Old-style ‘machine’ a factor in Swain
A slate of challengers running in the Swain County commissioners race are speaking out against what they claim is decades…
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Jackson candidates weigh in on education issues
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer They’ve said they want to strengthen the economy. They’ve said they want to help…
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Enforcement issues cloud zoning debate
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer With growth on the forefront of Macon County’s election issues, commissioner candidates have staked…
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Bushyhead run puts spotlight on Swain-Cherokee relationship
For the first time in history, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is running for a…
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Who goes first? Haywood candidates debate county’s role in future growth discussions
Grasping the extent of development sweeping across the Haywood County landscape is not always easy. So Marc Pruett, the county’s…
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Pro-planning candidate holds ground at forum
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Democratic candidates running for two District 2 seats on the Macon County board of…
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Jackson County sheriff’s race reaches full tilt
By Sarah Kucharski The heated race for sheriff in Jackson County is closing in on the May 2 primary date…
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Growth is on Jackson’s agenda
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer This May 2 voters in Jackson County are faced with choosing a board of…
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Candidates weigh in on the North Shore Road
Every four years when a county commissioner election rolls around in Swain County, there’s one question commissioners know they have…
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Morgan runs to win: Swannanoa candidate says he’ll beat Shuler in Democratic primary
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Michael Morgan sits at a table near the back of Malaprop’s Bookstore Café in…
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Local PAC exerts influence
For the first time in Haywood County, a group of residents has formed a political action committee with the goal…
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Jackson Democrats must choose among a crowded field
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Voters in Jackson County will elect predominately Democratic county commissioners in this May’s primary…
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Armor – Eclectic to the nth degree: Highlands Republican wants to pry loose Taylors’ grip on 11th District
When CNN chose John Armor’s web blog as the political site of the day several years ago, coining him an…
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Cherokee anthem realized through WCU
What began as a request to translate “The Star-Spangled Banner” into Cherokee evolved instead into a new song, the “United…
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‘Spend or lose’ law leads to unspoken credo to use money
The investigation into an off-the-books account kept by the former Haywood County Schools maintenance director at Haywood Builders Supply has…
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Sylva leaders survey citizens about town services
By Sarah Kucharski * Staff Writer Is there enough affordable housing in Sylva? Do you feel safe in your neighborhood?…
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Subdivision ordinance talks continue in Macon
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County Planning Board members will continue their first discussion of a draft subdivision…
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State OKs sewage plan for part of Gorge development
A controversial high-end development along the Nantahala River in the Nantahala Gorge has received the green light for an alternative…
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Retailers get ready for opening day
By Michael Beadle As the opening date approaches for the North Carolina Education Lottery, local retailers in Western North Carolina…
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A raw deal for WNC
According to provisions in the state’s lottery law, about a third of the money raised in the lottery (35 percent)…
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Officials hope taping TDA will promote civility
Turmoil surrounding the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has landed the entity a regular slot on the government television station…
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N.C. Education Lottery sparks debate over how dollars will be spent
By Michael Beadle The North Carolina Education Lottery might be seen by state officials as a boon for public education,…
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Commissioners get slope ordinance from planners
Haywood County commissioners are examining a slope development ordinance that would regulate the safety of cut and fill slopes for…
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Taylor says forest sale ‘not going to happen’
Western North Carolina Rep. Charles Taylor, R-Brevard, has spoken out against the proposed sale of 300,000 thousand acres of National…
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Pharmacists find themselves on the receiving end of Medicare confusion
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer As the revamped Medicare system moves from policy to practice, pharmacies nationwide increasingly are…
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Metal building in downtown Bryson raises eyebrows
A metal building recently erected on Main Street in Bryson City has sparked discussion over what can be done to…
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May cause confusion: Medicare prescription drug benefit plan options create problems for participants
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Arthur Pitts sat in a plastic lawn chair waiting to pick up prescriptions from…
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LTLT helps conserve 53-acre historic farm
The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) recently acquired a “working farm conservation easement” protecting 53 acres of rich…
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Sylva aldermen put mixed drinks vote on May ballot
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Sylva voters will have another go at passing liquor by the drink in this…
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Rogers, newspapers earn Main Street awards
The Downtown Waynesville Association’s Patsy Rogers was honored as a Main Street Champion in a recent Main Street awards ceremony…
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National forest proposal provides fodder for Taylor-Shuler race
By Becky Johnson and Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writers A plan to sell off more than 6,500 acres of the…
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Interpretation of precedent could decide Reece’s fate with Haywood TDA board
The fate of a controversial figure on the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is still up in the air two…
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HCC gets grant for machining center
The Golden LEAF Foundation has made a $1,573,109 grant to Haywood Community College to establish an advanced machining center at…
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Greenway contract dispute settled
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Macon County and Natural Resources Conservation Services officials have negotiated a settlement to a…
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Town’s support of road project irks aldermen
Some members of the Waynesville board of aldermen are questioning whether Mayor Henry Foy acted in bounds when he wrote…
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Saving the language: Teachers, parents, tribal elders and new innovative immersion programs are helping to keep the Cherokee language alive
By Michael Beadle It’s a special day for 14-month-old Tawodi Clapsaddle. Several adults including his father, Ethan, look on as…
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School traffic expert offers alternative solution
Residents opposed to a plan to add a middle-turn lane along sections of Plott Creek Road in Waynesville have garnered…
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Sequoyah: inventor of talking leaves
By Michael Beadle Sequoyah is perhaps one of the most recognizable names in Native American history — and quite rightly…
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TDA wants Reece off board
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority called for the removal of one of its board members, Wade Reece in a…
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Waynesville students use art class to help raise money for soup kitchen
By Michael Beadle Art class is not just a place to make art for yourself — sometimes it’s a place…
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Taylor-Shuler: What’s expected to turn into a wide open congressional race as November nears is now just barely on the radar for WNC residents
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer The race for the 11th District’s U.S. House of Representatives seat is officially off…
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Up in the air no longer: Judge’s ruling keeps McClure on the airport authority
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jackson County Airport Authority members are hoping to get on with business following a…
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Haywood schools appear ready to pass tobacco ban
Haywood County schools could go tobacco free starting in the fall of 2007, banning smoking and chewing not only for…
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Closed session minutes reveal reasons for EDC probe
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer A Superior Court Judge has ruled that Jackson County Commissioners acted illegally when they…
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Board made wrong decision, says press attorney
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Jackson County commissioners’ failure to follow state Open Meetings Law was a failure to…
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Bethel gets $30,000 for flood recovery
The North Carolina Rural Center has provided a $30,000 grant to Haywood County to assist with flood recovery and flood…
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Waiting for the smoke to clear: Officers deal with the professional and emotional aftermath of using a gun in the line of duty
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Law enforcement officers might spend their entire careers without ever firing their gun in…
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Residents irate about DOT’s plan for Hazelwood Elementary road
A $1.66 million plan to build middle turn lanes on Plott Creek Road from Hazelwood Elementary School to Sulphur Springs…
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$254 million Harrah’s expansion targets baby boomers
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel is planning a $254 million expansion and upgrade of its operations, including a third hotel…
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A wide open race in Jackson
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer In what outgoing Jackson County commissioner Eddie Madden has called an “unusually quiet” election…
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