Free Republic

SWAIN COUNTY, N.C. (WATE) — Great Smoky Mountains National Park reports that rangers had to euthanize a bear after finding it scavenging on human remains that were reported by backpackers near Hazel Creek Trail and Backcountry Campsite 82 on Friday. GSMNP officials report that on Friday afternoon, backpackers found human remains across the creek with a bear scavenging in the area, and they left to get cell coverage to report the incident to authorities right away. Rangers and wildlife officers rushed to the scene after communication staff received the report just after 7 p.m. When staff arrived at Backcountry Campsite...

The controversy surrounding e-cigarettes was previously muted by the promise that, despite their flaws, they do help smokers quit smoking. But now, even that silver lining has been disproven. As per a new study, not only do e-cigarettes not help you kick the habit, they may have the exact opposite effect — as it turns out, e-cigarette smokers are 28 percent less likely to quit than individuals whove never used these devices at all. ~snip

GATLINBURG — Authorities are on the hunt for a stranger who slashed and sexually assaulted a 44-year-old woman in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Friday. Veteran personnel at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park said they don't recall an incident of this magnitude occurring in the Park — especially with the tourist season in full swing. "Things like this don't happen everyday. It is definitely a rare incident," Melissa Cobern with the Public Affairs Office of the National Park Service said. Authorities confirmed late Friday that a woman stabbed on the Gatlinburg Trail in the National Park on Friday...

Full title: FEATURED STORY: Unindicted Co-Conspirator CAIR Tries To Ban Free Speech At Tennessee Tea Party I am one of the featured speakers at the Inaugural statewide Tea Party Convention in Tennessee’s beautiful Smoky Mountains this weekend. But look at this: the unindicted co-conspirator, terror-tied Muslim Brotherhood front group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is trying to get the good, decent Americans of the Tennessee Tea Party to crush free speech by dropping me from the Tea Party convention this weekend. Why is CAIR starting this campaign now? This is all about the mosque that Muslims are planning to...

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — A man was bitten as he was trying to take a picture of a black bear in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but the injury was minor and did not require medical attention. The National Park Service said in a release the unidentified man suffered a small puncture wound on his foot after he was bitten on the Laurel Falls Trail on Wednesday. Wildlife biologists captured a 60-pound female bear that visitors reported seeing near the trail. As a matter of park policy, bears that have contact or injure people are euthanized.

The mountains of western North Carolina are rugged and their settlements were relatively isolated from the rest of the state for many decades. With the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the mountaineers' settlements and their cabins and other buildings were largely destroyed. The vintage monochrome photographs in this article depict the Oconaluftee Mountain Farm Museum buildings and other vintage log cabins of the North Carolina Smokies.

More and more young adults describe themselves as “part-time” puffers. But who are they kidding? It’s still a gross, dangerous habit, as we explain below. Considering all the solid evidence about how smoking seriously messes up your health, it's hard to believe that some people still light up. But they do — except these days, they smoke with one caveat. Instead of chain-smoking or indulging a pack-a-day habit, increasing numbers of young smokers say they only puff on a part-time basis, say fewer than six cigarettes daily. So why do they do it at all? Some of these part-timers are...