Could smartphones become the new therapists?

According to Statista, it is predicted that in 2019, around 2.5 billion people in the world use smartphones and the number will continue to rise in the coming years. We’ve heard of how our smartphones cause us more harm than good, even stories of how phones have caught fire in the hands of its user. […]

WCU celebrates international communities on campus

Story co-written/produced with Natalie Ballard In the heart of Western Carolina’s campus, a beautiful whirlwind of colors circled the fountain as students and faculty carrying the flags of 42 countries from around the world celebrated Western’s 40th annual International Festival. Hosted by WCU’s Office of International Programs and Services, this year’s International Festival provided students with […]

17th Annual Spring Literary Festival starts this week

Western Carolina’s 17 Annual Spring Literary Festival starts Thursday, March 21 and features a variety of voices of literary writers from the Appalachian region and beyond. What began as a visiting writer’s series has grown over the years into a week-long festival of fiction writers, nonfiction writers, essayists, and poets sharing their work with the […]

Sylva scene of Medicaid rally

Originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 21, 2019.   The Jackson and Haywood county chapters of Down Home North Carolina gathered on Feb. 14 at the Jackson County Democratic Party Headquarters in Sylva to rally for clean Medicaid expansion for rural families in North Carolina. Lorna Barnett, first vice chair for the JCDP, […]

Review: No host for the Oscars, but the show must go on

After the beautiful and familiar main street of Sylva N.C. provided the backdrop that helped secure Oscar wins for lead actors Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell last year, the 91 Academy Awards returned to close the 2019 award season with a few bumps along the way. When the originally planned host Kevin Hart dropped out […]

Western Carolina’s Purple Thunder to perform at the NBA All-Star game

Western Carolina’s winter drumline, Purple Thunder, will travel to Charlotte, N.C. this weekend to perform in one of the variety acts as part of NBA All-Star weekend. What began as a fun performance act for talented drummers at Western Carolina has soon grown into one of the most anticipated performance groups of the winter season, […]