The Stoner’s Ball is coming to Haywood County, but it may not be quite what people think. 

It’s been a little under a year since Corrina Ruffieux took over for longtime Haywood County Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Lynn Collins, but Ruffieux’s wasted little time bolstering the TDA’s destination marketing strategy with robust and insightful data meant to show the county’s relative strengths and weaknesses while also hedging against uncertainty with new initiatives designed to keep the money flowing into Western North Carolina’s tourism-based economy — especially in post-mill Canton. 

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.

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. 

Tuesday, Nov. 7 was an important night for out LGBTQ+ candidates across the country, the state and Haywood County, with more running — and winning — than in any previous odd-year election in U.S. history. 

Incumbent Alderman Dann Jesse will return to the Town of Clyde Board of Aldermen, along with a new face, Amy Russell. 

More than two years after deadly flooding killed six people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to public and private property from Bethel to Cruso to Canton to Clyde, Haywood County will purchase an early warning siren system to keep residents better informed for when — not if — it happens again. 

Incumbent Alderman Dann Jesse will return to the Town of Clyde Board of Aldermen, along with a new face, Amy Russell.

Things are changing in Haywood County’s smallest incorporated municipality. Although there are only 754 registered voters in Clyde, the town plays a central geographic and economic role in how the county itself will, or will not, thrive and grow in the 21st century. 

The Haywood County Fair is coming up Sept. 28-Oct. 1, and the Home Economics Division is looking for volunteers to help handle the more than 350 entries expected for contests in preserved foods, home furnishings and more.