Mountain Heritage Day named one of Southeast’s best
 

Mountain Heritage Day named one of Southeast’s best

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Day has been named as one of the top 20 festivals in the Southeast by…
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A memoir written in songs and poems
 

A memoir written in songs and poems

In his Preface to Love Songs For A Country Lane, country music icon Chris Gantry writes: “Grant King was a…
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More changes coming for Canton Labor Day fest?
 

More changes coming for Canton Labor Day fest?

If Canton’s legendary Labor Day festival – the oldest in the south – is to survive, it’s going to have…
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A Tale of Two Cities: Canton, Maggie Valley chart different budget courses
 

A Tale of Two Cities: Canton, Maggie Valley chart different budget courses

Each year, counties and municipalities must pass their upcoming year’s budget by July 1.
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Small increase proposed for Haywood budget
 

Small increase proposed for Haywood budget

A recovering economy and low unemployment along with a 30 percent increase in tourist spending since 2011 has kept Haywood…
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Contest could help fund adaptive playground
 

Contest could help fund adaptive playground

Thanks to Kiwanis International and Landscape Structures Inc., one lucky community will walk away with $25,000 in free playground equipment…
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Emissions testing scrapped in Haywood
 

Emissions testing scrapped in Haywood

Offering “credit where credit is due,” Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, congratulated Gov. Roy Cooper for recently signing a bill that…
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Haywood schools to keep Central Elementary
 

Haywood schools to keep Central Elementary

The strange saga of a shuttered school still casts a shadow over Haywood County, but it may turn out that…
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Suit targets ‘aggressive’ Department of Social Services
 

Suit targets ‘aggressive’ Department of Social Services

A complaint filed in Haywood County Superior Court late last month alleges that several defendants committed battery and inflicted emotional…
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Swain’s band blossoms despite budget constraints
 

Swain’s band blossoms despite budget constraints

Karen Williams only had a handful of students in her beginner class when she first took the band director position…
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Swain fights to change school funding formula
 

Swain fights to change school funding formula

While many local school districts are struggling to make ends meet these days, Swain County Schools is facing a much…
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Lawmakers reach classroom size compromise
 

Lawmakers reach classroom size compromise

Local school districts will have one more year before they have to abide by much stricter classroom size requirements thanks…
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South Painter Road development approved
 

South Painter Road development approved

A Georgia developer hoping to build a 388-bed student housing complex in Cullowhee has cleared two of three major hurdles…
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Feds allege bail bondsman accepted sex in lieu of loan repayments
 

Feds allege bail bondsman accepted sex in lieu of loan repayments

Cherokee’s only bail bondsman is facing federal charges for allegedly having sex with female clients in lieu of loan repayment,…
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Mapping conflicts of interest
 

Mapping conflicts of interest

On Monday, May 22, the Cherokee Tribal Council will preside over a hearing to consider impeachment charges against Principal Chief…
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Impeachment hearing scheduled for May 22
 

Impeachment hearing scheduled for May 22

In the last minutes of a daylong session Thursday, May 11, the Cherokee Tribal Council voted to set a new hearing date for impeachment charges against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert. The vote scheduled the hearing for Thursday, May 18, but the date was later changed to 10 a.m. Monday, May 22, to accommodate the chief’s travel schedule.
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Cherokee court allows impeachment to continue
 

Cherokee court allows impeachment to continue

The Cherokee Supreme Court issued a pair of rulings last week that paved the way for impeachment efforts against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert to continue. However, the order left several key points of contention unaddressed, meaning the issue will likely continue to appear on the court schedule.
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Major retail development clears first hurdle
 

Major retail development clears first hurdle

With nearly two years of prep work already under their belts, developers have cleared the first major hurdle for bringing…
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Franklin asks for face time with Mission
 

Franklin asks for face time with Mission

It’s been more than two weeks since Mission Health announced Angel Medical Center would stop delivering babies as of July…
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Haywood County school bus rear-ended
 

Haywood County school bus rear-ended

On Friday, May 12, at approximately 6:50 a.m., Haywood County Schools bus 52 was making a passenger stop in the…
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Cherokee court lifts impeachment stay
 

Cherokee court lifts impeachment stay

A court-ordered stay over impeachment proceedings against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert has been lifted following an order filed at 5:09 p.m. Wednesday, May 10.
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Cherokee court hears arguments in impeachment lawsuit
 

Cherokee court hears arguments in impeachment lawsuit

Two days of hearings in the Cherokee Supreme Court wrapped up today, with the three-justice panel now charged with deciding whether to order a halt to impeachment proceedings against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert until the court can come to a final decision on the lawsuit challenging Tribal Council’s actions.
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Trump right about Andrew Jackson
 

Trump right about Andrew Jackson

To the Editor: In his incessant, sophomoric screeds to diminish Trump, Chris Cox fails once again. He attempts to ridicule…
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Sylva festival is a bad idea
 

Sylva festival is a bad idea

To the Editor: Thomas Jefferson once stated “I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple.” Yet, these wise words…
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Perhaps we need ‘climate ambassadors’
 

Perhaps we need ‘climate ambassadors’

To the Editor: The series of articles you have recently been publishing on “Folkmoot’s Cultural Conversations” have been most enlightening…
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Corporations are not people
 

Corporations are not people

To the Editor: A recent letter writer opined that corporations function as groups of people. One single sentence in that…
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Tastes great, can’t take the smell
 

Tastes great, can’t take the smell

When I read about Wicked Weed Brewing getting bought by AB InBev (formerly Budweiser) — one of the world’s largest…
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The first Mother’s Day without her
 

The first Mother’s Day without her

I’ve tried hard to keep grief out of my columns lately. There’s only so much melancholy and broken-heartedness readers can…
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Sylva’s carnivorous plant man: After nearly 30 years and thousands of plants, carnivorous plants still fascinate
 

Sylva’s carnivorous plant man: After nearly 30 years and thousands of plants, carnivorous plants still fascinate

When it comes to carnivorous plants, Darwin Thomas knows what he’s talking about. It doesn’t take much to get him…
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Learning at Graveyard Fields gets a boost
 

Learning at Graveyard Fields gets a boost

New educational panels are now on display at Graveyard Fields, a popular hiking area along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
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A.T. hikers get a warm welcome
 

A.T. hikers get a warm welcome

Thru-hiker season is just about over in Western North Carolina, with most folks who are attempting the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail…
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The Naturalist's Corner: Even bad days can be good
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Even bad days can be good

This past weekend, May 6-7, was the 34th annual installment of the Great Smoky Mountains Birding Expedition (GSMBE.) The expedition…
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A fresh look into an enduring classic
 

A fresh look into an enduring classic

After finishing the last pages of Libertarians On The Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of…
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This must be the place: That face in the mirror? Own it.
 

This must be the place: That face in the mirror? Own it.

I didn’t know what to say. Standing in the doorway of the music venue, he said it so casually. 
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Turning to face yourself: Comedian Dave Stone comes to Franklin
 

Turning to face yourself: Comedian Dave Stone comes to Franklin

It’s brutal honesty. Within the wide-spectrum of creative mediums, standup comedy may just be the most vulnerable and jarring of…
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Thrill of the dig: Gem mining alive and well in Macon County
 

Thrill of the dig: Gem mining alive and well in Macon County

Susan Boyette and her mother Martha Drew drove down from Tennessee early Friday morning to Rose Creek Mine outside of…
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Franklin museum a real ‘gem’
 

Franklin museum a real ‘gem’

At first glance, the Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum may seem like a hokey tourist attraction, but visitors willing to…
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Community fights to keep babies born in Franklin
 

Community fights to keep babies born in Franklin

When Macon County residents joined together in 1971 to raise money to buy Angel Hospital and make it a community…
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Meadows: ACA repeal will offer better flexibility, lower premiums
 

Meadows: ACA repeal will offer better flexibility, lower premiums

The Affordable Health Care Act got a bit closer to repeal last week as the U.S. House of Representatives passed…
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What’s in the cards? Chamber, EDC try to stack the deck in Haywood’s favor
 

What’s in the cards? Chamber, EDC try to stack the deck in Haywood’s favor

Among the various organizations involved in economic development, one often finds a Chamber of Commerce and some development organization.
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Distillery hopes to pack economic punch
 

Distillery hopes to pack economic punch

If all goes well, Maggie Valley will soon be known as a place where some of the finest spirits in the world are crafted.
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Public hearing slated for new Publix site
 

Public hearing slated for new Publix site

Although speculation has been rife over the past year, plans for a Publix grocery store in Waynesville have finally been…
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Wake-up call: Fry Street closure sparks involvement from local business
 

Wake-up call: Fry Street closure sparks involvement from local business

A recent debacle between the town of Bryson City and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad has been a wake-up call…
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Town board welcomes more community input
 

Town board welcomes more community input

Bryson City aldermen are quite aware of the rift created in the community over the Fry Street closure issue, but…
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Waynesville park acreage to grow by almost 20 percent
 

Waynesville park acreage to grow by almost 20 percent

As summer approaches, Waynesville’s green spaces are getting greener, but they’re also getting greater — in size. 
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Jackson talks capital: Five-year plan maps spending for school, health, animal shelter and courtroom projects
 

Jackson talks capital: Five-year plan maps spending for school, health, animal shelter and courtroom projects

From softball fields to health buildings to animal shelters, funding requests have been arriving hot and heavy to the Jackson…
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Stalled student housing project could revive
 

Stalled student housing project could revive

Two years have passed since developers first got approval to build a student housing complex along South Painter Road in…
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Developer to extend water and sewer access in Cullowhee
 

Developer to extend water and sewer access in Cullowhee

The Jackson County Commissioners have unanimously approved an easement through county land that will allow plans for a 72-bedroom development…
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Meadows: Obamacare repeal provides ‘net of protection’ for vulnerable
 

Meadows: Obamacare repeal provides ‘net of protection’ for vulnerable

Obamacare is one step closer to repeal as the U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation that would provide a…
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Student assault at Tuscola caught on video
 

Student assault at Tuscola caught on video

On Wednesday, May 3, a male student assaulted another student at approximately 9:30 a.m. at Tuscola High School. The assault…
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