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Wednesday, 06 March 2013 13:56

New Haywood sheriff pledges modern, professional leadership

There’s a new sheriff in town. Greg Christopher, a 51-year-old former lieutenant in the N.C. State Patrol, assumed the role of top lawman in Haywood County this week.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 02:02

Climbing event at Chimney Rock

An event called “Climbin’ the Chimney” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 2 is an opportunity to for participants to scale Chimney Rock with regional climbing education organization, Fox Mountain Guides. Chimney Rock is located in Chimney Rock…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 02:02

Duke grants to aid education, environment

Duke Energy is helping to fund new educational and environmental projects as part of its hydropower relicensing agreement in the Nantahala region. Projects include a new high school agri-science program, a youth environmental summer camp, and other educational programs and…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:54

Taking the polar plunge

Around 30 daring souls splashed and jumped into Lake Junaluska last Saturday for the first annual “Polar Plunge” to raise money for Haywood Waterways Kids in the Creek program.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:52

Loosiana part deaux

What better place to start part deaux than Breaux Bridge along Bayou Teche? Firmin Breaux originally purchased the area that is now Breaux Bridge in 1771 from New Orleans businessman Jean Francois Ledée, who had acquired the land as an…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:51

WCU trail system now open to the public

Western Carolina University’s new trail system is open and ready for bikers, hikers and runners. About 100 people turned out Saturday, Feb. 23, for an outdoor campus celebration to mark the trail’s formal opening.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:48

Honest hunters have little tolerance for renegade tactics

Shock waves rippled through the mountain hunting community last week as word spread of a sweeping undercover investigation targeting dozens of illegal rogue hunters.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 01:45

“Operation Something Bruin:” Dozens of rogue hunters busted in illegal mountain poaching ring

Last week, state and federal wildlife officers began rounding up dozens of suspected poachers in Western North Carolina, bringing to fruition an undercover investigation that spanned several years across several rural mountain counties and penetrated the heart of an illegal…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Final volume of Churchill biography a long-awaited gem

William Manchester, author of a number of best-selling books, including The Death of A President, American Caesar, and Goodbye, Darkness, spent nearly 30 years writing a three-volume biography of Winston Churchill. Still a young man when I read the first…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Liberals arts education enriches one’s life

To the Editor: Scott McLeod (Feb. 6 SMN) pays tribute to the value of a liberal arts education. Even though I never earned a B.A. degree, my college and high school background in literature, philosophy, music and religion has greatly…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Wouldn’t it be wonderful ... to use local builders

To the Editor: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the building boom of million dollar homes in Jackson County supported this county’s people? Hiring local contractors and skilled laborers, as well as employing the abundant resource of manual labor in the…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Not all doom and gloom in Dillsboro

To the Editor: The claim of Frank Parrish and others over the past few years that Dillsboro is a ghost town is highly exaggerated. By all accounts, most Dillsboro merchants had a very good 2012. My retail store broke even…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Time to be rid of all Cherokee bear zoos

To the Editor: Little has changed in Cherokee since a 1989 Parade Magazine cover story, “Are Our Zoos Humane?” named a Cherokee bear exhibit as one of the 10 worst zoos in America. Thus, I was very pleased to read…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Writer spouted false facts about Obamacare

To the Editor: A recent letter writer makes a number of unsubstantiated and flat out erroneous claims about Obamacare, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These sound like talking points from some right-wing propaganda organ. First, the writer…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

State’s democratic ideals are fading fast

To the Editor: Our founding fathers, framing our Constitution, created a representative democracy. They formed a republic, a government where the people vote for representatives to govern for them who reflect their views. This is an indirect democracy, a government…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

MV Lodging Association opposes TDA tax hike

To the Editor: Contrary to articles recently published in our local papers, there is much opposition to the proposed law to increase the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority occupancy tax by an additional 2 percent, raising the taxes to an…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Increasing Medicare coverage could lower healthcare costs

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The United States spends twice as much on health care as most other modern nations, with less to show for it in terms of longevity and other true measures of health. The reasons why…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Sylva and Jackson County can’t agree on joint ABC venture

Sylva and Jackson County are at an impasse on the creation of a single Alcoholic Beverage Control board to run the existing liquor store in Sylva and a new one proposed in Cashiers.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

With sequestration threat looming, Eastern Band preps for the worst

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could see an estimated $2.2 million evaporate from its budget in March if Congress does not reach an agreement on the federal budget and mandatory, across-the-board cuts of 5.1 percent known as sequestration kick in.…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Cork and Bean expansion boosts downtown Bryson dining scene

When a building on a town’s main street sits empty, either because a business closed down or moved away, it’s usually a bad omen.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Wireless internet beamed into rural areas solves high-speed service conundrum

Jackson County could be going from zero to high-speed in no time. Two internet providers are laying plans to beam wireless internet into rural and remote reaches of Jackson — areas that until now have been underserved when it comes…
Tuesday, 26 February 2013 21:18

Haywood flips for pancake day

It’s 6:15 a.m., and Woody Griffin is ready. “It’s the calm before the storm,” he chuckled.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Isolated and remote, Macon spends a pretty penny to keep Nantahala School afloat

The far-flung Nantahala School in the remote reaches of Macon County is putting a financial drain on local coffers, prompting county leaders to ask the state for extra money to cover the cost of operating such an isolated school. Nantahala…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Some Maggie lodging owners get hackles up over room tax increase

The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen got an earful from hotel and motel owners Monday during a nearly three-hour meeting held specifically to hear views about a proposed increase to the overnight lodging tax. The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Main Street Champions recall changing face of downtown Waynesville

When LeRoy Roberson and his wife, Gale, opened an optometric business on Waynesville’s Main Street 35-years-ago, about a quarter of the storefronts sat empty.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Potters unite to help feed the hungry

The annual “Empty Bowl” fundraiser will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at The Open Door Soup Kitchen in Waynesville. Local potters donate handcrafted bowls, which guests can then buy — filled with soup — for…
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

The twists and turns of wood bending

The exhibit “Torqued & Twisted: Bentwood Today” will be running through March 22 at Western Carolina University’s Fine Art Museum.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Little Big Town hits the stage in Cherokee

Country group Little Big Town will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Watch a portrait master in action

Multimedia artist and teacher Mark Menendez will demonstrate oil portrait painting techniques for the Art League of the Smokies at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 00:00

Age is but a number on your dance card

Darkness enveloped the vehicle as soon as it exited Interstate 40. Cruising around sharp S-curves in the mountain community of Fines Creek in the remote northern reaches of Haywood County, headlights peered across vast fields and by quiet farmhouses where…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:15

Be(ar) careful in the Smokies

In the natural world there are certain experiences that rivet our attention and remain stored in our memory banks. Through the years, I’ve written about my own encounters with rare plants, endangered landscapes, copperheads and timber rattlers, coyotes, skunks, eagles,…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:11

Land Trust for Little Tennessee helps gain protection for another town watershed

The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee recently helped the town of Andrews protect and conserve its 930-acre watershed in Cherokee County.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:09

Smokies Association pushes for membership

The Great Smoky Mountains Association is launching a membership drive in honor of its 60th anniversary this year.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:08

GBBC at BBLNWR

Translation — Great Backyard Bird Count at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge; the tradition continues. Since a spur-of-the-moment GBBC at Black Bayou with my brother back in 2006, I have only missed two years of counting in Louisiana. It’s…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:07

Last call for Polar Plunge

Wade, dash, splash or take the full plunge into Lake Junaluska from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23 to help raise money for Haywood Waterways Association. The Polar Plunge will benefit the annual Kids on the Creek program,…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:07

Bear Creek Lake on upper Tuck gets boat ramp, dock and pier

A boat ramp on Bear Creek Lake in the Tuckasegee area of Jackson County has been renovated by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. A new floating dock with handicapped-accessible handrails was also installed. Bear Lake is small — but is…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:04

Float, boat or fish the Tuck

This spring, rolling down the Tuckasegee River will be, for the most part, as it has been in years past — but getting onto the river is becoming a whole lot easier. As canoers, kayakers, fishermen, college-aged tubers and other…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:01

1967 novel sheds light on obscure mass drowning

In recent years, I have become interested in an obscure incident that occurred in Jackson County in 1882 — the accidental drowning of 19 chain gang convicts who were working on Cowee Tunnel near Dillsboro. Who were they? Where did…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:56

Sample chocolate, support Bryson City’s library

Cooks of all things chocolate will square off at the “Sixth Annual Chocolate Cook-Off” from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Feb. 23, at the Bryson City Presbyterian Church. Don’t miss the chance to weigh in on the “People’s Choice Award.” The…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:54

Whimzik wows with eclectic music, performance art combo

Whimzik will be having a DVD release performance at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:53

Is your pet Haywood’s next top model?

Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation has launched its annual pet photography contest.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:52

WNC flipping for pancakes

• The 56th annual “Pancake Day” will be from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Volunteers will be serving unlimited buttermilk/buckwheat pancakes alongside prize-winning sausage, bacon and freshly brewed coffee.…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:52

Artists/vendors sought for regional festivals

Several festivals around Western North Carolina are encouraging local artists and vendors to sign up for celebrations and events throughout 2013. • The 16th Annual Greening Up the Mountains festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday,…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:48

Jungle king swings into WCU

A cold wind howls through the campus of Western Carolina University as the screams of a young woman echo from a nearby building. The voice is Stefani Cronley and her attackers are a gang of apes.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:35

We have to decide which side we’re on

To the Editor: Well over a half century ago, the infringements, abridgments and usurpations of government against our liberties ordained in the Bill of Rights began. Recently, this has accelerated to an intolerable assault on our Constitution, individual freedoms, and personal…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:34

Ball fields bad use of tourism money

To the Editor: Why on earth tap the tourism development funds in Haywood County for a ballpark that won’t result in increased revenues in the tourism marketing pot? Cherokee has tried with their expensive sport complex in Whittier and, as I…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:34

Weakened slope laws could prompt lawsuits

To the Editor: This is an open letter to the Jackson County Planning Board and county commissioners. Things to consider:  • We have an existing steep slope ordinance. • Mudslides are not covered by insurance in N.C. • Changes being considered to…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:32

Beware plastic power strips, and many thanks

To the Editor: It is hard to believe it was a month ago that our little house in Waynesville burned. Through the shock, sadness, transition and confusion, two things have remained consistent in our minds. First, how very blessed we…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:30

We need sanity in gun debate

To the Editor: As a gun owner, parent, teacher and American, I believe that there is no legitimate reason for civilians (such as myself) to own weapons capable of firing more than 10 shots before reloading. A 30-round mag (typical…
Wednesday, 20 February 2013 14:29

Macon County may need second pay study

To the Editor: I believe Macon County’s commissioners need to closely analyze and thoroughly discuss the results and proposals made in the recent compensation and classification study before any changes are made to the county’s compensation plan. I suggest that…
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