March is a tease, so hello April
 

March is a tease, so hello April

March is over. It’s over at last, thank merciful heavens. 
Read More

Comment

The Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas.
 

This must be the place: ‘The road goes on forever and the party never ends’

Hello from Room 519 at the Canvas Hotel in downtown Dallas, Texas. It’s almost 80 degrees. Monday morning. Bluebird skies…
Read More

Comment

Will West Long, an authority on Cherokee language, ceremony, and medicine, dedicated his life to preserving and sharing his culture.
 

'Behind the mask': Cherokee exhibit focuses on mask makers, legacy

Showcased at the Chief Joyce Dugan Cultural Arts Center in Cherokee, the new exhibition, “Behind the Mask: Cherokee Mask Makers…
Read More

Comment

NC’s repeal of handgun licensing is shameful
 

NC’s repeal of handgun licensing is shameful

Since 2020 gun violence has been the leading cause of death among children in the United States, not automobile accidents or…
Read More

Comment

A parent at Shining Rock Classical Academy has been charged with cyberstalking by school officials. File photo
 

Parent who alleged Shining Rock abuse charged in connection to ‘harassing’ emails

Shining Rock Classical Academy is pressing criminal charges against a school parent who previously accused the school of abusive disciplinary…
Read More

Comment

Macon County School Board signed a resolution opposing House Bill 219. MCS photo
 

Macon school board opposes charter school bill

The Macon County School Board has signed a resolution in opposition to a bill that would greatly expand the ways…
Read More

Comment

Jackson considers UDO amendments for cell towers, campgrounds
 

Jackson considers UDO amendments for cell towers, campgrounds

Jackson County will hold a public hearing on two amendments to its Unified Development Ordinance this month.
Read More

Comment

Jackson schools address vape usage
 

Jackson schools address vape usage

The Jackson County Schools Health Advisory Council has been conducting research into vape use among students and its findings have…
Read More

Comment

The spongy moth has the potential to devastate Western North Carolina's forests.
 

Spongy moth treatment for Cruso postponed

After residents voiced concerns during a March 21 meeting over a North Carolina Department of Agriculture initiative to treat an…
Read More

Comment

Q&A with Lisa Conard of Pigeon River Mercantile
 

Q&A with Lisa Conard of Pigeon River Mercantile

In last week’s Rumble issue, we featured a roundup of female-driven businesses in Canton, N.C. CLick HERE to see the…
Read More

Comment

Lemon Mushroom Chicken
 

Lemon Mushroom Chicken

By Stefanee Sherman • Rumble Contributor | If you’re looking for comfort food, give this recipe a try. It’s the perfect…
Read More

Comment

Jason Harley Kloepfer stands at the door with his hands up one second before officers fired.
 

DA recuses herself from police shooting case

A This story has been updated from the original version published Wednesday, March 29, to include reporting from additional public…
Read More

Comment

Contrary to reports in other media, Pactiv Evergreen has said nothing about its Waynesville facility since March 6.
 

Public urged to disregard false mill story

A story published in today’s edition of the Waynesville Mountaineer contained inaccurate information about Pactiv Evergreen’s facility in Waynesville, a…
Read More

Comment

The Divorce House
 

The Divorce House

By Sabrina Matheny • Rumble Contributor | Feng Shui consultants know that major life changing events affect the energy of a…
Read More

Comment

The presence of a devastating invasive moth has been detected in Haywood County. Wikipedia photo
 

Moth brawl: A little moth is causing big problems in Cruso

Last week, more than a hundred people turned up to an informational meeting about a North Carolina Department of Agriculture…
Read More

Comment

Trilliums bloom in the Highlands  Nature Center Botanical Garden. Dylan Lytle photo
 

Take a walk in the woods

Spring is here, bringing with it ample opportunity to get outside, stretch your legs and enjoy the abundance of wildflowers…
Read More

Comment

The festival will feature hundreds of carefully crafted orchid displays. N.C. Arboretum photo
 

Orchid festival returns to Asheville

The Asheville Orchid Festival, one of the largest international orchid shows in the Southeast, will return for its 22nd year…
Read More

Comment

Turkey season opens this week. Tom Reichner photo
 

Wild turkey season is nearly here

The season opens for youth hunters is April 1-7, and the statewide season is April 8 to May 6. Hunters…
Read More

Comment

Volunteers pound in live stakes along a riverbank.
 

Help restore Allens Creek

Help make Allens Creek healthier with a stream improvement project noon to 4 p.m. March 29-30, and possibly Friday, March…
Read More

Comment

The Get Right Band are (from left) Silas Durocher, Jesse Gentry and J.C. Mears. The group will play Asheville on April 7. Donated photo
 

‘Hell yes, refresh’: The Get Right Band release ‘iTopia’

With its latest concept album, “iTopia,” Asheville-based indie-rockers The Get Right Band have offered up food for thought on where…
Read More

Comment

Steep Canyon Rangers at Suwannee Spring Reunion. Garret K. Woodward photo
 

This must be the place: 'Same ol' moon, same ol' sun, same ol' race that we've always run’

Hello from the backstage area at the Suwannee Spring Reunion music festival in Live Oak, Florida. It’s hot and humid.…
Read More

Comment

Reading, reviews, and self-remonstrance
 

Reading, reviews, and self-remonstrance

Maybe it’s the mixed-up weather. The warmer temperatures have delivered a sort of raucous springtime mood, though Whatever the cause,…
Read More

Comment

What this old house remembers
 

What this old house remembers

I live in an old farmhouse that is literally falling apart. Each spring, clouds of termites rise in the bathroom…
Read More

Comment

Serendipity during the Lenten season
 

Serendipity during the Lenten season

This year for Lent I took on a challenge instead of giving up something. I challenged myself to communicate more…
Read More

Comment

Dr. Stephen Loyd delivers the keynote address Thursday, March 23. Holly Kays photo
 

Building second chances: Conference explores impact of trauma on tribal workforce — and how to help

When Katelynn Ledford McCoy stood in front of her Cherokee High School classmates in June 2009, the class valedictorian was…
Read More

Comment

A speaker holds up a book containing LGBTQ content during public comment at a March 14 Macon County Commission meeting. Bob Scott photo
 

Macon residents, commissioner float withdrawing from Fontana Regional Library

What started as a group of citizens concerned about certain LGBTQ books in the Macon County Library has turned into…
Read More

Comment

Prosecutors seek enhanced sentence for Moody as second defendant pleads guilty
 

Prosecutors seek enhanced sentence for Moody as second defendant pleads guilty

Darris Moody’s failure to appear for a federal court hearing back in October could come back to haunt her, as…
Read More

Comment

Mountain Housing Opportunities’ longtime leader announces retirement
 

Mountain Housing Opportunities’ longtime leader announces retirement

Scott Dedman, President and Executive Director of Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO), announced his plan to retire in August of this…
Read More

Comment

Not so fast — Medicaid expansion contingent on state budget passing
 

Not so fast — Medicaid expansion contingent on state budget passing

While some elected officials and media outlets are going to great lengths to celebrate Gov. Roy Cooper’s signing of the…
Read More

Comment

EBCI Housing Secretary Edwin Taylor addresses Tribal Council March 2. EBCI photo
 

Cherokee buys out business lease for housing development

In a divided vote Thursday, March 2, the Cherokee Tribal Council appropriated $275,000 to buy out the lease of a…
Read More

Comment

Jenny Holland (right) and Dr. Don Tomas, SCC President, hold the Order of the Long Leaf Pine that was awarded posthumously to Lambert Wilson.
 

Order of Long Leaf Pine awarded posthumously to former SCC Trustee Chair

On Friday, March 10, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine was presented posthumously in honor of Lambert Wilson to…
Read More

Comment

Jonathan Crompton. File photo
 

Tuscola High School announces new coach

Tuscola High School has found a new head football coach in former NFL quarterback Jonathan Crompton.
Read More

Comment

County approves half of Sylva’s municipal grant application
 

County approves half of Sylva’s municipal grant application

After pressing the brakes on Sylva’s municipal grant application, county commissioners have decided to approve a portion of the grant,…
Read More

Comment

For some workers at Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill, the last day of work could come as early as June 9. Cory Vaillancourt photo
 

Government, union prepare for impact of mill closing

The initial shock of Pactiv Evergreen’s announcement that its Canton paper mill would soon cease operations hasn’t quite worn off for…
Read More

Comment

Pactiv Evergreen has received 11 notices of violation from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality since May 2021. File photo
 

Mill receives water quality violation

Pactiv Evergreen has received a notice of violation from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality after a water quality measurement…
Read More

Comment

Debra Bechtel will serve as Jackson County’s interim county attorney beginning April 1. Teague Campbell photo
 

New attorney selected for Jackson County

Jackson County is losing long-time county attorney Heather Baker, but it has already selected a new attorney to serve as…
Read More

Comment

Main Street in Sylva. File photo
 

Sylva aims to expand role of Main Street director

Sylva taxpayers may be looking at a one-cent tax increase in the coming 2023-24 fiscal year. In return for that…
Read More

Comment

Sam Pattillo has been on the job for over month now, and while he said there’s a steep learning curve, he also feels like he’s settling into the new gig. Donated photo
 

Pattillo settles into new role as Bryson City town manager

Sam Pattillo has been in leadership roles for some time now, but his latest move to become Bryson City’s town…
Read More

Comment

Ricard Nazario-Colón was the university’s first ever chief diversity officer. Donated photo
 

WCU’s first chief diversity officer accepts new position

Ricardo Nazario-Colón, Western Carolina University’s inaugural chief diversity officer, has been appointed by the State University of New York’s Board…
Read More

Comment

Big changes coming for Waynesville’s governing board
 

Big changes coming for Waynesville’s governing board

The Town of Waynesville’s municipal governing board has taken steps to modernize its operations by proposing amendments to its charter…
Read More

Comment

In April of 2018, author David Brill and Park Librarian and Archivist Mike Aday were near the end of a long hike on the Old Settlers Trail when Aday fell while crossing a rain-swollen stream, fracturing his tibia. In the ensuing hours, both men got to experience a SAR operation first-hand. Here we see Aday being lifted onto a backboard to transport him off trail and to the road where an ambulance waited. Photo by David Brill.
 

Word from the Smokies: Training Essential to Park’s Search and Rescue

On a mid-September morning, 14 men and women gather at an abandoned quarry off U.S. 441 a mile or so…
Read More

Comment

Canton's government, still operating out of a temporary building after flooding in 2021, is tightening up its budget.
 

Canton’s government ponders austerity measures

Administrators from the Town of Canton’s various departments met with Mayor Zeb Smathers and members of the town board March…
Read More

Comment

The presence of a devastating invasive moth has been detected in Haywood County.
 

Moth brawl: A little moth is causing big problems in Cruso

Last week, more than a hundred people turned up to an informational meeting about a North Carolina Department of Agriculture…
Read More

Comment

11 Female-Driven Businesses in Downtown Canton, N.C.
 

11 Female-Driven Businesses in Downtown Canton, N.C.

It’s been a little over two weeks since Pactiv Evergreen Packaging made the announcement to close early this summer, and…
Read More

Comment

Where Two Worlds Touch
 

Where Two Worlds Touch

By Sabrina Matheny • Rumble contributor | One Saturday morning my parents called me and my sister down to the kitchen…
Read More

Comment

Ava & Arden
 

Ava & Arden

By Stefanee Sherman • Rumble Contributor | Ava & Arden is a small, women-owned boutique on Main Street in Waynesville. The…
Read More

Comment

Asparagus Stuffed Chicken
 

Asparagus Stuffed Chicken

By Stefanee Sherman • Rumble Contributor | This recipe is another favorite in our house for a couple of reasons. One…
Read More

Comment

Personal Finance: What I Wish I’d Known in My 20s
 

Personal Finance: What I Wish I’d Known in My 20s

Recently, I was asked what types of personal finance advice I would give to a woman in her twenties. In…
Read More

Comment

N.C. mussel listed as threatened
 

N.C. mussel listed as threatened

A mussel found in Western North Carolina will be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act following a decision…
Read More

Comment

The polyphemus moth caterpillar is one of more than 1,000 species of caterpillar supported by oak trees, a keystone tree species. There is no other plant genus that comes close to that number; tulip trees, by comparison, support only 21 species of caterpillar. So, it’s important to choose keystone species to plant on your property in order to positively affect the biodiversity crisis. Bob Peterson photo
 

Word from the Smokies: Discover Life in America presents conservation author on Earth Day

Doug Tallamy had been teaching at the University of Delaware for a quarter of a century when he had an…
Read More

Comment

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.