Swain County passes alcohol referendum

On Nov. 6, 2024, Swain County voted to allow the on-premises sale of wine and malt beverages. Prior to the 2024 election, businesses inside of Bryson City city limits were allowed to sell alcohol. This decision has shown Swain County residents’ trust in business owners to safely and responsibly sell alcohol. This trust has given […]

Clock tower rings in Christmas for Cullowhee

As finals have begun to rain down on the students of Western Carolina, Chancellor Kelli Brown and her husband Dennis Brown spread some Christmas cheer by hosting WCU’s 4th annual Holidays on the Plaza festival. For a night of seasonal celebration the evening of Dec. 5, dozens of students gathered around the main square of […]

“Shark Tank” winner and WCU alumni praises entrepreneurship program

Story co-produced with Julian Vanderhoef. For people that go onto “Shark Tank” to make a deal, most walk out empty-handed. That wasn’t the case for WCU graduate Garrett Ozar. Ozar is a WCU entrepreneurship graduate and the CEO of Eterneva, a company that won $600,000 on “Shark Tank” in 2019, came to WCU to discuss […]

WCU students start holiday season with their own snow globes

A free holiday snow globe craft pulls a large crowd of WCU students. The Students started lining up at 6:45 and hundreds of students wrapped around the top floor of the University Center (UC). There was laughter, joy, and smiles all around. Which is a rare sight to see during the stressful finals season. Western […]

Project FIRE: Providing firewood for low income and elderly Jackson County residents 

Project FIRE held one of their final volunteer workdays of the fall semester on Dec. 4 at Cullowhee United Methodist Church.   A few WCU students showed up to chop wood in the near-freezing weather. The wood they chop will be given to people in need on Dec. 7 at Firewood Day.  Project FIRE was created […]

N.C. amends constitution language regarding citizenship

North Carolina House Bill 1074, or Citizens-Only Voting as it appeared on ballots, passed into law Nov. 5, earning 78% of NC votes. North Carolina House Rep. Destin Hall (R) introduced the bill in May of this year. The bill also appeared in varying forms on eight state ballots across the U.S. The amendment changed […]