At the request of Gov. Josh Stein, FEMA has granted North Carolina an extension for local governments and certain types of non-profits to apply for public assistance until Feb. 6, 2025. 

Following this year’s budget season, Macon County maintains its position with the lowest property tax of any county in the state of North Carolina at $0.27 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council continues to classify much of Eastern North Carolina as being in a moderate drought, but the entire western part of the state has been scaled back to abnormally dry, the lowest classification. 

Christmas Eve. With the sun fading behind the Blue Ridge Mountains, the sky transitioning into bright pink, purple and orange, I found myself quietly jogging the four-mile path around Lake Junaluska. Nobody around me, the air quickly gets cold during sunset. Dozens of Canada geese roaming the walking trails and shoreline, with many more either swimming or in-flight nearby. 

I started this annual feature nearly a decade ago to poke fun at the emerging scourge of fake news — lies, really — that had popped up at local government meetings. It was a prophetic move, unfortunately, and in the intervening nine or so years it’s only gotten worse. 

It is very hard for me to continue listening to the ongoing issues of housing when I know we have codes to follow that are set forth by the international/North Carolina building, electrical, plumbing and fire safety codes. My general contracting company and electrical contracting company have worked with everyone to help with people affected to gain some type of normal life during and after the storm. 

After several weeks of increasingly dry conditions, Western North Carolina has finally seen some much-needed rain, taking the whole region out of drought conditions and into a “moderately dry state.” 

Most of North Carolina continues to experience moderate drought, according to the latest advisory from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council. 

On Jan. 11, 2025 at 10 a.m., North Carolina will have a new governor for the first time in eight years — and what an eight years it’s been.

To the Editor:

I do not share Mr. McLeod's optimism that the the legislature  "...will do what is needed for our region ...." (Volume 26, Issue 28).