With the impending sunset of grants that have sustained the Community Care Program in Sylva Police Department, town officials have made clear that continuing the program will be a top budget priority. 

After a surprise move by Commissioner John Smith at a meeting on Feb. 18, Jackson County is one step closer to partisan school board elections. 

But the move, which was approved unanimously by the commission, was not on the agenda, which means the public, and members of the Board of Education, were left in the dark on the issue and the fact that commissioners were even considering the move. 

Sylva Commissioner Mark Jones tendered his resignation from the board through a letter during the Feb. 13 meeting, citing health-related reasons. 

Jackson County Commissioners appointed Dale Collins to the county’s Tourism Development Authority Board, filling a vacancy that had been left open since before December. 

On a holiday meant to honor the nation’s presidents — past and present — demonstrators in Jackson and Haywood counties joined others who gathered in cities across the country to protest what they describe as a dangerous concentration of power under Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. 

Jackson County is embarking on a conservation plan with goal of protecting certain tracts of land. 

“Jackson County is, from a natural resources perspective, a phenomenal county,” said Owen Carson, senior ecologist at Equinox Environmental in a presentation to commissioners Feb. 4.

The spring semester is underway at Western Carolina University and that means looking at how the university’s enrollment is shaping up for the first few weeks of the new year. 

Jackson County commissioners chose to delay an appointment to the county’s Tourism Development Authority Board for the third month in a row, leaving a board that has had difficulty filling seats in the past one member down when there are multiple applicants that have been vetted and are ready to serve. 

As part of the Great Backyard Bird Count initiative, a global community science project that helps researchers understand how birds are doing before they undertake their great spring migration, Mainspring Conservation Trust is hosting its own event. 

Residents of western Haywood County and eastern Jackson County will have the chance to learn about the Spongy Moth infestation that has hit several areas of the region, as well as what the N.C. Department of Agriculture plans on doing about the problem.