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Fontana Lake businesses close for the season
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Two of the three boat docks on the Swain County side of Fontana Lake…
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Jackson’s Green Energy Park undergoes expansion
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The Jackson County Green Energy Park is slated to get even greener with the…
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Notes from a waitress: Former star of ‘Alice’ comes to WCU for cabaret-style, one-woman show
By Michael Beadle Once upon a sitcom, Linda Lavin was America’s hardest-working waitress. Remember “Alice” — a household name in…
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SCC ranks fourth among all U.S. community colleges
Southwestern Community College ranks fourth in the nation in a new listing of America’s best community colleges and was the…
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Childcare center’s closing surprises community
First United Methodist Church’s Child Development Center in Waynesville suddenly closed its daycare and after-school programs two weeks ago, leaving…
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Heaven in a bucket, a hillside and some blueberries
By Stephanie Wampler Have you ever doubted the existence of Heaven? If so, then I will jump to the hasty…
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Chickens and fall garden chores
By Kathleen Lamont I have had laying hens on and off for the past 20 years. My first flock of…
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Roll the credits, please – ASU 34, Mich. 32
For the last 24 hours, I have felt like a character in a movie. You have seen the movie, probably…
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Bond hearings planned in Macon
Macon County leaders will get their first real taste of how the public feels about a $64 million bond vote…
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Recommended diversions
Spray Paint Took a page from “Trading Spaces” and all those other home renovation/redecoration shows this past weekend and salvaged…
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Sling Shots: Disc golf course proves popular in Waynesville
By Michael Beadle It’s 5:30 on a steamy Monday night at the Waynesville Recreation Park, and pairs of disc golfers…
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Osama, this is George: I need you, man
By Arthur Hancock • Guest Columnist I had a dream that the following communication came into my hands. I read…
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Swain to put land transfer tax on November ballot
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Swain County residents will vote November 6 on whether to enact a new tax…
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Group forms to bring about revitalization of Cullowhee
A new community group dedicated to revitalizing Cullowhee will host an open house at the Cullowhee Café from 10 a.m.…
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Recreation plan attracts mostly supporters to bond hearing
A public hearing Monday on a $64 million bond for various construction projects in Macon County attracted relatively few naysayers.…
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SCC ranking a sign of the high quality of community colleges
In this day and age, as the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen and this country’s manufacturing…
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What Sylva is and isn’t: you be the judge
Buxton, a consulting firm that analyzes a community’s demographics, has 60 some population classes that it uses to describe the…
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Incumbent Hicks wins in tight Cherokee election
The election for chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians came down to a mere 30 votes last week,…
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EDC says marketing study not worthwhile
An $18,000 marketing study conducted for Jackson County by consultants from Texas fell short of what the firm promised, according…
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Tellico trails: Opponents of four-wheeling force Forest Service to study off-road policies
Recreation at a four-wheel drive and ATV playground in the Nantahala National Forest could be curtailed after environmental and outdoor…
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A potter’s calling: For Sarah Rolland, the process is as rewarding as the product
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer Sarah Rolland first connected with clay on an emotional level. With lunch plans to…
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Fresh voices gain ground
Angi West: Orange Thread In A Blue Sea Thoughtfully arranged tunes that wander through elements of folk, sun-dappled guitar and…
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Maggie mayor’s zoning request still up in the air
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer A petition by Maggie Valley Mayor Roger McElroy to re-zone a 90-acre tract of…
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Defending their turf
Four-wheel drive enthusiasts are prepared to defend their use of the Tellico Off-Road Area in the Graham County section of…
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Making the grade: Schools strain under pressure of misguided expectations
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Much like a band-aid on a kid’s scraped elbow, No Child Left Behind was…
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Life in the midst of change
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. Harcourt, 2006. 192 pages A blurb on the front cover of Abigail Thomas’…
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Baby birding
It’s almost fall and the skies are beginning to fill with feathered vagabonds headed to their traditional southern winter habitats.…
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Voter interviews reflect close race
Interviews with Cherokee voters exiting the polling booths last week revealed just how divided the tribe is over who will…
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Is oil like a mineral, vegetable or animal?
By S. Michael Hewitt • Guest Columnist Remember the game of 20 Questions? One person thinks of a thing. A…
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Recommended diversions
“Come Early Morning” This is the kind of movie that gets past you, a small budget movie that didn’t get…
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For gays, desperation too often a way of life
A few years ago, I received a letter from a reader that I have never forgotten. Upset over the suicide…
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Duke seeks permit for new coal plant
A public hearing on whether Duke Energy should be allowed to build a new coal-fired power plant in the Shelby…
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Walnut toxicity
The walnut trees along the creek where we live are exhibiting a bumper crop this year. At night we are…
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Giving nature a helping hand: Western Carolina University’s Forest Sustainability Initiative unites students with landowners to help maintain the future of forests
By Michael Beadle Peter Bates inspects a trio of cucumber trees growing closely together on a 20-acre tract of woods…
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School gets scant attention out in the jungle
By David Curtis As a teacher in the public school system I have often heard teachers express their frustrations by…
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Waynesville seeks solutions to Russ traffic problems
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Nearly two years after receiving a grant to…
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Southern Loop on priority list, committee says it wasn’t them
Jackson County leaders might be lending their tacit endorsement, albeit unintentionally, to the proposed Southern Loop, a controversial highway that…
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Dillsboro Dam important part of Jackson’s heritage, economy
By Susan Leveille Editor’s note: This letter, which contains some updates, was sent by Susan Leveille to the Maggie Salas,…
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Courthouse site doable for new Jackson library
Years of wrestling over a location for a new Jackson County library will come to a close next month. Jackson…
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Time to fix NCLB to better reflect the real world
Congress is likely to re-authorize the No Child Left Behind Act sometime this fall. If that is indeed the case,…
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Waynesville PD net 6 arrests in Internet sex sting
When Crystal Shuler posted an ad on Craig’s List this summer offering a full-service massage in Waynesville, she was flooded…
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Swain nearly ready to vote on road rules
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer Swain County’s first-ever planning board is nearly finished with its first project — drafting…
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Intersection of American minds
American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever. Simon & Schuster, 2006. 240 pages Susan Cheever, novelist, critic, and writer of acclaimed memoirs…
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Turning the tables: David Tripp’s artistic vision evolves with his craft
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer David Tripp’s workshop is piled head-high with wood. There are tree limbs here, locust…
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Balsam Range redefines regional bluegrass
By Chris Cooper Two things still stick in my mind about Darren Nicholson’s excellent self-titled 2006 release; state of the…
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How it might work
Jackson County commissioners sanctioned a feasibility study on whether a new library would fit on the hill behind the historic…
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Recommended diversions
Michael Buble In his four albums of the American Song bag series, Rod Stewart brought back many American classics from…
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Saying farewell to summer
It’s mid-September ... late summer is sliding toward early autumn. The end of summer officially arrives with the autumnal equinox…
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Arrests made for soliciting at park
The Internet sex sting conducted by the Waynesville Police Department was part of an undercover operation dubbed “Summer Heat,” which…
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Dillsboro’s Riverwood Shops fetes 50 years
Riverwood Shops, a group of artisans’ studios overlooking the town of Dillsboro, will commemorate their 50th anniversary from 10 a.m.…
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