Macon inmate captured after fleeing custody

Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland told commissioners last week that he tries his best not to ask for more money in the middle of the budget year, but after an inmate recently escaped from the courthouse, he said the lack of security at the facility must be addressed sooner rather than later. 

Macon amends contract for jail medical services

Macon County commissioners approved two amended contracts that will hopefully keep costs down at the detention center. 

Pretrial program nears end of pilot year

Haywood and Jackson counties have been participating in an important pilot program this year in hopes of creating a more fair and swift court process in the judicial district. 

Sisters form Pretrial Justice Project of Macon County

Dawn Todd manages a humane society in Franklin. With a full plate at work, she isn’t someone who would usually get involved in someone else’s criminal matters, but she’s also someone who can’t turn away when she sees people being treated unfairly. 

Community searches for homelessness solutions

A wide-ranging forum held last week at Frog Level Brewing to discuss Haywood’s homeless population revealed deep divisions about how to treat a vulnerable and visible segment of the population.

Board of Inquiry recommends removing ranger’s commission

A Blue Ridge Parkway law enforcement supervisor who admitted to using illegal substances still retains his position as head ranger of the Parkway’s largest district, despite a March Board of Inquiry recommendation that his law enforcement commission be permanently revoked, according to records The Smoky Mountain News obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act. 

Funds earmarked for Haywood drug court

A drug court could be established in Haywood County over the next couple of years if the North Carolina General Assembly passes a budget. 

KARE child advocacy center helps the county’s most vulnerable

Just off Waynesville’s North Main Street, in one of the town’s most blighted areas, on top of a small hill sits a little green house that many people drive by each day, without noticing it at all. 

Forced to Fight: Law enforcement grapples with opioids in Appalachia

After a routine surgery, Haywood County native Clayton Suggs ended up hooked on opioids until on the first day alone in his new apartment after a year of sobriety, his addiction eventually cost him his life. 

Forced to Fight: Opioid data puts local addiction in context

It was finally moving day, and that empty little Greensboro apartment must have seemed like a mansion to 29-year-old Clayton Suggs. 

Fitting, the lack of furnishings; the whole thing was a blank slate, a new start.

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