Weigh in on Cold Mountain Game Land management plans
 

Weigh in on Cold Mountain Game Land management plans

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is working on a plan to guide management at the Cold Mountain Game Land in…
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Buy Haywood guide seeks new listings
 

Buy Haywood guide seeks new listings

An agritourism guide for Haywood County is looking for new listings to help visitors and locals alike explore everything from…
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Volunteers sought to adopt tree plot
 

Volunteers sought to adopt tree plot

Smokies rangers are looking for tree-lovers who want to try their hand at science to adopt a tree monitoring plot…
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WCU launches outdoor speaker series
 

WCU launches outdoor speaker series

A speaker series featuring outdoor adventurers at Western Carolina University will kick off at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, with…
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Hike explores Smokemont
 

Hike explores Smokemont

The season’s first hike in Friends of the Smokies’ “Classic Hikes of the Smokies” series will explore Smokemont Loop Trail…
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Behind the wheel with Paul Carlson: a two-hour tour of the Little Tennessee
 

Behind the wheel with Paul Carlson: a two-hour tour of the Little Tennessee

As Paul Carlson tooled out of downtown Franklin, houses faded into rolling hayfields, and the Little Tennessee River soon took…
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Changing attitudes: Carlson reshaped ideas about conservation
 

Changing attitudes: Carlson reshaped ideas about conservation

History will no doubt remember Paul Carlson as one of the great visionaries of our time in Western North Carolina.…
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WCU history faculty members oversee project for Trail of Tears Association
 

WCU history faculty members oversee project for Trail of Tears Association

Western Carolina University history department faculty members Sue Abram and Andrew Denson are overseeing a public history project that recently…
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WCU to host tourism conference
 

WCU to host tourism conference

The impact of successful festivals and events on the economy of the 26 westernmost counties of North Carolina will be…
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Catch the Spirit holds mural fundraiser
 

Catch the Spirit holds mural fundraiser

“Golden Threads,” a dramatic 24-foot art mural created by Doreyl Ammons Cain for the Shindig on the Green in Asheville,…
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Hayes brings country hits to Franklin
 

Hayes brings country hits to Franklin

Country star Wade Hayes will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

I was a weird kid growing up. And, in many ways, I’m even weirder as an adult. Since day one,…
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Winter Concert Series welcomes Snyder Family Band
 

Winter Concert Series welcomes Snyder Family Band

Acclaimed bluegrass act Balsam Range will welcome the Snyder Family Band as part of their Winter Concert Series at 7:30…
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Colonial Theatre enters third act
 

Colonial Theatre enters third act

When he thinks of the Colonial Theatre, Zeb Smathers sees untapped potential. “There are so many things it can used…
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Elections embezzlement case lands on DA’s desk
 

Elections embezzlement case lands on DA’s desk

It could be just a matter of months before District Attorney Ashley Welch decides whether to press charges in a…
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Beware the company you keep
 

Beware the company you keep

To the Editor: Jackson County Commissioners, I want to congratulate you on the entertaining meeting on Jan. 29 and your…
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In my world, estimates are different from facts
 

In my world, estimates are different from facts

To the Editor: Ed Morris’s recent letter to this newspaper criticized a letter I had written to The Franklin Press…
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Use Lent to try a meat-free diet
 

Use Lent to try a meat-free diet

To the Editor: This Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter, when many Christians abstain from…
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Appreciate community support for 5K run
 

Appreciate community support for 5K run

To the Editor: On behalf of Dryman’s Chapel United Methodist Church please allow me to express thanks and grateful appreciation…
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Let’s re-think attitudes toward wood
 

Let’s re-think attitudes toward wood

To the Editor: Have you ever heard the expression “waiting for the other shoe to drop”? I thought of it…
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Does Maggie Valley need 200-foot cross?
 

Does Maggie Valley need 200-foot cross?

To the Editor: At first blush the idea of a 200-foot cross seemed kind of cool. It could make Maggie…
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The sweet dreams of snow days
 

The sweet dreams of snow days

“Dad, do you think we’ll get out of school tomorrow?” My son, Jack, is standing in the doorway of our…
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For some, facts just don’t matter
 

For some, facts just don’t matter

“It is an Internet Age paradox: We have more information than ever before and yet, seem to know less. Indeed,…
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Countin’ in the cold
 

Countin’ in the cold

I had originally intended to spend today (Monday, Feb. 16) doing a couple of short surveys for the annual Great…
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State bill seeks to strike down fracking rules
 

State bill seeks to strike down fracking rules

Bills to get rid of the oil and gas extraction rules developed by the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission have…
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N.C. Wildlife Federation wins $30K grant
 

N.C. Wildlife Federation wins $30K grant

A $30,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation will help the N.C. Wildlife Federation further its mission of conserving…
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New Satulah trail in the works
 

New Satulah trail in the works

Learn about the Highland Plateau Greenway’s vision to build a public trail to the top of Satulah Mountain at a…
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Game on (the table) at fundraising dinner
 

Game on (the table) at fundraising dinner

An annual Wild Game Dinner hosted by the Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College will serve up a meal of…
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Mark your calendar for Spring
 

Mark your calendar for Spring

The weather is wintry, but spring is just around the corner. Mark your calendar for some of these upcoming springtime…
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Database to showcase purveyors wood and forestry products
 

Database to showcase purveyors wood and forestry products

A “buy local” directory for wood-related products from Western North Carolina is looking for more businesses, artisans and organizations to…
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Mountain thunder: Maggie musher takes up snowless dog sledding
 

Mountain thunder: Maggie musher takes up snowless dog sledding

Stepping into Kirk Wall’s custom-carpentered, immaculately decorated mountaintop home, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d knocked on the wrong…
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Larry Brown earns his spot in Southern pantheon
 

Larry Brown earns his spot in Southern pantheon

One of my bookshelves is reserved for books that I have not read, but that I am saving for some…
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Guest travel bloggers needed
 

Guest travel bloggers needed

Haywood Tourism Development Authority is currently looking for volunteer guest travel bloggers to contribute articles to its Homegrown Blog on…
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HCC to offer sound recording, engineering
 

HCC to offer sound recording, engineering

Haywood Community College’s Workforce Continuing Education Creative Arts Department will offer an Introduction to Sound Recording/Engineering class on Mondays from…
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Boojum to open Waynesville taproom
 

Boojum to open Waynesville taproom

Boojum Brewing Company, Waynesville’s newest (and fourth) brewery, will officially open its downtown taproom at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21,…
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One-man show coming to WCU
 

One-man show coming to WCU

The Galaxy of Stars Series will present the one-man show “Man 1, Bank 0” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28,…
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‘Robin Hood’ radio production
 

‘Robin Hood’ radio production

Presented as a live radio broadcast onstage, “Robin Hood – The Legacy” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb.…
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Wills to bring Nashville hits to Franklin
 

Wills to bring Nashville hits to Franklin

Multi-platinum country music artist Mark Wills will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Smoky Mountain Center for…
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Willie Nelson to play Harrah's
 

Willie Nelson to play Harrah's

Legendary outlaw country singer Willie Nelson will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, Harrah’s Cherokee.
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

Face-to-face communication is a lost art. Besides the actual act of writing, my favorite part of being a journalist is…
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A brush with fate: Haywood artisan receives prestigious recognition
 

A brush with fate: Haywood artisan receives prestigious recognition

Just mere feet from a bustling South Main Street in Waynesville resides a cocoon of creativity.  With a steady stream…
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Sylva Garden Club proposes pavilion for Bicentennial Park
 

Sylva Garden Club proposes pavilion for Bicentennial Park

The Sylva Garden Club is raising money to build a small pavilion in Bicentennial Park, a small green space located…
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Murphy casino project on track for summer
 

Murphy casino project on track for summer

When the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise board opted to get rid of the project manager position for its Murphy casino…
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Land purchase under way for outdoor pool in Cherokee
 

Land purchase under way for outdoor pool in Cherokee

Cherokee is one step closer to having an Olympic-sized outdoor pool following Tribal Council’s unanimous vote this month to purchase…
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Highlands lowering lake for major repairs
 

Highlands lowering lake for major repairs

Lake Sequoyah in Highlands is currently being drained in preparation for completing about $3 million in repairs to the dam.
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State won’t help Maggie Valley ‘decipher’ its own ridge law
 

State won’t help Maggie Valley ‘decipher’ its own ridge law

Maggie Valley is in limbo over a proposed mountaintop cross after learning last week the state won’t help sort out…
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YMCA summer camp coming to Swain
 

YMCA summer camp coming to Swain

YMCA of Western North Carolina is getting ready to break ground on Camp Watia, a summer camp in Swain County…
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WCU falls under county subdivision ordinance, planning board says
 

WCU falls under county subdivision ordinance, planning board says

Western Carolina University will now be subject to Jackson County’s revised subdivision ordinance, the planning board decided last week. Technically,…
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WCU to end off-campus busing
 

WCU to end off-campus busing

Once the spring 2015 semester wraps up at Western Carolina University, off-campus students will no longer have the option of…
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Haywood notifies clients of missing data report
 

Haywood notifies clients of missing data report

Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency recently notified clients that an accounts receivable report went missing from a billing…
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