Local

Commissioners oppose GSMNP parking fee

News Staff
Friday, April 15, 2022
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Swain County commissioners had indication from leadership with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that it would announce “Park it Forward,” a plan to introduce a parkwide parking fee, before the official announcement came last Wednesday.
Swain County Department of Social Services lines driveway with blue pinwheels for Child Abuse Awareness month.

Swain County Department of Social Services lines driveway with blue pinwheels for Child Abuse Awareness month.

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month

News Staff
Friday, April 15, 2022
Hannah Styles hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Cartoons are on the television and dinner in the oven. A familiar, loving voice calls “Dinner’s ready,” as the family gathers around the table. Afterwards, the family goes outside to play catch.
inds contributed to the flames that engulfed this home on Franklin Grove Church Road in the early morning hours of April 1. No one was injured, but the family lost their possessions and the structure was a total loss.

inds contributed to the flames that engulfed this home on Franklin Grove Church Road in the early morning hours of April 1. No one was injured, but the family lost their possessions and the structure was a total loss.

Whipping winds fan the flames all week

News Staff
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   A structure fire on Franklin Grove Church Road in the early morning hours of Friday, April 1 was quickly fully engulfed in flames as high winds quickly spread the fire.

Commissioners appoint housing committee

News Staff
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Every new home starts with a plan. In Swain County, the first step in plans to improve the issue of a housing shortage have been taken. On Thursday, March 24, Swain County Board of Commissioners appointed several members to a new housing committee.
A firefighter works off Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A firefighter works off Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Thomas Divide Complex fire is 80% contained

News Staff
Friday, April 1, 2022
Most people who have been involved in fighting the wildfire called Thomas Divide Complex in the eastern part of Swain County and mostly in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be demobilized today, (Friday, April 1), according to a press release from the National Park Service.
Ann Miller Woodford provides the history of Mt. Zion AME in Cullowhee during Jackson County NAACP WNC African American Heritage Tour this past Saturday.

Ann Miller Woodford provides the history of Mt. Zion AME in Cullowhee during Jackson County NAACP WNC African American Heritage Tour this past Saturday.

NAACP leads tour on WNC African American sites

News Staff
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Hannah Styles hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Last Saturday, The Jackson County NAACP held a western North Carolina African American Heritage Tour with stops in Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.
A digital rendering of landscape renovations for Town Square in Bryson City

A digital rendering of landscape renovations for Town Square in Bryson City

‘I hate the plan’

News Staff
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Four area residents said thumbs down to a plan proposed by a landscape architecture firm that would transform the Four Corners at Main and Everett Streets in downtown Bryson City.