The U.S. Census Bureau on Feb. 2 announced that it was cutting four of six 2026 nationwide test sites aimed to inform the 2030 decennial count — Colorado Springs, Fort Apache Reservation, western Texas and Western North Carolina. It will now conduct operations in only Huntsville, Alabama, and Spartanburg, South Carolina. 

Jackson County commissioners have approved a sweeping new conservation framework designed to balance growth with preservation across some of the most ecologically significant lands in Western North Carolina, located in the southern part of the county. 

Gov. Josh Stein is highlighting Renew NC’s work to repair and rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Helene. Western North Carolinians who are seeking assistance in rebuilding Helene-damaged homes have until Dec. 31 to submit an application to the state’s Renew NC Single-Family Housing Program (SFPH).  

To the Editor:

Mountain Projects is proud to be a trusted Community Action Agency, serving Haywood and Jackson counties since 1965. Families and individuals rely on our programs each day for support, opportunity, and stability — and our doors must remain open to serve them. 

Last week, Mountain Projects’ Amanda Singletary was convinced she’d be calling all 250 Section 8 landlords with bad news: they wouldn’t be receiving October’s rental payment.  

Because Section 8 received funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but HUD hadn’t indicated what might become of its finances given a federal government shutdown, Singletary was “sweating bullets” as the Oct. 1 deadline to extend a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open loomed over the horizon.  

Rumors of an impending sale of the Waynesville Tower apartment building have circulated in recent weeks, but according to Waynesville Housing Authority Executive Director Beth Kahl, the 62-unit downtown complex is not on the market and remains a cornerstone of the county’s increasingly fragile stock of affordable housing. 

Michelle Parker hadn’t finished unpacking the last of her belongings that had survived Tropical Storm Fred in August 2021 when her home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene September 27, 2024. Within three years, two devastating floods had displaced her and her husband Jeff.  

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality State Energy Office announced a $10 million Home Repair Weatherization Readiness Program to supplement North Carolina’s existing Weatherization Assistance Program.

To the Editor:

Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene, Western North Carolina is still in the thick of a housing crisis. Families who once had steady jobs are now living paycheck to paycheck, one unexpected setback away from losing their homes. 

Gov. Josh Stein announced the state is accepting applications for a new program to repair or rebuild homes in Western North Carolina that were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene.