Franklin wants process for releasing closed session minutes
The Franklin aldermen on Monday night (Feb. 2) unanimously voted to formalize a process for releasing the minutes from previously…
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Park-and-ride in Haywood gains traction
A shuttle to transport commuters between Haywood and Buncombe counties is gaining momentum following the state’s recent offer to donate…
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Landowners held accountable in wake of landslide
Property owners at the site of last month’s landslide in Maggie Valley are being tasked by county officials with the…
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Prone to landslides, Haywood seeks priority in slope hazard mapping
The landslide last month that destroyed a home in Maggie Valley has spurred the Haywood County commissioners to ask the…
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Dreams for Swain’s old courthouse hinge on big money
Swain County would need more than $4 million to renovate its historic courthouse, putting plans for a cultural museum to…
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Swain leaders indifferent to lack of building regulations
Attempts to pass Swain County’s first-ever planning regulations are showing signs of movement, but not in the direction that planning…
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Task force seeks answers to water shortages
As a task force continues to probe solutions to the drought-induced water shortage in Jackson County, one idea on the…
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Swain backs down from hardline stance with Bryson City Fire Department
Swain County will continue contracting with the Bryson City Fire Department to provide county fire service, despite threatening to cut…
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WCU braces for housing crunch in face of growth, construction delays
Come the start of fall semester, some Western Carolina University freshmen could find themselves residing in unusual living quarters. A…
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Swain budget cuts target Sheriff’s office
Swain County commissioners have opted to target one department rather than spreading out county budget cuts among all county employees.…
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More than 1,000 purebreds vie for top honors at inaugural dog show
Haywood County became the Westminster of Western North Carolina this past weekend as more than 1,000 dogs and their owners…
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They’re here, with beer
The beer business has exploded on the scene in Western North Carolina in the past several years, with Asheville alone…
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Swain given option to rescind property reval
Swain County will be able to rescind its latest property revaluation — which caused property values to increase by an…
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Macon budget avoids tax increase, layoffs
If you’re a county commissioner in Western North Carolina, it’s hard not to feel envious of Macon County’s budget. While…
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Haywood commissioners exhaust search for budget cuts, tax increase looms
A proposed tax increase that Haywood residents have fought hard against could likely be avoided if residents would just pay…
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Parents turn out to support Swain principal
A group of nearly 45 parents and friends came out to show their support for embattled Swain County West Elementary…
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Tribe votes in favor of lease agreement with Wal-Mart
At long last, Wal-Mart will be coming to Cherokee. A move to bring a 120,000-square-foot superstore to the Eastern Band…
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New model for mountain living
Mixed-use developments where residents live, work, shop and dine within a few block radius are popping up in cities around…
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Questions mount over popular Swain principal’s sudden departure
Parents at West Elementary School in Swain County are questioning the circumstances surrounding the departure of a popular principal. In…
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Restoration blends function with history
After more than two years, the Haywood County historic courthouse has finally been returned to its original grandeur. The painstaking…
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Haywood residents protest property tax hike during bad economy
Scores of Haywood County taxpayers criticized the county’s proposed budget at a public hearing Monday (June 1) saying commissioners had…
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Maggie grapples with best way to recruit new festivals
The town of Maggie Valley fired its part-time festival director after he failed to produce results a few months into…
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Cherokee art institute gets new home
Several years ago, an idea was planted to establish an institution of higher education on the Qualla Boundary that would…
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Performing arts center to open in Franklin
When Phil Drake puts his mind to something, there’s little he can’t achieve. Drake’s company, Drake Enterprises, is one of…
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Cherokee face historic vote on alcohol
On June 4, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will go to the polls to cast their vote…
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Long-held dream becomes reality
It’s a project that’s been years in the making, and on Saturday the scores of Jackson County residents who gathered…
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Ghost Town withdraws loan request
By Becky Johnson & Julia Merchant A surprising turn of events caused the Maggie Valley town board to call off…
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Haywood considers cutting jobs, raising taxes
Tight times in Haywood County have forced commissioners to consider significant job cuts and a tax increase in an attempt…
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Project will restore courthouse’s grandeur
While the feeling of stately grandeur evoked by Jackson’s historic courthouse has remained over the years, many of the original…
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Swain jail escapees returned to NC
A murder suspect and the guard who allegedly helped him escape from the Swain County jail have been returned to…
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Cutbacks could be less severe in Swain budget
Though the Swain County government hasn’t escaped the recession completely, the blow dealt by the economy has been softer there…
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A two-horse town
A rift that splintered the town’s longtime farmers market in downtown Waynesville into two opposing groups of vendors continues to…
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Persistent WCU grads find work in tough economy
It’s slim pickin’s out there, as Western Carolina University students are finding out. This past weekend, more than 1,100 graduates…
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Jackson public asked to envision a greenway
For nearly a decade, a group of Jackson County residents have envisioned a greenway that would meander for miles from…
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Swain jail keys found in get-away truck
The Swain County Sheriff’s Department got a welcome piece of news recently when it learned the escape of an inmate…
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Slowed housing market poses challenges for Swain property revaluation
The burst of the nation’s housing bubble has caused real estate markets to tank — everywhere, it seems, but in…
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Spot land-use plan to mark first forray into zoning
Jackson County leaders have finished the first draft of a planning ordinance they hope will transform the U.S. 441 corridor…
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CSA programs bring together consumers and the hands that feed them
Walk among the rows and rows of hydroponic butter leaf lettuce growing in William Shelton’s greenhouse, and you’ll notice a…
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New program aims to bring abusers to justice
Victims of domestic violence in Western North Carolina recently received a powerful new voice to help bring them justice. A…
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HRMC board chair steps down
The board of Haywood Regional Medical Center bid farewell to chairman Glenn White April 24. White had served on the…
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Survey sheds light on WCU student vision for Cullowhee
What’s a college without a college town? It’s an almost unimaginable scenario to those who love the unique, quirky places…
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TDA debates where to draw line for events that may not benefit entire county
Should a private business receive taxpayer money to stage an event? That was the question of the hour at two…
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Annexation gets more scrutiny as liquor issue comes into play
Business owners hoping to be annexed by Waynesville in order to serve alcohol be out of luck. At a meeting…
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Swain jailer, murder suspect captured in California
A jailer and the murder suspect she allegedly freed from the Swain County Detention Center a month ago were apprehended…
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Group, angry with government, descends on Franklin
An angry crowd stormed downtown Franklin on tax day last week, protesting the federal government’s bailouts, high taxes and pork…
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Tourist industry lines up to tap TDA coffers
Requests for Haywood Tourism Development Authority money this year ran the gamut from the predictable to events making their debut…
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Athletes aspire to pro ranks: Small university still packs big punch in spring sports
Western Carolina University softball star Mollie Fowler painfully remembers the day her shin broke in half playing shortstop. She dove…
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Waynesville could finally see long-awaited make-over of South Main Street
Waynesville’s South Main Street — the two-lane thoroughfare that is the major artery between downtown and the new Super Wal-Mart…
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Swain’s tax base just got even smaller
Swain County, 86 percent of which is already owned by the federal government, lost a little more land from its…
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Jackson Paper bucks manufacturing trend
Last week’s announcement that 61 new jobs are coming to Sylva with the expansion of Jackson Paper is relief for…
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