Fall comes to the Smokies

Fall is a beautiful but busy time in the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitors should plan their trips and expect crowds, traffic congestion and limited parking throughout the park. 

Word from the Smokies: Dedicated Smokies volunteer force protects elk and people

At 3:30 p.m., traffic flows smoothly along U.S. 441 past the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The 80-some elk living in this area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park are still invisible beneath the forest canopy as the sun shines bright and warm. 

This must be the place: ‘Oh to live on Sugar Mountain, with the barkers and colored balloons’

Hello from the Merritt Parkway in south-central Connecticut. It’s bumper-to-bumper traffic and has been since we skirted New York City and headed east. Exit 60 is Hamden, Connecticut, a town that I called home during my years attending Quinnpiac University. 

Built to last: A conversation with Randall Bramblett

At 76, singer-songwriter/keyboardist Randall Bramblett has been a musical artist most of his life. In recent years, a new outlook on not only what he does for a living, but also what it means to be human amid a life immersed in creativity and connectivity, has emerged. 

This must be the place: ‘The idea is not to live forever, it is to create something that will’

Hello from the Antler Village at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. It’s 11:34 a.m. The wine bar around the corner will open in roughly 16 minutes. I’ve been at this vast property since 8:30 a.m. when I was pulling up to attend the grand opening of the Chihuly art exhibit. 

Greenhouse gas emissions continue to fall in N.C., report finds

Net emissions of greenhouse gases have fallen 38% between 2005 and 2020 in North Carolina, according to the latest update of the N.C. Greenhouse Gas Inventory. 

East Street study tabled in Waynesville

For some time now, Waynesville’s East Street has been a bit of a goldilocks problem for the town — too fast, too slow or just right?

I-40 lane closing for repair in Buncombe County

A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation began a project to repair the left lane of I-40 West between the I-26/I-240 interchange and Smoky Park Highway (Exit 44) with a full-time lane closure now in effect.

Placement of pedestrian islands in Maggie Valley causes concern

A construction project on the five-lane road in Maggie Valley is aimed at improving pedestrian safety, but some are also pointing out its potential to cause a whole lot of trouble for drivers. 

Booming Times, Busted Budgets: Growing visitation strains resources in and around the GSMNP

Christine Cole Proctor was home alone with her big sister at the family cabin on Forney Creek when she heard an unfamiliar rumble climbing the isolated mountain road. It was a car — the first they’d ever seen scale the rugged route. 

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