Though I had assured my Smoky Mountain News editor I’d deliver a real book review this week — my to-read stack includes biographies of Karl Marx and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, a novel, two books of essays on education, and more — book-centered distractions in late May led me in a different direction. 

A first-of-its-kind exhibition centering Native voices, perspectives and creativity in response to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the exhibition “Unrelenting: Cherokee People and the American Revolution” is currently being showcased at the Museum of the Cherokee People (MotCP) in Cherokee. 

What began as a welcoming gathering during the cold winter months has become something more. At “Stecoah Stories and Seeds,” local guests engage the group in stories of people, agriculture and traditions. Following the presentations, a free lunch is provided, offering time and space for Q&A and social connection.

On Friday June 5, Haywood Waterways Association will lead a moderate 6-mile hike in the Sunburst area of Haywood County. Shannon Rabby, Instructor of Fish and Wildlife Management Technology, Sciences and Natural Resources, will share his knowledge of local trees and woody plants on our way to a waterfall. 

The event is free for Haywood Waterways’ members and a $5 donation for nonmembers; memberships start at $25. 

Technology is evolving ever more rapidly, and Southwestern Community College in Franklin has taken steps to keep up by opening a mobile electric vehicle lab. 

The mobile EV lab was funded by a grant from the Duke Energy Foundation as part of its Project E-Volve program and will enable instructors to bring their class to students, even at local high schools.

Haywood County’s Black Generational Wealth committee is the product of a long-dissolved 2020 book club. 

That year, a white police officer murdered an unarmed Black man named George Floyd with the assistance of three other officers.  Like many COVID-era racial justice collectives, the book club was a response to the horrific act perpetrated in Minneapolis, said committee chair Nancy Thomason.  

The series Where We Live: History, Nature, and Culture, will present a program called “Beautiful, Beneficial Bees.”

The program will be focused on beekeeping in Western North Carolina and will cover a brief history of beekeeping, structure of a hive, what it takes to be a beekeeper here, issues that we face, the need for bees and what the average person can do to support bees and other pollinators. 

Immediately after Jackson County Public Schools Associate Superintendent Jake Buchanan and Southwestern Community College President Don Tomas proposed their respective departmental appropriations for fiscal year 2026-27, Jackson County Manager Kevin King presented commissioners with a May 19 draft county budget that left both requests unfulfilled.  

Western Carolina University is celebrating a milestone achievement that underscores its commitment to student success, interdisciplinary learning and hands-on research.

This spring, Asratun Sarmin Anjum, an international student from Bangladesh, became the first WCU graduate in 25 years to earn a degree rooted in physics — an accomplishment made possible through a customized, interdisciplinary academic pathway. 

Western Carolina University will launch a new Master of Science in engineering program in fall 2026, expanding graduate opportunities and responding to growing regional demand for engineers with advanced credentials. 

The in-person program, based at WCU’s Cullowhee campus, blends advanced coursework with applied research and interdisciplinary collaboration.