From the border to the backwoods
 

From the border to the backwoods

I didn’t know who Balsam Range was when I first met them. On Aug. 10, 2012, I had just moved…
Read More

Comment

Hometown heroes: Balsam Range wins big in Raleigh
 

Hometown heroes: Balsam Range wins big in Raleigh

Caleb Smith had no idea. “I didn’t hear them announce it,” he chuckled. “I was backstage talking to Del McCoury…
Read More

Comment

New documents released surrounding hospital sale
 

New documents released surrounding hospital sale

Haywood County Commissioners have released a collection of minutes from closed sessions going back to August 2013, detailing discussions surrounding…
Read More

Comment

Franklin approves residential loop for commercial zoning
 

Franklin approves residential loop for commercial zoning

The Franklin Town Board unanimously approved a petition to rezone a small piece of property off Clyde Street at its…
Read More

Comment

Sylva allows more time for window replacements
 

Sylva allows more time for window replacements

Downtown Sylva property owners will still have to replace any plywood currently covering up windows, but they will be provided…
Read More

Comment

Alternative school gets $1.4 million to offer comprehensive help to struggling youth
 

Alternative school gets $1.4 million to offer comprehensive help to struggling youth

Tucked away on the corner of Kentucky and Virginia avenues in the old Hazelwood Elementary School building, the Alternative Learning…
Read More

Comment

Haywood moves forward with landfill remediation
 

Haywood moves forward with landfill remediation

Work is underway on a multi-million-dollar environmental remediation project on the Old Francis Farm landfill near Waynesville. The first load…
Read More

Comment

A drive-by version of the N.C. Senate debate
 

A drive-by version of the N.C. Senate debate

A candidate debate last week between N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and challenger Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville, plowed a lot of…
Read More

Comment

Audience turns political debate into rousing spectator sport
 

Audience turns political debate into rousing spectator sport

A debate between N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and his challenger Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville, last week was lively, testy, heated,…
Read More

Comment

N.C. Senate debate gets dicey when candidates talk race
 

N.C. Senate debate gets dicey when candidates talk race

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is known for his direct and unapologetic communication style, but it landed him in hot…
Read More

Comment

Fund for Haywood surpasses $1 million mark
 

Fund for Haywood surpasses $1 million mark

Twenty years after Aaron Prevost and other community leaders provided the seed money to start the endowment, The Fund for…
Read More

Comment

A helping paw: Guide dogs widen world for Waynesville women
 

A helping paw: Guide dogs widen world for Waynesville women

With a visitor in the house and his crate door open, Adam is all kinds of excited. The lanky black…
Read More

Comment

Don’t call it a fracking resolution
 

Don’t call it a fracking resolution

Following multiple anti-fracking resolutions passed by local governments around the region, Jackson County commissioners have now taken an action of…
Read More

Comment

Authorities find $1 million in pot plants in Swain
 

Authorities find $1 million in pot plants in Swain

Jerry Monroe Berry and his son, Joshua Monroe Berry, of Swain County have been charged with growing marijuana in the…
Read More

Comment

Sylva celebrates its 125th anniversary
 

Sylva celebrates its 125th anniversary

The Town of Sylva is celebrating its 125th year since incorporation. To mark the occasion, a slate of activities are…
Read More

Comment

Pisgah students get more classrooms, campus security
 

Pisgah students get more classrooms, campus security

With a long construction process coming to an end, students and teachers at Pisgah High School are enjoying a bit…
Read More

Comment

DA candidates spar over work, family and gender
 

DA candidates spar over work, family and gender

The race for top prosecutor over the seven counties between assistant district attorneys Jim Moore and Ashley Welch has grown…
Read More

Comment

District attorney candidate accused of mishandling extradition order
 

District attorney candidate accused of mishandling extradition order

A Tennessee man in a wheelchair accused of helping bury a dead body in a barrel has emerged as an…
Read More

Comment

Franklin passes resolution to keep Nikwasi, allow Cherokee maintenance
 

Franklin passes resolution to keep Nikwasi, allow Cherokee maintenance

Franklin leaders made their intention to keep Nikwasi Mound in town possession clear this week, rejecting a formal call from…
Read More

Comment

Library proponents unveil a visual
 

Library proponents unveil a visual

The new Swain County library isn’t a reality yet — except in the minds of the true believers. Last week,…
Read More

Comment

2014 Election: Snapshot of U.S. House race in WNC
 

2014 Election: Snapshot of U.S. House race in WNC

About the race: This used to be a toss-up district, but clever redrawing of voting boundaries by the Republican-led legislature…
Read More

Comment

Election 2014: Legislative races, a primer
 

Election 2014: Legislative races, a primer

N.C. House of Representatives, seat 118 Is this my state rep? Yes, if you live in Madison and Yancey counties…
Read More

Comment

2014 District Attorney election primer
 

2014 District Attorney election primer

Do I vote in this race? Yes, if you live anywhere in the seven western counties.
Read More

Comment

Still time if you hurry
 

Still time if you hurry

I’ve been on the Blue Ridge Parkway the last couple of weekends and have made it a point to stop…
Read More

Comment

Gardening Grant helps at the Open Door
 

Gardening Grant helps at the Open Door

A pair of grants from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources will help improve water resources in Haywood…
Read More

Comment

Road and trail closure
 

Road and trail closure

• Ball Creek Road, a U.S. Forest Service road that begins at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and ends at Upper Nantahala…
Read More

Comment

Do you like elk?
 

Do you like elk?

Cataloochee hike to feature elk and history A full-day hike Tuesday, Oct. 14, in the Cataloochee Valley area of the…
Read More

Comment

Fall programs in the Smokies
 

Fall programs in the Smokies

A lineup of fall interpretive programs is underway in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will run through the end of…
Read More

Comment

Brook trout to join the license plate lineup
 

Brook trout to join the license plate lineup

There’s a new specialty license plate coming soon: the brook trout plate.
Read More

Comment

Declining bat populations force Smokies cave closure
 

Declining bat populations force Smokies cave closure

White-nosed bat syndrome is marching west, and as a result the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has closed the Whiteoak…
Read More

Comment

Training program partners Smokies and Southeast Asian parks
 

Training program partners Smokies and Southeast Asian parks

Cambodia and Thailand might be on the other side of the world from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but…
Read More

Comment

A dry September means fall color forecast is looking up
 

A dry September means fall color forecast is looking up

The outlook for a bright leaf season is improving, as Western Carolina University fearless fall foliage forecaster Kathy Mathews has…
Read More

Comment

Timbersports team chops its way toward season opener
 

Timbersports team chops its way toward season opener

Orange chaps clipped around their legs, Rankin Fender and Zac O’Connor square off inside the sawdust-and-bark-filled woodshed at Haywood Community…
Read More

Comment

The end is near — now what?
 

The end is near — now what?

When the novel, The Leftovers came out several years ago, it was an immediate success. (Oprah gave it a significant boost…
Read More

Comment

Want to learn how to make a gingerbread house?
 

Want to learn how to make a gingerbread house?

The Franklin Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Bakery will offer a How To Create A Gingerbread House seminar at…
Read More

Comment

Open call for Bryson City Chili Cook-Off
 

Open call for Bryson City Chili Cook-Off

The 24th annual Bryson City Chili Cook-Off will be held Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad Depot.
Read More

Comment

Sylva celebrates its quasquicentennial
 

Sylva celebrates its quasquicentennial

The Town of Sylva will hold its 125th anniversary celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, in…
Read More

Comment

Canton’s Colonial Theatre receives international praise
 

Canton’s Colonial Theatre receives international praise

The historic Colonial Theatre in downtown Canton has been nominated for a Momentum Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association…
Read More

Comment

Minick brings folk, country to Strand
 

Minick brings folk, country to Strand

Folk/rock/country singer Chris Minick will perform at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville.
Read More

Comment

This must be the place
 

This must be the place

Claire Lynch likes to blur lines. Born and raised in Upstate New York, she eventually moved away, crossing the Mason-Dixon…
Read More

Comment

The heartbeat of a community
 

The heartbeat of a community

It never ceases to amaze Lorraine Conard. “It’s a little bit magical,” she said. “You walk in and there’s this…
Read More

Comment

Let’s show real respect for teachers
 

Let’s show real respect for teachers

By Jim Hunt • Guest Columnist Earlier this year, I called for a state commitment to raise teacher pay to…
Read More

Comment

Let your voice be heard at the ballot box
 

Let your voice be heard at the ballot box

To the Editor: By this means I thank N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, for presenting the fracking forum in Macon…
Read More

Comment

Fracking debate needs more research, facts
 

Fracking debate needs more research, facts

To the Editor: The letter writer on fracking in the Sept. 17-23 issue of The Smoky Mountain News appears to…
Read More

Comment

Why textbooks matter even now
 

Why textbooks matter even now

To the Editor: Although Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and his fellow Republicans Sen.  Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and Rep. Michele Presnell,…
Read More

Comment

Fracking is a ticking time bomb
 

Fracking is a ticking time bomb

To the Editor: As someone with 25-plus years of experience in water and wastewater equipment design, manufacture and installation, I…
Read More

Comment

Burning the couch and chair, now that’s practical
 

Burning the couch and chair, now that’s practical

Tammy is out in the yard burning the couch. There is no telling where this will end. All by herself,…
Read More

Comment

A conversation with Ty Pennington
 

A conversation with Ty Pennington

Ty Pennington is a celebrity carpenter best known for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” a show that involved lightning-quick remodels of…
Read More

Comment

Community rallies for three-day makeover of Hazelwood prison
 

Community rallies for three-day makeover of Hazelwood prison

It was a scene that any fan — or casual viewer — of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” would find familiar.…
Read More

Comment

N.C. House candidates Queen and Clampitt draw distinctions during debate
 

N.C. House candidates Queen and Clampitt draw distinctions during debate

N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, and Republican challenger Mike Clampitt are on a similar mission. Each is trying to…
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.