Archived (28881)
Children categories
Growth is on Jackson’s agenda
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer This May 2 voters in Jackson County are faced with choosing a board of…
Read More
Jackson County sheriff’s race reaches full tilt
By Sarah Kucharski The heated race for sheriff in Jackson County is closing in on the May 2 primary date…
Read More
Pro-planning candidate holds ground at forum
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Democratic candidates running for two District 2 seats on the Macon County board of…
Read More
Baseball’s scapegoat
San Francisco Giant outfielder Barry Bonds is the greatest baseball player of this era, and one can make a good…
Read More
Stuck in a stinky situation
Hopefully, any encounter you have with a skunk will be a sighting, not a spraying. Neither my wife nor I…
Read More
Who goes first? Haywood candidates debate county’s role in future growth discussions
Grasping the extent of development sweeping across the Haywood County landscape is not always easy. So Marc Pruett, the county’s…
Read More
Recommended diversions
Back-buying Have you ever noticed that people, for the most part, solidify their tastes — in music, and clothing, and…
Read More
Of Rhyme and Reason: Books to celebrate National Poetry Month
Besides being what T.S. Eliot called “the cruelest month/Breeding lilacs out of the dead land,” April is also National Poetry…
Read More
Bushyhead run puts spotlight on Swain-Cherokee relationship
For the first time in history, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is running for a…
Read More
Enforcement issues cloud zoning debate
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer With growth on the forefront of Macon County’s election issues, commissioner candidates have staked…
Read More
Jackson candidates weigh in on education issues
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer They’ve said they want to strengthen the economy. They’ve said they want to help…
Read More
Old-style ‘machine’ a factor in Swain
A slate of challengers running in the Swain County commissioners race are speaking out against what they claim is decades…
Read More
Political factions help define Haywood race
Two well-defined political factions emerged early in the Haywood County commissioners primary and have only grown stronger in the countdown…
Read More
Swain commissioner candidate snapshots
Three candidates are running for Swain County chairman in the Democratic Primary.
Read More
Wild, mysterious and sometimes a bit sly
In the natural world here in the Blue Ridge, there are certain visual images that rivet the attention of human…
Read More
Get ready for the backroom abortionists
Three cheers for crime. If moralists have their way, it will only get worse. How coincidental that within three short…
Read More
Get over the fear and say it: ZONING is GOOD
Note to all candidates seeking office in Western North Carolina, and all their constituents: repeat these words, over and over…
Read More
Rotten to the core
According to recent stories by Knight Ridder news services, the Bush Administration thinks our national parks are too fat. A…
Read More
Don’t touch that fawn
White-tail deer will soon start scouting the fields and forests for hiding places to give birth to their fawns this…
Read More
Tennessee Valley Authority recognizes clean marinas
Five marinas on Fontana Lake have been certified as Clean Marinas in recognition of their efforts to preserve and protect…
Read More
HART opens main stage season with a ‘Miracle’
By Michael Beadle Helen Keller is an unruly child. She eats food with her fingers, drops her silverware on purpose,…
Read More
Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Powerhouse blues prodigy leaves WCU’s Ramsey Center in his wake
First, an admission: I didn’t get to talk to Kenny Wayne Shepherd at all. No interview or anything. Kind of…
Read More
Frank may be gone, but not frugality
Some people say I can be cheap, or at the very least, my priorities are out of whack. They say,…
Read More
Tailgate markets a reminder of something too valuable to lose
Every year when the local tailgate farmers markets begin opening, it’s a good time to ponder just what it means…
Read More
Float trips return to Waynesville
The sight of bobbing caravans of inflatable kayaks floating down Richland Creek through Waynesville will return on Saturday, May 6…
Read More
Mount Sterling — a hikers’ crossroads
Climbing the 80 rickety feet of metal and wood got my adrenaline flowing a bit. Once up there, I found…
Read More
Declare war on incumbents
By Marshall Frank • Columnist Time to send a message to our government leaders. Our democracy is ruled by the…
Read More
The life-long legacy of a few brushmarks
By Lew Garnett Without his ever knowing it, Blaine Richardson was one of my heroes. It was a recent breezy…
Read More
A brand new world
Anyone who hasn’t been to the woods in the last month would swear they’re in a different world. In a…
Read More
Reaching out for the Little T
When Cass and Mary Lou Combs attended a conservation celebration along the shore of the Little Tennessee River in Macon…
Read More
Breaking the code: Merchants hope study provides reliable data about customers
For two and a half years, David Erikson at Twigs and Leaves has offered a monthly drawing for a gift…
Read More
Recommended diversions
Beach Trips My first vacation of any real length is coming up in two weeks’ time. My boyfriend and I…
Read More
Synthesized production undermines Chapman’s talent
By Chris Cooper There’s this thing that can happen when you research an artist for a review. I’m not sure…
Read More
After-hours art stroll creates buzz in downtown Waynesville
By Michael Beadle There’s so much art to see in downtown Waynesville, gallery owners are now offering to keep their…
Read More
A lost soul finds a home
On a spring night in 1929, Mary Seneca Steele escapes from her home in Charleston, taking only her two children…
Read More
Wrighting a winner: Tale of an unusual find wins Jackson writing contest
Local writer Jeanne Nutter, 72, of the Caney Fork Community took first place in the Jackson County Extension and Community…
Read More
Ashe cruises by Cruzan in sheriff race
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In a landslide win, Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe held off challenger and former…
Read More
Holland, Jenkins to face off in November for sheriff
Former North Carolina Highway Patrolman C.D. Jenkins emerged from a field of three Democrats to win the Macon County Sheriff’s…
Read More
Incumbents hold ground in Swain commissioner race
Despite a slate of challengers campaigning for change in the Swain County commissioners race, all but one incumbent running for…
Read More
Sylva voters pass liquor by the drink
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Sylva residents have decided — it’s time for a good stiff drink. Voters approved…
Read More
Newcomer, incumbent win in Macon
Political newcomer Ronnie Beale and incumbent Bob Simpson beat two other Democrats in Tuesday’s primary and will move on to…
Read More
Pro-planning group wins in Jackson
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jackson County will usher in a new board of commissioners committed to addressing the…
Read More
Swanger upset; Kirkpatrick, Curtis top vote getters
By Michael Beadle Incumbent Kirk Kirkpatrick and newcomers Charles “Skeeter” Curtis and Bill Upton have won the top three slots…
Read More
Tips for B&B guests
• Costs — Before you book a reservation at a B&B, be sure you check the fine print and know…
Read More
A Quiet Industry: The quaint charm of Victorian bed and breakfast inns have captivated generations of tourists
By Michael Beadle Western North Carolina prides itself as a tourist destination — the mountain getaway where you can hike…
Read More
Hepatica — a thing of beauty and lore
Nothing is fairer, if as fair, as the first flower, the hepatica. I find I have never admired this little…
Read More
The past, present and future on Alarka
By Dawn Gilchrist-Young (Editor’s note: Writer Dawn Gilchrist-Young is conducting a series of interviews with mountain natives to gauge their reaction…
Read More
The Bard is in: Atlanta Shakespeare Company wraps up week-long residency at Cherokee High School
By Michael Beadle Last week, Cherokee students found themselves stretching, swooning, thrusting imaginary swords and spouting 400-year-old Elizabethan English. All…
Read More
The media is the muse: Jackson County potter will set up studios at Green Energy Park
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer From behind the waist-high counter that divides his studio and gallery in half, potter…
Read More
Five CDs that deserve a spin
I’m going to take a brief detour from the regular album/show review format and present five CDs that I feel…
Read More
