School board undergoes bias training
The Haywood County School Board and central office administration will undergo unconscious bias training on Tuesday, Jan. 26. The training…
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Indiana casino protest fails
A $250 million deal between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Caesars Entertainment will go forward after Tribal Council…
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DC dispatch: Jan. 18
No garbage cans. Temporary fencing, bolted together top and bottom. Armed soldiers in black ski masks every 50 feet.
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COVID cluster found at Waynesville Police Department
The Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency has identified a COVID-19 cluster connected to the Waynesville Police Department. Six…
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Updated ways to register for vaccine in Macon
Macon County Public Health has established an additional Call Center with the assistance of Drake Enterprises and Macon County Administration…
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Resuming court proceedings now in local hands
Newly elected Chief Justice Paul Newby wants judicial districts, not state officials, deciding when and how to resume full court…
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Mountain BizWorks, Dogwood Partner to Provide PPP
Mountain BizWorks is once again partnering with Dogwood Health Trust in a targeted effort to provide increased access to another…
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Jackson revises vaccine distribution guidelines
The N.C. Division of Health and Human Services modified its guidelines for vaccine distribution today, and Jackson County has modified…
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Haywood closes government buildings to public
Haywood County has implemented the following proactive measures for its government buildings, effective 9 a.m., Friday, Jan. 15, to limit…
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The Swag annexed into Maggie Valley
At a Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday, Jan. 12, The Swag was voluntarily annexed into Maggie Valley.
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Western to start semester remotely
Western Carolina University has shifted its spring semester schedule in response to record-high COVID-19 cases and a resulting strain in…
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Cullowhee Valley moves to remote-only instruction
Classes at Cullowhee Valley School will transition to remote-only instruction tomorrow due to a spike in COVID-19 cases among staff…
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Words matter: Rhetoric became rage in D.C. insurrection
Last week, as elected members of the House of Representatives and the Senate gathered in their respective chambers to certify…
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Franklin Chamber delays annual awards banquet
The Franklin Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet will be postponed until later in the year after a vote by…
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COVID-19 vaccine requests overwhelm phone system
Macon County Public Health was overrun with phone calls to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments and testing appointments on Monday and…
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Haywood records 191 new cases
Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 191 new cases of COVID-19 in the last four days.
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Haywood makes error in vaccine appointments
In the process of implementing new systems to create a fair and equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution, Haywood County Public Health recently…
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Cashiers Council prepares for development hearing
The future of a massive development proposed for the Cashiers crossroads is still up in the air following a Jan.…
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Student grades, retention slip at WCU
With the first full semester of pandemic instruction now in the books, preliminary numbers at Western Carolina University show dips…
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HHF trustees to discuss Presson’s views
A nonprofit health care foundation serving Haywood County is set to discuss whether one of its trustee’s anti-vaccine, anti-mask advocacy…
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Webster endorses Jackson County namesake change; county will discuss issue
With the Jackson County Board of Commissioners’ first public discussion about changing the county’s namesake scheduled for Jan. 12, the…
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Alcohol referendum proposed for Cherokee
Two years after tribal members voted down a similar referendum, the Tribal Alcohol Beverage Control Commission is seeking to place…
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Residents can apply for heating assistance from N.C.
RALEIGH —The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced beginning Jan. 4, households can apply for the Low-Income…
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Insurrection: WNC leaders react
In the interest of transparency, all responses from local officials regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection have been published online, in…
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First responders vaccinated in Haywood County
Over 80 firefighters, EMS, and rescue squad personnel who are frontline care providers were vaccinated Wednesday afternoon at a drive-through…
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Haywood COVID deaths reach 71
Between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 155 new cases of COVID-19. As…
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Update on vaccine roll out in Haywood
Vaccinations are underway in Haywood County and currently, we are nearing completion on the first phase, known as 1A, which…
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Cawthorn: mob that breached capitol ‘disgusting and pathetic’
Newly-elected Western North Carolina Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn, R-Hendersonville, hadn’t yet been on the job for three whole days before…
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DA Welch Appointed to Innocence Commission
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch has been named prosecuting attorney commissioner for the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission.
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Lake Junaluska Begins Drawing Down Water Levels
Lake Junaluska began the drawdown of the lake on Dec. 30. The lake drawdown, which happens every few years, allows…
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COVID-19 cluster found at Macon Valley
Macon County Public Health has identified a COVID-19 outbreak at Macon Valley. Thirteen residents and four staff members have tested…
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Jackson County fire chief dies from COVID
The COVID-19 death count in Jackson County nearly doubled over the holiday season, increasing from 10 as of Nov. 25…
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Elderly in Haywood can pre-register for vaccine
Beginning Jan. 6, Haywood County residents over the age of 75, who have not already been included in a previous…
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Pardon me? Haywood man’s presidential pardon reveals systemic inequities
On a frosty Appalachian mountain morning in 1962, 22-year-old Waynesville man Charles Miller brought his car to a stop on…
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Tribal members seek to reverse casino purchase
A group of 14 tribal members that includes two sitting Tribal Council members and a former principal chief has entered…
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Anti-mask, anti-vax views raise concerns
One of the loudest voices against masks and vaccines during recent public comment sessions in Haywood County also serves on…
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State finds Swain jail death caused by cardiac arrest
After a four-month investigation into the sudden death of a 25-year-old Cherokee man inside the Swain County Detention Center, the…
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Opposition forms against proposed Haywood jail
A Nov. 3 report by the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office demonstrating the need for a $16 million expansion to the…
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327 new COVID cases reported in Haywood
In the week since the last press release, Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 327 new cases of…
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Positive gains continue in WNC housing market
The mountain counties of Western North Carolina posted yet another strong month of home sales in November according to the…
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Haywood reports six more COVID-19 deaths
Haywood County Health and Human Services is reporting six more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total number now to 68.
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Down Home Haywood leads campaign against new jail
On Monday, Jan. 4, Down Home North Carolina Haywood and local community members will hold a press conference to announce…
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Three new COVID deaths reported in Macon
Three Macon County residents diagnosed with COVID-19 have passed away. The persons were over the age of 65 and had…
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Former NPS director dies from COVID-19
Former National Park Service Director Gary Everhardt passed away on Sunday, Dec. 27, following a battle with COVID-19 and just days after…
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Haywood Health begins COVID vaccinations
Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency has begun distribution of its first allotment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
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Untreated sewage discharged into Pigeon River
The Junaluska Sanitary District experienced a discharge of untreated sewage from a broken sewer main.
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2020: Burn, baby, burn
They say hindsight is 2020 and that is definitely true as we’re all eager to put this disaster of a…
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Fake News Freakout! Five
By Cory Vaillancourt • Fake News Editor | When I started writing this yearly feature five years ago, it was…
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Macon Human Services closes due to hazardous chemicals
Macon County Human Services building (which includes the Department of Social Services, Macon County Public Health, and Code Enforcement) was…
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Rabies positive racoon found in Macon
Macon County has identified a rabies positive raccoon. The raccoon was turned over to Macon County Animal Services after it…
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