Franklin town board facing no changes
There will be no new faces on Franklin’s town board after November’s elections, no matter which way voters decide to…
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Merchants float idea of downtown association in Bryson City
Business owners in Bryson City’s downtown are following in the footsteps of neighboring towns, attempting to put together their own…
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Cherokee election rematch enters into final days
Election season is closing in Cherokee, where races for principal chief, vice chief, tribal council and school board members will…
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Waynesville Recreation Center to close for maintenance
The Waynesville Recreation Center will close for routine maintenance work from Sept. 12-18. The center will reopen on Sept. 19…
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Labor Day means fireworks in Maggie
Maggie Valley will have a free Labor Day weekend fireworks on Sunday, Sept. 4, with viewing from the Festival Grounds.…
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Fair tax advocate to speak in Cashiers
Laura McCue, district director of N.C. Fair Tax, will be the guest speaker at the Sept. 6 meeting of the…
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Maggie Valley loses another alderman
Maggie Valley Alderman and motel owner Scott Pauley is leaving his post, pushed out by the region’s sagging economy. Pauley…
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Religious graduation speech in Macon raises issues over separation of church and state
The Macon County School system has changed its tune on the controversial preacher who delivered an overtly religious speech at…
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Bible reading makes a comeback
In an out-of-the-way room on the ground floor, seven congregants of Longs Chapel United Methodist Church in Lake Junaluska gather…
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Airwaves up for grabs: Enviro group makes bid for grassroots radio
The Canary Coalition, a nonprofit group rooted in Jackson County that fights for air quality, might soon take to the…
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University fights environmental group for rights to radio frequency
Western Carolina University, eager to broadcast Catamount sports and other school-based programming to a larger audience than it can currently…
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Asheville public radio’s reach threatened by new FM station
A new FM radio station in Western North Carolina means more than 108,000 people living in the region might not…
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The man behind the town An unabashed champion of Canton, Pat Smathers nears the end of his dozen year tenure
Pat Smathers is what you might call a born politician. His first campaign was pitching Terry Sanford’s 1960 run for…
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What’s in their wallets? Salaries could be a factor in upcoming tribal election
Cherokee tribal elections are little more than a week away, and with the economy topping the list of major issues,…
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RV park planned for Scaly
A new motorcoach resort for up to 21 recreation vehicles will be built on N.C. 106 in the Scaly Mountain…
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Tourism summit coming up at Lake Junaluska
It’s not too late to register for this year’s Gather ‘Round the Blue Ridge, the fifth-annual meeting of the Blue…
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DOT plans new rest area in Balsam to serve other side of the highway
A new roadside rest area is coming to Balsam, serving westbound travelers on U.S. 23-74. It will sit on seven…
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Bryson residents needed to make town better
HandMade in America has spent the past year assessing how to make Bryson City a better place to live, and…
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Sexual assualt suspects at large
Investigators are looking for two men who followed a woman to her home in the Cashiers area and sexually assaulted…
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Chopping prowess lands woodsman coveted spot in national championship
In 24 seconds flat, Daniel Jones can chop through a 13-inch white pine log, perched atop it and swinging his…
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Students — and their wallets — return to Jackson County
Aside from the occasional “welcome WCU students” signs, there isn’t much visible evidence in Sylva that signals more than 7,000…
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Faculty packs overflow balcony to hear new chancellor’s opening address
Western Carolina University is facing, at best, an austere financial year. Chancellor David Belcher, in his first address to faculty…
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Macon planning board sends toned-down construction rules to commissioners….again
Macon County’s embattled planning board has agreed on a handful of basic construction guidelines for developers building houses and roads.…
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WCU’s lack of college scene viewed by many as an asset
Between the two of them, daughter Alison “Ali” Howie is clearly holding up better than her mother, Paula Dennis. “I’m…
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Divulging Lambert’s salary a political tug-of-war
Principal chief candidate Patrick Lambert is calling foul after refusing to divulge his pay information to the tribe’s internal auditors.…
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U.S. Senator Burr gets back to basics with Waynesville businessmen
U.S. Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C., didn’t don kid gloves when addressing a cross section of Haywood County business leaders representing…
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Produce vouchers connect farmers with the needy
Food stamps and food pantry vouchers are finding their way into the farmers markets in Jackson and Swain counties, putting…
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Swain football team tackles summer reading list
There are a lot of things associated with the words “high school football.” Three-a-days. Pep rallies. Weight rooms. The quarterback…
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Fast for cars or pleasing for people? Tug of war rages over 107
There’s a novel solution afoot for traffic woes on Sylva’s commercial thoroughfare: widen the road so much it obliterates most…
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Waynesville primed for makeover of South Main
Waynesville has one chance to get South Main Street right, or live with the consequences for decades to come. And…
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Macon County cites need for kidney dialysis center; closest one now in Sylva
Macon County officials, concerned by the growing numbers of residents here forced to travel over Cowee Mountain to Sylva for…
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Haywood must pay up for firing courthouse contractor
Haywood County is on the hook for $700,000 after an arbitration panel found the county wrongfully fired the contractor overseeing…
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Blood drive organized in honor of slain trooper, son
The Tye Blanton Foundation will host its seventh blood drive for the American Red Cross on Sunday, Aug. 28. …
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Golf tournament to benefit veterans
The 9/11 Armed Forces Golf Classic will be held on Sept. 10 and 11 at Sequoyah National Golf Club in…
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Improve your online skills with workshops
Two one-day Internet courses will be offered from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Agust 25 and 26 by Western…
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Jackson County alcohol vote likely in May
Jackson County commissioners are leaning toward the May primary for putting alcohol on the ballot rather than waiting until the…
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Wheels of justice turn too slowly for Cherokee’s taste
Weary of criminals languishing in the system before finally facing their day in court, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians…
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Macon steep-slope supporters pushing back
A new group has formed to counteract a recent landslide of opposition to steep-slope regulations in Macon County. “We realized…
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Macon to drop back and punt on slope rules
“Finishing the conversation” has become something of a catchphrase lately in Macon County. It’s a really diplomatic way of saying…
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Swain wants a new library, but where and how big a long way off
First Macon County, and then Jackson, built big, beautiful, new libraries over the past five years. Now, it seems, Swain…
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SBI won’t investigate Haywood jail death
The state will not investigate the death of Jessica Martin, who died last week after collapsing in a holding cell…
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Haywood wants to know: where are the landslide risks?
The state might have pulled the plug on a long-range project to map landslide prone areas in the mountains, but…
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A tale of two streets
Waynesville and Sylva are at a crossroads, ones that will irrevocably shape the character of their communities. Both towns are…
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A look in the rearview at N.C. 107
With its fast-food restaurants, box stores, gas stations and occasional backups of traffic, there’s not much that can be described…
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The advent of the boulevard, the death of the five-lane
Nearly every town has one — a five-lane road lined with fast-food stores, gas stations and grocery stores — and…
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Forgot milk? Small grocer to fill void in Maggie
There’s a new term coined by the federal government for places with low income and little access to quality food.…
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Best in the West berry recipe contest
With berries ripe and ready for picking, it’s time to plan your entry in the Best in the West Recipe…
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Young professionals group launched in Haywood
The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce is starting an After Hours Networking Event for the Young Professional of Haywood County,…
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Xtreme Networking conference coming to Franklin
A networking conference will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, in Franklin, offering business coaching…
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Haywood Chamber to help businesses go green
Haywood County businesses and organizations interested in “greening” their business practices should sign up for the Green Initiative Program with…
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