New Year’s snowfall - Snow fell in the county's higher elevations on the day after Christmas, giving a prelude of things to come on the first night of 2008. Panthertown Valley's Salt Rock, above, retained enough heat to make the snow patchy, but the roads leading into the...

Wagner named next Catamount football coach - Dennis Wagner, former offensive line coach at Nebraska, is the new head football coach at Western Carolina. WCU Athletic Director Chip Smith announced the hiring through a press release Monday. Wagner will be formally introduced during a press conference at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, in the Ramsey Center Hospitality Room. “I am excited about being the next head...

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Dr. Noell’s departure leaves Harris with only one surgeon - The departure of Dr. Billy Noel, who has been on staff at Harris Regional since 1989, has left the hospital with only one general surgeon. Though HRH officials say schedules have been adjusted to avoid problems, The Herald knows of at least one patient who was sent to Asheville for an appendectomy after being told no local surgeon was available. “Dr. Bill Sims and WestCare remain dedicated to providing general surgery services...

Local man convicted of 1975 murder gets parole - A Pumpkintown man sentenced to prison more than three decades ago on three counts of second-degree murder has recently been paroled. Lloyd Green, 55, was convicted in June 1976 of murdering Ray Wayne Buchanan and brothers Gerald R. and Billy Joe Franks. He was sentenced to 120 years in prison – 40 years for each victim. Green received his sentence...

Franklin woman dies in two-vehicle wreck - A Franklin woman died in an automobile accident on U.S. 23-441 south of Dillsboro late Sunday, Dec. 23. Christy Lynn Waldroop, 19, was dead at the scene, according to a report from the N.C. Highway Patrol. The report from Trooper Jeff Womack showed Waldroop was traveling on the wrong side of the road (south in the inside northbound lane) when the wreck...

Cherokee Indian exhibit ends successful stay at Smithsonian - After a successful five-month run at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the “Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee and British Delegations” exhibit will return to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and reopen today (Thursday). “More people saw our exhibit in five months than a year’s worth of visitors to the Biltmore Estate,” said Ken Blankenship, director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. “We are very proud that visitors could learn about our people, our culture, and how history helped shape our future.” The Smithsonian National Museum...