When Alderman Zeb Smathers opened the Canton Board of Aldermen meeting on May 26 with an invocation decrying the “venom and negativity” in the national political climate, one could almost interpret it as the ominous foreshadowing of what was expected to be a tempestuous meeting.

An alliance of business owners opposing Maggie Valley’s proposed town center master plan is growing stronger and becoming more organized as it tries to derail the project. 

The tourism industry doesn’t always agree on much. They argue over the best logos and ad campaigns, whether to fund this festival or that one, and who has the best continental breakfast.

Busy season is coming at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, and management there is working to get all hired up for summer. 

Melanee Lester has been sorting through a 4-inch-high stack of applications on her desk for the last couple of weeks, trying to get Mast General Store fully staffed for the long tourism season ahead.

It happens like clockwork every year. As the calendar creeps toward May, the roads get crowded, lines at the grocery store get longer, and the wait for a table on Friday night mounts. Right on cue, tourist season arrives, seemingly overnight.

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It’s a conundrum the best minds in tourism have been trying to crack for decades.

Piece by piece, Canton is setting the stage for future economic success through a number of new initiatives.

In an effort to bring together the artistic hearts and minds from around Western North Carolina, the “LEAD:Arts” summit was hosted last week by Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

“The arts and artists are essential elements for a healthy community,” said moderator George Brown, dean of WCU’s College of Fine and Performing Arts. “Art improves the quality of life. Artists make good neighbors. This conference will go beyond discussion of the role of arts in the community. Western Carolina University and Western North Carolina will come together through art to take action and foster a better tomorrow for the region.”

Even though the money isn’t yet in place, the town of Canton is considering several options for economic development incentives for businesses willing to invest in the downtown corridor.