Waynesville vote totals suggest sluggish morning
It’s still early, but judging by Election Day vote totals at Waynesville’s four largest precincts, it’s going to be a…
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Sylva to revisit food truck rules
With two years elapsed since Sylva passed its first-ever food truck ordinance in July 2017, the town board is circling…
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Waynesville aldermen candidates step up
Like much of the United States in 2015, the Town of Waynesville was still straining to stand up straight after…
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High winds cause Smokies road closures
High winds ahead of a cold front expected to move in later today have caused the Great Smoky Mountains National…
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Second Dem hopes to oppose Meadows
The landscape of the 11th Congressional District is about to change literally and figuratively — a ruling in a gerrymandering…
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Community searches for homelessness solutions
Frog Level Brewing Co. was packed to capacity Tuesday night as community members came together for some good old tavern…
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Homeless in Haywood: Facts, fantasies, half-truths and hogwash
When she showed up at Haywood Pathways Center, the woman and her young daughter had been homeless for three years.…
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Cherokee to revisit election ordinance
With a new Tribal Council seated and a year of reprieve in place before the election cycle begins again, the…
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Dillsboro opposes recycling relocation
In August, Jackson County commissioners voted unanimously to buy 3.67 acres along Haywood Road in Dillsboro to use as the…
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NC’s 2020 Congressional Districts thrown out
One month and one day after a lawsuit was filed alleging partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina’s congressional districts, a three-judge…
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Wozniak no longer Pisgah District Ranger
After filling the position for nearly a year and a half without the ability to perform law enforcement duties, Greg…
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McRae challenges Scott for Franklin mayor
After running unopposed for his last two terms in office, Franklin Mayor Bob Scott is being challenged for his seat…
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Next Maggie Valley mayor must manage growth
Maggie Valley may be a small town, but its economic impact on and importance to Haywood County can’t be understated. …
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Waynesville mayoral candidates speak on the issues
They’re both longtime board members — one’s a longtime mayor and the other a longtime mayor pro tem. One of…
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Commissioner’s absence prompts questions about residency, ability to hold office
Commissioner Mickey Luker’s lack of attendance at county board meetings in recent months has spurred southern Jackson County residents to…
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Cherokee passes new budget
After a narrow vote and a delayed ratification, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has a new budget for the…
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Eight candidates run for Franklin board
Voters will be faced with a long list of candidates when they go to vote in the Franklin Town Council…
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No contested races in Bryson City
The mayor of Bryson City and two aldermen seats are up for election this year but all three seats will…
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Two launch write-in campaigns for Sylva board
With early voting already underway and the Nov. 5 election just around the corner, two Sylva residents have declared their…
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Fire ban lifted in the Smokies
After being banned since Sept. 26, backcountry campfires are once more allowed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as…
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Suspect arrested in Waynesville stabbing incident
The Waynesville Police Department was called to the area of The Open Door Ministry on Commerce Street around 11:31 a.m.…
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Ode to Raymond Fairchild, ode to mountain music
First and foremost, Raymond Fairchild was one of the finest banjo players who ever walked the face of the earth.…
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Proceeds from Mission Health sale to benefit WNC communities
How can $1.5 billion transform the health and wellness of Western North Carolina communities for decades to come? That’s the…
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Three seek two aldermanic seats in Maggie Valley
They’re all hotel owners, they’re all devoted volunteers in their community and they’re all running for a seat on the…
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Road project issue dominates Sylva commission race
The race for a seat on Sylva’s town board is competitive this year, with six people running for election to…
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Last-minute dropout leaves Canton candidate unopposed
Much like this summer, a simple real estate transaction has led to important consequences for the Canton Board of Aldermen/women.
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Clampitt makes it official
When North Carolina House District 119 voters get their ballots a little over a year from now, they’ll likely see…
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Prominent local Democrat switches parties
When Jim Moore ran for Clerk of the Superior Court back in 2018 he did so as a Democrat, but…
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Cannabis Commission veto upheld
Legislation creating a Cannabis Commission that would set the stage for hemp production on the Qualla Boundary has been overturned,…
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Public hearing slated for former BI-LO property
A conditional rezoning request by developers of a 210-unit apartment complex located on the former site of a grocery store…
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Fontana Regional reflects on 75 years
What started as a traveling bookmobile 75 years ago has now evolved into a regional system of six library branches.…
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BearWaters Brewing wins medal, announces expansion
Western North Carolina’s brewery scene is a crowded, competitive place, but thanks to Canton-based BearWaters Brewing, Haywood County’s own small…
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Franklin Graham talks impeachment, evangelism prior to Decision America Tour stop in Asheville
Had he any other man for a father, William Franklin Graham III might still have become known as a…
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Billy Graham left legacy of humility, compassion, unity
Billy Graham was just a local preacher from Montreat the first time that the Methodist Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat…
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New leaders inaugurated in Cherokee
A new chapter in tribal government began this week when the winners of September’s General Election were sworn in before…
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Jackson Republicans push for commissioner removal
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners has gathered to conduct official business on 14 days since June began, but Commissioner…
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Canton alderman candidate backs out of race
The race to fill an unexpired aldermanic seat in Canton just got a lot easier for Pisgah High School science…
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Ghost Town under contract again
Beloved but long-shuttered Maggie Valley mountaintop amusement park Ghost Town in the Sky is once again under contract, giving new…
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Lawsuit could redraw North Carolina Congressional Districts
As expected, a lawsuit alleging partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina’s congressional districts will utilize some of the same arguments that…
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Harbaugh resigns as TWSA director
After more than seven years at the helm, Dan Harbaugh has left his role as executive director of the Tuckasiegee…
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Tribal Council approves Cannabis Commission in Cherokee
UPDATE: Principal Chief Richard Sneed vetoed this resolution on Oct. 2, after The Smoky Mountain News' press time. Tribal Council will…
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Macon approves funding for broadband projects
Getting impatient waiting for private providers or the government to help in the effort to bring high-speed internet service to…
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Waynesville to review appearance standards
Within the multi-layered strata of American governance, many people assume that the nation’s most sacred values — liberty and justice…
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Sylva strikes down annexation request
Sylva’s town board voted unanimously Sept. 12 to deny a petition from Dillardtown resident Aaron Littlefield to have his property…
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WCU honors first black student
Nearly 300 members of the Western Carolina University community came together Thursday, Sept. 5, to dedicate the campus’s newest residence…
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Jackson’s domestic violence agency aims for independence
The Center for Domestic Peace — the successor to REACH of Jackson County — is hoping to take over domestic violence…
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Sylva candidate drops out of race
This year Sylva voters will be given a ballot listing six possible names for three open seats on the town’s…
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Election protest denied in Cherokee
After coming up short in the General Election Sept. 5, principal chief candidate Teresa McCoy filed an election protest Sept.…
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Budget stalemate could leave WCU out in the cold
Like all of North Carolina’s universities, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee has some pressing capital project funding needs that aren’t…
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Drought worsens in North Carolina
Drought has deepened throughout Central and Western North Carolina, according to a new map published today.
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