Volunteers are wanted to help the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stock trout into the West Fork Pigeon River in Haywood County beginning at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 4. 

With several critical deadlines approaching and the cost of construction only going up, Haywood County commissioners spent more than two hours on Feb. 26 meeting with administrators, architects, builders and sheriff’s office personnel — going over every detail of the long-suffering jail expansion project, its growing price tag and its ultimate future. 

The Letter of Interest deadline for the Affordable Housing Development Fund- Haywood County is 5 p.m. Friday, March 1. Until that time, Haywood County will accept Letters of Interest from qualified public, private and nonprofit organizations who want to apply for financing for multifamily or single-family housing rehabilitation and new construction projects in the county.

Haywood County has a new recreation director with the appointment of Elizabeth “Elli” Flagg, who started her new job Feb. 19. 

Waynesville is revving up its eco-efforts with a freshly minted advisory board paving the way for a long-term plan to create an even cleaner environment that will continue to draw tourists — and put some green back into locals’ pockets, too. 

Calling the last decade “a period of intensive and dynamic change” for Haywood County, strategic planning consultants in conjunction with county economic development administrators will produce a late spring report for commissioners identifying local priorities, challenges and concerns augmented by the closure of the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton last year. 

After a quiet couple of years through the uncertainty of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Haywood Advancement Foundation is pursuing closer economic development coordination with Haywood County government at a time when the county needs capable strategic partners more than it has in the past two decades. 

“Safe and Found,” a documentary featuring the Haywood County Search and Rescue Team, is now available to stream online after its premiere Jan. 20 in Clyde. 

Catch a sight of migratory birds at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Lake Junaluska. 

A relatively straightforward request to subdivide a single lot and build an affordably priced long-term rental duplex on it was withdrawn by the applicants after opposition from a lone member of Waynesville’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.