Macon County Schools has spent the better part of a year undergoing a strategic planning process that charts a course for the school system’s future. 

The COVID pandemic may seem like ancient history to most western North Carolinians, but foster children in Haywood County are still feeling its ripple effects. Due to abuse, neglect or other adverse circumstances, they need stable and supportive temporary homes and there are not enough foster homes. 

True freedom isn’t attainable without economic freedom. This was the central theme of the 2024 North Carolina Community Action Association’s annual convention held at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino last week.

Six new recipients in Western North Carolina have been awarded grants to participate in the MADE X MTNS Partnership’s Building Outdoor Communities Program. 

The Jackson County Department of Social Services has faced incredible challenges over the past year associated with placing children in foster care. Now both the state and the county are providing funding to try and alleviate that problem. 

Calling the last decade “a period of intensive and dynamic change” for Haywood County, strategic planning consultants in conjunction with county economic development administrators will produce a late spring report for commissioners identifying local priorities, challenges and concerns augmented by the closure of the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton last year. 

Over the next three years, 40 sites across Western North Carolina are expected to be part of the WNC Double SNAP Network, which expands the ability of people receiving assistance from the federal SNAP program to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers markets. 

Haywood County Schools recently received two grants from Dogwood Health Trust. One will benefit students at the Haywood Community Learning Center, and another will help fund mental health support services in elementary and middle grades. 

A total of 20 organizations located across the western region have received grants from Made X Mtns in support of their work to increase outdoor recreation access and economic opportunity.

Jackson County schools will once again expand its pre-K capacity at the start of the 2023-24 school year, this time with a second classroom at Smokey Mountain Elementary School in Whitter