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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Waynesville land use plan back on the drawing board
Waynesville leaders will finally kick off the town’s much-anticipated review of its six-year-old land use plan on April 22. Town…
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Macon leaders question Georgia sewer headed their way
Macon County commissioners voiced concern this week over a proposed sewer treatment plant that would discharge into the Little Tennessee…
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Cherokee tackles long-standing problems of housing and drugs
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has announced plans for an affordable housing development and substance abuse treatment center in…
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Cherokee parents protest losses in children’s trust fund
A throng of about 150 angry members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians turned out to the Birdtown Community…
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Noisy and determined opponents get their way with nuisance ordinance
Take note — members of the public with an agenda to push could learn a thing or two from the…
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Multi-family unit OK’d by judge, but court rules against proposed expansion
The neighborhood covenants of a Maggie Valley homeowners association were put to the test in court recently. A developer sued…
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Affordable senior condos spark opposition among downtown Waynesville neighbors
Residents of a downtown Waynesville neighborhood are up in arms about a proposed three-story, 64-unit condo development that would provide…
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Macon airport lands more money for artifact surveys
Opposition to the airport runway extension in Macon County continues to mount, with a standing-room-only crowd attending last week’s Airport…
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Vacated library could become new home for Sylva police
The Sylva Police Department may find a new home in the Jackson County Public Library on Main Street once the…
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New Swain jail continues to rack up costs
Weeks following an escape at the brand-new Swain County jail, county commissioners agreed to an emergency appropriation of $139,000 at…
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Jackson ordered to relinquish permits that pave way for dam removal
Despite losing yet another court battle over the Dillsboro dam, the majority of Jackson County commissioners have vowed to continue…
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State wants assurances before approving loan for Sylva fire department
The town of Sylva continues to be plagued by a financial mistake made last year in which $2 million in…
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Alpacas: Furry, friendly and in 23 colors
The group that Joe Moore hangs out with most days is an eclectic one, with names like Jack Straw, Reuben,…
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All airport documents requested in lead up to runway lawsuit
An environmental group out of Asheville plans to sue the Macon County Airport Authority and other parties involved in the…
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