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.

Just two weeks after a lawsuit was filed to dissolve Ghost Town in the Sky, LLC — the company that claims to be developing the former amusement park — attorneys representing the party wishing to keep it intact has filed to move the case to the state’s business court.

Small in stature but towering in her decades-long influence on Haywood County, Alaska Presley passed away on April 7 at Smoky Mountain Health and Rehabilitation, according to an obituary from Wells Funeral Home. 

“The motion passes, three to two,” is becoming an ever more common phrase during Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen meetings. Whether the board is discussing food trucks or property zoning, the vote is becoming predictable. Last Tuesday was no different. 

Ghost Town developer Frankie Wood made his case to members of the Maggie Valley business community during a presentation at Elevated Mountain Distilling Company on Monday. 

A slew of zoning decisions in the Town of Maggie Valley have revealed deeper concerns about development and the future of Haywood County’s tourist hotspot. 

Developers associated with the rejuvenation of Maggie Valley’s Ghost Town in the Sky are moving forward with plans to resurrect the iconic mountaintop attraction and have enlisted some high-level talent to help redesign and prepare the park for reopening. 

A draft text amendment to a Maggie Valley ordinance concerning campgrounds and RV parks has sparked a larger conversation about the future of Maggie Valley itself. 

A weekend-long reunion event brought dozens of former Ghost Town in the Sky performers together to share some old memories, but it also brought together a small group of developers, investors, business owners and elected officials who are now working together to make some new ones.   

In another encouraging sign of progress, ownership of the land upon which Maggie Valley’s Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park sits has been transferred to developers, clearing the way for work to begin on the complex, multi-faceted redevelopment project.