Commercial Rafting and Kayaking Operations Suspended on Nantahala River
 

Commercial Rafting and Kayaking Operations Suspended on Nantahala River

Hazards created by recent landslides into the Nantahala River within the Nantahala Gorge have resulted in a suspension of all…
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Buzzards have a beauty and power all their own
 

Buzzards have a beauty and power all their own

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News in August 2003. The recent heavy rains here in…
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Students pot up plants for the plant sale. Donated photo
 

Schooled in ag: School gives students a hands-on education

With a new school year just begun, the 300 students who participate in Waynesville Middle School’s robust agriculture program now…
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Man dies at Deep Creek
 

Man dies at Deep Creek

A Georgia man was pronounced dead in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Thursday, Aug. 22, following a cardiac…
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Darby Hand chops through a block of wood during a recent event. STIHL Timbersports photo
 

HCC student places in national competition

A Haywood Community College student recently took fourth in a national timbersports competition held in Wisconsin. 
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‘Any Other Place’ provides lessons in living
 

‘Any Other Place’ provides lessons in living

Literature at its best is a fast-track course in human nature. From Shakespeare we can, if we are attentive, learn…
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We stand by our brand of journalism
 

We stand by our brand of journalism

It’s rare when one newspaper questions the integrity of another paper and the intentions of a hard-working journalist whose entire…
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Finding inspiration in Haywood Early College wolfpack
 

Finding inspiration in Haywood Early College wolfpack

Leaving Watami Sushi & Noodles on Main Street in Waynesville, I smiled at the hostess, a girl named Hannah. She…
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We are the problem, and we must change
 

We are the problem, and we must change

To the Editor: It has been a long time sense I have written to an Editor, but the opinion in…
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All we have left is our vote
 

All we have left is our vote

To the Editor: The only constant left in this country is our laws. We are only a great people if…
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We have a societal problem
 

We have a societal problem

To the Editor: The most recent despicable, senseless and tragic “mass shootings” (California, Texas and Ohio) and “mass stabbings” (California)…
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Don’t fall for Trump’s talk
 

Don’t fall for Trump’s talk

To the Editor: Trump’s been talking about reducing payroll taxes. Beware everyone! Don’t fall for his shell game. Payroll taxes…
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Right from the source: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival celebrates 50 years
 

Right from the source: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival celebrates 50 years

Atop a hill on the western edge of downtown Waynesville, just past the invisible line where the delicious smell of…
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Whitewater Bluegrass.
 

In their own words: Smoky Mountain Folk Festival

The 50th annual Smoky Mountain Folk Festival will be held on Aug. 30-31 at the Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat…
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Cherokee children lead a traditional friendship dance at the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin. Barbara McRae (below, left) and Juanita Wilson, co-chairs of the Nikwasi Initiative, give the opening prayer in English and Cherokee. Jessi Stone photos
 

Communities celebrate new future of Nikwasi

As Cherokee children joined hands with Macon County residents and led them in a traditional friendship dance in the shadow…
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 Shining Rock Classical Academy. A Shot Above photo
 

Shining Rock faces charter renewal decision

The next few months could prove fateful for Haywood County’s only public charter school, Shining Rock Classical Academy, as a…
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Commissioners Tommy Long (center left) and Brandon Rogers (center right) recently represented Haywood County at the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C. Donated photo
 

House bill could be helping hand for broadband

There’s probably no bigger economic development issue in rural America than access to dependable high-speed internet service.  “One hundred percent,”…
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Housing trust fund plan under development in Jackson
 

Housing trust fund plan under development in Jackson

Housing is an issue across Western North Carolina, and Jackson County is no exception. Since June 2018, a newly created…
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The recycling center in Dillsboro draws steady use.
 

Jackson buys land for recycling center

After a closed session discussion during its Aug. 20 meeting, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to buy…
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Chelsea White tells commissioners how important community support was to her growing up in Jackson County and asks them to support homeless services in the upcoming budget.
 

Homeless services provider receives nonprofit status

The organization tasked with managing homeless services in Jackson County for the year ahead received official status as a federal…
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Jackson County Rescue Squad photo
 

Heavy rains cause four slides in Nantahala Gorge

A severe deluge dropped 3.5 inches of rain in the Nantahala Gorge in Swain County on Saturday and triggered slides…
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Assistance is available around the clock at the Balsam Center in Waynesville for mental health and substance use emergencies. File photo
 

WNC to lose $9 million in mental health funding

The North Carolina General Assembly has proposed cutting millions of dollars in mental health funding in the recommended 2019-20 budget…
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Funds earmarked for Haywood drug court
 

Funds earmarked for Haywood drug court

A drug court could be established in Haywood County over the next couple of years if the North Carolina General…
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Tribe to vote on FY2020 budget
 

Tribe to vote on FY2020 budget

Tribal Council is slated to vote on a budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 on Thursday, Sept. 12,…
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Gov. Roy Cooper (center) with Finish Line Grant recipients Andrew Allen (left) and Abbie Turner (right).
 

Gov. Cooper visits SCC

This past summer, Andrew Allen had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get clinical experience at one of the state’s top teaching…
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Graham County Health Educator Amber Williams, (from left) Graham County Health Director Beth Booth and Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers take on the issue of transitional housing for people in recovery during the 7 County Summit in Bryson City. Jessi Stone photo
 

Region gathers to find recovery solutions

More than 150 leaders from Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties in North Carolina gathered Aug. 16…
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Neal Casal (far left) with Hard Working American. (photo: Garret K. Woodward)
 

This must be the place: Let it wander on my mind. Goodbye, Neal.

Heartbroken and stunned. That’s about all I can say or feel at this moment with the tragic passing of singer-songwriter…
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Courtesy of Jackson County Rescue Squad
 

NCDOT clearing four slides in Nantahala Gorge

BRYSON CITY – N.C. Department of Transportation crews are working around the clock on U.S. 19/74 until the highway is…
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Courtesy of Jackson County Rescue Squad
 

Slides close Nantahala Gorge

BRYSON CITY – A heavy rainstorm Saturday evening and four subsequent mudslides have closed U.S. 19/74 in the Nantahala Gorge…
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In a photo taken between 1890 and 1903, an African-American family sits on a front porch in the Great Smokies region. W.O. Garner Photograph Collection
 

The untold story: Smokies seeks to showcase history of African-Americans in the park

Many plotlines weave through the story of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but if the park were a book,…
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Haywood inmate dies in apparent suicide
 

Haywood inmate dies in apparent suicide

An inmate at the Haywood County Detention Center, Zachary Nathaniel Lambright, 20, was pronounced deceased at Haywood Regional Medical Center…
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Bald eagles, recovered from likely extinction by the Endangered Species Act, nested successfully at Lake Junaluska in 2019 for the first time in recorded history. Don Hendershot photo
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Could the environment be, once again, a game changer?

I ran into a fellow at Ingles just the other day. Regrettably, I don’t remember his name, but I run…
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Book has important lessons, links to bygone era
 

Book has important lessons, links to bygone era

In Ancient Rome, the Senate awarded a general who had won a great victory with a triumph, a parade that…
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Where the soul never dies: Richard Sterban of The Oak Ridge Boys
 

Where the soul never dies: Richard Sterban of The Oak Ridge Boys

It’s one of the most recognizable voices in all of American music. When Richard Sterban famously coined the “oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-mow-mow” bass…
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This must be the place: And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
 

This must be the place: And we got to get ourselves back to the garden

It was 50 years ago this past weekend that Max Yasgur, a 49-year-old conservative Upstate New York farmer, stood onstage…
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Our daughter’s gone, unleashed on the world
 

Our daughter’s gone, unleashed on the world

I can hear her up there in her room moving those enormous, orange storage bins around. They make a scraping…
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Gun control legislation now
 

Gun control legislation now

To the Editor: All of us are heartbroken with the recent reports of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.…
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Opioid coverage great, but beware suboxone
 

Opioid coverage great, but beware suboxone

To the Editor: As a nurse practitioner who treats opioid addiction, I am appreciative of The Smoky Mountain News’ coverage…
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Newspapers have beat up Shining Rock
 

Newspapers have beat up Shining Rock

To the Editor: Regularly, for four years, both the Mountaineer and The Smoky Mountain News have published articles lambasting the…
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Trump’s bigotry can’t be denied
 

Trump’s bigotry can’t be denied

To the Editor: Lindsay Graham had it right. In 2015, he described Donald Trump as “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”…
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Cherokee students attend Judaculla Camp
 

Cherokee students attend Judaculla Camp

Fifteen high school students from across the region who are members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians had an…
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HCC program ranked in Top 10
 

HCC program ranked in Top 10

According to Medicalassistantadvice.com, Haywood Community College’s Medical Assisting program has been ranked number 10 in North Carolina for the year…
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Leading Catamount Nation: WCU’s new chancellor discusses her path to Cullowhee and vision for the university
 

Leading Catamount Nation: WCU’s new chancellor discusses her path to Cullowhee and vision for the university

Western Carolina University’s newest chancellor is fairly certain that, of the teachers and students she knew years ago while pursuing…
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Brown greets community members during a welcome event held Aug. 19 at Innovation Station in Dillsboro. Holly Kays photo
 

Jackson County welcomes new chancellor

More than 300 people crowded Innovation Station in Dillsboro on Monday, Aug. 19, to sip a beer and shake hands…
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The Cullowhee Dam creates a pool from which both the TWSA and WCU water systems draw. File photo
 

Cullowhee Dam removal decision could take years

It’s been two years since discussions began about the possibility of removing the Cullowhee Dam, and it could take years…
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Shining Rock’s Aug. 21 board meeting has been cancelled. A Shot Above photo
 

Shining Rock suspends board operations pending training session

Shining Rock Classical Academy has a history of transparency problems, but after an Aug. 19 meeting with representatives of local…
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Pat and Don Rankin. Mark Haskett photo
 

Rankins honored with Chief Junaluska Award

Lake Junaluska residents Pat and Don Rankin are the 2019 recipients of the Chief Junaluska Award, an honor bestowed annually…
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Jane Hipps.
 

NC Justice Center honors Haywood’s Jane Hipps

The N.C. Justice Center posthumously bestowed a Champion of Justice Award on former board member and community advocate Jane Hipps…
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Haywood Schools consolidation plan moves forward
 

Haywood Schools consolidation plan moves forward

A proposal to consolidate several aging Haywood County Schools administrative buildings into a single multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility first discussed…
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Sherry Smoker. Donated photo
 

Tribal Council candidates speak on the issues

When Election Day arrives in Cherokee Sept. 5, all 12 Tribal Council seats will be up for grabs, as well…
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