Hospital back online following fire
Three weeks after a fire in the power room knocked out electricity at Haywood Regional Medical Center, the hospital is…
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Expanding the Circle: Circles of Hope program to attack poverty in Jackson County
Monty Williams didn’t know a whole lot about the Circles of Hope program when he sat down to his first…
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Jackson takes another step toward controlling Cullowhee growth
The latest development to throw down a stake in Cullowhee intends to build a 488-bed student housing complex on a…
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The road ahead: Opt-In study concludes, Corridor K debate continues
After a year-long study capping off years of debate, the verdict is in on what’s next for the controversial Corridor…
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Franklin hires town manager
After a closed session Monday, the Franklin Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to give Interim Town Manager Summer Woodard a…
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Snafu at Cherokee wastewater plant causes cloudy discharge in the Luftee
One month after low oxygen levels killed the bacteria needed to process sewage at the Cherokee Wastewater Treatment Plant, discharge…
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Jackson sheriff contenders gear up for second primary
The general election ballot for Jackson County Sheriff will finally be final next week when polls close on a second…
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Fracking opposition organizes in WNC
Candice Caldwell Day and her husband Shayne recently went to Andrews Airport in Cherokee County. “To hold up a really…
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Macon schools get $100,000 more from county
Macon County Schools got a little extra to fix up their buildings when some bids for the Parker Meadows recreational…
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Haywood hospital continues with fire recovery
The Emergency Department at MedWest Haywood is fully online, having treated 180 patients during the Fourth of July weekend. The…
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Two Haywood graders cited for wetland violations
In two separate incidents, graders in Haywood County bulldozed over wetlands, violating state and federal regulations that protect the environmentally-sensitive…
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Lead contamination found in soil near SCC shooting range
Results are back from the first round of testing for lead at Southwestern Community College’s shooting range, and the conclusion…
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Ghost Town opens for season, draws a crowd
After passing state inspections, Ghost Town in the Sky opened for the season on the Fourth of the July. The…
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Evergreen union negotiations ‘haven’t got there yet’
Negotiations between Evergreen Packaging and its union employees at the company’s Canton and Waynesville facilities are still ongoing. The talks…
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Corridor K: Dueling studies
A stalemate in the debate over Corridor K boils down to a central issue: can upgrades to the existing two-lane…
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Corridor K: Beyond the road
Though the Corridor K debate was the impetus for the Opportunity Initiative Study, Opt-In wasn’t all about transportation. The results…
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Forest Hills shies away from garbage collection
Officials in the town of Forest Hills in Jackson County recently explored the possibility of providing trash and recycling collection…
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No movement, ‘no surprises’ on Canton’s proposed firing range
After a firestorm of public outcry over the prospect of a firing range being built in an African-American neighborhood in…
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Jackson plays hardball with Verizon over Cashiers cell tower
Public concerns over the visual blight of a proposed cell tower in the Cashiers area have prompted Verizon Wireless to…
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Secret filming site in Waynesville to star in a major movie production
A major motion picture starring Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig and others will be partly filmed at a Waynesville…
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Fireworks: the economics of the intangibles
This Fourth of July there will be plenty of places from which to watch a fireworks display. North Jackson County…
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Partial reopening at Haywood hospital
Haywood Regional Medical Center is on its way to recovery after a small fire in its power room earlier this…
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County leaders debate community college funding
A budget-trimming effort in Macon County has leaders in multiple counties talking about what’s fair when it comes to community…
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Recession be damned: Waynesville stands behind nonprofit contributions
To some, they might seem like pet projects, budgetary fat in tough times, or frivolous earmarks. But Waynesville leaders are…
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Sylva addresses Main Street traffic concerns
The one-way stretch of Main Street running through the heart of downtown Sylva has a new traffic pattern. The left…
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Down by the river: Swain farmers market makes a move
The Swain County Farmers Market recently enjoyed its final Friday alongside Main Street in Bryson City. After taking a break…
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Considering a cell tower in Whiteside Cove
The Jackson County Planning Board has of late been engaged in a discussion about the revision of the county’s ordinance…
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Merger bill moves forward in Raleigh
Lake Junaluska’s bid to merge with the town of Waynesville flickered to life in the state legislature last week after…
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Canton budget passes, with hesitation
Though unanimously passed 4-0, Canton town board members approved the 2014-2015 budget with some hesitation. The budget came in at…
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Firing range sparks outcry in budget meeting
It was suppose to be Canton’s wrap-up budget meeting. But community members showed up to voice concerns about a specific…
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Cherokee Bear Zoo lawsuit moves forward
Cherokee Bear Zoo hoped a federal civil lawsuit alleging it mistreats grizzly bears in its care would be tossed out.
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Social enterprise: business with a mission
What began as a vision to convert a shutdown state prison in Waynesville into a halfway house, homeless shelter and…
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NAACP gets Haywood organizer
Haywood County’s fledging chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is getting a little help this…
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Waynesville leaders choose property tax hike over budget cuts
Saddled by a higher cost of doing business and hits to its bottom line, Waynesville aldermen were poised to pass…
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Fire causes electrical failure in Haywood hospital
The campus of Haywood Regional Medical Center is full of cars coming and going, staff walking toward or returning from…
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ECU opens dental center in Sylva
There’s a new option for dental care in the region. “We call it a community service learning center,” explained Michael…
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Ghost Town opening delayed
Ghost Town in the Sky, the seemingly ever-limping amusement park in Maggie Valley, did not open on June 20 as…
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New logo pulls into Bryson Chamber, TDA approve train-themed logo
A new logo will soon chug onto the marketing landscape of Bryson City following the Swain County Tourism Development Authority…
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Highlands to undertake $2.5 million project on Lake Sequoyah
Lake Sequoyah will disappear for a few months in the coming year as Highlands plans to drain the reservoir to…
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Pigeon Center rebounds from the downward spiral of a leaky roof
The Pigeon Community Center in Waynesville has once again been rescued from the brink. Haywood County has pledged $47,000 to…
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Presnell pulls Maggie Valley de-annexation bill
Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, has pulled a bill she introduced last month to de-annex a 3.5-acre property from the town…
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Glenville explores planning area
Jackson County may have another community planning project on the horizon. Glenville residents have approached the county about possibly embarking…
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CuRvE gets ARC grant
The nonprofit community group known as the Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor (CuRvE) has been awarded an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant…
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General session prayer delivered in Cherokee language
A tribal elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians delivered the opening prayer in the Cherokee language at the…
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Senior Life Solutions offers psychiatric help
Swain County Hospital offers Senior Life Solutions, a program that facilitates intensive outpatient psychiatric care for adults and seniors with…
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Jackson chamber gets new assistant director
Kelly Donaldson, 42, of Cullowhee, began work June 9 as the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center new…
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Nurse team to assist disadvantaged mothers
An initiative to educate first-time, low-income mothers in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties on how to raise healthy, school-ready…
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SCC engineering program hits 100 percent employment rate
Jeanette White, coordinator of Southwestern Community College’s Civil Engineering Technology program, keeps getting calls from employers looking for graduates who…
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Supporters confident Wingate will be exonerated
When Danny Wingate agreed five years ago to set up a credit line for the Haywood County Schools maintenance department,…
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Ashe cruises by Cruzan in sheriff race
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In a landslide win, Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe held off challenger and former…
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