We were the original immigrants
 

We were the original immigrants

To the Editor: It is interesting that the U.S. is so outraged over Mexican illegal immigration when Mexico was actually…
Read More

Comment

We deserve the truth from Trump
 

We deserve the truth from Trump

To the Editor: In these days of political bickering, I believe that words we use must be precise in order…
Read More

Comment

Remember the 1970s before gutting EPA
 

Remember the 1970s before gutting EPA

To the Editor: We have made much progress in our long-term protections of air, water and the environment since President…
Read More

Comment

We should all rally for the environment
 

We should all rally for the environment

To the Editor: The right to clean air and clean water seems to have become a partisan issue in our…
Read More

Comment

Listening can work magic
 

Listening can work magic

To the Editor: Democrats might well consider that you can’t justify your actions based on the idea that, “we are…
Read More

Comment

Why I still vote Democrat
 

Why I still vote Democrat

To the Editor: For the last decade, I have questioned my party allegiance, as well as the allegiance of others…
Read More

Comment

Article’s premise was totally unfounded
 

Article’s premise was totally unfounded

To the Editor: The article ”Unfair collection practices in tax collector’s office?” (Feb. 25 edition) wisely includes a question mark…
Read More

Comment

Old-time surveyors used some interesting tools, markers
 

Old-time surveyors used some interesting tools, markers

“The line runs down the meander of the ridge to where Bossy dropped her first calf.”  “The line runs to where…
Read More

Comment

Down to bare rock: Smokies’ Chimney Tops could be closed for years following fire
 

Down to bare rock: Smokies’ Chimney Tops could be closed for years following fire

When starting the hike, it’s not immediately obvious why the Chimney Tops Trail should be appointed for long-term closure. The…
Read More

Comment

Firefighters combat Cold Mountain Fire
 

Firefighters combat Cold Mountain Fire

A human-caused fire estimated at 132 acres is burning in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area about 20 miles south of…
Read More

Comment

‘Casablanca’ one of the finest scripts of all time
 

‘Casablanca’ one of the finest scripts of all time

“Casablanca.” For some, that name evokes a city in Morocco, an urban center of four million people quartering one of…
Read More

Comment

Behind the scenes: Artist brings theater productions to life
 

Behind the scenes: Artist brings theater productions to life

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville is fortunate to be one of few theaters to have a talented scenic artist…
Read More

Comment

Bank robbery suspect caught
 

Bank robbery suspect caught

The Waynesville Police Department responded to the report of a robbery on Feb. 17 at Entegra Bank located at 2045…
Read More

Comment

Gladys Knight, husband to host community event
 

Gladys Knight, husband to host community event

A dilapidated segregation-era high school in Canton purchased by a former student will become a $5 million community center by…
Read More

Comment

Sylva begins budget talks
 

Sylva begins budget talks

Sylva is just starting budget planning for 2017-18, but this year’s process promises to be less arduous than last year’s,…
Read More

Comment

Community ready for a fight
 

Community ready for a fight

Macon County commissioners heard impassioned cries for help last week from families that have lost loved ones to addiction.
Read More

Comment

Two elk found dead on Jonathan Creek dairy farm
 

Two elk found dead on Jonathan Creek dairy farm

A technician with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission was out for a routine check of an elk fence installed at…
Read More

Comment

Calendar change could affect some Haywood school workers
 

Calendar change could affect some Haywood school workers

A 2012 change to a law that lays out requirements for yearly school calendars has the Haywood County School Board…
Read More

Comment

Canton board faced with growing needs, shrinking budget
 

Canton board faced with growing needs, shrinking budget

Canton officials and town staff met for four hours Feb. 16 to discuss achievements and goals, but will have to…
Read More

Comment

Outdoor adventure park proposed in Dillsboro
 

Outdoor adventure park proposed in Dillsboro

Construction on an outdoor adventure park offering everything from rafting to ropes courses could begin in Dillsboro as early as…
Read More

Comment

Tribal Council calls chief’s hotel contract into question
 

Tribal Council calls chief’s hotel contract into question

Opponents of Principal Chief Patrick Lambert are crying foul over a $5.6 million contract between the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise…
Read More

Comment

Haywood Commissioners decide on tax collector issue
 

Haywood Commissioners decide on tax collector issue

The rift between Haywood County commissioners and the last remaining elected tax collector in North Carolina — Mike Matthews —…
Read More

Comment

Public safety, transportation top Haywood budget wish list
 

Public safety, transportation top Haywood budget wish list

Budgeting for the 2017-18 fiscal year is underway across the state, but in Haywood County, a decrease in property tax…
Read More

Comment

HART’s traveling backdrops wow theaters far and wide
 

HART’s traveling backdrops wow theaters far and wide

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre is known for is top-rate shows and high-caliber acting not typical of community theaters. But HART…
Read More

Comment

HART’s scenic artist sets the stage for drama
 

HART’s scenic artist sets the stage for drama

Lyle Baskin is a man of high places. He’s spent most of his life on a ladder.
Read More

Comment

Six life lessons from a backdrop artist
 

Six life lessons from a backdrop artist

The Smoky Mountain News asked Lyle Baskin, the scenic artist for Haywood Regional Arts Theatre, to share the secrets of…
Read More

Comment

Sylva welcomes fourth brewery
 

Sylva welcomes fourth brewery

Though exact details are unknown, BCNC Investments in Bryson City has announced the purchase of the building that formerly held…
Read More

Comment

This must be the place: I’m a white man, and I know nothing
 

This must be the place: I’m a white man, and I know nothing

It wasn’t the film that was shocking. It was the mere fact I had previously thought “I was aware,” and…
Read More

Comment

Mountain Heritage Center exhibit on African-American community, music
 

Mountain Heritage Center exhibit on African-American community, music

Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center, in partnership with One Dozen Who Care, will host a display on the cultural…
Read More

Comment

SCC pottery chosen for NC Welcome Center
 

SCC pottery chosen for NC Welcome Center

Heritage arts instructors Susan Coe and Ed McIlvaine, along with Kari McIlvaine (Ed’s wife and a heritage arts student), recently…
Read More

Comment

Spikes found in Pinnacle Park, runner injured
 

Spikes found in Pinnacle Park, runner injured

In a bizarre discovery, over 50 intentionally placed spikes have been identified and removed from the popular trail system at…
Read More

Comment

Shouted, Written Down & Quoted: Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass
 

Shouted, Written Down & Quoted: Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass

Within almost two decades together, Greensky Bluegrass has grown from a scrappy string band to one of the premier live…
Read More

Comment

Comprehending climate: Smokies seeks to understand impacts of shifts in seasonal patterns
 

Comprehending climate: Smokies seeks to understand impacts of shifts in seasonal patterns

According to the National Phenology Network, Punxsutawny Phil had it all wrong when he emerged from his hole this month…
Read More

Comment

The Naturalist's Corner: Is spring springing earlier?
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Is spring springing earlier?

Back in January I surveyed the Tellico Fire with MountainTrue biologist Josh Kelly. We were there to check out the…
Read More

Comment

Blizzard of 1993 is catalyst for a fine first novel
 

Blizzard of 1993 is catalyst for a fine first novel

In True Stories At The Smoky View (She Writes Press, 2016, 325 pages, $16.95), Vrai Stevens Lynde — the “Vrai”…
Read More

Comment

Sharing the craft: Jo Ridge Kelley Fine Art
 

Sharing the craft: Jo Ridge Kelley Fine Art

With the traffic and noise of a busy Main Street in downtown Waynesville zooming by outside her window, Jo Ridge…
Read More

Comment

This must be the place: So many miles, so many roads
 

This must be the place: So many miles, so many roads

I hadn’t slept that long in years. After driving up and down the East Coast for the better part of…
Read More

Comment

‘Blackbeard’s Ghost’ wins national award
 

‘Blackbeard’s Ghost’ wins national award

Western Carolina University’s 2016 original radio-style production of “Blackbeard’s Ghost and the Queen Anne’s Revenge” has won a “best of…
Read More

Comment

The next war must not happen
 

The next war must not happen

By Stephen Wall • Guest Columnist On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb exploded 1,500 feet over Hiroshima. Only 1.5 percent…
Read More

Comment

An escape into a magical world
 

An escape into a magical world

I was in the Disney bubble for seven days straight, so it was rather depressing driving home with the daily…
Read More

Comment

Most presidents learn from criticism — not this one
 

Most presidents learn from criticism — not this one

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The press must be the keyboard on which the government can play. — Joseph…
Read More

Comment

Valuable lessons from failed annexation
 

Valuable lessons from failed annexation

To the Editor: Thank you Smoky Mountain News and Becky Johnson for writing an article bringing to a close the…
Read More

Comment

What to make of Trump’s eruptions
 

What to make of Trump’s eruptions

To the Editor: It’s gotten to the point that I’m hesitant to listen to or read the news. President Trump’s…
Read More

Comment

In front of the lens: Tax collector faces uncertain fate
 

In front of the lens: Tax collector faces uncertain fate

Haywood County Commissioners are locked in an increasingly bitter power struggle with elected Tax Collector Mike Matthews over his job…
Read More

Comment

Public comment session at next commission meeting
 

Public comment session at next commission meeting

The next meeting of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, inside…
Read More

Comment

Unfair collection practices in tax collector’s office?
 

Unfair collection practices in tax collector’s office?

A Smoky Mountain News inquiry into collection procedures in the Haywood County tax collector’s office shows that some county GOP…
Read More

Comment

Comparing tax collections under Francis, Matthews
 

Comparing tax collections under Francis, Matthews

Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews’ efficiency and his use of attachments to collect past due taxes have been called…
Read More

Comment

Cherokee man sentenced in murder case
 

Cherokee man sentenced in murder case

Joshua Daniel Calhoun, 22, of Cherokee, was sentenced Feb. 14 in Swain County Superior Court to a maximum of 38…
Read More

Comment

Haywood man convicted of voter fraud
 

Haywood man convicted of voter fraud

A Haywood County jury recently convicted Dewey George Gidcumb, 52, of Haywood County of felony voter fraud for voting twice…
Read More

Comment

Applicants needed for Swain broadband committee
 

Applicants needed for Swain broadband committee

Swain County commissioners are accepting applications from community members to serve on a newly formed Broadband Advisory Committee.
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.