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News from the AT
Teachers invited to bring the AT into their classroom Teachers and educators interested in incorporating the Appalachian Trail into their…
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U.S. 441 through park should reopen by May 15
Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is expected to be repaired and open by…
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Mountain scramble to Black Rock
The third annual Assault on Black Rock will test the strength and stamina of trail runners as they try to…
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Hikes of the Smokies series kicks off
A guided hike in the Deep Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be held on Tuesday,…
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Louisiana lagniappe
I know, I know, we’ve been in Louisiana for two weeks now, but when I look back at some of…
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Follow me, into the wild
The last time I went camping I was 10 or 11. I was in my grandparents’ backyard, snug in my…
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Prepping for the AT 2,184 miles to be ‘in the moment’
During the next several weeks, thousands of people will leave from Springer Mountain in Georgia and begin the 2,184-mile trek…
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Emotions run high as Lake Junaluska task force votes for merger
A Lake Junaluska task force voiced overwhelming support last week for merging the 765-home community with the town of Waynesville before a packed audience of homeowners. SEE ALSO: Ongoing coverage The 14-member task force has spent 10 months weighing the…
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Jackson commissioners mull request for deputies in elementary schools
Jackson County commissioners have postponed a decision on hiring deputies to man the county’s elementary schools. The school board and…
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New Haywood sheriff pledges modern, professional leadership
There’s a new sheriff in town. Greg Christopher, a 51-year-old former lieutenant in the N.C. State Patrol, assumed the role…
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Re-learning those old, familiar (bird) songs
I like “old time rock and roll” too. And I recently got some of my old time records, CDs, iPods,…
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Climbing event at Chimney Rock
An event called “Climbin’ the Chimney” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 2 is an opportunity to for…
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Duke grants to aid education, environment
Duke Energy is helping to fund new educational and environmental projects as part of its hydropower relicensing agreement in the…
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Taking the polar plunge
Around 30 daring souls splashed and jumped into Lake Junaluska last Saturday for the first annual “Polar Plunge” to raise…
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Loosiana part deaux
What better place to start part deaux than Breaux Bridge along Bayou Teche? Firmin Breaux originally purchased the area that…
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WCU trail system now open to the public
Western Carolina University’s new trail system is open and ready for bikers, hikers and runners. About 100 people turned out…
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Honest hunters have little tolerance for renegade tactics
Shock waves rippled through the mountain hunting community last week as word spread of a sweeping undercover investigation targeting dozens…
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“Operation Something Bruin:” Dozens of rogue hunters busted in illegal mountain poaching ring
Last week, state and federal wildlife officers began rounding up dozens of suspected poachers in Western North Carolina, bringing to…
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Final volume of Churchill biography a long-awaited gem
William Manchester, author of a number of best-selling books, including The Death of A President, American Caesar, and Goodbye, Darkness,…
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Liberals arts education enriches one’s life
To the Editor: Scott McLeod (Feb. 6 SMN) pays tribute to the value of a liberal arts education. Even though…
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Wouldn’t it be wonderful ... to use local builders
To the Editor: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the building boom of million dollar homes in Jackson County supported this…
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Not all doom and gloom in Dillsboro
To the Editor: The claim of Frank Parrish and others over the past few years that Dillsboro is a ghost…
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Time to be rid of all Cherokee bear zoos
To the Editor: Little has changed in Cherokee since a 1989 Parade Magazine cover story, “Are Our Zoos Humane?” named…
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Writer spouted false facts about Obamacare
To the Editor: A recent letter writer makes a number of unsubstantiated and flat out erroneous claims about Obamacare, otherwise…
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State’s democratic ideals are fading fast
To the Editor: Our founding fathers, framing our Constitution, created a representative democracy. They formed a republic, a government where…
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MV Lodging Association opposes TDA tax hike
To the Editor: Contrary to articles recently published in our local papers, there is much opposition to the proposed law…
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Increasing Medicare coverage could lower healthcare costs
By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist The United States spends twice as much on health care as most other modern…
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A match made in heaven?
Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown has honed his dating and engagement analogies as town leaders weigh whether to tie the knot with Lake Junaluska. They started innocently enough 10 months ago.
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Lake Junaluska a good catch for Waynesville, but light on the dowry
Adding Lake Junaluska to its town limits won’t be a windfall for Waynesville despite $775,000 in property taxes it stands to gain each year. Likewise, Junaluska wouldn’t be a financial drain on the town, according to the results of a…
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Sylva and Jackson County can’t agree on joint ABC venture
Sylva and Jackson County are at an impasse on the creation of a single Alcoholic Beverage Control board to run…
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With sequestration threat looming, Eastern Band preps for the worst
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could see an estimated $2.2 million evaporate from its budget in March if Congress…
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Cork and Bean expansion boosts downtown Bryson dining scene
When a building on a town’s main street sits empty, either because a business closed down or moved away, it’s…
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Wireless internet beamed into rural areas solves high-speed service conundrum
Jackson County could be going from zero to high-speed in no time. Two internet providers are laying plans to beam…
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Haywood flips for pancake day
It’s 6:15 a.m., and Woody Griffin is ready. “It’s the calm before the storm,” he chuckled.
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Isolated and remote, Macon spends a pretty penny to keep Nantahala School afloat
The far-flung Nantahala School in the remote reaches of Macon County is putting a financial drain on local coffers, prompting…
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Some Maggie lodging owners get hackles up over room tax increase
The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen got an earful from hotel and motel owners Monday during a nearly three-hour meeting…
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Main Street Champions recall changing face of downtown Waynesville
When LeRoy Roberson and his wife, Gale, opened an optometric business on Waynesville’s Main Street 35-years-ago, about a quarter of…
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Potters unite to help feed the hungry
The annual “Empty Bowl” fundraiser will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at The Open Door…
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The twists and turns of wood bending
The exhibit “Torqued & Twisted: Bentwood Today” will be running through March 22 at Western Carolina University’s Fine Art Museum.
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Little Big Town hits the stage in Cherokee
Country group Little Big Town will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at Harrah’s Cherokee Event Center.
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Watch a portrait master in action
Multimedia artist and teacher Mark Menendez will demonstrate oil portrait painting techniques for the Art League of the Smokies at…
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Age is but a number on your dance card
Darkness enveloped the vehicle as soon as it exited Interstate 40. Cruising around sharp S-curves in the mountain community of…
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Be(ar) careful in the Smokies
In the natural world there are certain experiences that rivet our attention and remain stored in our memory banks. Through…
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Land Trust for Little Tennessee helps gain protection for another town watershed
The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee recently helped the town of Andrews protect and conserve its 930-acre watershed in…
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Smokies Association pushes for membership
The Great Smoky Mountains Association is launching a membership drive in honor of its 60th anniversary this year.
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GBBC at BBLNWR
Translation — Great Backyard Bird Count at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge; the tradition continues. Since a spur-of-the-moment GBBC…
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Last call for Polar Plunge
Wade, dash, splash or take the full plunge into Lake Junaluska from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23…
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Bear Creek Lake on upper Tuck gets boat ramp, dock and pier
A boat ramp on Bear Creek Lake in the Tuckasegee area of Jackson County has been renovated by the N.C.…
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Float, boat or fish the Tuck
This spring, rolling down the Tuckasegee River will be, for the most part, as it has been in years past…
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1967 novel sheds light on obscure mass drowning
In recent years, I have become interested in an obscure incident that occurred in Jackson County in 1882 — the…
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