Franklin budget proposal focuses on infrastructure needs
Franklin’s proposed budget prioritizes a number of long-range infrastructure projects without increasing the tax rate.
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More firefighters needed, but is it worth a tax increase?
Waynesville leaders will face a big decision this budget year: whether to increase property taxes by 10 percent to pay…
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Cherokee moves toward marijuana legalization
Cherokee took another step along the road toward legalizing medicinal marijuana with a vote last week to start drafting legislation…
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Farmers lease old Drexel factory in Whittier
After years of sitting empty, the old Drexel Furniture factory in Whittier will now enter a new phase of useful…
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Gaming machines seized from local businesses
An undercover investigation into illegal gambling resulted in the seizure of more than 300 gaming machines from convenience stores across…
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Shining Rock stalled on mobile classroom contract
Shining Rock Classical Academy is considering legal action against a modular building company for not being able to honor its…
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Haywood Schools to make layoff announcements this week
Budget cuts are forcing Haywood County Schools to lay off 10 teachers and staff at the end of this school…
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Haywood Schools dispute allegations surrounding Central Elementary
Haywood County school leaders went on record this week patently disputing the allegations in a lawsuit filed last week questioning…
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How sincere is your smile? Stakes are high in the never-ending quest for seasonal tourism workers
It happens like clockwork every year. As the calendar creeps toward May, the roads get crowded, lines at the grocery…
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Bomb threat made to Jackson, Swain and EBCI government buildings
A bomb threat was called into 911 during the 11 a.m. hour this morning, with a male voice claiming bombs…
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How may we help you? Tourism’s future in the hands of frontline workers
It’s a conundrum the best minds in tourism have been trying to crack for decades.
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Haywood commissioners support keeping houseboats
Haywood County commissioners passed a resolution this week adding their two-cents to the debate over whether floating houseboats on Fontana…
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Hospitality help is hard to find: Tourism businesses looking for seasonal help
Melanee Lester has been sorting through a 4-inch-high stack of applications on her desk for the last couple of weeks,…
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Casino strategizes to keep good hires on board
Busy season is coming at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, and management there is working to get all hired up for summer.
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Blue Ridge National Heritage Area tackles the $50,000 question of hospitality training
The tourism industry doesn’t always agree on much. They argue over the best logos and ad campaigns, whether to fund…
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Large tax rate increase likely for Sylva
Sylva’s leaders have known for a year that taxes would have to go up in 2016, but it’s unlikely any…
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Search for new manager progresses in Jackson
The interview process will soon begin in the search to replace Chuck Wooten, who will retire from his position as…
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EMS costs throw a wrench in Jackson budget talks
Ambulance service in Jackson County could more than double in cost to taxpayers if commissioners decide to fund the full…
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Lawsuit filed over closure of Central Elementary
A lawsuit was filed this week against the Haywood County School Board alleges ulterior motives were at play for closing…
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TVA to make a decision on houseboats May 5
Tennessee Valley Authority officials have confirmed that its board of directors will make a decision on May 5 regarding the…
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Animal shelter estimate tops $5 million
When a report estimating cost and space needs for a new animal shelter came back with a staggering price tag…
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Businesses rally to change Maggie town plan
An alliance of business owners opposing Maggie Valley’s proposed town center master plan is growing stronger and becoming more organized…
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YMCA camp gets ready to open in Swain
A little more than a year ago it was nothing more than an open grassy field surrounded by forest, but…
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Haywood Health Foundation sets high goals for 2016
The Haywood Healthcare Foundation managed to generate enough funding to have a major impact on the health needs of Haywood…
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Connecting Pets and People
In recognition of National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day on April 30, The Smoky Mountain News is highlighting the organizations…
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Promoting civility: Online posts prompt discussion about race and inclusiveness at WCU
It started with a poster. Or, more accurately, with a collection of posters in the window of Western Carolina University’s…
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Maggie Valley to rethink town center design
Maggie Valley leaders agreed to go back to the drawing board after several business owners expressed opposition to a portion…
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Bear zoo case will go to appeal
After a federal judge ruled that the Cherokee Bear Zoo isn’t breaking the law with its treatment of the grizzly…
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Cherokee banishes 15 for drug offenses
Cherokee’s Tribal Council was all business this month as members plowed through a list of 15 names proposed for banishment.…
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Swain commissioners oppose removal of boathouses
Swain County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution last week opposing the Tennessee Valley Authority’s proposal to remove all boathouses from…
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Development being considered in Forest Hills
The sleepy village of Forest Hills could look a good bit different over the coming years if a handful of…
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New CEO in the cards for Haywood Regional
The CEO of Haywood Regional Medical Center stepped down suddenly last week, effective immediately.
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Foot chase by Waynesville police thwarts pharmacy break-in
A foot chase by a Waynesville Police officer through downtown Hazelwood just before dawn last week ended with police nabbing…
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Budget cuts for assistant coaches reconsidered following backlash
Budget cuts impacting assistant coaches at the middle and high school level will likely be restored in Haywood County Schools…
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WCU chancellor diagnosed with brain tumor
Western Carolina University’s well-liked leader Chancellor David Belcher has been diagnosed with a small brain tumor, he announced last week.
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Political and racial discussions continue at WCU
Sidewalk chalk was all anyone was talking about as campus woke up Thursday morning (April 21) at Western Carolina University.…
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A 21st century library: Waynesville renovation to address public demand for Internet access
Howard David Glawson was tucked in to his usual spot at the public computer bank at the Waynesville library last…
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Haywood leaders asked to endorse Waynesville library renovation
Preparation and planning for a $6 million renovation and expansion of the Waynesville library have been playing out behind the…
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Late campaign finance report traced to state computer glitch
N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is inadvertently 43 days late on his latest campaign finance reports due to a computer…
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Emergency management changes move forward
Haywood County is continuing with efforts to update and improve its emergency management ordinance — a local regulation that came…
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Haywood Schools aim to keep standards high despite budget challenges
Haywood County commissioners are once again standing by their commitment to public education, making good on a long-standing pledge to…
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Sylva leaders cheer affordable housing proposal
Sylva’s leaders are applauding a plan to build a new apartment complex across the road from Harris Hospital as a…
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Vandalism at Judaculla: Leaders discuss how to protect Cherokee landmark
When Jerry Parker walked by Judaculla Rock on March 26, he saw that some newer markings covered the rock’s millennia-old…
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Haywood County passes outdoor shooting range rules
New rules are now in place to govern commercial outdoor gun ranges in Haywood County.
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TVA calls for removal of all houseboats
The Tennessee Valley Authority has proposed doing away with more than 1,800 houseboats that occupy various lakes under its jurisdiction.
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Houseboat owners fight to keep their property
Scott Collins’ family has owned a houseboat on Fontana Lake since 1965 — that’s five generations that have made lasting…
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Maggie Valley town center faces opposition
There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air when Maggie Valley first unveiled its town center master plan.…
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Charting a new course: Upstart schools face animosity that usually softens over time
A small group of parents had been working quietly for about three years to get the first charter school established…
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Franklin hires new fire chief
Kevin Rohrer, a captain with Morrisville Fire and Rescue Department, has been hired as Franklin’s fulltime fire chief to replace…
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Sylva board faces inevitable property tax increase
As Sylva’s leaders work toward a new budget for the new fiscal year, there’s one big question on everybody’s mind…
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