Trout waters to reopen
 

Trout waters to reopen

Hatchery-supported trout waters will open once more at 7 a.m. Saturday, April 7. 
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Bicycle shop coming to Cherokee
 

Bicycle shop coming to Cherokee

The success of Cherokee’s 10.5-mile Fire Mountain Trail System has spurred Motion Makers Bicycle Shop to open a new location…
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Database boosts plant research on Toxaway Mountain
 

Database boosts plant research on Toxaway Mountain

The Southern Highlands Reserve has launched a digital database to advance its ability to research native plants from its perch…
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First place finisher Canyon Woodward hurries to descend the trail. Donated photo
 

Runners brave the Assault on BlackRock

This year’s Assault on BlackRock drew 105 runners and brought in more than $4,000 for the Jackson County Shop with…
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Tree swallow at Lake Junaluska. Don Hendershot photo
 

The Naturalist's Corner: Spring has sprung

It doesn’t take a calendar to know spring is here. Spring is surely in the air but it’s also in…
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Maybe we’ll never know just what women want
 

Maybe we’ll never know just what women want

“What do women want?” Sigmund Freud’s famous question crosses the lips of most men at one time or another. Goaded…
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Student protestors deserve gratitude
 

Student protestors deserve gratitude

I’ve always admired those who speak out, those who have opinions and feel compelled to share them.
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Making new memories during Easter week
 

Making new memories during Easter week

Growing up, we had a little blue and white camper at Ocean Lakes Campground in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. It…
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Leaders need to do more to stop carnage
 

Leaders need to do more to stop carnage

By Stephen Wall • Guest Columnist I was disappointed to read Interim Superintendent Bill Nolte's post on the Haywood County…
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And the children shall lead
 

And the children shall lead

To the Editor: In the wake of school shootings and #NeverAgain, school administrators are faced with the issue of how…
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Haywood Christian Academy will close on the former Old Cavalry Road Baptist Church property May 31. Haywood GIS photo
 

Haywood Christian Academy gets room to grow

Next fall, students at Haywood Christian Academy will all attend classes together in a new building that brings the two…
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Former Haywood manager rehired to lead HHS
 

Former Haywood manager rehired to lead HHS

Many people were surprised by the sudden resignation of Ira Dove from his position as Haywood County manager last October,…
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Swain County High School Principal Mark Sale (from left) Sheriff Curtis Cochran and Assistant District Attorney Jason Arnold speak to students about the seriousness of making threats at school. Jessi Stone photo
 

School threats continue in mass shooting aftermath

School systems in Western North Carolina continue to deal with a multitude of threats in the aftermath of the mass…
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Canton hires new police chief
 

Canton hires new police chief

The town of Canton has hired Robert “Shawn” Gaddis as its new chief of police effective March 31. 
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Agencies make child predator arrests
 

Agencies make child predator arrests

Over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday weekend, local, tribal, state and federal law enforcement agencies conducted an operation that was…
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Cherokee bail bondsman pleads guilty in sexual extortion case
 

Cherokee bail bondsman pleads guilty in sexual extortion case

A bail bondsman who the FBI accused of accepting sexual favors in lieu of monetary repayments pleaded guilty to one…
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TWSA votes down expanded allocation rental
 

TWSA votes down expanded allocation rental

A proposal to extend the allocation rental option to all Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority users hit a dead end…
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Members of BicycleHaywoodNC and residents of Haywood Pathways roll through the parking lot March 17. Pathways photo
 

Haywood Pathways on a roll

Haywood County’s only homeless shelter — and one of the very few in North Carolina west of Asheville — continues…
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Mission Health could become for-profit system
 

Mission Health could become for-profit system

Mission Health, the largest health care provider in Western North Carolina, could soon become a for-profit health care system if…
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The warm glow of a 1970s-era Panasonic portable radio (top) may have dimmed for most, but the future of terrestrial radio still appears bright. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Loud and clear: Local radio rejuvenated

In almost every living American resides at least one sepia-toned memory embellished with song — that perpetual score to a…
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Swain elections staff prepares for May 8 primary without sitting board
 

Swain elections staff prepares for May 8 primary without sitting board

The Swain County candidate challenge against Sheriff Curtis Cochran is at a standstill until a new Swain County Board of…
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Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran and his supporters make their way into a packed Board of Elections Office for a preliminary hearing on the candidate challenge. Jessi Stone photo
 

Swain sheriff responds to candidate challenge

Even though the Swain County Board of Elections can’t proceed with hearing a candidate challenge filed against Sheriff Curtis Cochran,…
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The $30 million R-5000 road project resulted in a 0.7-mile road connecting N.C. 107 and N.C. 116 alongside Southwestern Community College’s campus. A Shot Above WNC photo
 

SCC sues DOT, construction company over damaged building

Southwestern Community College is seeking compensation for damage to the Balsam Center building that it believes resulted from the R-5000…
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Tony Kushner. Joan Marcus photo
 

In his own words: Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Academy Award nominee Tony Kushner

Smoky Mountain News: When you look at American society today, what do you see? Tony Kushner: Oh, my god. [Laughs].…
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Tailgate talks with Verlon Thompson. Garret K. Woodward photo
 

This must be the place: ‘And live the way I said I would, but somehow never did…’

As I awoke in my hammock, I could see the branches and leaves swaying above, sprinkling small bits of the…
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Winthrop University Associate head basketball coach Mark Prosser speaks at a March 27 press conference in Cullowhee
 

WCU names Mark Prosser new men's basketball coach

When storied Western Carolina University men’s basketball coach Larry Hunter recently announced his retirement after notching his 700th career win,…
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Mission Health negotiating to join for-profit company
 

Mission Health negotiating to join for-profit company

Mission Health's Board of Directors today announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to enter into exclusive…
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Old-time dentistry just plain hurt
 

Old-time dentistry just plain hurt

Old-time dentistry as practiced here in the Smokies region wasn’t pretty. All of the descriptions I have found make it…
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Western Carolina University senior Brittany Timpson shows an inquisitive group of elementary students in the Watershed Moments program a macro invertebrate. Inset, below: Liam Tormey has been an avid participant in the program.
 

The sediment spotter: Fifth-grade science project spurs real-world change

While elementary, junior high and high school students from across the region offered a plethora of good ideas during last…
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Smokies starts spring openings
 

Smokies starts spring openings

Spring is coming to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with many seasonally closed facilities reopening for warmer weather.
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Volunteers remove 8 tons of trash from Lake Junaluska
 

Volunteers remove 8 tons of trash from Lake Junaluska

More than 100 volunteers congregated at Lake Junaluska for Lake Cleanup Day Saturday, March 10, removing more than 8 tons…
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Short book provides intelligent insight
 

Short book provides intelligent insight

“History is a field of human intentions, deeds, acts. We need to look a little more closely at this field…
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Can’t we just talk about gun legislation?
 

Can’t we just talk about gun legislation?

Last week, a United Airlines flight attendant forced a passenger with a small dog to put the dog in an…
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Cartoon, March 21, 2018
 

Cartoon, March 21, 2018

By Will Studenc
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Don’t rely on fake Fox News
 

Don’t rely on fake Fox News

By Norman Hoffman • Guest Columnist It is truly amusing to see an apparent “conservative” say that liberals are out…
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Commander in chief is too fond of Russia
 

Commander in chief is too fond of Russia

To the Editor: Article 11, section 2 of the Constitution says “The President shall be the Commander in Chief of…
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Cat museum preps for 2018 opening
 

Cat museum preps for 2018 opening

To the Editor: The mice in the Old School Antique Mall on 441 South are heading for the hills because…
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On the way to a Trump dictatorship
 

On the way to a Trump dictatorship

To the Editor: This is in response to Nan Smith’s “Liberals have lost touch with reality” in the March 7…
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Dove hired back as Haywood's health and human services director
 

Dove hired back as Haywood's health and human services director

Joel Mashburn, Interim County Manager, announced today the appointment of Mr. Ira Dove as the Director of the Haywood County…
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A beer by any other name: Brewery’s naming choices cause protest in Cherokee
 

A beer by any other name: Brewery’s naming choices cause protest in Cherokee

Over the past decade or so, the craft beer explosion has ricocheted throughout Western North Carolina, bouncing through the valleys…
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Cherokee’s Tribal Alcohol Beverage Control Commission was established in 2009. Holly Kays photo
 

Alcohol referendum scheduled

A referendum vote asking enrolled members to approve a tribally owned package store and ABC store selling beer, wine and…
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Budget gap $3 million for Haywood County
 

Budget gap $3 million for Haywood County

Although it’s still early in the budget process, Interim Haywood County Manager Joel Mashburn told commissioners that requests for the…
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New guidelines are now in place for the production of public records in Haywood County. File photo
 

Haywood County revises public records policy

A flurry of contentious public records requests by a longtime local government watchdog has prompted Haywood County officials to revise…
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A 5.9-acre parcel on Soco Road in Maggie Valley (in blue) may soon be home to a national chain hotel. Haywood GIS photo
 

Major development looking toward Maggie Valley

A major hotel could be coming to Maggie Valley sooner rather than later after the town recently passed a pair…
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The planned workforce housing complex would have 60 apartments housed in three buildings, in addition to a community clubhouse. Donated graphic
 

Request to increase future Sylva apartment complex’s size approved

Two years after Sylva leaders first cheered a proposal for a workforce housing complex across the road from Harris Regional…
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Gracie Ruebel addresses the Jackson County Board of Education in front of an audience at Smoky Mountain High School that included all five county commissioners. Holly Kays photo
 

Students talk safety: Jackson’s high school students share insights

Hours after students in schools across the nation walked out of their classrooms to protest gun violence in American schools,…
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Tuscola High School students (left to right) McKenzie Yazan, Molly Dorgan, Grace Feichter and Harper Schwab say they’re ready for changes in school safety. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

WNC students speak out on school safety

Last week, students across the country walked out of classrooms to acknowledge the 17 people shot to death at Marjorie…
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Johnny Ray Davis criticizes Commissioner Mickey Luker for selling beer in his store. Holly Kays photo
 

Religious community opposes Jackson Brunch Bill

If the two Jackson County commissioners considering a “yes” vote on Sunday morning alcohol sales were looking to the community…
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Former educator now leading Bryson City
 

Former educator now leading Bryson City

After a 30-year career in public education, Regina Mathis is trying her hand in public administration as the new Bryson…
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Alice Lowery (foreground) speaks to the crowd at the Poor People’s Town Hall while event organizer Chelsea White looks on from backstage. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

MLK’s ‘Poor People’s Campaign’ revived in North Carolina

Two weeks ago marked the 53rd anniversary of a watershed moment in the civil rights movement — the Selma to…
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