The Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly took its second step in flood recovery on Oct. 24, designating from the state’s $4.4 billion Rainy Day Fund an additional $604 million in funding and resources for disaster recovery in response to Hurricane Helene — far less than the $3.9 billion the state’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper wanted, and with little real help to businesses that can’t afford to take out more loans. 

Not a lot of people remember the date the whistle last blew or the date the last workers put their well-worn tools down and took their shiny plastic helmets off for the final time, but everyone seems to remember the date of Pactiv Evergreen’s shocking announcement — the date that marked the end of one era, and the beginning of another. 

Officials on both the local and the state level have been adamant in demanding Pactiv Evergreen be held accountable for a number of unresolved issues since shortly after the company announced it would halt operations in Canton. But now, a week after the mill’s final whistle blew, they’re adopting a more forceful tone.

No one living can remember a time when there wasn’t a paper mill at the heart of Canton. Now, after 115 years in operation, it all comes down to three months.

After more than six months spent searching, the Haywood Community College Board of Trustees announced on Sept. 19 that it had identified a successor to retiring President Dr. Barbara Parker. Parker will leave the school in December after six years, but not before spending her remaining days working with the school’s next president, Dr. Shelley White.