Drought devastates local farmers, businesses: With no relief in sight, those who depend on rain for their livelihood are increasingly desperate
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
It’s been more than a week since Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue raised some eyebrows with his atypical approach to getting rain to fall in the drought-ravaged state. With no rainfall in site and the lake supplying Atlanta’s water rapidly dwindling, Perdue joined 250 citizens in a last ditch effort to combat the drought — he bowed his head and prayed.
Keeping downtown alive: Revitalization organizations debate how to best improve downtown communities, as Sylva refocuses following a major spending cut
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer
With a quick trip on Main Street in downtown Sylva, it’s easy enough to see the small town as a quaint collection of professional offices, locally owned restaurants, galleries, clothing and specialty shops.
Each business is located in a historically significant building, many of the old brick storefronts still bearing the name of their original owner somewhere up high in the masonry. Dotted with trees and park benches and old style lampposts, Main Street lures tourists for some lunch and an afternoon of shopping. Gaggles of families come from Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, indicated by the license plates lined up along the street’s two-hour parking.
Waynesville ‘blew them all out of the water’
Preliminary results of a zip code market analysis being conducted in Waynesville shows signs of a strong and healthy retail economy.
