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A heated rivarly where everyone’s a winner
By Eric Larson Where I grew up, you had to choose sides early: You were either a University of Alabama…
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Scared of the Dark?
By Stephanie Wampler • Columnist The dark is a strange creature. It has so many faces. “Dark” is how we…
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Look at TDA structure, and then let’s move on
After last week’s surprising meeting of the Haywood County Council of Governments regarding the tourism board, perhaps there is finally…
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Only a couple of chances to challange the Cheoah in '06
Rafting fans have only two more shots this year at a trip down the Cheoah River, a rugged river in…
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Things that go blink in the night
By Michael Beadle As springtime visitors flock to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to see the phenomenon of synchronous fireflies,…
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The Little River watershed
Nestled in the northern center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Elkmont was once a thriving logging community that…
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Mitigation demand holds in Supreme Court
In a 9-0 vote last week, the Supreme Court upheld the right of states to demand mitigation from hydropower companies…
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All together now – flash
Around 2 a.m. the other morning I was walking Maddie, my seven-month-old, around the house trying to convince her that…
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First Tour de Tuck to challenge cyclists
A new cycling tradition begins this summer with the debut of the Tour de Tuck Bike Challenge on Saturday, Aug.…
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Soul Infusion’s fifth
By Chris Cooper Late Friday night, after the festivities died down and the crickets had begun a serenade for the…
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A man in full: Cashiers Historical Society, biographers, history experts and fans explore the life and complex times of Wade Hampton III
By Michael Beadle Growing up in South Carolina, Robert Lathan remembers how just about everything and everyone was named after…
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Mountain Dulcimer Week celebrates an ancient instrument and its role in mountain heritage
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer As a child in Diana Fisher’s music class at Camp Lab School in Cullowhee,…
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Recommended diversions
The Pool There is a lot to be said for going out into the woods, finding a quiet, isolated stream,…
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Money verses morals
During my senior year of high school, my brother, some friends, and I went to a James Bond film festival.…
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Macon survey
The survey in Macon County set out to quantify the value the public places on the landscape. Surveys sought to…
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Bethel survey
The Bethel survey polled a random sample of 273 residents in Bethel via telephone. The Bethel Rural Community Organization sanctioned…
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Haywood appoints second committee to study TDA
A study committee charged with examining the role and structure of the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will be formed…
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Franklin hires Main Street coordinator
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer A month into her new job as Franklin’s Main Street Program Coordinator, Nancy Deeks…
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Pulling the right strings: Lawmakers work to bring home the bacon
It was a big week in the legislative building in Raleigh last week. The House of Representatives would vote on…
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A moment of your time? Lobbyists courting lawmakers take center stage in Raleigh
Editor’s note: Smoky Mountain News reporter Becky Johnson spent two days in Raleigh last week covering local representatives at work…
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How to herd a bill
Sen. John Snow, D- Murphy, had a whopper of a week last week. He had four bills on the table…
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Sylva slashes funding for downtown group
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Faced with a $20,000 budget cut, the Downtown Sylva Association is re-examining its plans…
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Verizon expands DSL service in rural areas
High-speed Internet access has been expanded into several rural areas in the region thanks to a technology investment by Verizon…
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Medicinal uses of black cohosh
“The first large, successful American business run by a woman was said to be the Lydia E. Pinkham Medical Company,…
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The difference between co-opted and compromised
By Avram Friedman In January of 2006, Jim Hansen, a climatologist advising the Bush Administration, said that we have “at…
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Saving farms is not about nostalgia
If you think taking tangible steps to protect farmland is more about nostalgia than anything else, guess again. As change…
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Support for downtown Sylva is a wise investment
Sylva town officials have OK’d a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that has just about eliminated funding for the…
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The battle for the Chattooga rages on
The Sumter National Forest has fired back at American Whitewater, a paddling organization that is challenging a ban on paddling…
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Demand leads to expansion at the Purchase Knob
The growing demand from researchers wanting access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park prompted recent renovations to the Appalachian…
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Let’s get buggy with it
“Daddy, Daddy come see!” called Izzy, my four-year-old daughter, running down the sidewalk to catch me as I was leaving…
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An eclectic night at Guadalupe Café
By Chris Cooper There’s an age-old argument that rears up whenever there are multiple acts on the roster for a…
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Recommended diversions
Pictures of the Week Every Friday CNN features on its Web page a small link to Offbeat Photos and Time’s…
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Real Mountain dialect
Like hundreds of other mountain folk who grew up listening to “the old folks talking,” I always wanted to be…
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Delving into dialect
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Gary Carden was in fifth grade when he learned to be ashamed of his…
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Momentum keeps building for Stop I-3 coalition
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The Stop I-3 Coalition — the grassroots organization that aims to prevent construction of…
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On Sacred Ground
By Michael Beadle Nearly two centuries have passed since the last time Cherokees held a council meeting on the sacred…
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Reece’s larger-than-life presence will be missed, say friends
Wade Reece, a well-known figure in Maggie Valley civic life and the tourism industry, passed away last week, leaving a…
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Purt, nigh Lizabethan
I’m no expert on regional linguistics, but through the years I’ve delighted in the dialect English still spoken here in…
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Authenticity often doesn’t lend itself to good drama
Back in 1952, when I was one of a dozen Western North Carolina high school students who wrote winning essays…
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Truth about kids and synchronicity
Before our son was born almost a year and a half ago, Tammy and I made an important decision. She…
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Once and for all, stop the influence peddling in Raleigh
For most people who live and work in Western North Carolina, the inner workings of our citizen legislature in Raleigh…
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Bryson City conserves 750 acres bordering Smokies
The town of Bryson City finalized a conservation easement this month that will protect a 750-acre tract known as Lands…
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Feds may reinstate roadless areas in Carolinas, Virginia
A ban on logging and road building in roadless areas of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests is on track…
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Can you say inevitable?
I recently saw some previews for the documentary “Grizzly Man.” You may remember the story. Back in 2003, after 13…
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Macon free dental clinic eyes expansion
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County’s Molar Roller is on the move in a forward direction. The mobile…
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Green power: no longer a pipe dream
By Michael Beadle At first it sounds too good to be true. Imagine being able to pipe methane gas from…
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In need of help
Steve Salerno’s SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless (ISBN 1-40005409-5, $24.95) is not only an attack on the…
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Recommended diversions
“Metropolitan” Writer-director Whit Stillman had a surprise hit with this comedy about a middle-class young man and his encounters with…
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Big sounds in this intelligent, intentionally bumpy ride
By Chris Cooper A rather popular band was recently branded with the criticism of being “a small band trying to…
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A high class affair: HART set to open summer blockbuster ‘My Fair Lady’
By Michael Beadle As a Broadway hit, “My Fair Lady” made Julie Andrews a star. As a film, it made…
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