regulate growth and development in the area.
While many professors and staff members enjoyed their careers teaching, assisting students and helping to keep the ever-growing Western Carolina University operating on a daily basis, retired life inevitability beckons. But a movement afoot hopes to maintain a stronger connection amongst former workers at the institution far into their golden years.
Nearly two months after a majority of Macon County commissioners approved a slew of salary raises for all county employees, the nitty-gritty details of the pay hikes have been released.
A church is looking to bring a little more religion to downtown Sylva, but some local business owners, as well as elected officials, are skeptical of the move.
Sylva town leaders have chosen not to raise taxes next year and instead delay town expenditures, save money where they can and dip into reserve funds to shore up the budget.
Repairs to the dam at Balsam Lake in the Nantahala National Forest have been delayed because of high creek levels, leaving the popular lake drained as the Western North Carolina tourist season gets under way.
The effort to introduce zoning laws in Cullowhee is being taken up by Jackson County Commissioners at an upcoming workshop at 2 p.m. June 17 at the county’s Administration and Justice Building near Sylva.
Foot traffic undeniably brings dollars to Waynesville’s downtown businesses. But what the passerby also brings is trash.
Mitigating the deadly and damaging effects of mountain landslides might be as simple as understanding them.
The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Jackson County had its funding slashed in half in 2011, and this year, Raleigh may finish the job.
Jackson County will begin building the first leg of a long-awaited greenway along the Tuckasegee River this summer.
The Cashiers Chamber of Commerce leaders claim they have been slighted their fair share of visitor center funding from the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority.
Jackson County Planning Board members discussed axing part of the steep slope rules aimed at protecting mountain viewsheds.
The viewshed provisions stipulate new mountainside construction should not be readily visible from public right of ways or public lands.
In his brief five months in Congress, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Cashiers, has kept busy — voting on several pieces of key legislation, sitting in on committee hearings, drafting bills of his own and when he can, traveling back to Western North Carolina.
It’s got more names than the Bible. The “round-over,” the “lollipop,” and the “bob” to name a few. No matter how you call it, Haywood County’s favorite way of trimming trees is despised by tree experts, yet it’s probably here to stay.
Macon County Schools may be in store for some noticeable changes come the start of school this fall.
Most who spoke during a public hearing at the Macon County Courthouse on Duke Energy’s proposed rate increases were not pleased with the prospect of another uptick on their electric bills and lambasted Duke Energy representatives for wanting to use the increase to pay for recently built fossil fuel plants and pay higher dividends to investors.
After weeks of back-and-forth debate, deliberation and nail-biting, members of the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority have zeroed in on a slogan to help sell the area to potential visitors.
A group of Jackson County residents have been making the rounds in recent weeks asking decision makers to think twice before forking over $750,000 to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in hopes of increasing tourism.
Macon County is weighing whether to relax its existing rules that ban fill dirt in the flood plain.
The county’s planning board is split on the issue and struggling to find mutual ground to stand on.
Jackson County wants to bring high-speed Internet service to a greater number of residents, but doing so means convincing an Internet service provider there’s enough potential customers to make it worth their while.
What’s it going to be for Jackson County — Just Do It; Got Milk?; A Little Dab’ll Do Ya?
That is the $50,000 question as tourism leaders edge closer to an official marketing message and tourism brand used to lure visitors and their wallets to vacation in Jackson.
A Sylva gun storeowner was given special permission to fire weapons in the town limits by town leaders this month.
Who has the lowest tax rate in the state — Macon County or Jackson County? The answer is both, it just depends on who you ask.
Jackson County commissioners may be looking to change how fire departments are funded.
