Shining Rock Classical Academy’s governing board is weighing whether to end its high school operations by summer after a new financial sustainability report revealed the Dellwood Road campus is operating at a $300,000 deficit and would require more than $1.1 million in facility investments over the next few years.

For nearly 20 years, the United States Department of Education has helped fund Full-Service Community School programs in “high-poverty” and “high-poverty rural” schools across the nation, while coalitions and existing community partners ensure on-the-ground, local implementation. 

The Center for Biological Diversity and MountainTrue are suing the federal government, seeking to ensure laws are followed where they claim the U.S. Forest Service is skirting regulations in allowing the logging of a 135-acre parcel in the Nolichucky Gorge near the small Poplar community on the border between Yancey and Mitchell counties. 

To the Editor:

Recently three Haywood County citizens long involved in issues of public concern met with Congressman Chuck Edwards at his office in Hendersonville. Issues focused on were SNAP, medical insurance, research cuts and the federal match for Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes.

A Prince George’s County, Maryland, man whose viral video of a confrontation with a group at a dump in Haywood County drew outrage and polarized viewers has said he will file a federal civil rights lawsuit against several parties, including Haywood County Sheriff Bill Wilke.

In its first regular meeting since a superior court judge ruled that Head of School Joshua Morgan was responsible for the “improper use of governmental authority to stop or inhibit the public from accessing public records,” Shining Rock Classical Academy’s governing board doubled down on Morgan’s leadership, bid farewell to two longtime advisors, took substantial steps to bolster transparency and voted not to appeal the case.  

A judge’s ruling earlier this month that ordered Shining Rock Classical Academy — a charter school in Haywood County — to turn over public records requested by a mother and this newspaper is a win for taxpayers across this state who fork over their hard-earned cash to fund both regular public schools and charters.

Rebecca Fitzgibbon hasn’t breathed easy since her 11-year-old son was put in the back of a police car by his school principal in the parking lot of Shining Rock Classical Academy. Since then, as she’s looked for accountability — or at least answers — she’s faced public scrutiny, legal threats and even criminal charges. 

An Asheville law firm has filed a civil suit on behalf of two minor female clients alleging that the girls were sexually abused while employed at a Bojangles fast food restaurant near Lake Junaluska in Haywood County. 

Editor's note: this story has been updated with a statement from Cynthia Mason Womble, acting chair of the Fontana Regional Library system board. 

In a historic decision that will reshape the future of public library services in Jackson County, commissioners voted Tuesday night to withdraw from the Fontana Regional Library system after months of controversy over content and control.