New data from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis show that 2021 was a year of growth for the outdoor economy in North Carolina — but that the industry is still working to make up ground it lost during the pandemic. 

As Swain County Schools digs into the 2022-23 budget, staff are planning for the largest fund balance allocation needed in recent years — over $1 million — to balance that budget. This is largely due to the discrepancy between state mandated pay increases for public school staff and state/federal funding levels.

The predicted red wave washed over most of North Carolina’s elections last week, but now as it recedes and parties begin strategizing for the next presidential election cycle amid shifting demographics and potentially contentious primaries in several races, Republicans may have cause to worry about a low tide in 2024.

The highly anticipated red wave hit Western North Carolina hard on Nov. 8, with Republicans retaining several crucial legislative seats and knocking off some longtime Democratic incumbents on the local level.

Although little-known, there’s an agency within the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer that has a tremendous impact on everything from local water quality to municipal property taxes — and it got its start because of a bad situation right here in Western North Carolina, nearly 100 years ago.

Lily Seymour has been asked to join the State Board of Education as a student advisor. The Haywood County student’s appointment comes after hard work on other local and state advisory boards. During a recognition at the Nov. 3 Haywood County School Board meeting, Haywood County Schools administration sang her praises.

A strong and healthy economy will benefit everyone in Western North Carolina, which is why we need Medicaid expansion. As both Republicans and Democrats in our General Assembly have acknowledged, going the route of 38 other states would be a tremendous boost in several key ways. Boosts that would almost immediately pay dividends for our families and businesses

The race for United States Senate in North Carolina has been dubbed a sleepy one, but with Election Day now just three weeks away, things are heating up and both candidates are ramping up the attacks.

They may be the most consequential races in North Carolina this year, yet most people don’t even know who’s running.

There’s a basic human longing for a sense of place, some part of the world that’s home, a place where you are a part of something that feeds your soul. Find it, feel it, and you’re one of the lucky ones.