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A seven-year vigil for peace
A quiet gathering of people stood outside Haywood County’s courthouse on a recent Wednesday afternoon holding colorful signs and flags…
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Quantifying solitude: Building a lockbox around the Chattooga River
The forest service has pledged to ensure a solitary wilderness experience on the upper Chattooga River, even if it means…
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Preserving craft and livelihood: Successful Quilt Trails of WNC coming soon to Haywood, Macon
By Julia Merchant • Contributing Writer Take a drive through the countryside of Western North Carolina, and you’ll likely notice…
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The Naturalist's Corner
Taking a swim through the air On long narrow graceful wings, the common nighthawk seems lighter than air as it…
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Emotional healthcare debate brings out both sides in Sylva
The battle over healthcare reform hit home in Sylva last week. A crowd of more than 50 people gathered on…
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Business expert to offer tips in three WNC downtowns
With an economy still recovering from a recession, local businesses are reaching for ways to keep customers coming. Downtown associations…
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Lake J seeks state help for dam, sediment
Lake Junaluska Assembly is asking Haywood County commissioners to help it land state grants for maintenance on the lake and…
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WCU to pass on electric rate hike
Those who buy their power from Western Carolina University have historically enjoyed cheaper electric bills than their neighbors, but that…
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Haywood gets rolling on methane project
Haywood County commissioners have taken the first step in constructing a more than $1 million methane collection system at two…
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Follow the yellow brick road
• The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina are collected in a travel-size book that leads visitors on eight…
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Grouse habitat dedicated to outdoor lover
A project to create prime ruffed grouse habitat in the Cold Mountain Game Lands has been dedicated as the Jerry…
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The dark side of the Romantics
The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein by Dorothy and Thomas Hobbler. Little, Brown and Company. 374 pages.…
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Borrowing bikes a big hit at university
Ever since the launch of the Yellow Bike Project in late August, a new bike culture has quickly sprung up…
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Macon group takes aim at day care shortage
By Julie Ball • Correspondent Working parents in Macon County have few choices when it comes to child care for…
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Player death prompts sickle cell testing for Western Carolina student athletes
Western Carolina University has enacted mandatory testing for the sickle cell trait among all student athletes following the death of…
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NC’s tourist trails
An Internet search for tourism trails spawns a list of results including biking in Texas, rail travel in England, a…
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Casada releases premier fly-fishing book of the Smokies
Award-winning outdoor writer Jim Casada has just published what he describes as “my book of a lifetime.” Fly Fishing in…
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If not now, then health care reform may never pass
This country must pass health care reform that accomplishes two major objectives: providing coverage for everyone and controlling skyrocketing costs.…
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Zahner’s special affection for Highlands
Biologist and ecologist Robert Zahner (1923-2007) was born in Summerville, S.C., and grew up in Atlanta. But his adopted “spiritual…
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State workers group chastises Shuler for health care opposition
Health insurance reform has garnered a seemingly incongruous ally: the already well-insured workers of the State Employees Association of North…
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Vivid descriptions fail to save flawed book
South of Broad by Pat Conroy. Nan A. Talese, 2009. 528 pages. In his latest novel, South of Broad (ISBN…
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Free clinics feel recession’s pinch
Amy Street thought she could finally afford health insurance this year. But that was before Street’s employer slashed 25 hours…
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Florida’s loss likely means our gain – and challenge
It’s always a little embarrassing to look on another’s misfortune and discover that you may be the beneficiary of their…
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Spinning tales, weaving dreams: Storyteller hopes to preserve craft and WNC history under one roof
By Julia Merchant • Contributing writer As a professional storyteller, Tim Hall is no stranger to spinning yarns — but…
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Graham jerks the rug out from Swain County in Deal’s Gap
Graham County has thrown a curve ball in an ongoing debate with Swain County over ambulance service in Deal’s Gap,…
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Niche tourism strategy debuts ‘micro’ Web sites
Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is employing an ambitious new marketing strategy to lure tourists, and their dollars, to the…
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Methane collection system at landfill in the works
Haywood County officials are racing against the clock to get a methane collection system built at two landfills before the…
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Paddlers get restricted access to Chattooga
A long-standing ban on paddling on the Upper Chattooga River will be lifted this winter, but not without a host…
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Panthertown trail plan designates use
A new trail management plan designed to rein in heavy use by competing forms of recreation in Panthertown Valley will…
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Acclaimed fiber artist to exhibit, teach at The Bascom
An exhibition by critically acclaimed fiber artist Cat Chow opens with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept.…
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Pooches pose problem in Sylva
A debate has erupted in Sylva over whether dogs should be allowed in the town’s new Bridge Park, a small…
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A natural passion for history
Naturalist, photographer and writer Edwin Way Teale (1899-1980) was born in Joliet, Ill. American nature writing in descriptive prose inevitably…
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Cell company dashes hopes new tower will mimic pine tree
A new cell phone tower has been proposed on the south-facing side of Utah Mountain above Lake Junaluska. It would…
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Woman claims officers denied her medication during DWI incident
An epileptic woman in Macon County is alleging that she did not receive proper medical attention after being arrested for…
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Hiker airlifted from remote region of Smokies
A five-day search for a lost hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park had a happy ending last week.…
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Settling on North Shore dollar figure just isn’t going to be easy
To the Editor: We’ll start with the 1943 North Shore Road Agreement since that’s what is supposedly being settled. A…
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Old timers recall Roosevelt’s trip to the Smokies
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park staged a reenactment this week of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dedication of the newly…
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‘Let Them Know’ delves into ‘70s underground punk scene
The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers returns to Western Carolina University at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, with “Let…
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The Naturalist's Corner
What’s good for the goose In his latest letter to the editor in Smoky Mountain News (8/19/09) the Canary Coalition’s…
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Junaluska deals with same dog issue
Sylva isn’t the first place to wrestle with the not-so-pleasant by-product of dogs in public areas. The wildly popular two-mile…
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Library supporters close to $1.6 million fundraising goal
Fundraising for the new Jackson County library may have entered the home stretch, but is far from home free. Friends…
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Ripe tomatoes and other simple pleasures
By Karen Dill • Special to The Smoky Mountain News August in the Appalachian Mountains is a time to enjoy…
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The art of storytelling (in the style of an 8-year-old)
My daughter is 8 years old, which is one of the greatest ages a person will ever be. She has…
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Graham, Swain still squabbling over emergency coverage in isolated area
Swain and Graham county commissioners agreed Monday to let their respective county managers look at solid numbers before deciding on…
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Recipes, 8/26/09
Tomato Pie 1 deep dish pie shell (found in the frozen foods section) 6 medium ripe tomatoes Fresh basil leaves…
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Land sales challenge basis for vested rights, some argue
When the 3,500-acre Legasus development won exemptions from Jackson County’s development regulations two years ago, it raised the hackles of…
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A force of lyrical storytelling
Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie. Bell Bridge Books, 2009. 315 pages Some of the most poignant passages in literature are…
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WCU welcomes freshman class
Probably very little about freshmen move-in day at Western Carolina University has changed over the years: the “nervous but excited”…
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Abbey’s tenure at ‘Redneck U’
Radical ecologist and writer Edward Abbey (1927-1989) was born in Home, Penn., the son of a hardscrabble farmer and a…
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A popular road reveals a dark side
An inspiration for songs, poems, and pilgrimages by motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world, the challengingly curvy stretch of U.S.…
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