This award goes out to the Fontana Regional Library, which, despite consistent attacks throughout 2023, is still standing, and continues to serve the residents of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. 

Meet Santa at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Swain County at one of three events coming up next month. 

New bill includes 2% occupancy tax increase

This year’s state budget process may have been one of the most discordant in recent memory, but Western North Carolina’s legislative delegation was able to secure record-setting funding for critical needs in a relatively poor region that sometimes feels overlooked when Raleigh gets to dishing out the dough. 

After the Parents Bill of Rights passed the General Assembly in August, local boards of education are determining how to align school policies with the legislation. Swain County Schools will have to revise several of its existing policies to come under compliance with the new law. 

The annual corn maze and pumpkin patch will return through Oct. 31 at Darnell Farms in Bryson City.

Last week, a Swain County jury convicted Daniel Ryan Sutton, 39, of first-degree murder.

A weekend of riverside games, whitewater rafting, adventure films and gear deals will liven up the fall Sept. 22-24 at Nantahala Outdoor Center in Swain County.

Spend time with beekeepers during the next meeting of the Smoky Mountain Beekeepers Association at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Swain County Business Education Center in Bryson City.

A controversial law enforcement association that holds a fringe interpretation of the Constitution and has ties to white nationalism, the sovereign citizen movement, election denial and COVID-19 conspiracy theories will host a meeting in Cherokee County this weekend, but Western North Carolina sheriffs have been largely reluctant to say whether they’ll attend.