Federal cuts known as sequestration will close parts of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway this year.

Though demand for their booze is booming, the owners of Asheville Distilling Co. have discovered that trying to change distribution laws that date to the end of Prohibition is enough to drive a person to drink.

Spurred by accusations that the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority pads its stats, Charlotte and local booster groups commissioned an outside agency to calculate the impact of the Democratic National Convention. The result? About 35,000 attendees helped generate almost $164 million, making it the most-lucrative event in the metro’s history.

A Greensboro developer has backed off an idea to turn the Reynolds Building in downtown Winston-Salem into an upscale hotel.

Fine Print: What I learned from my Week of Living Large as a one-percenter.

Superstorm Sandy was a nasty trick for the East Coast, but what it brought to North Carolina’s mountains was a treat for the ski industry.

In June, the N.C. Office of the Commissioner of Banks shuttered Waccamaw Bank, the first financial institution in the state closed by regulators this year.

The Democratic National Convention in Charlotte might not deliver the dollars promised, but publicity will be priceless.

A software salesman from Mint Hill is converting Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower into a maritime bed-and-breakfast.

Recently introduced regulations that limit the use of off-road vehicles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore have rekindled debate about the impact of those rules on North Carolina’s coastal economy.

A Denver-based private-equity firm agreed to buy the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, a 99-year-old Asheville landmark, for an undisclosed sum.

Once again, G.D. Gearino reviews the year that was, putting such a spin on it that 2011 feels quite dizzy.

In December, media outlets reported that Lowe’s Cos. had pulled its advertising from the cable-TV series All-American Muslim under pressure from the Florida Family Association, which claims the TLC program promotes Islamic fundamentalism.

Gambling has paid off in spades for western North Carolina, according to a study by UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School paid for by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Publicity is integral in making a movie a hit.

When federal regulators closed Bank of Asheville in January and brokered its sale to Troy-based First Bancorp, 18 months had passed since North Carolina’s last bank failure.