Maggie Valley News

Whether you are looking to spend some time in Asheville or heading somewhere else, the Asheville Regional Airport is the best way to get in and out of the area.

A $1.5 million bid has been made to buy a wild west amusement park in the North Carolina mountains that has been closed for most of the past decade.

Tourism officials are hopeful the pending purchase of Ghost Town in the Sky will lead to the reopening of the beleaguered but once popular amusement park.

Time to lace up those walking shoes. The first hike of the year for the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and Friends of the Smokies has been rescheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb.

The Haywood Community Band will begin rehearsals for the season from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at Grace In The Mountains Episcopal Church, 394 Haywood St., in Waynesville.

Bari Weinstein, left, recently opened Hillbilly Grocery in Maggie Valley. Lela Evans, right, has been working at the new grocery store since its opening day, and also worked at for years at Bear's Den - Weinstein's old restaurant, previously in the same location.

Maggie Valley has been rallying allies in its fight to save a small but perhaps precious sliver of its struggling tourism trade: pass-thru business from travelers en route to Cherokee.

Everyone is invited to join Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and Friends of the Smokies for the first hike of the year at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb.

Nearly $150 in purchases at Starbucks and $1,000 for a rental car in L.A. are among the charges.