After an extensive, yearslong process featuring dozens of public hearings, presentations and private meetings, Haywood County will finally get its badly-needed jail expansion, even though the final step was marred by threats and misinformation from a familiar face. 

Although concerns about Canton’s post-mill wastewater treatment remain front and center, the town’s recovery from devastating flooding in 2021 continues to move forward with a project budget meant to shore up the town’s aging water infrastructure. 

Haywood County Schools has increased the number of people it employs to care for and monitor students’ mental health this year, largely due to increased funding from the county commission that allowed for additional school resource officers. 

A recent update to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule directs nearly all of the nation’s water systems to conduct an inventory of service lines by October, checking for the presence of lead pipes due to their well-established health risks. 

Western Carolina University is gearing up to take its first bite out of an estimated $130 million in needed upgrades to its athletic facilities, with the Board of Trustees recently hiring a construction manager to oversee the first chunk of projects, worth at least $30 million. 

In a public meeting that lasted more than five hours, Macon County Commissioners approved premium pay for county employees, 3-2. However, the debate was heated, and Commissioner John Shearl called for County Manager Derek Roland’s resignation. 

Tribal Council has again delayed approving long-term funding for its cannabis enterprise but voted overwhelmingly Thursday, Nov. 2, to loan the company up to $3 million to cover expenses over the next month. 

Mainspring Conservation Trust has received $175,000 to clean up and restore a brownfield site near Nikwasi Mound in Franklin. The money will help Mainspring remediate petroleum-contaminated soils on a vacant gravel lot in downtown Franklin.

To the Editor:

The new 2023 state budget will pump more than $100 million annually into land and water conservation.

This year, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that allows charter schools to request capital funding from their local board of commissioners.