Holly Kays
The attraction between people and waterfalls is nothing new, with a couple waterfall deaths per year typical between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest.
ALSO: Herculean rescue effort at Yellowstone Falls highlights dangers of waterfall play
The 911 call, coming from a gorge cut high in the Balsam Mountains, was nearly unintelligible. When the connection ended five minutes later, Haywood County Emergency Management was left with two important facts: somebody had fallen from a waterfall, and the caller was saying something that sounded like “Yellowstone.”
SEE ALSO: WNC's deadliest waterfalls
The GPS coordinates showed the call originating in Dark Prong, two drainages over from Yellowstone Falls in the Pisgah National Forest’s Shining Rock Wilderness, but GPS data isn’t always correct in the rugged terrain of Western North Carolina. In the mountains, cell reception is often scant at best — emergency responders had to make a judgment call.
The sign-up period to run for municipal office is over in North Carolina, but the Jackson County Board of Elections voted to extend the deadline to run for Webster Town Council by one week in hopes that at least one more person will decide to run. The new deadline is noon Friday, July 28.
A plan to build an amphitheater and stage next to the cabin where Sylva author John Parris once wrote newspaper articles and books celebrating life in the mountains of Western North Carolina has been nixed — for now, at least.
A census of people living on the Qualla Boundary will soon begin following a unanimous vote from Tribal Council to approve $273,000 for the project.
It’s one of those summer days that’s so hot and humid it’s impossible to walk even two steps without sweating, and inside the butterfly house the air is even heavier, thick as a tropical rainforest.
But, for the butterflies, it’s perfect.
The Jackson County Board of Elections’ attempt to exert a new level of independence from the county commissioners resulted in an hour-long — and, at times, contentious — meeting between the two boards July 11.
This month’s two full days of Tribal Council sessions included discussion on everything from research requests to drug policies to power bills, but one topic was noticeably absent from the agenda — the process for selecting a new vice chief.
Jackson County residents will have the chance to get grounded in local government with the launch of a citizen’s academy this fall, an endeavor that county commissioners approved unanimously during their July 17 meeting.
Sylva’s proposed food truck ordinance passed unanimously at the town meeting July 13, one year after the town board began researching the topic in the wake of Waynesville’s food truck woes.
A 14-month process to overhaul Jackson County’s splintered planning ordinances is now underway following the county commissioners’ unanimous approval of a $66,000 contract for Raleigh-based Stewart, Inc. to lead the project.
Cherokee elders will no longer have power, water or sewer bills to worry about following a divided Tribal Council vote July 6 to pass legislation that former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert had put forward during his term.
The clear water of the West Fork Pigeon River tumbling from its mountain headwaters takes on a yellowish hue through the plastic of the snorkel mask, revealing a riverbed of rounded rocks that sometimes sit within inches of the surface and sometimes plunge feet below.
Fish swim placidly in the flow, darting only occasionally when the wearer of the snorkel mask draws a bit too close for comfort. Here and there a leaf or a stick streams by like a stowaway for parts unknown.
More than a year after the food truck controversy in Waynesville prompted Sylva to review its own regulations, a proposed food truck ordinance is on its way to a public hearing and vote at the July 13 town commissioner meeting.
The fruits of a yearlong bridge project will make it easier for residents of Moses Creek Road east of Cullowhee to get heavy items like dump trucks and construction materials into their neighborhood.
A resolution that would have negated a 2007 vote to up Tribal Council’s pay by $10,000 was withdrawn last week following debate about what exactly the legislation’s impact would be.
Sylva’s pub-lovers got a shock this summer when a closed sign appeared on O’Malley’s Sports Bar and Grill June 2.
When Ed Sutton first came to Cherokee in November to break ground on a new trail system, his directive was clear.
“We told him his marching orders were just make it great. Make it awesome,” said Jeremy Hyatt, natural resources and construction director for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
White dots will soon pepper the sidewalks of downtown Sylva as the town sets out to claim its identity as a trail town and mark the official route of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which runs through Sylva on its way from Clingmans Dome to the Outer Banks.
The trail traverses the state of North Carolina, offering a walking route 1,175 miles long that, true to its name, takes hikers from the state’s highest mountains to its interface with the sea. And a section of the trail travels right through downtown Sylva, something that Sylva attorney and Friends of the MST board member Jay Coward is urging town leaders to capitalize on. He also has plans to speak to the Dillsboro Board of Aldermen.
State charges against the two teenagers arrested in connection with November’s deadly Gatlinburg fires have been dropped, but prosecution could resume with federal charges.
While a draft forest management plan is still nearly a year away, a group of recently released documents gives a glimpse into how the U.S. Forest Service might ultimately manage the 1.2 million acres in the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest over the next 20 years.
The tuition reduction program N.C. Promise won’t go into effect until 2018, but its impending implementation could already be affecting Western Carolina University’s enrollment numbers.
Mark Woods will retire as superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway on July 3, but on July 4 he’ll don the flathat one last time as grand marshal of the Lake Junaluska Fourth of July Parade.
“That was a surprise, to get that call,” Woods said. “We have family here, and every year there’s a family reunion that’s been going on for years at Lake Junaluska, so I’ve been coming here for as long as I’ve been married. To me this area is so special.”
Summit Charter School in Cashiers is planning to expand its K-8 operation to include high school as well, recently announcing its intention to add a ninth-grade class in time for the 2018-19 school year.
Cherokee hopes to combat the high Hepatitis C rates resulting from the heroin epidemic with a needle exchange program, aiming to have the program in place by Oct. 1.
Work will soon begin on a remodel of Jackson County’s Skyland Services Center following commissioners’ unanimous approval of a $1.1 million bid from Sylva-based Western Builders during their June 19 meeting.
A leaking pipe in downtown Sylva has resulted in a sinkhole that’s had the road connecting the town’s main streets closed since Thursday.
Twelve people will face federal charges following an FBI investigation into an alleged marriage fraud ring based in Cherokee.
It’s just a short walk from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Fryingpan Tower — 1.5 miles roundtrip — but in a season when wildflowers abound and the ecological intricacies of mountain life are on full display, a curious person could spend hours exploring.
Especially when accompanied by someone who’s full of the knowledge and stories to explain it all. Someone like a Blue Ridge Parkway ranger, two of whom were out last week to lead a group of 25 locals and tourists on a summertime ramble.
Spring can be a scramble at the High Hampton Inn and Country Club in Cashiers. Every year, after a long and quiet winter, the business prepares to reopen its kitchens, its golf greens, its rooms and welcome back the guests as trees leaf out and the cool mountain summer begins.
SEE ALSO:
• Larger labor pool, longer season make Sylva hiring easier
• Haywood County employers need workers
To meet the challenge, High Hampton’s human resources manager Sydneye Trudics embarks on a rampage of hiring, in a matter of months nearly quadrupling the club’s staff from a cold-weather crew of 50 to a summer peak somewhere north of 180. It’s not an easy task.
With a bigger local labor pool and a tourism season that wraps around most of the year, hiring in Sylva is an easier proposition than it is for Cashiers businesses — at least, that’s how City Lights Café owner Bernadette Peters sees it.
Customers of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority will see their rates increase if the 2017-18 budget is adopted as proposed Monday, June 26.
The September ballot could include a special election for vice chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, pending a decision by the Cherokee Supreme Court.
The snip of a ribbon declared the destination that mountain bikers are hailing as “amazing” and “world-class” to be open for business last week, when Cherokee officially opened its new 10.5-mile Fire Mountain Trail System.
“There’s been a lot of hard work and dedication to make this a reality, to make this trail system a reality — and the reality we’ve created is a premier trail system for the region,” said Jeremy Hyatt, secretary of administration for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
A controversial request to build a 388-bed student housing complex on South Painter Road in Cullowhee was denied this week following a three-hour hearing before the Cullowhee Community Planning Council, but the decision could be tested if the developer opts to challenge it in court.
If all goes according to plan, within the week folks in Jackson County will have their choice of pools to soak in the summer as renovations finish up at the Sylva and Cashiers pools.
After two years of meetings, research and public input, the Jackson County Comprehensive Land Use Plan must go through one more round of public comment before commissioners can give it final approval. A public hearing is scheduled for 5:50 p.m. Monday, June 19, at the Jackson County Justice Center.
Principal Chief Richard Sneed laid out communication, collaboration and community as the guiding principles of his new administration in an address to tribal employees Tuesday, June 6. It had been one week since tribal offices reopened following Tribal Council’s decision to remove former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert from office, and four months since Council took its first impeachment-related action.
One year after the town’s tax rate rose by 12.5 cents per $100, Sylva is considering a proposed $3.7 million budget that will keep tax rates level and cover the town’s operating needs — but will come up short on addressing capital needs and commissioners’ desired projects.
Jackson County’s proposed $62.5 million budget for 2016-17 doesn’t include a tax increase, but it sets the stage for a $12 million upgrade to county facilities over the next five years.
Of the 12 current Tribal Council representatives, nine are running for re-election in this year’s race. The June 1 primary election saw one of the nine fail to advance to the general election, with several other incumbents finishing in weaker positions than they did in 2015. The election came just one week after the controversial impeachment and removal of former Principal Chief Patrick Lambert.
If the results of the June 1 primary elections are any indication, incumbent Tribal Council members could be in trouble come the General Election Sept. 7.
Designs for a new 600-bed residence hall at Western Carolina University met approval from the WCU Board of Trustees June 2, putting the project on track to house students starting in the fall 2019 semester.
A new scientific tool developed at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont will allow salamander-studying scientists to trace the amphibians’ whereabouts without ever laying eyes on one of the slimy creatures.
“It’s kind of like a crime scene investigation thing,” said Gar Secrist, the teacher/naturalist at Tremont who led the research. “You’re looking for evidence of the salamanders that were there without ever seeing the salamanders.”
After three full days of testimony and four hours of waiting for a verdict, silence reigned at the Cherokee council house May 25 as Tribal Council convened to deliver its final decision on whether to remove Principal Chief Patrick Lambert from office.
In the three days of testimony that comprised Principal Chief Patrick Lambert’s impeachment hearing, Lambert himself was by far the most prominent witness, spending a total of seven hours on the stand spread over two days.
Impeachment hearings to consider charges against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert stretched on for three days last week, with Tribal Council holding four hours of closed-door deliberations before voting to remove Lambert from office. To view the impeachment hearings in their entirety, visit http://bit.ly/2rB4eED.
Following three days of impeachment hearings, Tribal Council deliberated for four hours before returning to vote in open session. Each of the 12 charges against Principal Chief Patrick Lambert were announced individually, with councilmembers then standing up one by one to cast their vote as guilty, not guilty or abstained.
After six years at the helm of Jackson County Public Schools, Superintendent Mike Murray will be leaving for a new position at Cherokee Central Schools this summer.
After three full days of hearings, the Cherokee Tribal Council voted to remove Principal Chief Patrick Lambert from office yesterday.
