Venus flytrap poachers caught
 

Venus flytrap poachers caught

Four men, ages 22 to 49, were arrested with 970 Venus flytraps in their possession earlier this month at the…
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Access on Lake Emory gets better
 

Access on Lake Emory gets better

A new canoe portage around the Lake Emory dam is expected to open in Franklin sometime in late spring. 
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Couple conserves private tract in Jackson
 

Couple conserves private tract in Jackson

A new conservation agreement finalized by the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee will protect 104 acres in Cullowhee from…
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Smokies visitation tops 10 million
 

Smokies visitation tops 10 million

For the first time in more than a decade, Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw more than 10 million visitors…
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Sylva man reflects on televised Alaskan survival experience, the adventure lifestyle
 

Sylva man reflects on televised Alaskan survival experience, the adventure lifestyle

Scott McCleskey didn’t really know what he was saying yes to when he boarded the plane to Alaska, pack of…
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Painted Horses is one for the ages
 

Painted Horses is one for the ages

When people ask me what I’ve been doing this fall, I tell them I’ve been on a reading jag —…
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A perspective of a retired ob-gyn on today’s situation
 

A perspective of a retired ob-gyn on today’s situation

By Gwang S. Han • Guest Columnist Obstetrics is the branch of medicine dealing with parturition, including care before and after…
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Sounds preachy, but it’s right: be true to yourself
 

Sounds preachy, but it’s right: be true to yourself

One of the pure joys of my job — teaching English on the college level — is getting to spend…
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School boards need to fight the good fight
 

School boards need to fight the good fight

The Haywood County School Board narrowly voted (5 to 4, with Chairman Chuck Francis breaking a tie) to contribute money…
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What you really want to know when new property values arrive in the mail
 

What you really want to know when new property values arrive in the mail

Mailboxes across Macon County were blanketed with new property value notices this week, the first countywide appraisal since 2007.  As…
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Meet Richard Lightner, the eagle eye of Macon’s reval
 

Meet Richard Lightner, the eagle eye of Macon’s reval

Richard Lightner isn’t one for nostalgia. For nearly 30 years, he’s been running the property reval show in Macon County.…
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Macon’s reval: unplugged and uncensored
 

Macon’s reval: unplugged and uncensored

The time of reckoning is finally here. Macon County’s first countywide assessment of real estate values since the bust came…
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The quest for the perfect comp
 

The quest for the perfect comp

Some weeks Tommey Allen spends more time behind the wheel than a long-haul trucker. It’s not all driving time though.…
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Back from rock bottom: Macon Realtors reflect on the past, present and future
 

Back from rock bottom: Macon Realtors reflect on the past, present and future

June Tassillo loves real estate, but she never knew how exciting it could be until she worked her first all-or-nothing,…
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Walmart Awards $1,500 to The Arc of Haywood County
 

Walmart Awards $1,500 to The Arc of Haywood County

Jerry Pressley, Walmart manager, presented $1,500 to The Arc of Haywood County for holiday presents and clothes to the individuals…
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Wheel locks now legal in Sylva
 

Wheel locks now legal in Sylva

Sylva’s parking rules now have a stronger set of teeth with the passage of an ordinance allowing officers to put…
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Jackson County gets new tourism board members
 

Jackson County gets new tourism board members

The Jackson County Tourism Development Authority will have some new faces around the table this year after the county commissioners…
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Franklin plant shutting down
 

Franklin plant shutting down

Macon County was hit with some tough news last week when Caterpillar Inc. announced that it would be shutting down…
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Welch adjusts to life as a district attorney
 

Welch adjusts to life as a district attorney

After just a couple of weeks, Ashley Welch is quickly learning what it means to be the District Attorney of…
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Macon, Jackson negotiate payment for services
 

Macon, Jackson negotiate payment for services

Macon County is asking Jackson County for money to pay for providing services to its residents in Highlands, but Jackson…
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Western plans replacement for burned-out building
 

Western plans replacement for burned-out building

Western Carolina University’s slated to get a brand new building on Centennial Drive in place of the one destroyed by…
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Maggie moves forward with recreation plan
 

Maggie moves forward with recreation plan

Maggie Valley resident June Johnson wants the town’s recreation plan to go far beyond fixing up an old playground behind…
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Caesar’s bankruptcy won’t affect Harrah’s
 

Caesar’s bankruptcy won’t affect Harrah’s

Caesar’s Entertainment Operating Company, a subsidiary of the same company that manages Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort, announced Jan. 15…
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Cullowhee zoning heads to commissioners
 

Cullowhee zoning heads to commissioners

It’s been one-and-a-half years since the Jackson County Commissioners first OK’d a committee to look into doing some zoning in…
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Sylva pub cancels music acts following noise conflict with neighbors
 

Sylva pub cancels music acts following noise conflict with neighbors

No Name Sports Pub is no longer a music joint, at least not until a dispute between the bar and…
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EPA looks to end 30 years of contamination at old Benfield site
 

EPA looks to end 30 years of contamination at old Benfield site

It’s been 32 years since Benfield Industries in Hazelwood burned to the ground, 25 since the Environmental Protection Agency designated…
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‘World’s best young Elvis’ to play WCU
 

‘World’s best young Elvis’ to play WCU

Travis LeDoyt, acclaimed by critics as “the world’s best young Elvis,” will bring his tribute to the “King of Rock-N-Roll”…
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Balsam Range to appear on David Holt program
 

Balsam Range to appear on David Holt program

Acclaimed Haywood County bluegrass group Balsam Range will be one of many acts featured in the premier of ‘David Holt’s…
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‘Tracking Time’ exhibit, artist discussion at WCU
 

‘Tracking Time’ exhibit, artist discussion at WCU

“Tracking Time,” an exhibition of paintings by Anna Jensen and Karen Ann Myers, will open with an artist discussion and…
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This must be the place
 

This must be the place

The temperature was 20 degrees below zero with a howling wind. As I listened to the online stream of my…
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Fruits of their labor: Homebrewing in WNC
 

Fruits of their labor: Homebrewing in WNC

Greg Geiger looked at it as a way to save money. “I started brewing when I was a sophomore in…
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The creative code of old-time surveyors
 

The creative code of old-time surveyors

Since 1976 we’ve resided in a cove about four miles west of Bryson City. Using various old deeds my wife,…
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Clean Water Fund awards $1.3 million to land conservation in western counties
 

Clean Water Fund awards $1.3 million to land conservation in western counties

Projects in Haywood and Swain counties will benefit from an additional $4.5 million of Clean Water Management Trust Fund dollars…
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Insect wars hoped to take a bite out of pests
 

Insect wars hoped to take a bite out of pests

Pitting insect against insect, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission released predator beetles last month on the Sandy Mush Game Land,…
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Bird count catalogues avian diversity in WNC
 

Bird count catalogues avian diversity in WNC

Birders turned out throughout Western North Carolina — and the globe — to participate in an avian enthusiast’s favorite winter…
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Community support delivers new kitchen to Outdoor Mission Camp
 

Community support delivers new kitchen to Outdoor Mission Camp

Outdoor Mission Camp in Maggie Valley, an affiliate of Youth for Christ USA, is being outfitted with a new kitchen…
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Smokies makes must-see list of World Heritage sites
 

Smokies makes must-see list of World Heritage sites

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is part of a new online travel itinerary from the National Park Service that…
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Dog fight in the forest: Woman crusades for legal change after hunting dog attack
 

Dog fight in the forest: Woman crusades for legal change after hunting dog attack

Kadie Anderson was packing up camp after a night in the backcountry with her two Australian shepherds when the peace…
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Student housing developer in hot water
 

Student housing developer in hot water

Monarch Ventures, a Charlotte-based student housing company, has been trying to locate a posh 500-bed student housing complex in Cullowhee…
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Franklin pawn dealers now required to digitally report
 

Franklin pawn dealers now required to digitally report

Secondhand dealers in Franklin will soon be required to report their pawned items electronically to the police department within 48…
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Haywood tourism board loses experience, gains fresh faces
 

Haywood tourism board loses experience, gains fresh faces

Three new members have been appointed to the tourism board in Haywood County that guides tourism marketing, promotions and development.…
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Macon leaders should reconsider stance on wilderness
 

Macon leaders should reconsider stance on wilderness

To the Editor: The Nantahala Hiking Club requests that Macon County commissioners reconsider or rescind the resolution passed on July…
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Going ‘all in’ on free speech takes backbone
 

Going ‘all in’ on free speech takes backbone

I watched world leaders with arms linked lead a march of about 1.5 million people in Paris to commemorate the…
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Haywood School board split on state lobbying
 

Haywood School board split on state lobbying

The Haywood County School Board was divided this week on whether to join forces with school systems around the state…
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Erosion from DOT job concerns Jackson residents
 

Erosion from DOT job concerns Jackson residents

A highway construction project in Jackson County has come under public scrutiny for muddying the Tuckasegee River. Erosion control measures…
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Maggie Valley to hold first Winterfest
 

Maggie Valley to hold first Winterfest

In an effort to bring in more tourism dollars during the cold winter months, the first WinterFest Smoky Style will…
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Cherokee affirms gay marriage ban
 

Cherokee affirms gay marriage ban

Same-sex marriage may be legal in the state of North Carolina, but it’s not on the Qualla Boundary, according to…
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Cherokee to move away from year-round fishing
 

Cherokee to move away from year-round fishing

Cherokee will institute a two-week fishing season closure each March beginning in 2016 after operating under a year-round season since…
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General Assembly resumes; Local legislators to tackle key issues
 

General Assembly resumes; Local legislators to tackle key issues

North Carolina Legislators are back in session in Raleigh this week with a full agenda, including unfinished items from last…
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New Jackson board passes anti-fracking resolution
 

New Jackson board passes anti-fracking resolution

Applause broke out as Jackson County Commissioners concluded a unanimous vote last week passing a resolution opposing hydraulic fracturing —…
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