The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians became the first tribe in the nation to receive a Presidential Declaration of Disaster for damages to tribal lands from severe rainstorms in January. 

The designation means that the Eastern Band is eligible for disaster relief assistance from the federal government. Previously, the state acted as a go-between for the tribe and the federal government.

Cherokee Tribal Council was asked to green light the construction of a second $110 million casino and hotel near Murphy last week but instead voted to table the issue for further study.

The new casino could add about 800 jobs to the area and expand Cherokee’s market reach, according to projections by the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise, which is advocating for the project.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could decide soon whether to move forward with a second casino near Murphy, but some tribal members are raising concerns.

People attending productions at Western Carolina University’s John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center may soon have the chance to enjoy a glass of wine or a beer before a show or during intermission.

WCU’s board of trustees Friday unanimously approved a policy change allowing for the sale of beer and wine at the performance venue.

The number of children in foster care in Haywood County is on the rise, a depressing sign for Department of Social Services workers whose first goal is to keep a family together.

“Growing up in foster care or growing up in an institution is no way to grow up,” said Ira Dove, director of the county’s Department of Social Services. Dove presented his case to the Haywood County Board of Commissioners Monday, requesting additional money to pay for the increasing costs of running foster care.

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority board responded to outcries from Maggie Valley business owners about a proposed lodging tax increase during its meeting last week.

Several business owners in Maggie voiced their collective concerns about the possible increase at a town meeting two days prior. A portion of the meeting was spent correcting misperceptions about the matter.

The last time I went camping I was 10 or 11. I was in my grandparents’ backyard, snug in my sleeping bag between my older sister and cousin Jake. I laid awake nervous about a ravenous bear attacking the tent, or maybe a ghoul from one of the scary stories my dad had just finished telling.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could see an estimated $2.2 million evaporate from its budget in March if Congress does not reach an agreement on the federal budget and mandatory, across-the-board cuts of 5.1 percent known as sequestration kick in.

The threat of sequestration was supposed to be an incentive for divisive lawmakers to come to an agreement on where to rein in spending and where to raise additional revenue.

When a building on a town’s main street sits empty, either because a business closed down or moved away, it’s usually a bad omen.

The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen got an earful from hotel and motel owners Monday during a nearly three-hour meeting held specifically to hear views about a proposed increase to the overnight lodging tax.

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority and the county board of commissioners both unanimously approved the idea of a hike in the lodging tax — from the current rate of 4 percent to 6 percent. The Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce has also written a letter of support.

When LeRoy Roberson and his wife, Gale, opened an optometric business on Waynesville’s Main Street 35-years-ago, about a quarter of the storefronts sat empty.

Tribal Council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has postponed any action that would ban bear zoos from the reservation for good.

A few tribal members called on Tribal Council last week to revoke the business licenses for any private establishments that display caged animals for profit on the reservation and force those establishments to release the animals.

If anyone opposes an increase in Haywood County’s overnight lodging tax, they did not make their enmity known at Monday’s board of commissioners meeting.

A heated argument and near fight between two Maggie Valley residents — one of whom is banned from town hall — disrupted the town’s board of aldermen meeting last Tuesday.

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce debuted a new logo this week, showing off more than a year of work to craft a design that represents the business organization’s role in the county.

Swain County School administrators began an internal investigation Friday after videos surfaced of a “fight club” among ninth grade boys in the gym locker room at Swain County High School.

The Haywood County Board of Commissioners voted to cut down the stately maples trees that grace the grounds of the historic courthouse on Main Street in Waynesville this week, citing concerns that the trees are on their last leg.

Haywood County tourism leaders want to increase the tax on overnight lodging to fund special tourism-related capital projects, including a Jonathan Creek sports complex — a proposal that seems to have traction with county commissioners as well.

Swain County could receive as much as $2 million in , one-time grant funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation for community betterment projects.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the National Park Service are offering up to a $500,000 incentive for early completion of landslide repairs to U.S. 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — indicating both entities’ concerns about the road closure’s effects on Cherokee’s economy.

In an effort to speed development of its Millennial Campus, Western Carolina University plans to lease the 344-acre tract to a nonprofit endowment — streamlining regulations and eliminating some of red tape the institution must otherwise cut through as a state entity.

Haywood Community College leaders are collecting donations to give its lumberjack club a facility worthy of its prestige.

It’s a right of passage for teens, the Holy Grail of high school, an iconic symbol of young adulthood freedom — that tiny piece of plastic called a driver’s license.

The recurring deluge of heavy rains has brought paddlers out of hibernation and onto Western North Carolina rivers over the past few weeks.

Ten years after the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area won federal designation, themed signs tying together 65 attractions throughout the mountains will finally be installed this year.

A $93 million family adventure park in Cherokee would likely turn a profit during its first year of operation, according to early projections from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ finance department.

Nightlife in Waynesville’s downtown Frog Level district is brighter thanks to the addition of new lampposts along its two main streets.

One of three candidates vying to be Haywood County’s next sheriff was eliminated from the competition in a preliminary round last week.

Customers have asked Katie Seymour to monogram just about everything — from the typical towels or cloth purses to the completely abstruse car mats or sports bras.

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority has launched a new website with information specifically for lodging owners.

Lake Junaluskans got their first glimpse this weekend at what it would take for the community to become its own town.

Incorporating as its own town comes with a host of regulatory, political and logistical hurdles. A task force studying the future course of Lake Junaluska residential neighborhoods heard a report on the ins-and-out of forming their own town at a public meeting Jan. 26.

The death of Haywood County Sheriff John Phillip Noland — a murder story set against the backdrop of the American Civil War — sounds as if it belongs in the pages of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain.

The decrepit state of Canton’s aging outdoor swimming pool has left town leaders with two options — bulldoze it and build a new one or simply close it.

The longest-serving town clerk in Waynesville’s written history will retire next week, taking with her a vast store of institutional knowledge of the town’s inner workings.

Plans for a riverfront park behind the historic courthouse in Bryson City got a boost thanks to $150,000 from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.

“If at first you don’t succeed, simply make your case again” is the lesson the executives at the tribally owned Sequoyah National Golf Course learned earlier this month.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has been propping up the golf course financially to the tune of about $1.1 million annually since it first opened in 2009. But tribal council signaled last year they wanted to scale back and eventually end the subsidies.

When pediatricians at Cherokee Indian Hospital retreat to their desk between patients to log data, research puzzling symptoms or review lab results, they’re constantly looking over their shoulders.

Canton leaders are pondering how much time and money to invest in an abandoned summer camp and mountain property left to the town under one condition — its use benefit Haywood County residents.

After it was deeded the 100-acre Camp Hope, the town leased it to a private weight-loss camp. But now, amid fall-out from a legal tug-of-war over Camp Hope, the weight-loss camp is pulling out, leaving Canton to run and manage the property on its own.

An empty eyesore in Canton’s downtown could get a new lease on life.

The former Jackson’s Appliance store, at the corner of Depot and Main streets in Canton, has lived several short lives during the last several years, but owner Terry Simmons could not find a business with staying power. At one point, he even ran the building as a boarding house.

As government aid shrinks and church groups step up to fill the void, the thin and sometimes fuzzy line between church and state has gotten even more complicated.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will establish a local field office in Haywood County where veterans who are new to the system can register and qualify for medical benefits in a more expedited fashion.

Canton Town Manager Al Matthews has announced his impending retirement, and while his last day won’t be for months yet, he’s already plotting ways to spend his new-found free time after a long career in town government.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is hitting domestic violence abusers in their pocketbooks.

People convicted of domestic violence-related charges must now pay a $1,000 fine, in addition to other penalties handed down by tribal court. Tribal council approved of the measure at its meeting last week.

Carol Anthony sat at in the back corner of a sweepstakes parlor in Maggie Valley one afternoon last week, getting her last fix of video gaming in before the next day’s ban took away what she claimed was her sole source of fun.

Lake Junaluska and the town of Waynesville are pressing ahead with the possibility of a merger. The two entities have put the wheels in motion to introduce a special bill in the N.C. General Assembly in March that would bring Lake Junaluska into Waynesville’s town limits.

The National Guard 210th and 211th Military Police Companies from Western North Carolina were recently placed “on alert.”

Give a U.S. congressman a cookie, and he can eat it. But offer him some free pancakes, and he’ll have to pass.

“I can eat a pig in a blanket, but God forbid if it’s a hot dog. If it’s a hot dog, I can’t take it,” said newly elected Congressman Mark Meadows about being able to accept an hors d’oeuvre but not a meal according to a set of ethical rules that all members of Congress must follow.

Federal authorities have dropped deportation proceedings against 10 Latino men, all suspected illegal immigrants, who were arrested at a Jackson County license checkpoint in May.