Canton glimpses the future of fire, police, town hall buildings

Architects selected by Canton’s governing board to plan renovations on a pair of buildings purchased to replace those damaged in deadly 2021 flooding presented recommendations and cost estimates to officials last week — a major milestone that keeps the town moving on the road to recovery with an eye on the future. 

High bacterial concentrations prompt two new violations for Canton mill

A pair of new environmental violations issued this month brings the total for Canton’s shuttered paper mill up to seven since it closed last June and 22 since May 2021 — an average of 1.3 violations every two months. 

Bike Chestnut Mountain

Ride the trails with an experienced mountain bike instructor at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at Chestnut Mountain Nature Park in Canton. 

From risk to resiliency: State waters summit highlights red tape, funding deficiencies

An annual waters summit hosted by a pair of North Carolina congressmen brought together local, state and federal administrators, experts and elected officials who spent a lot of time looking back at the sad recent legacy of flood control, mitigation and recovery efforts in the state — hampered by funding anxiety, ensnarled in bureaucracy, stressed by the impact of growing populations on aging infrastructure and impeded by way too many government agencies on way too many levels that are all somehow siloed yet still tangled up like fallen trees in a raging river. 

Canton eyes Bethel Christian Academy for flood project

The Town of Canton has taken a major step toward long-term flood recovery with an economic development project at a downtown parcel that could soon serve as the capstone to a broader resiliency effort all along the Park Street corridor. 

‘Cowboy’ Coward, Deliverance actor and local legend, killed in wreck

Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, a Haywood County native who shot to stardom after his hair-raising performance as a villain in the 1972 Burt Reynolds film Deliverance, was killed in a traffic accident in Haywood County yesterday afternoon.

Ice Festival coming this weekend

Get ready to chill out at the NC Smokies Ice Festival on January 26-28 at locations throughout the county. 

Get outdoors with Ice Fest

Winter hikes, winter lights, frosty runs and outdoor ice skating will offer ample opportunity for chilly fun in celebration of the N.C. Smokies Ice Fest Weekend Jan. 26-28. 

Canton's post-mill budget will be about results

The Town of Canton has been through some difficult budget discussions in the past, but this year’s effort, the first to reckon with the full impact of Pactiv Evergreen’s exit from the community after more than a century, looks to be the most trying. 

Landfill pond overflow, failed water quality test prompt new violations at Canton mill

While mountain residents were busy preparing for Christmas, the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton that until May 2023 employed more than 1,000 of them was racking up a pair of new environmental violations.

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