Maggie distillery gets help from town, sanitary district
 

Maggie distillery gets help from town, sanitary district

On July 11, Dave Angel’s plan to operate a 10,000 square-foot whiskey distillery on 1.7 acres at 3732 Soco Road in…
Read More

Comment

Giving up the Ghost: Last respects at Ghost Town in the Sky
 

Giving up the Ghost: Last respects at Ghost Town in the Sky

Mike Withers loved Ghost Town in the Sky so much that in Spring 2015 at the age of 72, he…
Read More

Comment

Vexed by bad luck, sawmill’s would-be savior burned again in lawsuit verdict
 

Vexed by bad luck, sawmill’s would-be savior burned again in lawsuit verdict

A lawsuit over the historic sawmill that burned down at Haywood Community College nearly four years ago was settled last…
Read More

Comment

Haywood Halt: NCDOT set to improve interchange
 

Haywood Halt: NCDOT set to improve interchange

Drivers who use a section of U.S. 74 in Haywood County will be taking a slightly different route starting on…
Read More

Comment

Battling the twin evils of gerrymandering and money
 

Battling the twin evils of gerrymandering and money

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist Most of Europe’s aristocracy didn’t think the infant United States would last a decade, and…
Read More

Comment

Doing business with your neighbors
 

Doing business with your neighbors

In not every town do the children of doctors and lawyers go to the same schools as the children of…
Read More

Comment

We are going to have to all help push the wagons
 

We are going to have to all help push the wagons

To the Editor: I recall some 65 years ago when citizens were often complaining about their governments, primarily about their…
Read More

Comment

Combination science lab and amusement park
 

Combination science lab and amusement park

Weightless for two seconds is not a moonwalk but at the top of the Space Shot at Huntsville, Alabama’s (Rocket…
Read More

Comment

Remembering the removal: Wayside markers trace the Trail of Tears in WNC
 

Remembering the removal: Wayside markers trace the Trail of Tears in WNC

A growing collection of roadside signs has been popping up along rural drives and main thoroughfares in Western North Carolina…
Read More

Comment

Falling into the rabbit hole of fiction
 

Falling into the rabbit hole of fiction

For reasons unfathomable to me, I have spent the last two weeks on a fiction-reading jag. Until I was about…
Read More

Comment

This must be the place
 

This must be the place

I turned around with 25,000 faces looking towards me.
Read More

Comment

Discovering the world within yourself
 

Discovering the world within yourself

It’s about what you see in mirror, and what you’re willing to acknowledge within the reflection staring right back at…
Read More

Comment

Tourism increases in Jackson County
 

Tourism increases in Jackson County

Visitation to Jackson County for the 2015-2016 fiscal year was the highest recorded in the four-year history of the Jackson…
Read More

Comment

WCU voices support for tuition reduction plan
 

WCU voices support for tuition reduction plan

Ever since a controversial bill proposing to slash tuition rates at selected University of North Carolina schools popped up in…
Read More

Comment

Tuition ‘buy down’ promises future entanglements
 

Tuition ‘buy down’ promises future entanglements

As the 2016-17 North Carolina budget came together, a significant part of it — touted by both Democrats and Republicans…
Read More

Comment

Couple works to open wedding venue at family farm
 

Couple works to open wedding venue at family farm

Nearly five years ago, Taylor and Preston Gregg stood on top of Chestnut Ridge and recited their wedding vows.
Read More

Comment

Food Fight: Anthony’s mad at Waynesville
 

Food Fight: Anthony’s mad at Waynesville

The Mad Anthony’s food truck debate culminated last week in what will go down in the annals of Waynesville lore…
Read More

Comment

Macon applies for mental health assistance grant
 

Macon applies for mental health assistance grant

Macon County Emergency Management Services hopes to expand an existing health care model to better serve mental health patients in…
Read More

Comment

TekTone Sound to expand operations in Macon
 

TekTone Sound to expand operations in Macon

With the help of matching grants funds from Macon County, TekTone Sound & Signal Manufacturing Inc. will expand operations at…
Read More

Comment

Macon wraps up fiscal year
 

Macon wraps up fiscal year

Macon County commissioners had some last-minute spending decisions to make before heading into the new fiscal year that started July…
Read More

Comment

Potential free clinic partnership sparks both enthusiasm and concern
 

Potential free clinic partnership sparks both enthusiasm and concern

A partnership that could quadruple patient volume and expand medical staffing for the uninsured of Jackson County has been the…
Read More

Comment

Current, former Lake Junaluska Singers allege drug abuse, favoritism
 

Current, former Lake Junaluska Singers allege drug abuse, favoritism

The resignation of Lake Junaluska Singers Director Dr. Melodie Galloway comes after one member of the well-known choral group made…
Read More

Comment

New rules could change the face of downtown Waynesville
 

New rules could change the face of downtown Waynesville

By a 4-1 vote on June 28, the Town of Waynesville finally got around to complying with an Oct. 1,…
Read More

Comment

Candidate for Jackson commission alleges wrongdoing
 

Candidate for Jackson commission alleges wrongdoing

Mickey Luker has been working on a remodel of Caney Fork General Store ever since he purchased the property in…
Read More

Comment

Lake Junaluska Singers suspend season, director resigns
 

Lake Junaluska Singers suspend season, director resigns

Visitors to the Lake Junaluska Singers web page over the past day or so were shocked to see that the…
Read More

Comment

Food Fight: Waynesville denies Mad Anthony's request to keep food truck
 

Food Fight: Waynesville denies Mad Anthony's request to keep food truck

Revolutionary War hero General “Mad” Anthony Wayne once told George Washington, “Issue the order, Sir, and I will storm the…
Read More

Comment

A look at how local governments utilize the web
 

A look at how local governments utilize the web

Having a website used to be an added bonus for local governments, but now it has become a necessity and…
Read More

Comment

Governments get graded
 

Governments get graded

Journalists responsible for news gathering in a rugged and mountainous four-county (Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain), 2,111-square-mile swath of Western…
Read More

Comment

Maggie Valley website biggest bang for the buck
 

Maggie Valley website biggest bang for the buck

Years ago, the Town of Maggie Valley used to be known as a place where governance didn’t always take place…
Read More

Comment

Canton plans to beef up town website
 

Canton plans to beef up town website

The Town of Canton’s website was the subject of discussion during recent budget hearings, as some questioned the need for…
Read More

Comment

Bryson City website needs more attention
 

Bryson City website needs more attention

Considering Bryson City didn’t even have a website until 2009, it’s no surprise that it lags behind the other municipalities’…
Read More

Comment

Swain County’s website lacks basic information
 

Swain County’s website lacks basic information

With the lowest population and the lowest county budget, Swain County also scored the lowest among the four-county website comparison. 
Read More

Comment

Cherokee’s web presence a work in progress
 

Cherokee’s web presence a work in progress

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ website received the lowest score of any of those reviewed by The Smoky Mountain…
Read More

Comment

Sylva’s website scheduled for a makeover
 

Sylva’s website scheduled for a makeover

Sylva’s website, last overhauled in 2010, will be getting a facelift this year after the town board voted to spend…
Read More

Comment

User-friendly website a priority for Jackson
 

User-friendly website a priority for Jackson

Kelly Fuqua doesn’t have a problem saying she’s pretty proud of Jackson County’s website. Before she overhauled it in 2011,…
Read More

Comment

Franklin strives for open government — even online
 

Franklin strives for open government — even online

The town of Franklin’s website is a great example of a small town going the extra mile to encourage public…
Read More

Comment

Macon’s web presence has come a long way
 

Macon’s web presence has come a long way

Macon County’s government website started 16 years ago with a shoestring budget.
Read More

Comment

Waynesville website a reliable resource
 

Waynesville website a reliable resource

As the largest town west of Asheville and the county seat of Haywood County, Waynesville is the economic engine of…
Read More

Comment

Haywood County’s website gets the job done
 

Haywood County’s website gets the job done

Haywood County’s website tied for the highest ranking in the area despite earning design scores that were sub-par.
Read More

Comment

Online presence a must for modern government
 

Online presence a must for modern government

Go back in time 25 years, and a town with a website — any website, no matter how terrible the…
Read More

Comment

Haywood school board responds to lawsuit
 

Haywood school board responds to lawsuit

A lawsuit filed by a Waynesville parent and attorney in May regarding the closure of Central Elementary School is beginning…
Read More

Comment

Beyond the river: Fly fishing camp builds confident, conservation-minded kids
 

Beyond the river: Fly fishing camp builds confident, conservation-minded kids

Rods, reels, and wader-clad teenagers dotted Big East Fork’s meander to Lake Logan through the warm summer mornings last week,…
Read More

Comment

Comments sought on A.T. campsite construction
 

Comments sought on A.T. campsite construction

Fifteen new tent sites could go in along the Appalachian Trail on its route through the Standing Indian Basin in…
Read More

Comment

Croquet group starts in Waynesville
 

Croquet group starts in Waynesville

A croquet group has formed in Waynesville, meeting 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays at Vance Street Park.
Read More

Comment

Insect affecting WNC white pines
 

Insect affecting WNC white pines

A tiny insect is being blamed for declining health in eastern white pine trees in six North Carolina counties including…
Read More

Comment

Severe drought comes to WNC
 

Severe drought comes to WNC

For the first time since September, severe drought is affecting North Carolina — including portions of Haywood, Jackson, Macon and…
Read More

Comment

Greenway bridge open in Jackson
 

Greenway bridge open in Jackson

A new bridge allowing access to the Jackson County greenway’s terminus at Locust Creek is now open to pedestrians, marking…
Read More

Comment

Land conserved on Cold Mountain
 

Land conserved on Cold Mountain

The Cold Mountain Game Lands in Haywood County will likely get larger following a 162-acre purchase by the Southern Appalachian…
Read More

Comment

Backyard weed merits deadly respect
 

Backyard weed merits deadly respect

“Seeds of this common weed do indeed contain an hallucinogenic component, but, as is so often the case, the same chemical…
Read More

Comment

Sylva movie’s author is famed British playwright
 

Sylva movie’s author is famed British playwright

Back a few months ago, when Hollywood came to town, I was fascinated and when I heard that for a…
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.