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Development, personnel drive Haywood closed sessions
As the largest local government unit in The Smoky Mountain News’ four-county coverage area, Haywood County sees more action —…
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Waynesville closed sessions boring, but by the book
The Town of Waynesville Board of Aldermen meets every two weeks, or about 24 times a year, depending on the…
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Small-town closed sessions few, far between
Haywood County’s five local governments more or less fall into two tiers — there’s the county and there’s Waynesville, and…
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Hometown hate: Haywood Republicans welcome anti-Muslim speaker
Aided by the left and abetted by the media, violent jihadists are slowly but surely infiltrating our government, our schools…
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Judge Letts to retire: Superior Court will see vacancy four months after Election Day
Amid widespread speculation about plans to run for principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Superior Court Judge…
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Slide shifts traffic on U.S. 74
A slide on the westbound side of U.S. 74 on Sunday morning in Jackson County temporarily diverted traffic just west…
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I-40 slide cleanup causes closure
Cleaning a rockslide on Interstate 40 near the Tennessee State lane will require the N.C. Department of Transportation to keep…
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Animal shelter planning to start in Jackson County
Jackson County is facing a plethora of capital projects over the next several years, and a new animal shelter will…
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Citizens Police Academy still seeking applicants
Not long after retired U.S. Air Force officer and former teacher Mary Ford moved to Waynesville with her husband, she…
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Open government is part of who we are
Whereas the public bodies that administer the legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, and advisory functions of North Carolina and its political…
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Great schools, staff are community assets
Both my parents were teachers. My earliest memories are of my dad sitting at our dining room table grading papers…
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The socialists are coming!
To the Editor The socialists are coming, the socialists are coming! Hide your cows and pickup trucks! The green new…
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Thanks for exploration of homelessness issue
To the Editor Cory Vaillancourt created a powerful, informative and moving piece of journalism (“Face to face: local homeless remain…
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The American people are not stupid
To the Editor I am not stupid and neither are most people I know. However, numerous politicians, pundits and officials…
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Devil on my shoulder: With new live album, The Get Right Band to play Boojum
The hardest balance for a rock band is to straddle the line between honest emotions in your lyrics and also…
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This must be the place: Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must lead
In a recent New York Times article, “What Charles Bukowski’s Glamorous Displays of Alcoholism Left Out,” the piece analyzed and…
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In need of craft therapy?
The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will be starting craft therapy. This get-together will be the first Tuesday of…
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Collective plans artwork in Dillsboro, sets town hall meetings
In partnership with the Appalachian Women’s Museum and the Jackson County Public Library, Western Carolina University’s LIVLAB Artist Collective will…
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Yiddish noir novel hits the mark
So, how many Yiddish authors do you know? If you’re like me your answer would be none. That is until…
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Road work underway in the Smokies
A pavement preservation project is underway on Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, expected to result…
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New relay planned for Western NC
A relay race set to debut this year will offer teams of four the challenge of traveling from Asheville to…
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Statewide wildfire response drill comes to Haywood
In the midst of an exceptionally warm, dry winter, a wildfire erupted on Mount Lyn Lowry. About 170 acres when…
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Education program earns regional recognition
Muddy Sneakers, an outdoor science education program based in Brevard, recently won two awards in a Blue Ridge Outdoors voting…
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Smokies records highest-ever visitation
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park set a new visitation record for 2018, welcoming 11.4 million visitors to its 816…
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Arboretum to expand environmental education
A $1 million grant will allow the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville to expand its innovative K-12 science education programs to…
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Congress votes to reauthorize Land and Water Conservation Fund
Congress has voted to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund following a 363-62 vote of the U.S. House…
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The Naturalist's Corner: The St. Croix chronicles
St. Croix’s adolescent hormones were coursing through his lean muscular body when the urge to leave the Black Hills of…
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Shining Rock head of school fired
Barely a year after he was hired, Nathan Duncan is out at Shining Rock Classical Academy.
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Smokies records highest-ever visitation in 2018
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park set a new visitation record for 2018, welcoming 11.4 million visitors to its 816…
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Hysteria yes; a national emergency, no
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-eight dead. Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Thirty-three dead. Stoneman Douglass High School, Parkland,…
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N.C. legislators have a chance at redistricting
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The North Carolina General Assembly is where good bills go to die. So it…
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Climate change must be addressed
To the Editor: As the undeniable scientific evidence of climate change and its causes and consequences mount, it is unfortunate…
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Living soil: Waynesville woman digs into worm farming
Valley View Worms has an origin story that’s about as unusual as the vermiculture business itself, with plotlines hinging on…
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Agriculture grant winners announced
Five local farms are among the 39 businesses awarded a total of $216,000 in this year’s WNC Agricultural Options grant…
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Congress moves forward on Land and Water Conservation Fund reauthorization
The U.S. Senate voted Feb. 12 to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, an important funding source for…
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New state natural area achieves milestone
A recent 1,500 acre land purchase by the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and North Carolina State Parks marked acquisition…
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Fly fishing museum seeks donations
Donations are wanted to help create a display set for the Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians and Appalachian…
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Reading aloud is good medicine for all
Here are two books about books, one aimed at amusement, the other at instruction. Or so they were written and…
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African-American history at Sunburst oft overlooked
In a county as old as Haywood, there exist all manner of half-remembered places and faces long gone from the…
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Mission CEO takes job with HCA
According to an internal email leaked to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Mission’s CEO Dr. Ron Paulus will be leaving his post…
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Hospital foundations find new mission
Following HCA Healthcare’s purchase of the Mission Health System, the nonprofit foundations that have supported Mission’s hospitals for so long…
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Dogwood hires search firm to find director
As all of Mission’s legacy foundations establish their new mission and board of directors, Dogwood Health Trust is in the…
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Macon, Franklin work on greenway connection
Macon County and the town of Franklin are working on a collaborative project to create a new greenway connection on…
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Jackson County chews on $12 million Green Energy Park campus proposal
Last week Jackson County commissioners got their first look at what a re-imagined Green Energy Park campus might cost, with…
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Spate of new downtown Waynesville businesses emerges
With his thick Brooklyn accent, Danny Mannlein isn’t exactly the type of “local” most Haywood County residents are used to…
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Room price, capacity drive TDA revenues
As the Great Recession recedes further and further into the rear-view mirror, most local economic indicators in Western North Carolina…
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HCC offers free tuition to needy Haywood students
Financial aid and scholarships are a great way to pay for college, but not everyone qualifies. For those who do,…
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Race against time for Waynesville homeless camp
The longstanding brouhaha over a makeshift dwelling near Frog Level has escalated to the point where enforcement action is likely…
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