Plans for Ghost Town property begin to emerge
There is perhaps no parcel of land in Haywood County that generates as much interest as the one that’s home…
Read More
Five more COVID deaths recorded in Haywood
Haywood County Health and Human Services has received notice of five more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total number now to…
Read More
Rep. Cawthorn Tours Western Counties
NC-11 Congressional Rep. Madison Cawthorn spent last week engaging with his constituents in the western reaches of the district.
Read More
Haywood EMS partners with HVO on COVID pod production
Expanding on an existing partnership, Haywood County Emergency Services has contracted Haywood Vocational Opportunities, Inc. to manufacture COVID pod covers…
Read More
Highlights from Smokies' Hikes for Healing Program
Great Smoky Mountains National Park announced the release of a video highlighting the Smokies Hikes for Healing program. In response to social…
Read More
Sylva man arrested in connection with Capitol riots
The world watched with bated breath Jan. 6 as what is normally a perfunctory proceeding — the Senatorial certification of…
Read More
Black Home Ownership and the Promise of Reparations
By Barbara Durr, Asheville Watchdog — Priscilla Ndiaye Robinson looked across the empty fields where her Southside neighborhood once thrived. “It’s…
Read More
Haywood scores touchdown on stadium capacity limits
It’s not something that happens all that often, but a late fourth-quarter drive by Western North Carolina’s state and local…
Read More
NC Gov. Cooper eases some coronavirus restrictions
As vaccination of North Carolinians continues and positive coronavirus case reports decline, today Gov. Roy Cooper announced changes to a…
Read More
The things you don't hear
Weary and sore they came upon a small copse of Loblolly pines swaying high above a sea of softly undulating…
Read More
International equity firm invests in Drake Software
International private equity firm Cinven recently announced that it has agreed to make a significant investment into Drake Software, a…
Read More
Drug sting wraps up in Macon County
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said a Macon County woman who was arrested as part of a multiple-person drug sting…
Read More
Reparations, Six Months Later: So Far, Empty Promises
By Barbara Durr and Peter H. Lewis • Asheville Watchdog | Six months ago, as part of a reckoning on…
Read More
Leading the way: Love for nature spurred HCC’s Black forestry grads to barrier-breaking lives
Ron Davis Sr. was just 17 years old when he arrived in the tiny town of Clyde, completely alone. It…
Read More
Foxfire and BPR team up for COVID-19 oral history project
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Foxfire has been collecting stories, memories, photographs and artifacts related to the experiences of…
Read More
Developer withdraws Cashiers Hillside application
When it was first scheduled, the Feb. 22 meeting of the Cashiers Area Community Planning Council was expected to be…
Read More
Winter storms slow down vaccine progress
Widespread winter storms last week drastically slowed down vaccination efforts in Jackson County, which still has the lowest percentage of…
Read More
Night Work Redirecting Traffic Exiting U.S. 74
CLYDE – A late-night operation at the interchange of U.S. 74 West and U.S. 19 South in Haywood County requires…
Read More
Macon man guilty of sex offender violations
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said a Macon County man who went on school property in violation of his sex…
Read More
Jackson to pause vaccine registration Feb. 26
Jackson County will close its phone-based vaccine appointment registration system on Friday, Feb. 26, as the county prepares to offer…
Read More
Changes, upgrades coming to Maggie festival grounds
The Town of Maggie Valley recently decided on several upgrades and changes to the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds this month.…
Read More
Share your pandemic stories with SMN
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the past year’s likely been topsy-turvy in all kinds of unexpected ways. With…
Read More
Weather prompts changes for Lake Junaluska cleanup
Due to the forecast for windy, cold weather, the Annual Lake Cleanup at Lake Junaluska, originally scheduled to take place…
Read More
Macon man gets 19-year sentence for drug trafficking
Daniel “Danny” Steven Lucas will spend a minimum of almost 19 years in prison for operating a substantial opiate and…
Read More
Gladys Knight, William McDowell vaccinated in Haywood
Gladys Knight, “Empress of Soul,” and her husband William McDowell recently received their COVID-19 vaccinations in Haywood County. The couple,…
Read More
Vaccine shipment delays push back WCU clinic start date
Western Carolina University is one of four University of North Carolina System campuses that has opened or will soon open…
Read More
Vaccination coverage improves in WNC
Vaccination coverage is picking up in Western North Carolina, with the percentage of the population receiving at least one dose…
Read More
Local Methodist churches form Justice and Reconciliation Team
The Smoky Mountain District of the First United Methodist Church has created a Justice and Reconciliation Team to take on…
Read More
Top to bottom, prognosis for NC economic recovery is good
North Carolina’s fiscal and economic health, along with years of budgetary discipline and a commitment to economic freedom, bode well…
Read More
Bit by bit, major investments bring broadband to the mountains
After years of pecking away at Western North Carolina’s broadband problem at the state level, a large-scale federal investment in…
Read More
Nikwasi Initiative changes plans for Franklin property
Nikwasi Initiative, the nonprofit that took over ownership of the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin two years ago, recently announced some…
Read More
Hottest ticket in town: Capacity limits for rivalry game ‘make no sense’
It’s a rivalry that runs as deep as the waters of Lake Logan and as wide as the Pigeon River…
Read More
Jail expansion opponents ask county to reprioritize
As promised, members of Down Home North Carolina presented to Haywood County commissioners a budget alternative that prioritizes treatment and…
Read More
All signs point to Canton’s continuing renewal
Another aesthetic improvement to Canton’s emerging downtown business district — rundown and dilapidated for years, until recently — will soon…
Read More
Impaired driver takes Alford plea
A woman who wrecked while driving impaired, killing a close friend after the two left work from the now-shuttered No…
Read More
‘Enroll Anytime’ now available at SCC
Uncertainty about university schedules, childcare and other variables prevented some prospective students from enrolling in college classes this spring.
Read More
Macon Leaders Encourage Vaccine Registration
The supply of COVID-19 vaccine from N.C. DHHS to Macon County remains limited at this time and a waitlist was…
Read More
Traffic stop leads to drug arrests in Haywood
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Haywood County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped a vehicle on North Canton Road around 4 p.m. A search…
Read More
WCU prepares to open COVID vaccine clinic
With freezers now on campus, staff in place, and volunteers on the way, Western Carolina University is in the final…
Read More
Haywood reports two more COVID-19 deaths
Haywood County Health and Human Services has received notice of three more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total number now to…
Read More
Child pornography arrests made in Macon
Two investigations and subsequent arrests in cases that were first initiated in Fall 2020 has Macon County Sheriff’s Office detectives…
Read More
HRMC recognized for maternity care
Haywood Regional Medical Center has been recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina with a Blue Distinction…
Read More
Wheels Through Time founder dies of cancer
Dale Walksler, the founder and curator of the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, passed away peacefully, with his…
Read More
Macon budget remains agile through pandemic
Despite dire predictions of how local governments would be financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Macon County has fared well…
Read More
Masking rules take effect on public lands
On Jan. 20, President Joe Biden issued an executive order requiring coronavirus prevention protocols — including mask-wearing — on all…
Read More
Disc golf course proposed in Franklin
The Whitmire property on East Main Street in Franklin could soon become a public disc golf course.
Read More
‘Something’s got to give’: Sylva police chief argues for more officers
Every year, Sylva’s department heads have a chance to tell town commissioners what they need — and what they want…
Read More
Macon steps up COVID response
When Macon County Commissioners met on Jan. 12, health department staff was having a difficult time meeting the demands of…
Read More
WCU center examines economic recovery after pandemic
The Center for the Study of Free Enterprise at Western Carolina University has issued an assessment of economic recovery, sustainability and growth in North…
Read More
Franklin man pleads guilty to trafficking
A Franklin man who pleaded guilty last week to trafficking in methamphetamine has been sentenced to serve 70 to 93…
Read More