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. 

Shining Rock refuses to discuss building project

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of stories on Haywood County’s public charter school, Shining Rock Classical Academy, which has been beset by a host of academic and organizational problems since opening in 2015.

Although plans for a new facility proposed by taxpayer-funded Haywood County public charter school Shining Rock Classical Academy have been scuttled due to an unexpected decrease in revenue brought about by dramatically lower student enrollment totals for the current school year, questions about how Shining Rock’s unelected governing board got so far along in the planning process without any public mention of the project continue to linger, and the school’s not talking. 

Shining Rock Classical Academy timeline

July 2015: Shining Rock Classical Academy, a brand-new taxpayer-funded public charter school governed by an unelected public board, violates closed-session laws pertaining to property acquisition before it even opens by refusing to name the parcel in question.

Shining Rock enrollment drops dramatically

Back-to-school time is here again, and at Shining Rock Classical Academy — Haywood County’s only public charter school — it looks like students this year will have lots more room to grow. 

Shining Rock continues to struggle with transparency

Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of stories on Haywood County’s public charter school, Shining Rock Classical Academy, which has been beset by a host of academic and organizational problems since opening in 2015.

Since 2015, Haywood County’s first public charter school, Shining Rock Classical Academy, has used more than $2.75 million in local taxpayer money to educate children to a level far below the county average, and also below the state average.

Contests in Haywood are few, but important

The races for this fall’s municipal elections are set, and depending on where you live, things could get interesting. 

Haywood candidates slow to sign up

With the deadline to file for municipal office fast approaching — noon on July 19 —Haywood County voters may end up with few competitive races, and even fewer candidates. 

Haywood foundation focuses on health

The Haywood Healthcare Foundation has put nearly half a million dollars back into the community since August 2014 when Haywood Regional Medical Center was sold to Duke LifePoint.

Wolf Tales: Man and his wolf pack combat misunderstandings about America’s wild dog

Rob Gudger shares his Haywood County homestead with three canines and a housecat, but of the four the feline is the only one he considers a pet. 

The canines live outside, get their sustenance in one massive feast per week, and give no visible indication that they know their names. That’s pretty well out of the normal for the life of a domestic dog, but the animals aren’t domestic dogs. 

Haywood candidates begin filing for office

Incumbents wasted little time in declaring their intentions to defend their seats after municipal candidate filing opened at noon on July 5, but as of press time on July 9, there were already two incumbents hoping to move up in the ranks, if their campaigns are successful.

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