Leave politics at the door and enjoy Folkmoot USA
 

Leave politics at the door and enjoy Folkmoot USA

I’ve been volunteering with the Folkmoot USA International Dance Festival for about 15 years. It’s one of the most culturally…
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Former governor visits Cherokee
 

Former governor visits Cherokee

Former Gov. Jim Hunt toured Cherokee last week at the invitation of Cherokee Preservation Foundation. The governor, who helped negotiate…
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Recycling containers come to downtown Waynesville
 

Recycling containers come to downtown Waynesville

No more schlepping those empty drink bottles or cans home after a day of browsing in downtown Waynesville. A dozen…
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Old Cullowhee sidewalk stretch hinges on county match
 

Old Cullowhee sidewalk stretch hinges on county match

The state Department of Transportation has agreed to pay 80 percent of the cost for a quarter-mile of sidewalks in…
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Sylva police department to find new home on Main Street
 

Sylva police department to find new home on Main Street

A dire space crunch for Sylva’s police officers has been solved. Jackson County will give the old library building on…
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Post-storm clean-up needed in Caney Fork
 

Post-storm clean-up needed in Caney Fork

With hurricane season looming, Jackson County wants to remove a number of large trees that were blown over into Caney…
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Tee off at Cherokee golf tournament
 

Tee off at Cherokee golf tournament

The 2011 Meet me in the Smokies Open will be held at 10:00 a.m. on July 29, at the Sequoyah…
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Library gets new books for home-school students
 

Library gets new books for home-school students

The Haywood County Public Library has received an $18,500 grant to be used for a home-school outreach collection. These federal…
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Mission Hospital opens outpatient center in Clyde
 

Mission Hospital opens outpatient center in Clyde

Mission Outpatient Care Center will celebrate its grand opening on Hospital Drive with health presentations on July 20 and 21…
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Get information on dementia
 

Get information on dementia

A dementia-training workshop is available from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 26, at the Haywood Community Connections.…
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Every home has a story – particularly this one
 

Every home has a story – particularly this one

Haywood Habitat for Humanity and Long’s Chapel Church came together to remodel a Habitat home in the Lake Junaluska community…
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Grant money available for nonprofits
 

Grant money available for nonprofits

Grace Episcopal Church is accepting applications from local nonprofit agencies to be awarded grants following the annual parish fair. All…
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Laid off by state cuts, workers likely to join the underemployed
 

Laid off by state cuts, workers likely to join the underemployed

Dianne Lee is one of the lucky ones — an experienced and talented stained-glass artist, she has a ready-made job…
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Democrats gearing up for election 2012
 

Democrats gearing up for election 2012

The race for the state’s 50th Senate District, a seat currently held by Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon County, is shaping…
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GOP redistricting leaves Davis vulnerable to Democrats
 

GOP redistricting leaves Davis vulnerable to Democrats

Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon County, doesn’t mince words: he knows perfectly well that his budding state political career is being…
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Stymied at every turn, erecting heritage signs proves harder than it sounds
 

Stymied at every turn, erecting heritage signs proves harder than it sounds

For the last six years, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area has been waiting for signs. Twenty-two signs, to be…
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Better late than never, Franklin jumps on board the motorcycle tourist scene
 

Better late than never, Franklin jumps on board the motorcycle tourist scene

Franklin, long a popular byway for motorcyclists heading to Highlands, or via N.C. 28 to the Tail of the Dragon…
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MANNA FoodBank to close Franklin distribution center
 

MANNA FoodBank to close Franklin distribution center

MANNA FoodBank will close its Franklin distribution center by October, putting three part-time employees out of work as the agency…
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Swain DSS ‘stretched thin’ prior to baby Aubrey’s death
 

Swain DSS ‘stretched thin’ prior to baby Aubrey’s death

Swain County social workers in charge of protecting children are paid less and handle more cases than those elsewhere in…
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Former Swain DSS director appeals firing but loses
 

Former Swain DSS director appeals firing but loses

The former head of Swain County’s Department of Social Services won’t be getting her job back, members of the county’s…
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Tribe moves slowly but surely toward a new Constitution
 

Tribe moves slowly but surely toward a new Constitution

The specter of a constitution has again risen in Cherokee, making its way to committee for the first time in…
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Waynesville voters not shy of options this fall
 

Waynesville voters not shy of options this fall

The contest to fill Waynesville’s town board has drawn a wide crowd this year, a mixture of incumbents, political newcomers…
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Highlands Playhouse showhouse opens
 

Highlands Playhouse showhouse opens

Come tour the Ogilvie Home, a multi-million dollar home with spectacular mountain vistas, in Highlands from 10 a.m. to 4…
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Haywood County doctors doubly vested in health care venture with MedWest
 

Haywood County doctors doubly vested in health care venture with MedWest

A new $9.3 million surgery center in Haywood County is being financed with equity put up by 20 doctors in…
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Outpatient center to improve patient experience
 

Outpatient center to improve patient experience

Patients seeking simple, routine procedures from mammograms to cataracts will no longer have to ride the elevators and trek up…
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WCU upgrades webcam
 

WCU upgrades webcam

Western Carolina University recently unveiled a new webcam designed to provide visitors with a look at the newly redesigned central…
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Keep young athletes healthy
 

Keep young athletes healthy

Carolina West Sports Medicine will hold a free seminar on youth-sports related topics at 6 p.m. July 21 at the…
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Avoid sports injuries
 

Avoid sports injuries

A physician with Carolina West Sports Medicine will discuss how to avoid sports injuries during the monthly pediatric wellness lecture…
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Bryson City animal shelter wins $1,000
 

Bryson City animal shelter wins $1,000

PAWS Animal Shelter in Bryson City has won a $1,000 prize for getting the most votes in a second round…
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Free health screenings available in Franklin
 

Free health screenings available in Franklin

Angel Medical Center will hold a series of health screenings in Macon County as part of a Live Smart event…
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Who’s running in town races so far
 

Who’s running in town races so far

Candidates who want to run in town elections have until at 12 p.m. on Friday, July 15, to sign up,…
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Chief and vice chief trail in primary, signaling tough campaign ahead in Cherokee
 

Chief and vice chief trail in primary, signaling tough campaign ahead in Cherokee

The race for the title of principal chief has tightened in Cherokee, where Chief Michell Hicks found himself in second…
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Lake Junaluska balances heritage, progress
 

Lake Junaluska balances heritage, progress

Trevor Hudson has never liked the hymn “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.” The world behind me, the cross before…
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Dog walk raises cash for Sarge’s
 

Dog walk raises cash for Sarge’s

This year’s Downtown Waynesville Dog Walk will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, with sign-up at 9 a.m. The…
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More than two dozen jobs lost at state teaching center
 

More than two dozen jobs lost at state teaching center

A state teacher-training center based in Cullowhee has slashed half its workforce in the fallout of a nearly 50-percent budget…
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Find a place in hospice volunteering
 

Find a place in hospice volunteering

Haywood Regional Medical Center Hospice and Palliative Care will hold a volunteer training series from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.…
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Maggie Valley seeking contractor for park
 

Maggie Valley seeking contractor for park

Maggie Valley is now taking bids for improvements at Parham Park. Licensed grading contractors are welcome to submit construction bids…
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Deadline approaching for disaster assistance
 

Deadline approaching for disaster assistance

Farmers seeking assistance for crops damaged in 2009 have until Friday, July 29, to apply for help under the Revenue…
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WCU sees leadership change
 

WCU sees leadership change

Linda Seestedt-Stanford, who has been serving as Western Carolina University’s interim provost since last summer, is returning to her previous…
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Students tune into the digital world via SCC
 

Students tune into the digital world via SCC

Middle and high school students can experience various digital media through Southwestern Community College with a week-long series July 18-21…
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Macon buys downtown Franklin building
 

Macon buys downtown Franklin building

Macon County’s first move after buying a canary-colored bright yellow building in downtown Franklin will be to paint it, probably…
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DSA in search of new director
 

DSA in search of new director

The town of Sylva plans to start advertising soon for an in-house director for the Downtown Sylva Association. Julie Sylvester,…
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Late-night bands could be silenced by tougher Sylva noise ordinance
 

Late-night bands could be silenced by tougher Sylva noise ordinance

When it comes to noise, Commissioner Harold Hensley of the Sylva town board is clearly prepared to make a bit…
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Paddling on the decline, but still alive in WNC schools
 

Paddling on the decline, but still alive in WNC schools

In North Carolina, it’s illegal to hit a prison inmate. You can’t hit a child in a day care center.…
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Duke Energy rate hike: out of necessity or greed?
 

Duke Energy rate hike: out of necessity or greed?

A proposal by Duke Energy to hike electricity rates by 17 percent isn’t sitting well with many of the company’s…
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Democrats: GOP blatantly gerrymandered WNC’s seat in Congress
 

Democrats: GOP blatantly gerrymandered WNC’s seat in Congress

New Congressional districts crafted by state GOP leaders that appear to position the party for political domination in North Carolina…
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‘Big Ice’ links flora and fauna here and in Asia
 

‘Big Ice’ links flora and fauna here and in Asia

When walking a trail in the Smokies (or Nantahalas or Great Balsams or wherever) here in the southern Blue Ridge,…
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Well-known Asheville hiker joins AT board
 

Well-known Asheville hiker joins AT board

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recently announced that Asheville resident Lenny Bernstein, plus two other North Carolinians, have been elected to the…
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See the Little T on guided canoe trip
 

See the Little T on guided canoe trip

A guided float down the Little Tennessee River will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, July 21,…
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State of the Streams to shed new light on the Little Tennessee
 

State of the Streams to shed new light on the Little Tennessee

After 21 years of monitoring the health of the Little Tennessee Watershed, the group most responsible for that work will…
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