Becky Johnson
Two Democrats squaring off in the primary for the state House seat spanning Haywood, Madison and Yancey counties claim they’re the one who can oust N.C. Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, and restore progress in North Carolina.
Over the past two weeks, The Smoky Mountain News has explored where Haywood County commissioner candidates stand on education, economic development, land-use planning, the county’s direction and partisan labels.
Residents and business owners in Hazelwood have grown increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of water-and-sewer line work that has left their street torn up and blocked off since December.
Champion Credit Union donated $100,000 last week to nine local school systems in the communities it serves — including Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.
Meadowbrook Elementary in Canton is ending its long run as a year-round school.
A study conducted by Haywood County Schools justifying the closure of Central Elementary School was a sham and failed to meet state requirements for a school closure, two speakers argued before the Haywood County School Board last week.
State Republican lawmakers were strongly chastised for penning Central Elementary School’s death warrant during a rally prior to the Haywood County School board meeting last week.
On the right track or wrong track? That question was posed to candidates running for Haywood County commissioner and could offer insight for voters on which ones most closely align with their own views.
Western Carolina University leaders are getting ready to roll out the red carpet for the impending arrival of Margaret Spellings, the incoming president of the state’s public university system, who will be touring WCU campus on March 10.
Haywood County commissioners deflected calls from the public this week that they should step in and help the school system out of its budget dilemma.
The controversy over a proposed gun range in a rural farming community in Haywood County has raised questions about the adverse impacts of unwanted development in rural communities given the lack of land-use protections.
A moratorium on commercial outdoor shooting ranges took effect in Haywood County this week, temporarily halting any new shooting ranges from cropping up while the county crafts regulations to govern their safety and location.
A freewheeling discussion on how to create more jobs stumped Haywood County commissioners last week as they pondered what else the county could be doing that it’s not already.
Candidates for Haywood County commissioner all agreed economic development is one of the top issues facing the county during an election forum last week, but they offered few concrete ideas for how to go about it.
Parents, students and teachers of Central Elementary School in Waynesville made a desperate and impassioned final stand to save their beloved school last week, but to no avail.
In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, avid Panthers’ fan David Francis came up with a novel approach to quantifying local interest in the big game this year, which hit a fever pitch given a home-state team in the lineup.
Haywood School leaders have avoided talking about what would become of the 1950s-era school building that houses Central Elementary if it closes, saying it would be premature until a final decision is made.
Fears that a controversial economics policy center coming to Western Carolina University will be a vehicle to advance conservative, laissez-faire market theories have been partially quelled with the creation of a rigorous and robust faculty oversight board.
Many of the speakers at a public hearing on whether to close Central Elementary School in Waynesville urged Haywood County School board members to think outside the box and find another way to solve the budget shortfall.
Central Elementary School has become a rallying cry for advocates of public education across the state.
A public hearing on an outdoor shooting range moratorium in Haywood County got off to a dicey start this week.
Outdoor shooting ranges could soon be under the microscope in Haywood County.
Members of the African American community in Waynesville hope to rename a major street for Martin Luther King Jr., not only to honor his legacy but also to serve as symbol of acceptance and inclusion for the historically shunned black community.
Western Carolina University Chancellor David Belcher had a heart-to-heart with university faculty last week about the controversy over a politically charged financial gift to WCU from the conservative Koch Foundation.
The new interim town manager of Waynesville has pledged to sustain the town’s momentum and not let it idle or backslide during the months-long transition to come.
Around 300 supporters of Central Elementary School in Waynesville packed into the school cafeteria Wednesday evening and made a heart-wrenching appeal to the Haywood County School Board not to close the school.
SEE ALSO:
• ‘Save Our School’ crowd marches in support of Central Elementary
• Central on the chopping block: who’s to blame?
• Central supporters appeal for solution instead of closing
Dozens of children, parents and teachers spoke during the emotional public hearing.
A $5.5 million renovation and expansion of the New Generations Family Birthing Center at Harris Regional Hospital will soon be underway.
Harris Regional Hospital is a powerhouse when it comes to delivering babies in the mountains, a legacy it has pledged to maintain with the symbolic merger of the hospital’s OB doctors into a single practice under the hospital’s umbrella.
Waynesville leaders made a pact last week to work cooperatively in choosing a new town manager, despite the rift among board members leading up to this point.
Backlash from rural residents in Haywood County who fear an indoor shooting range proposed in their midst will disrupt their traditional way of life has got the attention of Haywood County commissioners.
The potential closing of Central Elementary School in Waynesville due to a massive, sudden budget shortfall for Haywood County Schools has unleashed a maelstrom of emotions in the community since the news broke two weeks ago.
A feasibility report on the potential closure of Central Elementary School in Waynesville was released by Haywood County Schools last week.
A Haywood County woman who has dedicated the past dozen years to a crusade against driving while impaired was honored for her relentless advocacy with The Order Long Leaf Pine award in a surprise ceremony this month.
Waynesville leaders interviewed two potential candidates Tuesday night to serve as an interim town manager following the dismissal of Town Manager Marcy Onieal.
Waynesville Town Manager Marcy Onieal was fired last week in a 3-2 split vote by the town board following a nearly two-hour closed-door discussion among board members.
SEE ALSO:
• The full version: Alderman Jon Feichter's explanation behind his vote
• The full version: Town Manager Marcy Onieal's address to the town board
A Western Carolina University professor with ties to the ultra-conservative Koch brothers political network worked behind the scenes with outside donors to devise a coordinated strategy that would influence the hiring of professors and use WCU to further conservative economic theory in society, according to a review of university email communications.
Alert: A public meeting on the possible closure of Central Elementary School has been moved from Tuesday to Wednesday due to concerns over lingering hazardous road conditions. The new meeting time is 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
The potential closure of an elementary school in Haywood County has become a poster child for those decrying funding cuts faced by traditional public schools.
Haywood County School Board members were grave and sober Monday night as they confronted the ominous prospect of closing down one of the county’s nine public elementary schools.
A proposal to close Central Elementary School in Waynesville is only one piece of a sweeping and wide-reaching plan to close a $2.4 million budget shortfall being faced by Haywood County Schools next year, including the elimination of more than 30 staff and teachers.
Waynesville Town Manager Marcy Onieal was fired Tuesday night in a 3-2 split vote by the town board following a nearly two-hour closed-door discussion among board members.
Voters in Western North Carolina have barely taken down the Christmas tree but will soon find themself in the throes of the primary election countdown.
Members of a tranquil farming community with deep roots in Haywood County fear their way of life will be ruined by a massive indoor shooting range and gun store proposed in their midst.
Haywood County commissioners aren’t likely to intervene in the controversy over a proposed indoor firing range and gun store coming to the Francis Farm community, despite pleas for help from the residents.
The plan to convert the old hospital in Haywood County into low-income apartments isn’t a done deal. It’s contingent on both historic preservation and low-income housing tax credits to make it financially viable.
A new plan is the works to convert the abandoned old hospital in Haywood County into an affordable housing apartment complex.
The winter tourism industry in Haywood County is reeling from unseasonably warm temperatures that have shuttered Cataloochee Ski Area during what’s usually one of its busiest times of the year.
As the elk herd in Western North Carolina continues to grow, an elk-hunting season could become a possibility under a proposal being considered by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
Haywood County commissioners expressed concern this week over what they claim is poor work attendance of the county tax collector, Mike Matthews.
Two additional Republicans joined the race for Haywood County commissioner in the final days of the candidate sign-up period that ended Monday.
Janie Higgins was crushed to learn a week before Christmas that the rolling pastures and fields her family has tilled and grazed for generations will soon be marred by the arrival of a large indoor shooting range and gun store setting up shop in their midst.
