Shelter advocacy group to hold awareness event
Friends of the Haywood County Animal Shelter will host a kickoff reception and informational session in support of the county’s…
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Largest indoor shooting range in WNC set to open soon
Work has begun on a controversial Haywood County indoor shooting range that had some residents at odds last winter.
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Sales tax to increase in Jackson
Nearly two-thirds of Jackson County voters who visited the polls last week said yes to a referendum question asking to…
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Moral Monday comes to the mountains
The Jackson County Branch of the NAACP will host more than a dozen like-minded Western North Carolina organizations in Sylva…
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After investigation, casino board member will keep her seat
A casino board member who came under fire for possible “conduct unbecoming” of a public official will keep her post,…
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GALLERY: Ghost Town property going on the market
After attempting to revamp the mountaintop amusement park for several years, Alaska Presley has decided to sell Ghost Town in…
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NAACP gains ground in WNC communities
Katherine Bartel has a long list of reasons why a NAACP branch started in Haywood County a couple of years…
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Local leader represents NAACP’s changing face
As an associate professor of physics at Western Carolina University who specializes in astronomy, Dr. Enrique Gomez may be used…
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Swain aims to avoid tax hike
As Swain County continues to struggle with a decrease in funding from several revenue sources, commissioners hope to pass a…
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Swain’s public pool needs expensive repairs to stay open
While it may not be an immediate need in the upcoming budget, the swimming pool at the Swain County Recreation…
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Cherokee council considers revoking part of former vice chief’s will
The widow of a former Vice Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians may be out of a home…
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$30,000 to expanding businesses provided in Macon
Macon County commissioners have agreed to provide $30,000 toward an economic development project that promises to create 35 new jobs…
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Macon works toward middle ground on school funding
Macon County Schools Superintendent Chris Baldwin came before the county commissioners last week to plead his case for additional funding…
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Planning under way for new science building at WCU
With the N.C. Connect bond passed, Western Carolina University is moving forward with plans to bring a $110 million natural…
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Patience on Canton paving project ‘a virtue’
For the past few months, downtown Canton’s long-awaited repaving and streetscaping projects seemed to be cruising right along in the…
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Quixotic opposition to gun ordinance fails, sort of?
For 21 years, firearms have not been permitted on any county-owned property, except for law enforcement officers on duty. Almost…
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Shelter proposal moves forward
If you’re for the proposed new Haywood County Animal Services facility, it’s called an “animal shelter,” deadpanned Haywood County Commissioner…
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Harris Regional asks county to slash the hospital’s tax value
When Jackson County sent out bucketloads of mail this spring announcing new values for every property in its borders, Harris…
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Stakes high in tax dispute with Haywood hospital
A dispute over how much Haywood Regional Medical Center owes in county property taxes is headed for a showdown this…
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Will the row over hospitals’ property taxes go the distance?
Haywood and Jackson counties could have a long road ahead in their property tax disputes with Duke LifePoint, which owns…
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Skyrunner offers wireless solutions for rural communities
Melanie Williams was fed up. She could no longer run her web design business from her Crabtree home with the…
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Skyrunner helps rural neighborhoods get connected
It’s hard to believe there are still developed neighborhoods in Haywood County that can’t get internet access or even landline…
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Park proposes fee hike for campgrounds
Camping fees could increase in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park if a recently released proposal gains approval.
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Forest plan timeline lengthens
The timeline for a draft forest management plan has been kicked back once more, with the document now expected sometime…
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Early Voting Ends Saturday
Voters hoping to cast their ballots in advance of the Tuesday, June 7, Primary Election have just a few more…
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Broadband master plan in the works for Haywood
Finding a solution to the lack of high-speed internet in rural Western North Carolina has been on the minds of…
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Shining Rock focuses on year two improvements
While Shining Rock Classical Academy students are already out of class enjoying their summer vacation, school leaders are busy assessing…
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Moving mountains: A rare bright spot in the relentless fight against prescription pill abuse
A life-saving antidote to reverse drug overdoses is finding widespread acceptance amid the prescription pain pill epidemic.
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Officers add drug overdose antidote to their tool belt
Law enforcement officers in Haywood County are pulling double duty in the war on drugs: they’re saving lives as well…
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Canton budget – a tangled web?
When Alderman Zeb Smathers opened the Canton Board of Aldermen meeting on May 26 with an invocation decrying the “venom…
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Edwards: Canton paving delay ‘ridiculous’
Canton Town Board Member and Mayor Pro-Tem Carole Edwards had a hard time concealing her dismay at news that Canton’s…
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Jackson tourism signs new marketing contract
Tourism folks in Jackson County are feeling hopeful after hiring a new marketing firm to spread the word about the…
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New Haywood Visitor Center opens in Maggie Valley
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will celebrate the grand opening of its new visitor center with a ribbon cutting…
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Maggie to hold tax rate steady for 2016-17
Maggie Valley residents and businesses won’t have to worry about paying a higher property tax rate for the next year,…
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Group forms to support Pisgah District
When John Cottingham, then working as — in his words — a “stuffy, corporate lawyer,” walked into the Pisgah District…
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Waynesville mulls adding eight firefighters
Waynesville town leaders will decide this month whether to raise property taxes to hire additional firefighters, and if so, by…
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Town manager hiring pool narrows
The Waynesville town board met Tuesday for a third stab at narrowing down their pool of applicants for the town…
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Moral Monday coming to Sylva
A coalition of organizations led by the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP are coordinating a Moral Monday gathering to…
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Waynesville split over proposed food truck rules
An ongoing debate over food trucks and pushcart vendors in Waynesville made its way to the town board last week,…
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Cheap tuition proposal could cost WCU millions
How would you like to pay a mere $500 a semester to attend Western Carolina University?
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The phoenix rises: Haywood County’s real estate market gets back in the game
After years of a sluggish real estate recovery, the home market in Haywood County is on a noticeable upward swing.…
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Cherokee communities debate representation
A request to change the way tribal members in the westernmost reaches of the Qualla Boundary are represented on Tribal…
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Increases cause Jackson to ponder EMS contract
When a funding request for Emergency Management Services came in for more than double what Jackson County is paying now,…
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New president settles in at Angel Medical
For someone who has spent most of her life in Ohio, moving to the mountains of Western North Carolina has…
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Contract commits county to pay for central office move
A little-known contract crafted in 1980 will take center stage in coming months as Haywood County school officials and county…
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Haywood’s central office move contingent on fate of old hospital
Haywood County School officials could be ousted from their central office by early spring 2017 to make way for an…
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Jackson to vote on tax for education projects
When the polls open June 7, Jackson County voters will have a choice to make — whether to OK a…
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Wrong bear euthanized in Smokies incident
The case of a 400-pound bear euthanized after a hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was bitten in…
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Camera crazy: Downtown Sylva comes alive during filming of big-budget movie
An air of excitement and expectation reigned over downtown Sylva last week as crews and stars alike rolled in to…
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The long road to the big screen
Getting a movie to come to town isn’t something that happens overnight.
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