When you can’t find motivation to get up early to hit the gym or can’t find the self-control to avoid the fast food line for dinner, just look to Nancy Lux and Reid Hendricks.

Josh Moss’s professional world revolved around property management and vacation rentals at the time he decided to open a CrossFit gym.

Haywood County competes favorably with Buncombe County in a number of areas; while employment, housing, cultural attractions and tourist amenities easily come to mind, there’s now a new way Waynesville measures up to Asheville — yoga.

Healthy living is a whole-family affair with the Cherokee Turning Point program, a seven-week course that aims to reach kids 7-12 who are at risk of developing diabetes.

Like salads, smoothies are what you make of them — and you can easily make them into a high-fat, high-calorie mess barely better than a Big Mac.

Located amidst the ice cream shops and candy stores in Maggie Valley’s Market Square is a different kind of establishment — Wild Market.

Ron and Chrissy Hill were all set for their retirement in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, having bought a house and moved themselves north from their longtime home in Macon, Georgia. Then they took a quick visit to Haywood County, and things changed pretty quickly. 

“We came over here for the weekend, and I said, ‘OK, this is it,” said Chrissy Hill, 57.

A new health sciences building at Southwestern Community College would allow an additional 288 students to prepare for in-demand health careers in Western North Carolina, and while the Jackson County Commissioners are excited about the project, paying the $19.8 million estimated price tag will be a challenge. In the 2016 master plan that first conceptualized the building, the cost was pegged at $16.3 million, but construction costs have since risen, and the county has several other major capital projects that it’s also pursuing.

January is universally recognized as the time to make a fresh start, throw away last year’s used-up calendar and dream up a new set of aspirations for the 12 months ahead. And when it comes to New Year’s resolutions aimed at becoming more active in 2017, Western North Carolina offers a dazzling array of options.

Western North Carolina is ablaze with 22 wildfires currently burning through more than 50 square miles in the seven most western counties. Smoke from the fires is posing health hazards while continued severe drought conditions are leaving many communities with a limited water supply.

• Holding the line
• Arson suspected in WNC fires
• Fleeing fire
• Local water supplies drying up
• Wildfires torment residents, tourism
• Dangerous smoke hazard persists throughout WNC