Caitlin Bowling
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners have made it clear that without a property tax increase, funding is unlikely for additional school resource officers and guidance counselors.
The 10-person Haywood Regional Medical Center board will now include an 11th member.
The Haywood Board of Commissioners Monday approved a change to the hospital board’s bylaws to up the number of members and appointed Neil Budde to the 11th seat.
This week is Travel and Tourism Week in Haywood County.
The Haywood County Board of Commissioners Monday officially dubbed May 4-12 Travel and Tourism Week to recognize the importance of the industry in the county and its positive impact on the local economy.
“Tourism means a whole lot to this county,” said Commissioner Mike Sorrells.
In its proclamation, the Tourism Development Authority detailed just how much tourism benefits the county. The yearly economic impact of the county’s tourism industry was tabulated at $120.4 million.
More tourists means more jobs and also lower taxes for residents. Travel and tourism accounts for more than 1,280 jobs in Haywood County — equaling $22.76 million in payroll. The state and local tax revenue generated from tourism also translates to $192.85 in tax savings on average for each Haywood County resident.
Lynn Collins, executive director of the TDA, said visitors’ reason for staying in Haywood County is apparent — it’s the natural beauty of the mountains.
“All you have to do is look out these windows to see why people want to visit,” Collins said.
Haywood County commissioners weighed the merits of saving money versus government transparency this week.
State law requires counties and towns to publish notices of meetings, public hearings and contracts going out to bid in the local newspaper of record. Newspapers charge a fee to print the notices, which add up to $20,000 to $30,000 a year for Haywood County alone.
A new landscape plan for the Haywood County historic courthouse is mostly devoid of large shade trees, in stark contrast to the many stately sugar maples that graced the lawn until recently. Instead, it opts for just a handful of midsized trees.
A landslide east of Canton took out a dirt road early Monday morning following two solid days of unceasing rains, blocking about 40 people in their homes who had no other way to get out of their neighborhood.
Ever since I first watched Brad Pitt fly fishing in the film “The River Runs Through It,” I knew I wanted to be on any river that he was on. Unfortunately, I am not sure how much fly fishing he gets in between trips to Africa or Asia to adopt children, so I had to go it alone.
Haywood County commissioners may soon revisit the unsettled issue of whether Confederate Flags can be flown on the lawn of the historic Waynesville courthouse.
County commissioners were caught in a maelstrom last year when a philosophical debate broke out between supporters and opponents of the Confederate Flag. Proponents wanted to place Confederate flags at the base of a Confederate memorial on the courthouse lawn to honor veterans who fought in the Civil War. But the county received complaints from those offended by the flags and enacted a temporary ban.
The county commissioners contemplated an official flag policy but never formally adopted it, citing the need to work with the language some more.
In the meantime, the debate simmered down. The flag policy may come back up for discussion this month, however.
“I do think it is going to be on the agenda sometime in May,” said David Teague, the county’s public information officer.
— By Reporter Caitlin Bowling
The Haywood Community College Board of Trustees has given preliminary approval for the construction of a training facility for law enforcement and emergency service workers.
If the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is footing the bill for a magazine ad, brochure, sign — you name it — the tourism agency deserves recognition, tourism board members reaffirmed last week.
A state bill that would raise Haywood County’s lodging tax is still sitting idly in committee in Raleigh with no signs of going up for a vote soon in the General Assembly.
A convenience store owner in Macon County was let off the hook by a judge for four misdemeanor charges of operating illegal sweepstakes machines — but it will have little or no bearing on the state’s ban on the machines.
After months of debate and protest, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Tribal Council voted to let the bear zoos on the Qualla Boundary remain open, although it was not unanimous.
As long as Realtor Sammie Powell leans back in his chair in his home office, he can talk on his cell phone all day long. But as soon as he stands up to reach for something across his desk, his service goes from good to nonexistent.
“I could be sitting at my desk, and if I lean over, I might not pick up,” said Powell, who lives and works from his home in Villages of Plott Creek neighborhood in Waynesville.
A bill that recently passed the state Senate would take social assistance away from anyone using drugs by requiring state aid recipients to take a mandatory drug test.
It is a day Lawrence Hyatt looks forward to all year — venturing into the Smokies backcountry to pay homage at the graves of early settlers who lived there.
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will hand out a bevy of grants for festivals and niche tourism projects throughout the county this year — most of them old standards but a few new events.
The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority will restore annual grant funding for Folkmoot USA, reversing a move last year to cut off the highly popular international folk dance festival.
The Maggie Valley town board will soon divest itself from the role of both judge and jury for new businesses moving into the town’s commercial district.
If a student at Central Elementary has a particularly tough weekend at home, school counselor Leslie Smith won’t get to hear about it until four days later.
The construction of a bridge and entrance road to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ second casino in Murphy has jumped from not even on the radar to the front of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s list of top road-building priorities.
Fire is a life source. Without fire or some other form of heat, it’s nearly, if not impossible, to survive in the wilderness — making it arguably the most important outdoor skill.
The town of Waynesville has hired a consultant to help create mandatory design standards for buildings in historic districts.
What if a tornado ripped through Western North Carolina? What if a tanker hauling dangerous chemicals overturned on Interstate 40? What if a blizzard caused power outages and trapped people in their homes?
A new cell phone tower in the Pigeon River Gorge could mean fewer dropped calls as motorists cruise down Interstate 40.
Swain County commissioners said they have fielded queries lately about why jail inmates aren’t put to work picking up trash along the roadsides or Tuckasegee River, and so in turn they posed that question to Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran during last week’s county meeting.
County commissioners across the state are protesting proposed state budget cuts and bills that they say pass the buck and put more burdens on counties.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could open a new $110 million casino in Murphy as early as spring 2015, with a temporary gambling operation up and running on the site in just a year from now.
Landslide repairs to U.S. 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were completed early this week — reopening the primary tourist corridor through the park nearly a month ahead of schedule.
Main Street merchants are used to answering tourists’ questions: how do you get to the parkway, what’s the best place for dinner, and where are the public restrooms? But lately, Waynesville’s downtown store keepers have also become purveyors of news.
Religion and public schools have never been a black and white matter anywhere in the U.S., but the shades of grey can be even more complicated in the Bible belt.
Repairs to U.S. 441 are nearing completion.
A football-field-sized portion of U.S. 441, which runs through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was completely washed away in January after days of heavy rain resulted in a landslide.
Ahhhh.
That is what was my first thought when the rock slipped from under my foot.
A parade of Haywood County department leaders went before county commissioners during a budget work session Monday, each pleading their case for why their department needs an additional employee or two next fiscal year.
Dog park patrons have issued a collective howl over recent changes to the fenced in canine play yard along Waynesville’s Richland Creek recreation complex.
The lone evergreen tree left standing on the lawn of the historic courthouse in downtown Waynesville will soon be coming down.
Joyce Porter had just finished cleaning her house in Jonathan Creek and was planning to hop in the shower, but when she turned on the faucet, no water came out.
The numbers are unforgiving.
One in three unexpected deaths in Haywood County are likely prescription drug overdoses. This year alone, there have been eight drug-related deaths — out of 25 unexpected deaths in all. And that doesn’t include two deaths last week that the county medical examiner suspects are overdoses as well.
All 12 seats on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Tribal Council are up for grabs this year.
After years of stops and starts, construction is now imminent on a long-awaited skateboard park in Waynesville.
The Canton Police Department is considering selling two 80-year-old submachine guns and using the proceeds to pay for new and better equipment for the force — before the federal government possibly bans such weapons.
Employees at Western Carolina University are distilling the recently released results of a Harvard University study to see if regional comprehensive universities have lower faculty satisfaction rates.
Every three years, Western Carolina University gets a report card.
It does not prescribe the university an A, B, C or even F, but the report does tell WCU what it does right and where it needs to improve. Then, it instructs the university to do better.
“It’s not ‘this is your grade’ and you’re done,” said Mark Lord, WCU’s interim associate provost. “It’s really supposed to be a call to action.”
The directions said turn left, so naturally I turned right.
I was still an hour drive from Sugarland Visitors Center in Tennessee — where I planned to take an introductory orienteering class — when I remembered that on occasion, I still have to hold my hands in front of my face in order to tell left from right. Undoubtedly, this predicament would make the course more challenging. In my defense, I’d woken up at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday, a day I typically revel in the glory of sleeping in.
Law enforcement officials in Haywood County are stepping up to keep a watchful eye on schools as leaders plot their next steps toward increasing safety.
Parents have probably already noticed one simple and cost-free solution to better school security: deputies and police officers have started parking their patrol cars at one of Haywood County’s 16 schools whenever they need to take care of administrative tasks such as filling out reports or doing paperwork.
Despite a big wish list, Swain County school leaders won’t be asking the county for more money next year.
Swain school officials instead have posed a quite modest request — just don’t cut our budget.
As the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ leaders mull the fate of bear zoos on the reservation, representatives from two of Cherokee’s three bear zoos have said they are being unfairly harried because of one bad egg.
The mountains are an undeniable tourist magnet, but with so many WNC destinations to chose from, the crusade to stand out from the pack is prompting county tourism agencies to constantly refine and redefine their message.
What will entice a vacationer to their corner of the Smokies — will outdoor adventures catch their eye, a quaint downtown draw them in or mountain music festivals win them over?
The new CEO of MedWest-Haywood is rounding on the county, asking residents about the hospital’s past performance and how to improve in the future.
“I really want to engage your community,” said Janie Sinacore-Jaberg, who came on board with the hospital late last year.
It’s been five years since the recession hit, and nonprofits in Haywood County are still struggling to get by after losing their monetary contributions from the county.
Before the recession hit, Haywood County gave about $472,000 to nonprofits, among them the Good Samaritan Clinic, the Haywood County Fairgrounds, the Haywood County Arts Council, Folkmoot USA, Kids Advocacy Resource Effort and REACH, a domestic violence agency.
