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Entertainment options abound in Maggie Valley
 

Entertainment options abound in Maggie Valley

Maggie Valley has a year-round of population of only 607, and its main drag contains dozens of 1960s-era mom and…
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HRMC board chair steps down
 

HRMC board chair steps down

The board of Haywood Regional Medical Center bid farewell to chairman Glenn White April 24. White had served on the…
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The Naturalist's Corner
 

The Naturalist's Corner

Hats off to Avram and the activist spirit Avram Friedman, executive director of the Canary Coalition, is not afraid to…
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Survey sheds light on WCU student vision for Cullowhee
 

Survey sheds light on WCU student vision for Cullowhee

What’s a college without a college town? It’s an almost unimaginable scenario to those who love the unique, quirky places…
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A chat with Carolinas Healthcare president
 

A chat with Carolinas Healthcare president

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer The Smoky Mountain News caught up with Carolinas Healthcare System Chief Operating Officer and…
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All things wild and wonderful
 

All things wild and wonderful

By Karen Dill It is in April that the wild things emerge. Bears crawl from their dens; baby wolves are…
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When to celebrate
 

When to celebrate

Depending on how you slice it, the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park could be celebrated on…
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Maggie to hold public hearing on Ghost Town loan
 

Maggie to hold public hearing on Ghost Town loan

Officials at Ghost Town in the Sky continued to pressure Maggie Valley leaders this week to pony up a $200,000…
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HCC student finishes second at lumberjack event
 

HCC student finishes second at lumberjack event

A Haywood Community College wildlife student brought home a second-place finish in the STIHL Timbersports Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Challenge this month.…
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Dispatches from the kinky South
 

Dispatches from the kinky South

Surreal South: an Anthology of Short Fiction and Poetry edited by Laura Benedict & Pinckney Benedict. Winston-Salem: Press 53 $19.95…
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Perdue’s no-show was a missed opportunity
 

Perdue’s no-show was a missed opportunity

“Gov. Beverly Perdue probably didn’t set out to give Western North Carolina a slap in the face Wednesday. “But we…
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Wild mountain boars
 

Wild mountain boars

Numerous non-native plants have been introduced into the southern mountains during the last century or so. Many of these are…
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Fighting the fear that comes at night
 

Fighting the fear that comes at night

I don’t really know when nightmares begin. I guess it is possible that babies have nightmares, shaken awake in the…
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TDA debates where to draw line for events that may not benefit entire county
 

TDA debates where to draw line for events that may not benefit entire county

Should a private business receive taxpayer money to stage an event? That was the question of the hour at two…
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Annexation gets more scrutiny as liquor issue comes into play
 

Annexation gets more scrutiny as liquor issue comes into play

Business owners hoping to be annexed by Waynesville in order to serve alcohol be out of luck. At a meeting…
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The Naturalist's Corner
 

The Naturalist's Corner

A picture is worth a thousand words When the 1968 Apollo astronauts rounded the moon for the first time the…
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Green Initiative a great fit for Haywood County
 

Green Initiative a great fit for Haywood County

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce’s Green Initiative is one of those projects that is good on many different levels,…
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Ghost Town didn’t withhold sales tax
 

Ghost Town didn’t withhold sales tax

Among Ghost Town’s debts is $136,000 in back sales taxes owed to the state of North Carolina. It was previously…
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Hiking the AT: A journey of mind, body, spirit
 

Hiking the AT: A journey of mind, body, spirit

By Josh Mitchell • Staff Writer The bad economy may be good for business along the Appalachian Trail. The AT…
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Ghost Town appears in bankruptcy court
 

Ghost Town appears in bankruptcy court

Ghost Town in the Sky revealed last week that it was driven into bankruptcy by the threat of foreclosure from…
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Bradbury succeeds again with new novel
 

Bradbury succeeds again with new novel

We’ll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury. William Morrow, 2009. 224 pages Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Ill., —…
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Swain jailer, murder suspect captured in California
 

Swain jailer, murder suspect captured in California

A jailer and the murder suspect she allegedly freed from the Swain County Detention Center a month ago were apprehended…
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Group, angry with government, descends on Franklin
 

Group, angry with government, descends on Franklin

An angry crowd stormed downtown Franklin on tax day last week, protesting the federal government’s bailouts, high taxes and pork…
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Tourist industry lines up to tap TDA coffers
 

Tourist industry lines up to tap TDA coffers

Requests for Haywood Tourism Development Authority money this year ran the gamut from the predictable to events making their debut…
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Local activist arrested at Cliffside protest
 

Local activist arrested at Cliffside protest

Avram Friedman, leader of the Sylva-based air quality group the Canary Coalition, was arrested during a protest march in Charlotte…
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Art as a spectator sport
 

Art as a spectator sport

More than 40 artists will race against the clock this weekend, crafting a piece of art from scratch in just…
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When is it safe to plant?
 

When is it safe to plant?

By Jim Janke When is it safe to plant tender annuals and vegetables in Haywood County? The standard answer we…
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Ancient chemical warfare
 

Ancient chemical warfare

I’m sometimes asked if the prehistoric Cherokees used any sort of poisons on their blowgun darts. These darts (slivers of…
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Grandview Lodge
 

Grandview Lodge

When Terry Ferguson and his wife Nancy bought the Grandview Lodge in 2008, they knew they were taking on a…
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Maggie Valley revs up the action for Thunder in the Smokies
 

Maggie Valley revs up the action for Thunder in the Smokies

Maggie Valley will roll out the welcome mat next weekend for more than 3,500 motorcycle riders descending on the tiny…
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HRMC, WestCare to join forces with Carolinas HealthCare
 

HRMC, WestCare to join forces with Carolinas HealthCare

By Becky Johnson & Julia Merchant • Staff writer Haywood Regional Medical Center and WestCare announced plans to join forces…
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Haywood Chamber of Commerce helps businesses achieve green goals
 

Haywood Chamber of Commerce helps businesses achieve green goals

When most business owners cast their eyes about the office — noting the reams of white paper spilling off the…
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Smokies brace for disease known to decimate bat populations
 

Smokies brace for disease known to decimate bat populations

In response to a growing concern about a new malady that has killed an estimated 400,000 bats north of here…
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The Naturalist's Corner
 

The Naturalist's Corner

Canaries in the coalmine As I passed the kitchen windows last Friday (4/10), a brilliant red streak caught my eye.…
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Athletes aspire to pro ranks: Small university still packs big punch in spring sports
 

Athletes aspire to pro ranks: Small university still packs big punch in spring sports

Western Carolina University softball star Mollie Fowler painfully remembers the day her shin broke in half playing shortstop. She dove…
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Waynesville could finally see long-awaited make-over of South Main Street
 

Waynesville could finally see long-awaited make-over of South Main Street

Waynesville’s South Main Street — the two-lane thoroughfare that is the major artery between downtown and the new Super Wal-Mart…
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Swain’s tax base just got even smaller
 

Swain’s tax base just got even smaller

Swain County, 86 percent of which is already owned by the federal government, lost a little more land from its…
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Jackson Paper bucks manufacturing trend
 

Jackson Paper bucks manufacturing trend

Last week’s announcement that 61 new jobs are coming to Sylva with the expansion of Jackson Paper is relief for…
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Waynesville land use plan back on the drawing board
 

Waynesville land use plan back on the drawing board

Waynesville leaders will finally kick off the town’s much-anticipated review of its six-year-old land use plan on April 22. Town…
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Funding for festivals and visitor centers hinges on tourism board decisions
 

Funding for festivals and visitor centers hinges on tourism board decisions

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will weigh the merits of grant applications from tourism groups over the coming week.…
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Macon leaders question Georgia sewer headed their way
 

Macon leaders question Georgia sewer headed their way

Macon County commissioners voiced concern this week over a proposed sewer treatment plant that would discharge into the Little Tennessee…
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Cherokee tackles long-standing problems of housing and drugs
 

Cherokee tackles long-standing problems of housing and drugs

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has announced plans for an affordable housing development and substance abuse treatment center in…
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Everyone's mother
 

Everyone's mother

Mother Jones by Elliott J. Gorn. Hill and Wang, 2002. 408 pages. When Mother Jones celebrated her (allegedly) 100th birthday…
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Dogwoods in the mountains
 

Dogwoods in the mountains

In the Smokies region, there are three species of dogwood. Everyone is familiar with flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), which is…
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Nuisance debate both crass and credible
 

Nuisance debate both crass and credible

Every now and then a government proposal takes on such a vigorous life of its own that its intent gets…
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New library complex will honor courthouse heritage
 

New library complex will honor courthouse heritage

In Massachusetts, a vacant textile mill is now an art museum. An old city hall became a restaurant. In California,…
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Cherokee parents protest losses in children’s trust fund
 

Cherokee parents protest losses in children’s trust fund

A throng of about 150 angry members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians turned out to the Birdtown Community…
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Noisy and determined opponents get their way with nuisance ordinance
 

Noisy and determined opponents get their way with nuisance ordinance

Take note — members of the public with an agenda to push could learn a thing or two from the…
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Lake Junaluska Duathlon: Athletes give rave reviews to new race
 

Lake Junaluska Duathlon: Athletes give rave reviews to new race

Between blue skies and blue water, the inaugural Lake Junaluska Duathlon won over dozens of runners and bikers this weekend.…
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Multi-family unit OK’d by judge, but court rules against proposed expansion
 

Multi-family unit OK’d by judge, but court rules against proposed expansion

The neighborhood covenants of a Maggie Valley homeowners association were put to the test in court recently. A developer sued…
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