Hello from Room 107 at the Skyline Lodge in Highlands. I’m here on assignment for the Bear Shadow Music Festival. But, my mind keeps drifting elsewhere. It wanders to the fact I’m not back home for the memorial service for the recent passing of my best friend. That, and the last time I stayed here was with the woman I thought that I’d spend the rest of my life with. 

Hurricane Helene’s torrential rains in September 2024 caused the Pigeon River to surge to record flow that ripped sections of Interstate 40 to shreds, but the nearby Walters Dam, and powerhouse 12 miles below it, withstood the devastating storm with little damage. 

“The dam was in no way compromised. It functioned perfectly, just like it should. We opened it up to let water out,” Alan Stuart Jr., a senior project manager for Duke Energy, told a Haywood County audience last week during a presentation about the hydropower plant on the Pigeon River. 

The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season began today, and Gov. Josh Stein urged North Carolinians to have a plan in place in case tropical weather impacts the state this season. Although the National Hurricane Center predicts a below-normal season, North Carolinians know that it takes only one storm to affect communities statewide.  

Swain County Commission meetings have become increasingly heated over the past couple of months. 

One side consists of several vocal constituents and Commissioner David Loftis, sick of what they categorize as unlawful decisions and a general lack of transparency on behalf of the board.

A nagging albeit minor plumbing issue on our 46-year-old Canadian-made sailboat, Tranquilo, sent me to Mitchell’s Hardware in downtown New Bern. It’s one of those throwback hardware stores, brass doorknobs, endless bins of screws and washers and plumbing fittings, creaky hardwood floors and friendly employees to help you locate what you need. The woman who rang me up told me to have a good day and then asked where I was from. 

Gov. Josh Stein announced that North Carolina set a record for tourist spending in 2025, with travelers spending more than $37.2 billion on trips to and within the state, surpassing the previous record of $36.7 billion set in 2024. 

The state’s tourism-supported workforce increased 0.3% to 230,997 jobs in 2025. Tourism payroll increased 3.5% to $9.8 billion. Also as a result of visitor spending, state and local governments saw tax revenues of more than $2.7 billion. 

As the weather gets nicer and spring slowly transitions to those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, a bevy of longtime and beloved festivals start to pop up in the picturesque mountain communities here in Western North Carolina. 

These annual gatherings are a way to bring all of us together after an extended period of hunkering down during the winter months. Filled with locals and visitors alike, all those present partake in numerous activities and avenues to support those in your town.

A trip through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a beautiful, often nervous drive, as hundreds of thousands of tourists visit every year, and most do not know how to drive in the mountains. This is especially true trying to navigate winding mountain roads while looking at all of the long-range views. 

The National Park Service plans to burn approximately 180 acres in Wear Cove Gap (north of Metcalf Bottoms) and 243 acres in Lynn Hollow (near the Top of the World community) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Weather permitting, burn operations may begin as early as March 25 and may continue through March 31. These prescribed fires will help to safely reduce fuels, maintain resilient natural systems and protect communities along the park boundary. 

With North Carolina’s spring wildfire season arriving at a time when most of the state is experiencing moderate to severe drought, the N.C. Forest Service is urging the public to apply best practices and common sense with all outdoor fire, especially yard debris burns.

Escaped yard debris burns, largely due to carelessness, continue to be the leading cause of wildfires across the state, accounting for nearly half of all wildfires in North Carolina.