GALLERY: Emergency work session scheduled in wake of Sylva fire
 
An impressive collection from a bluegrass veteran
 

An impressive collection from a bluegrass veteran

By Chris Cooper It’s not unusual in music circles for one’s sound to be recognizable but the name to be…
Read More

Comment

Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

King of the Hill I picked up a nasty rumor that Fox is planning to terminate my favorite cartoon show,…
Read More

Comment

The groveling underside of therapy
 

The groveling underside of therapy

In One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture Is Eroding Self-Reliance (ISBN 0-312-30443-9, $23.95), Christina Hoff Sommers, author of…
Read More

Comment

Atlanta Ballet’s 14-year run in Haywood County is over
 

Atlanta Ballet’s 14-year run in Haywood County is over

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Following a re-evaluation of Haywood County Arts Council programming, two of the organization’s mainstays…
Read More

Comment

Drive safely, arrive alive
 

Drive safely, arrive alive

By Michael Beadle Even with the holidays over, traffic safety is still a major priority for public safety agencies and…
Read More

Comment

Horton resigns-fired after taking heat for incubator vote
 

Horton resigns-fired after taking heat for incubator vote

Haywood County Manager Jack Horton resigned today following a ?-hour closed door meeting with the Haywood County Commissioners on Tuesday…
Read More

Comment

Incubator episode may have long-term consequences
 

Incubator episode may have long-term consequences

A business incubator building in Waynesville has become the epicenter for a political firestorm among Haywood County officials looking to…
Read More

Comment

Incubator snapshots
 

Incubator snapshots

A snapshot of other incubators across the state offer models of how the incubator in Waynesville could be revamped.
Read More

Comment

Incubator failed to help entrepreneurs
 

Incubator failed to help entrepreneurs

A small business incubator in Waynesville has failed in it mission to nurture entrepreneurs and start-up companies, and instead has…
Read More

Comment

Time to think about gardening in ‘06
 

Time to think about gardening in ‘06

Have you started making your 2006 gardening plans yet? It’s time. The garden catalogs started arriving in the mail several…
Read More

Comment

Empowered by Dr. Phil to entertain Jack
 

Empowered by Dr. Phil to entertain Jack

I’ve become hooked on Dr. Phil. Don’t ask me how it happened because I don’t know. He caught me unawares,…
Read More

Comment

The goose won’t keep laying golden eggs without proper care
 

The goose won’t keep laying golden eggs without proper care

By Lee Shelton The town limits of Maggie Valley encompass only 1.8 square miles, and there is only one commercial…
Read More

Comment

Ladies first: Cataloochee Ranch hosts skiing and snowboarding classes tailored to women
 

Ladies first: Cataloochee Ranch hosts skiing and snowboarding classes tailored to women

By Michael Beadle Once again Cataloochee Ski Area will be hosting a series of once-a-week skiing and snowboarding classes this…
Read More

Comment

A wintry mix
 

A wintry mix

Christmas Day brought showers interrupted by buckets full of sleet. Sometime late Christmas night or before dawn the next morning,…
Read More

Comment

Work in process: In life as in art, glass artist John Nickerson is a student of methodology
 

Work in process: In life as in art, glass artist John Nickerson is a student of methodology

By Sarah Kucharski John Nickerson is a very exacting man. Tall and solidly built, he moves with efficiency, his speech…
Read More

Comment

Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

“Firefly” As a proud member of the Star Wars generation, I enjoy a healthy dose of otherworldly sci-fi plots and…
Read More

Comment

Adam’s 29 falls short of past achievements
 

Adam’s 29 falls short of past achievements

By Joe Hooten When it seems like you’ve heard all there is to hear from our Carolina troubadour Mr. Ryan…
Read More

Comment

Ishiguro’s novel raises troubling questions for modern humanity
 

Ishiguro’s novel raises troubling questions for modern humanity

“And so we stood together like that, at the top of that field for what seemed ages, not saying anything,…
Read More

Comment

Casino alcohol proposal galvanizes conservative Cherokees
 

Casino alcohol proposal galvanizes conservative Cherokees

A debate over whether to sell alcohol at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino has pitted conservative tribal members against the economic interests…
Read More

Comment

Fairview takes personal approach
 

Fairview takes personal approach

By Sarah Kucharski Students at Fairview Elementary School in Sylva have a unique opportunity to experience the benefits of reading…
Read More

Comment

At storytime, it’s llamas and pajamas
 

At storytime, it’s llamas and pajamas

It’s 11 a.m. on Friday at the Haywood County Public Library in Waynesville, and that means Story Time, a regular…
Read More

Comment

Getting kids to read
 

Getting kids to read

By Michael Beadle Remember when Mom or Dad read you your favorite bedtime story? Maybe it was a book like…
Read More

Comment

How can parents encourage their children to read?
 

How can parents encourage their children to read?

• Read with your child everyday. Make it part of the daily routine.
Read More

Comment

Highlands mayor takes on contentious planning issues
 

Highlands mayor takes on contentious planning issues

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In his first month as the newly elected mayor of Highlands, Don Mullen has…
Read More

Comment

Incubator board members admit to lax involvement
 

Incubator board members admit to lax involvement

For nearly 20 years, Jerry Plemmons’ hour-long drive from Hot Springs to Waynesville every couple of months for a Smoky…
Read More

Comment

Macon challenges building moratorium in Highlands ETJ
 

Macon challenges building moratorium in Highlands ETJ

Macon County officials have contested the legality of a moratorium Highlands enacted on commercial building within the town’s extra-territorial jurisdictions…
Read More

Comment

The grumpy traveler department
 

The grumpy traveler department

From time to time, I’ve contemplated compiling an anthology of travel writing from Western North Carolina. Such a volume would…
Read More

Comment

Bear, skunk, coyote targeted in hunting regulations
 

Bear, skunk, coyote targeted in hunting regulations

Citing increased problems for humans, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has proposed new regulations that will step up hunting of…
Read More

Comment

A long history culminates in one tumultuous day
 

A long history culminates in one tumultuous day

When Haywood County Manager Jack Horton was asked to resign or be fired last week, it was, potentially, a watershed…
Read More

Comment

Debate erupts over wording of new Park Service guidelines
 

Debate erupts over wording of new Park Service guidelines

The National Park Service says the management guidelines governing national parks need to be clarified in the face of a…
Read More

Comment

Striking at the heart of Parks
 

Striking at the heart of Parks

An attempt by the National Park Service to rewrite the guidelines governing protection of parks has prompted conservation groups to…
Read More

Comment

Holiday Bird Nerd Diary: Yellow-headed blackbird highlights Balsam bird count
 

Holiday Bird Nerd Diary: Yellow-headed blackbird highlights Balsam bird count

The Carolina Field birders, friends and volunteers conducted their fourth annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on Thursday, Dec. 29.
Read More

Comment

Smokies: Road to Nowhere won’t impair park
 

Smokies: Road to Nowhere won’t impair park

Controversy over proposed changes to the mission of the National Park Service has landed at the doorstep of the Great…
Read More

Comment

Pre-school to pirates, reading is still fun-damental
 

Pre-school to pirates, reading is still fun-damental

Preschool children are normally as full of questions as a quiz show host on a fast night. They want to…
Read More

Comment

Chambers move closer to merger
 

Chambers move closer to merger

Board members on the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce and the Maggie Valley Area Visitors Bureau voted unanimously to pursue…
Read More

Comment

Daycare closing leaves 70 families in the lurch
 

Daycare closing leaves 70 families in the lurch

By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Approximately 70 families are in limbo as Jean’s Kids Palace, a daycare in Whittier,…
Read More

Comment

So long, McDonald’s sign
 

So long, McDonald’s sign

Anyone approaching Waynesville from Russ Avenue has likely appreciated the distant view of downtown, its quaint brick skyline marked by…
Read More

Comment

Swain student raises money to help those half a world away
 

Swain student raises money to help those half a world away

By Michael Beadle Darfur may seem a world away from Bryson City, but a group of Swain County High School…
Read More

Comment

TDA proposal would eliminate corridor funding
 

TDA proposal would eliminate corridor funding

Turf divisions in the Haywood County tourism industry are melting away on more than one front these days. At the…
Read More

Comment

A locust by any other name
 

A locust by any other name

I’m fairly good at the identification of deciduous trees during the flowering and fruiting seasons, when one can observe bark,…
Read More

Comment

Living in fear of ... everything
 

Living in fear of ... everything

It started over a discussion about the merits of that sanitizing gel that is now so often found in restrooms,…
Read More

Comment

Time apparently not right for casino alcohol sales
 

Time apparently not right for casino alcohol sales

The proposal to hold a referendum on whether alcohol could be sold at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino was withdrawn before it…
Read More

Comment

Storytime just didn’t work out for me
 

Storytime just didn’t work out for me

By Stephanie Wampler One day last year, I had high hopes for a glorious time at the library. I envisioned…
Read More

Comment

There were valid reasons for Horton’s departure
 

There were valid reasons for Horton’s departure

(Editor’s note: Haywood County Manager Jack Horton tendered his resignation to the board of commissioners on Jan. 3. The three…
Read More

Comment

Cherokee reels in North Carolina Casting Championships
 

Cherokee reels in North Carolina Casting Championships

Top fly and bass fishermen will be coming to Cherokee to show off their skills at the North Carolina Casting…
Read More

Comment

Bird nerds unite
 

Bird nerds unite

I learned, when I worked full-time for the Smoky Mountain News, that it helps if newspaper writers are thick-skinned. It…
Read More

Comment

Two-wheel motion: Long-time mechanic opens bikeshop
 

Two-wheel motion: Long-time mechanic opens bikeshop

A new cycling shop opened in Waynesville just in the nick of time for Bob Gatis. The notion recently struck…
Read More

Comment

Ordinary World: twisted, welcome catharsis
 

Ordinary World: twisted, welcome catharsis

By Chris Cooper When the bio sheet for a band arrives with the greeting “Dear Pop Revivalists,” I feel a…
Read More

Comment

Recommended diversions
 

Recommended diversions

A Soldier of the Great War Recently a friend recommended this book to my 17-year-old son as a sort of…
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.