MedWest to honor outstanding athletes
 

MedWest to honor outstanding athletes

MedWest Health System will recognize outstanding athletes from Haywood, Graham, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties and the Cherokee Indian Reservation…
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Shuler appointed to budget committee
 

Shuler appointed to budget committee

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, has been appointed to serve on the House Committee on the Budget. “Our nation’s exploding…
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Cherokee police ask citizens to text their tips
 

Cherokee police ask citizens to text their tips

Crime reporting in the region has moved into the digital age, thanks to the Cherokee Police Department’s new text-a-tip program.…
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Home remodelers to relish new Haywood Habitat thrift store
 

Home remodelers to relish new Haywood Habitat thrift store

Remodelers who don’t want to send their old kitchen cabinets, bathroom sinks or screen doors to the dump will soon…
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Girl Scouts ramp up cookie drive
 

Girl Scouts ramp up cookie drive

Local Girl Scouts will begin this year’s cookie drive beginning Feb. 12.   Cookies are only available for approximately two…
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Walk to benefit student emergency fund
 

Walk to benefit student emergency fund

Western Carolina University supporters have the chance to grow a student emergency fund when they commission a brick paver for…
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Health-care policy forum Feb. 22 at WCU
 

Health-care policy forum Feb. 22 at WCU

A health-care policy forum is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the Catamount Room of the A.K. Hinds…
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Blue Ridge National Heritage Area announces grant awards
 

Blue Ridge National Heritage Area announces grant awards

The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership today announced twenty grants, totaling nearly $245,000, have been awarded to help preserve…
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N.C. 107 connector: County leaders to weigh in on controversial project
 

N.C. 107 connector: County leaders to weigh in on controversial project

Jackson County commissioners have been asked to select their Top Six road priorities to pass along to the state Department…
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Better safe than sorry unscores new dam safety protocols
 

Better safe than sorry unscores new dam safety protocols

New protocols for the unlikely event that one of Duke Energy’s dams shows a sign of weakness could speed evacuation…
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Business news
 

Business news

The Haywood County Board of Realtors is offering continuing education classes for current N.C. Real Estate License holders. The four-hour…
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Maggie Valley extends alderman application deadline
 

Maggie Valley extends alderman application deadline

Maggie Valley has extended its deadline for alderman applications by a month, despite already having five applications in hand. The…
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Pegging property values in Haywood gets down to brass tacks
 

Pegging property values in Haywood gets down to brass tacks

With a clipboard under one arm and a giant measuring spool under the other, Greg West climbed into a county-marked…
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Golden LEAF on the chopping block
 

Golden LEAF on the chopping block

It’s no secret that the state budget is in a tight spot. In the few weeks the General Assembly has…
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Decades of helping domestic violence victims could end
 

Decades of helping domestic violence victims could end

The financial situation facing REACH of Jackson County is so bleak the nonprofit is facing the possibility of shutting down,…
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The cassoulet recipe
 

The cassoulet recipe

I combine several recipes for my own version of the cassoulet and I don’t think that I’ve make a cassoulet…
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Love and food
 

Love and food

By Karen Dill • Guest Writer I was driving through the south of France in February 1985 when I had…
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Class to help boost ‘Slow Cooking Savvy’
 

Class to help boost ‘Slow Cooking Savvy’

A “Slow Cooker Savvy” presentation to help inspire healthy crock-pot meals will be offered from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on…
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Come have coffee with the poet
 

Come have coffee with the poet

The monthly meeting of Coffee with the Poet is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 17, at City Lights…
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Community music jam in Bryson City
 

Community music jam in Bryson City

The next community music jam at the Marianna Black Library will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb.…
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John Davidson brings banjo performance to WCU
 

John Davidson brings banjo performance to WCU

John Davidson, star of television and Broadway for more than 50 years, will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. on…
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Junior Roller Derby calls for members
 

Junior Roller Derby calls for members

Mad Divas Junior Derby is looking for new members at a registration session at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20,…
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Course teaches the ways of Tiffany glass
 

Course teaches the ways of Tiffany glass

Local residents are invited to join a stained glass course to be offered in February and March by Western Carolina…
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Poetry Alive! performs in Franklin
 

Poetry Alive! performs in Franklin

Poetry Alive! will present a program of poetry performance at 7 p.m on Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the Macon County…
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Pan Harmonia bring flute and guitar to Bryson
 

Pan Harmonia bring flute and guitar to Bryson

Pan Harmonia will perform music of Latin America, new sounds by American composers and Carmen Fantasy at 3 p.m. on…
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Christian illusionist comes to Franklin
 

Christian illusionist comes to Franklin

Christian illusionist Brock Gill will appear on Feb. 25 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts, bringing a…
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Mountain women defying tradition: WCU exhibit showcases groundbreaking roles of Appalachian women
 

Mountain women defying tradition: WCU exhibit showcases groundbreaking roles of Appalachian women

In modern America, the term ‘women’s work’ is not exactly a complimentary phrase. It’s less descriptive, more derisive, not so…
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County appraisers work hard to get values right
 

County appraisers work hard to get values right

With a clipboard under one arm and a giant measuring spool under the other, Greg West climbed into a county-marked…
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Southern Loop: County leaders to weigh in on controversial project
 

Southern Loop: County leaders to weigh in on controversial project

Jackson County commissioners have been asked to select their top six road priorities for consideration by the state Department of…
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Southwestern Community College presidents resigns suddenly
 

Southwestern Community College presidents resigns suddenly

Richard Collings has submitted his resignation as president of Southwestern Community College after just six months on the job. The…
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Malady deadly to bats found in North Carolina
 

Malady deadly to bats found in North Carolina

White-nose syndrome, the disease that has killed hundreds of thousands of bats in the Eastern United States, has been discovered…
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Smokies road status now available via texts or twitter
 

Smokies road status now available via texts or twitter

Travelers can sign-up to receive status updates about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s most frequently used roads via text…
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New staffer in Jackson conservation group
 

New staffer in Jackson conservation group

The Wilderness Society recently appointed Jill Gottesman as outreach coordinator in an effort to increase conservation efforts in North Carolina.…
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Watch for crossing fish
 

Watch for crossing fish

You’ve heard of deer crossings? Well, fish need crossings too, the Little Tennessee Watershed Association announced recently after the Franklin-based…
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Focused efforts to save hemlocks showing promise
 

Focused efforts to save hemlocks showing promise

Good news on the hemlock front — the U.S. Forest Service reports it has had some success in ongoing efforts…
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Ease pain of income tax by helping wildlife
 

Ease pain of income tax by helping wildlife

Whether you love to hunt, fish, bird watch, or just want to do your part to ensure that wildlife in…
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State grants commission new power
 

State grants commission new power

Starting March 1, the executive director of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will have the power of implementing an emergency…
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The Naturalist's Corner: A bog of dreams
 

The Naturalist's Corner: A bog of dreams

The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (CMLC) and partners are literally moving the earth over in Flat Rock to help restore…
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Snow sports equals big bucks for North Carolina mountains
 

Snow sports equals big bucks for North Carolina mountains

The rest of the economy might have suffered, but a couple of snowy winters are adding up to big bucks…
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Oil lamps are useful… and nostalgic
 

Oil lamps are useful… and nostalgic

Editor’s note: The second installment in George Ellison’s research into the Ghost Dance has been delayed due to the inability…
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New book looks at remarkable work of therapy dogs
 

New book looks at remarkable work of therapy dogs

Author Deanna Klingel of Sapphire Valley will be at City Lights Bookstore at 2 p.m. on Feb. 12 to discuss…
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Ron Rash returns to City Lights with new paperback edition
 

Ron Rash returns to City Lights with new paperback edition

City Lights welcomes Ron Rash back to the store at 2 p.m. on Feb. 13 to celebrate the release in…
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Area storytellers featured in new book
 

Area storytellers featured in new book

In view of the fact that Southern Appalachia is acknowledged to be a massive reservoir of traditional storytelling, Saundra Kelley’s…
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Green Energy Park is a Jackson gem
 

Green Energy Park is a Jackson gem

To the Editor: Jackson County truly has a hidden gem in its midst, the Green Energy Park. This innovative county…
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Mainstream networks too liberal
 

Mainstream networks too liberal

To the Editor: I must agree with Carole Larivee’s letter last week. Everywhere you go people are watching Fox News!…
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Thank God for Fox News
 

Thank God for Fox News

To the Editor: As I was reading The Smoky Mountain News this morning, I was encouraged after reading a letter…
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Thanks for reporting on tough issues
 

Thanks for reporting on tough issues

To The Editor: I want to commend The Smoky Mountain News for reporting on issues that are not popular. The…
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Greenways are pretty good all the way around
 

Greenways are pretty good all the way around

One of the nicest things about Franklin is the town’s greenway along the Little Tennessee River. The greenway has become…
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Turn down the global warming, I’m freezing
 

Turn down the global warming, I’m freezing

By George Ivey • Guest Columnist Many years ago on Capitol Hill, a politician said to me, “George, as you…
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Just call me the Rhodes Cove grinch
 

Just call me the Rhodes Cove grinch

Being a diabetic with hearing problems (especially in crowds), I have days when I probably shouldn’t be “out and about.”…
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