News

A woman has been charged with driving while impaired after crashing a vehicle into Ridgeline Mechanical on Main Street in Bryson City.

A woman has been charged with driving while impaired after crashing a vehicle into Ridgeline Mechanical on Main Street in Bryson City.

DWI charges follow vehicle crash into Main St. building

News Staff
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Staff reports   The driver of a vehicle that crashed through a Main Street building was charged with driving while impaired. Around 9:50 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1, Bryson City Police received a call of a vehicle crash at Ridgeline Mechanical, located at 344 Main Street, across from IGA.
Water customers are receiving letters as part of the lead and copper rule

Water customers are receiving letters as part of the lead and copper rule

A letter about Lead and Copper Rule

News Staff
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Starting next week, Town of Bryson City water customers will be receiving a mailed notice as part of a requirement with the U.S. Environmental Project Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule. This isn’t reason for alarm, said Nate Bowe, town engineer.
Polar Express starts Nov. 7.

Polar Express starts Nov. 7.

Holiday tourism season leaves the station

News Staff
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   It’s Nov. 7, and although there are still a few fall decorations lingering about, most of Bryson City is transformed for the most magical time of year coinciding with Polar Express rides starting on Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
Angela Ellison stands in front of her home and a debris field from Hurricane Helene.

Angela Ellison stands in front of her home and a debris field from Hurricane Helene.

Moving out at Ela Campground after flood, evictions

News Staff
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   It has been over a month since the Tuckasegee River flooded Ela Campground during Hurricane Helene. Kituwah LLC has doubled down on the closure of the campground— having issued eviction notices by mail Oct. 24, terminating leases Nov.

Free medicine event to return

News Staff
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   N.C. MedAssist will once again bring back a free, over-the-counter medicine event to Swain County, following a budget amendment approval by the Swain County Board of Commissioners.
Beer and wine sales for on- and off-premise sale in the county is on the ballot.

Beer and wine sales for on- and off-premise sale in the county is on the ballot.

Ballot measures for beer and wine

News Staff
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   Swain County voters in the 2024 General Election are choosing, among candidates and a state constitutional amendment, a decision on the sale of beer and wine in the county.
The aeration tanks were finished in 1967 with the second side completed in 1981. The Town of Bryson City is in the design phase for a new wastewater treatment plant.

The aeration tanks were finished in 1967 with the second side completed in 1981. The Town of Bryson City is in the design phase for a new wastewater treatment plant.

Touring Bryson City’s wastewater treatment plant

News Staff
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Jessica Webb editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com   A bedsheet. A prisoner’s uniform. A basketball. Money. Toy figurines. So many baby and “flushable” wipes. These are a few of the unusual and unwelcome items Dale Wick with Environmental Inc.
Donald Smiley of Cherokee won $150,000 Powerball prize in the Oct. 9 drawing.

Donald Smiley of Cherokee won $150,000 Powerball prize in the Oct. 9 drawing.

Army veteran couldn’t sleep after Powerball win

News Staff
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Donald Smiley of Cherokee got so excited that he couldn’t fall asleep after he won a $150,000 Powerball prize. “I was so excited I didn’t even know what to do,” Smiley laughed. “I definitely couldn’t sleep.
Jessica Webb/SMT - Russell Ball, director of the town water plant, holds up samples of the finished water. The plant frequently conducts a variety of tests on the water at various stages of the process.

Jessica Webb/SMT - Russell Ball, director of the town water plant, holds up samples of the finished water. The plant frequently conducts a variety of tests on the water at various stages of the process.

Turn on the tap

Jessica Webb
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
If you want to have a conversation about water, Russell Ball, who has been operating the Town of Bryson City’s water plant for 25 years, can talk your ear off. When I toured the plant, I spent an hour and 45 minutes there, and there wasn’t a dull moment.
SMT file photo - Swain School System has been wanting to replace its current middle school for years. Challenges at the facility constructed in the 1950s include security and the HVAC system.

SMT file photo - Swain School System has been wanting to replace its current middle school for years. Challenges at the facility constructed in the 1950s include security and the HVAC system.

Swain awarded $53 million for new middle school

Jessica Webb
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
They say it takes a village to raise a child. It could also be said it takes the state to build a school. Recently, Swain County School System received word that its grant application for $52 million to build a new Swain Middle School has been awarded.