Drawing the lines to your passion
 

Drawing the lines to your passion

For Teresa Pennington, it’s a race against time.  “You have one hour to complete this drawing, where I’m usually taking…
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Moral Monday coming to Sylva
 

Moral Monday coming to Sylva

A coalition of organizations led by the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP are coordinating a Moral Monday gathering to…
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Waynesville split over proposed food truck rules
 

Waynesville split over proposed food truck rules

An ongoing debate over food trucks and pushcart vendors in Waynesville made its way to the town board last week,…
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Town manager hiring pool narrows
 

Town manager hiring pool narrows

The Waynesville town board met Tuesday for a third stab at narrowing down their pool of applicants for the town…
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Waynesville mulls adding eight firefighters
 

Waynesville mulls adding eight firefighters

Waynesville town leaders will decide this month whether to raise property taxes to hire additional firefighters, and if so, by…
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Group forms to support Pisgah District
 

Group forms to support Pisgah District

When John Cottingham, then working as — in his words — a “stuffy, corporate lawyer,” walked into the Pisgah District…
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Maggie to hold tax rate steady for 2016-17
 

Maggie to hold tax rate steady for 2016-17

Maggie Valley residents and businesses won’t have to worry about paying a higher property tax rate for the next year,…
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New Haywood Visitor Center opens in Maggie Valley
 

New Haywood Visitor Center opens in Maggie Valley

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will celebrate the grand opening of its new visitor center with a ribbon cutting…
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Jackson tourism signs new marketing contract
 

Jackson tourism signs new marketing contract

Tourism folks in Jackson County are feeling hopeful after hiring a new marketing firm to spread the word about the…
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Edwards: Canton paving delay ‘ridiculous’
 

Edwards: Canton paving delay ‘ridiculous’

Canton Town Board Member and Mayor Pro-Tem Carole Edwards had a hard time concealing her dismay at news that Canton’s…
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Canton budget – a tangled web?
 

Canton budget – a tangled web?

When Alderman Zeb Smathers opened the Canton Board of Aldermen meeting on May 26 with an invocation decrying the “venom…
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Officers add drug overdose antidote to their tool belt
 

Officers add drug overdose antidote to their tool belt

Law enforcement officers in Haywood County are pulling double duty in the war on drugs: they’re saving lives as well…
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Moving mountains: A rare bright spot in the relentless fight against prescription pill abuse
 

Moving mountains: A rare bright spot in the relentless fight against prescription pill abuse

A life-saving antidote to reverse drug overdoses is finding widespread acceptance amid the prescription pain pill epidemic.
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Shining Rock focuses on year two improvements
 

Shining Rock focuses on year two improvements

While Shining Rock Classical Academy students are already out of class enjoying their summer vacation, school leaders are busy assessing…
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Broadband master plan in the works for Haywood
 

Broadband master plan in the works for Haywood

Finding a solution to the lack of high-speed internet in rural Western North Carolina has been on the minds of…
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Skyrunner helps rural neighborhoods get connected
 

Skyrunner helps rural neighborhoods get connected

It’s hard to believe there are still developed neighborhoods in Haywood County that can’t get internet access or even landline…
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Skyrunner offers wireless solutions for rural communities
 

Skyrunner offers wireless solutions for rural communities

Melanie Williams was fed up. She could no longer run her web design business from her Crabtree home with the…
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Early Voting Ends Saturday
 

Early Voting Ends Saturday

Voters hoping to cast their ballots in advance of the Tuesday, June 7, Primary Election have just a few more…
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Forest plan timeline lengthens
 

Forest plan timeline lengthens

The timeline for a draft forest management plan has been kicked back once more, with the document now expected sometime…
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Park proposes fee hike for campgrounds
 

Park proposes fee hike for campgrounds

Camping fees could increase in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if a recently released proposal gains approval.
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The phoenix rises: Haywood County’s real estate market gets back in the game
 

The phoenix rises: Haywood County’s real estate market gets back in the game

After years of a sluggish real estate recovery, the home market in Haywood County is on a noticeable upward swing.…
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The bugle never stops
 

The bugle never stops

One day recently as I was walking through the parking lot at Waynesville Middle School, a car slowly pulled up…
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Vote for Rick Bryson in June 7 primary
 

Vote for Rick Bryson in June 7 primary

To the Editor:    Rick Bryson is running as a Democrat for the congressional seat currently held by Republican Mark…
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Bryson is best choice to challenge Meadows
 

Bryson is best choice to challenge Meadows

To the Editor: On June 7 citizens of the 11th Congressional District will be asked to vote again. Because of…
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Trying times for school leaders in Haywood
 

Trying times for school leaders in Haywood

Haywood County Schools has been a part of my life for 24 years now — as a journalist, the husband…
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Data shows that we are becoming more religious
 

Data shows that we are becoming more religious

In recent years, we have seen a stream of books and authors promoting atheism. Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s…
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From the North Country to the back country
 

From the North Country to the back country

The beauty of bluegrass lies in its transparency.  Whether you’re having a good or bad day, those emotions will filter…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

You never forget where you came from.
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Fiddler wins youth competition
 

Fiddler wins youth competition

ViolettesbyBecky.com, a music-themed gift company, held its third annual Youth Composition and Songwriter Competition for ages 10 through 18, with…
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Cherokee bonfire opens for summer
 

Cherokee bonfire opens for summer

The ceremonial Cherokee bonfires will kickoff the summer season on Friday, May 27, at Oconaluftee Island Park in Cherokee. The…
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Unto These Hills opens for summer
 

Unto These Hills opens for summer

The Unto These Hills outdoor drama will run at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday from May 28 to Aug. 13…
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Cherokee communities debate representation
 

Cherokee communities debate representation

A request to change the way tribal members in the westernmost reaches of the Qualla Boundary are represented on Tribal…
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Cheap tuition proposal could cost WCU millions
 

Cheap tuition proposal could cost WCU millions

How would you like to pay a mere $500 a semester to attend Western Carolina University?
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Increases cause Jackson to ponder EMS contract
 

Increases cause Jackson to ponder EMS contract

When a funding request for Emergency Management Services came in for more than double what Jackson County is paying now,…
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New president settles in at Angel Medical
 

New president settles in at Angel Medical

For someone who has spent most of her life in Ohio, moving to the mountains of Western North Carolina has…
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Contract commits county to pay for central office move
 

Contract commits county to pay for central office move

A little-known contract crafted in 1980 will take center stage in coming months as Haywood County school officials and county…
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Haywood’s central office move contingent on fate of old hospital
 

Haywood’s central office move contingent on fate of old hospital

Haywood County School officials could be ousted from their central office by early spring 2017 to make way for an…
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Jackson to vote on tax for education projects
 

Jackson to vote on tax for education projects

When the polls open June 7, Jackson County voters will have a choice to make — whether to OK a…
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Wrong bear euthanized in Smokies incident
 

Wrong bear euthanized in Smokies incident

The case of a 400-pound bear euthanized after a hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was bitten in…
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A strained relationship: Suspicion of NPS lingers among some backcountry users, parkside communities
 

A strained relationship: Suspicion of NPS lingers among some backcountry users, parkside communities

It’s been three years since a vigorous debate about charging for backcountry camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
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Kids get creative with waterways
 

Kids get creative with waterways

Haywood County’s young artists got some recognition for the T-shirt designs they dreamed up to celebrate Kids in the Creek,…
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Local runners take top spots in half marathon
 

Local runners take top spots in half marathon

Runners from up and down the East Coast converged on Waynesville this month to try their stride at the Gateway…
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Park Service archives get new home
 

Park Service archives get new home

A new home for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s collection of artifacts and archives recently opened its doors in…
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Cashiers gets second farmer market
 

Cashiers gets second farmer market

A new farmers market will launch in Cashiers this week, providing a weekly supply of local foods from 3 to…
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See birds of prey up close
 

See birds of prey up close

An up-close glimpse of creatures such as the Eastern screech owl and Northern bald eagle will show birds of prey…
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Old-time remedies explained
 

Old-time remedies explained

See old-time remedies in action with a demonstration by Smokies naturalist Ila Hatter, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May…
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Trout waters open
 

Trout waters open

Delayed-harvest trout waters will open for the summer on Saturday, June 4, giving anglers the chance to catch a dinner…
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WCU tops ‘best-of’ list for outdoors colleges
 

WCU tops ‘best-of’ list for outdoors colleges

Western Carolina University came in on top in an online magazine poll looking for the region’s premiere outdoor adventure college.
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Canucks amongst us
 

Canucks amongst us

You’re hiking streamside through a rhododendron tangle when you hear a short, musical trill – it kind of mimics the…
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Are we near the ‘who cares’ point for legal pot?
 

Are we near the ‘who cares’ point for legal pot?

The last couple of years have brought a sea change in attitudes about marijuana. I’m convinced pot will be legal…
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