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WCU treads cautiously in light of record enrollment
Western Carolina University will target transfer, graduate and distance learning students to help grow its enrollment without creating greater strain…
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High-end apartment complex caters to shortage of WCU student housing
Housing developer Scott Austin did a little simple math before deciding to pursue an $8 million dollar project to build…
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Exploding waterfowl population prompts feeding ban at Lake Junaluska
As the first chunk of bread was tossed in the air, a swarm of ducks and geese at Lake Junaluska…
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Low-income apartments to make a dent in affordable housing shortage in Macon
What was once a construction scene characterized by luxury, mountainside housing and second-home developments has a newcomer at the table.…
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And now for something completely different...
By Chris Cooper For your consideration this week: some engaging new sounds from Canyon Records, and a frantic but exhilarating…
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Give me a deck of cards and no sand
My dad hated the beach. At least, that is how I remember it. We only went a couple of times…
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Recommended diversions
“Picket Fences,” and “Northern Exposure” Is it possible to be nostalgic for the 1990s already? Or maybe it is the…
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Book Mania: Showcasing some up-and-coming writers
Cataloochee by Wayne Caldwell. Random House, 2007. 368 pages Readers planning to attend Book Mania in Waynesville have several treats…
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Waynesville searching for Russ Avenue fix
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Increasing congestion coupled with pressure from candidates in the upcoming election is forcing the…
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Alternative ramblings
I don’t know the source but in my college days there was an aphorism — “If you can’t dazzle ‘em…
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Room tax will pay for visitor center
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Swain County commissioners have approved a measure that will carve out up to one…
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Emergency department expansion slated for Harris Regional
Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva is planning an $18.45 million renovation project to expand and modernize the emergency department. The…
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Haywood pitches unique tomato
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Vidalia onions. Georgia peaches. Washington apples. Haywood County tomatoes? The formal name is still…
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Two bite the dust
On one hand, Avram Friedman couldn’t believe Duke Power’s announcement two years ago that it wanted to build a twin-unit…
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Hollyhocks and reminders of the past
Sometimes it’s difficult to draw the line between the natural and cultivated plant worlds. As cultivated plants escape they often…
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Care and feeding of a healthy septic system
By Kathleen Lamont One doesn’t usually give their septic system a second thought — until the day that you walk…
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Feeding the need: New power plants destined for state’s future barring radical action
A state energy bill expected to pass this week has received mixed reviews from environmentalists for failing to go far…
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Macon takes a stand, and developer is OK with it
It used to be the “revenooers” who were considered the most vile characters in the mountains, but now we have…
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Deal underway to preserve Dean Island from development
A 40-acre island in the Little Tennessee River will be protected from development if the owner can successfully hammer out…
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Slithery study: WCU professor studies to see just how sensitive timber rattlesnakes are to human development
By Michael Beadle Ron Davis is tracking a very special timber rattlesnake along a road at Balsam Mountain Preserve in…
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Is anyone counting the losses?
By Sami Felmet • Guest Columnist The birds and the bees. We’re losing them, you know. How will we explain…
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An interview with Masha Hamilton
Editor’s note: Margaret Osondu, owner of Osondu Booksellers in Waynesville, recently conducted an email interview with Masha Hamilton, one of…
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Swain seeks more input on road regulations
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Contractors, Realtors and graders in Swain County claim they need more time to comment…
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Health services building marks beginning of Millennial Campus
N.C. Gov. Mike Easley signed a $20.7 billion budget bill Tuesday, July 31, that includes $46.2 million in funding for…
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Dayco deal finalized after three-year process
An abandoned rubber plant in Waynesville that once seemed destined to rust into the ground was officially turned over to…
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Housing industry, county leaders stage battlefield as tax debate heats up
A battle over whether to tax property transactions will soon be playing out in communities across the state, but likely…
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Passing school bonds in Macon could prove a tough sell
If retirees Fred Plesner and Ray Behr are any indication of how voters in Macon County are reacting to a…
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Energy bill weak, but a good start
There are serious problems with the energy legislation passed this session in the North Carolina General Assembly, but the bill…
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HRMC eliminates 36 jobs as patient volume drops
Haywood Regional Medical Center has downsized its workforce by 36 positions in response to a decrease in patient volume and…
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Poo by any other name is still...
What’s in a name? What about Scat? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Maybe. Shakespeare seemed…
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Harry — The boy who lived
By Katie Polonsky I’m a firm believer that when reading a novel, you bring to it the whole of your…
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SCC’s Macon campus named after college president Cecil Groves
It’s a first for the president and a first for Macon County. Southwestern Community College Board of Trustees named the…
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Jackson gives final OK to new development regulations
Jackson County commissioners have given final approval to what are generally regarded as the state’s toughest subdivision and steep slope…
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Alternative science
Although my series on alternative fuels is done, I think I will stay in the alternative universe. Science, which is…
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Cherokee candidates square off at forum
With just one month left until the election, candidates for chief and vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee…
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Recommended diversions
The Rhythm of Life Subtitled “Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose,” Matthew Kelly’s The Rhythm of Life is in…
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For teachers, success is in smell
By David Curtis As a schoolteacher you always wonder how your students will remember you. “She was a good teacher,…
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Maggie Valley sways vote on recreation site
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer A sudden turn of events in Haywood County’s bidding for a 22-acre tract slated…
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The golden season
It’s starting to become the goldenrod time of the year. Goldenrods — like asters, thistles, cosmos, zinnias, daisies, coneflowers, dahlias,…
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Q&A with David Rice
Has there ever been a workforce reduction at HRMC in the past 15 years, and does this workforce reduction indicate…
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The nuts and bolts of the property transfer tax
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer A bill hailed by state and local officials as a way to help pad…
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Slaying the coal dinosaurs
Abattle over antiquated coal plants that started in North Carolina landed in the U.S. Supreme Court this year, setting precedent…
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Broadway comes to WCU: Young talents hone their skills with some of Broadway’s best
By Michael Beadle So you think you’ve got singing talent? Think you have what it takes to leap and strut…
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One for the kiddies; one for the fans
By Chris Cooper Ronnie McCoury: Little Mo’ McCoury You’d be hard pressed to find a family more deserving of the…
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Use the ‘front porch’ barometer for politicians
By John Armour If you’ve read many of these columns you know I’m addicted to politics. My spouse, among others,…
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I attended a classic rock concert and lived to tell about it
By Chris Cooper So, answer me this: how many people, artists especially, can maintain a vital career for 38 years…
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See you in the Moonlight: Maggie Valley races attract elite runners, tourists, and families looking for a fun evening run
By Michael Beadle Maggie Valley’s annual running event is only days away, and it looks to be regaining its reputation…
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Heading Home waffles but New Stories shines
Choosing the genre in which to write is, of course, a major factor in the success with which we communicate…
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Is summer over already?
When I went back to teaching full time about three years ago, one of the things I looked forward to…
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Profile: Rose Johnson
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The woman at the forefront of Haywood Community College’s progressive new vision of sustainability…
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