The Haywood County School Board was divided this week on whether to join forces with school systems around the state in a lobbying campaign to back pro-education legislation in Raleigh.

The school board ultimately voted 5-to-4 to support the political advocacy arm of the N.C School Board Association. The county will pay annual dues of $3,000 to the cause.

A highway construction project in Jackson County has come under public scrutiny for muddying the Tuckasegee River.

Erosion control measures have failed to stop mud and sediment from running off the construction site, into creeks and onward to the river during heavy rains. While the highway department has admitted to some runoff problems at the site, it claims it is doing a good job overall.

The most affluent, prominent charity in Haywood County has reinvented its mission but hopes to remain on donors’ radar as it moves toward a larger goal: improving health care in the community.

More than $6 million has been spent on upgrades and improvements at Haywood Regional Medical Center since it was bought by Duke LifePoint hospital network last year.

Pumping cash into the facility and equipment was a condition of the deal, a pledge that is par for the course in the dozens of acquisitions LifePoint has carried out.

The new CEO of Haywood Regional Medical Center assumed his role this week, pledging to lead the hospital into a new era under the ownership of Duke LifePoint.

The sale to Duke LifePoint last year ended Haywood Regional’s proud history as a community-owned, locally controlled hospital. But it was seen as a necessity to survive, with small independent hospitals fading fast everywhere without the economies of scale and expertise brought to bear by larger hospital systems.

Fred Baker’s title isn’t particularly glamorous. For nearly three decades, he kept the potholes patched, the trash picked up, the sewer lines repaired, the clean water flowing, the lights on and the gutters swept all over Waynesville.

“It is a slow news day when public works is in the paper,” Baker said.

A movement to build a new animal shelter in Haywood County is in the early conceptual stages.

Animal lovers say a modern, more spacious animal shelter is needed, despite a daunting price tag and a sizeable drop in animals taken in to the shelter each year.

Underground contamination leaching from an old, closed-down landfill in Haywood County will cost millions to clean up, a burden homeowners countywide will be forced to bear through higher trash fees over the coming decade.

County commissioners got their first glimpse this month at how much each household will have to chip in over the next 10 years to pay for the cleanup.

Jackson County commissioners will decide in the coming weeks whether to keep Jay Coward on board as their county attorney.

Commissioners will consider other candidates in January. Coward said he will put his name back in the hat and hopes to stay on board.

When Haywood County put up $35,000 to replace a chronicly leaky roof on the Pigeon Community Center in Waynesville, it was both a tangible and symbolic gesture, one that saved a major landmark of African-American community from certain demise.

The outgoing and incoming tax collectors in Haywood County appeared shoulder to shoulder at the podium of the Haywood County commissioner meeting this week, pledging to work together to make the transition a smooth one.

“There’s a lot of animosity out there that has been created by other individuals, and not you two at all. I appreciate you being able to get over that,” Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick told them.

A tug of war between two Jackson trucking companies over a high-stakes contract for hauling trash was settled last week following days of political tension.

Jackson County commissioners had to decide which of the two local truckers would snag a $2.5 million four-year contract to haul trash to a landfill in Georgia.

A months-long undercover investigation led to a raid of three underground gambling parlors in Haywood County last week.

The private gambling houses were outfitted with video poker and keno machines. Officers seized 35 illegal gambling machines and $8,000 in cash during the raids, carried out simultaneously last Thursday.

Hoping to combat a steady departure of officers, Haywood County entry-level deputies will see a 5 percent raise starting in January  — the first step in a three-year plan to bring salaries of Haywood lawmen in line with the rest of the region.

Haywood deputies are among the lowest-paid officers in Western North Carolina. That means high turnover as deputies take higher-paying jobs in neighboring counties.

An Old World pigtail macaque monkey taken away from its owner in Waynesville now has a new home at a primate preserve in Kentucky.

The monkey — “Opey” — was the indoor pet of a Waynesville woman, who’d kept him in a cage in her home for almost seven years. After being picked up by animal control officers in November, Opey stayed at the Haywood County Animal Shelter for three weeks until a permanent home was found.

The newly elected Haywood County Tax Collector took office Monday, one week later than scheduled after encountering a delay in securing a professional liability bond.

Mike Matthews, a Republican, was a longshot candidate, yet pulled out a narrow win in the fall election for tax collector. Haywood is the only county in the state with an elected tax collector, which was once the norm.

Nyda Bittmann-Neville is a powerhouse of business savvy.

Grace and poise define her. Professional becomes her. Composed and collected — always.

A flaw in the economic model that calculates tourism  impact in the mountains has been uncovered, resulting in a major adjustment to tourism spending in Jackson and Swain counties.

Every year, the N.C. Department of Commerce releases the economic impact of tourism by county. For years, Swain was heads and shoulders above Jackson. But not anymore.

Lingering underground contamination at an old Haywood County landfill in Waynesville has prompted the county to buy out a neighboring 25-acre tract, part of a costly plan to stop the spread of pollutants.

The county is purchasing the adjoining property for $850,000. The county estimates it will cost upwards of $5 million over coming years to tackle the contamination. State environmental regulations are forcing the county to fix the issue.

The newly elected tax collector in Haywood County has been benched indefinitely.

Mike Matthews was supposed to take office Monday, but his swearing in ceremony was canceled at the 11th hour. Matthews wasn’t able to get bonded at the amount stipulated by county commissioners — namely a $410,000 professional liability bond. 

Haywood County commissioners are being accused of partisan politics for upping the liability bond for the county tax collector, although commissioners say it’s just a safeguard given the limited experience and less-than-stellar financial record of the incoming tax collector.

Critics say the Democratic commissioners are just trying to shut down the newly elected Republican tax collector Mike Matthews by setting his bond too high.

The newly elected tax collector in Haywood County was unable to take office Monday as scheduled after failing to secure a $410,000 bond.

For now, the long-time tax collector David Francis will continue in the role on an interim basis.

The clock is ticking for the newly elected tax collector in Haywood County to get bonded before his first day on the job next week.

After an upset by a narrow margin in the tax collector’s race this month, Mike Matthews is supposed to be sworn in on Monday, Dec. 1. But he can’t take office until he secures a personal liability bond — an insurance policy of sorts that covers mistakes or wrongdoing by an employee who handles money.

An iconic symbol of downtown Waynesville’s glory days is back. 

A quintessential movie marquee for The Strand theater was hoisted into place last Friday, reclaiming its rightful spot above the benches and lampposts of Main Street’s quaint-but-classy streetscape.

The long-time tax collector in Haywood County was narrowly defeated in the November election, a surprise upset that has sent county leaders into a tailspin the past two weeks.

Haywood County commissioners fear the newly elected tax collector — who has no experience, no training and few qualifications for the position — won’t have any idea what he’s doing or how to do it when he assumes the job in just two weeks.

The commercial revitalization of South Main Street in Waynesville has taken another step forward this month with the bulldozing of a dilapidated, vacant building to make way for a new Bojangle’s.

The run-down corridor has been gradually transforming into a new commercial hotbed since the addition of a Super Wal-Mart on South Main in 2008. The new Bojangle’s to anchor the intersection of South Main and Allens Creek will add another notch to South Main’s belt.

A shake-up in the medical world of maternity care and childbirth means more choices for pregnant women in Jackson, Swain and Macon counties, but also heightened competition for the profitable labor and delivery line.

Two new obstetrics practices were launched within weeks of each other this fall, both catering to women in Jackson, Macon, Swain and beyond. The number of existing practices in the region doubled nearly overnight. 

A $3 million project to build a central 911 dispatching center inside the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office aims to reduce response times for police, fire and rescue calls.

In a narrow upset in the Haywood County Tax Collector race last week, voters elected a man with a history of delinquent property tax bills and little experience for the job.

A new tax collector has been elected in Haywood County, but when he takes office next month his duties will be substantially less than the outgoing tax collector.

Karin Wollin had just taken a break from a sullen morning of sorting through stacks of campaign signs at the Haywood County Democratic headquarters in Waynesville when a clatter was heard on the sidewalk outside.

After a hard-fought and hotly contested race, the job of top prosecutor for the seven western counties was won by Ashley Welch, with a huge margin, carrying 60 percent of the vote.

By Becky Johnson

Staff writer

Voters gave their seal of approval to the current Haywood County commissioners, returning all three sitting commissioners to their seats.

Commissioners Mike Sorrells, Kirk Kirkpatrick and Bill Upton — all three Democrats — won re-election. 

The trio is part of the longest reigning board of county commissioners with less turnover than any set of county commissioners in recent history.

“The vote total shows people have confidence in what we are doing with the county,” Kirkpatrick said, who appears to be the only county commissioner in the past century to be elected four consecutive times.

Kirkpatrick is going into his fourth term, Upton into this third term, Sorrells into his second. The other two commissioners on the board, Mark Swanger and Kevin Ensley, are serving their third terms.

Sorrells said he was pleased the team could continue.

“We will continue to work to make Haywood County a better place to live,” Sorrells said.

Roger Hannah of Maggie Valley said the current commissioners have done a good job.

“Yup, that’s why I voted for them again,” Hannah said in an exit poll interview. “I’d have voted against them if they hadn’t.”

Support of the sitting commissioners wasn’t limited to party Democrats. Dave Blevins, a Waynesville businessman and self-identified conservative, voted to return the three current commissioners to office.

“I think they did a good job guiding us through the recession. They had to decide what to cut, and how much without cutting the service for those who are most needy,” Blevins said.

Republican challenger Denny King made an admirable showing, however. It was his third time on the ballot, and he has gained momentum each time. King acknowledged going into the race that Haywood is a tough county for Republicans when it comes to local seats.

King came within 200 votes of landing a seat. He got to the 9,000-vote range — the same range as the three sitting commissioners. He clearly held his own.

“We had really good supporters and they worked very hard. I just wish we could have gotten it over the goal line,” King said.

King said he was undecided on whether to ask for a recount, although supporters were urging him to late Tuesday night.

Dick and Jane Young of Waynesville said they voted for King when stopped for an exit poll interview on Election Day. King’s message that the current commissioners have not been frugal enough and have spent too liberally resonated with them. 

It’s no surprise a Libertarian on the ballot for commissioner came in last. But Windy McKinney did better than any Libertarian candidate in history. McKinney clocked in with 4,882 votes — out of 19,000 people who voted in Haywood this election. Libertarians are just 1 percent of registered voters in Haywood, but McKinney was supported by 25 percent of those voting in this election.

Despite coming from a non-mainstream party, McKinney’s relatively strong showing is due in part to Republican commissioner candidates bringing her into their fold and publicly supporting her as a candidate.

Voters could pick up to three candidates in the Haywood commissioner race, but with only two Republicans on the ballot, conservative voters had an extra vote to toss around, and many threw it to McKinney, who had been embraced by some elements of the Republican Party, including the two Republican commissioner candidates on the ballot

Haywood County Commissioner

(three seats)

Kirk Kirkpatrick* (D)9,586

Michael Sorrells* (D)9,345

Bill Upton* (D9,232

Denny King (R)9,068

Philip Wight (R)7,650

Windy McKinney (L) 4,882

*denotes incumbent

After a several-year lull in new cell towers being built in the mountains, a new wave of tower construction could be on the horizon as cell companies race to accommodate the surge in digital data moving on wireless networks.

The newly minted Haywood County Economic Development Commission has hit the ground running in its first three months following a structural revamp that placed it under the umbrella of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce.   

“We are giving the economic development commission a fresh, new look. That starts with basically everything,” said CeCe Hipps, the executive director of the Haywood Chamber.

When Jackson County commissioners halted the controversial rewrite of the steep slope development rules earlier this year, critics were both pleased and skeptical.

Pleased that a rollback of the county’s steep slope rules wouldn’t be pushed to the finish line before November’s election, but skeptical that the sitting commissioners would really stop work on the rollback. Instead, many thought the incumbents were trying to save their own re-election chances and would pick up where they left off after November.

Controlling mountainside development is a universal issue grappled with across Western North Carolina.

But Jackson County’s residents have wrestled more passionately, more vocally, more extensively and more heatedly over mountainside development than almost any other county in the region.

Two candidates are competing for the job of top legal prosecutor in the seven western counties.

The seat came up for grabs when District Attorney Mike Bonfoey announced his retirement after 11 years in the role. Two assistant prosecutors who work under Bonfoey are vying for the job.

Hicks: Getting off the sidelines

Dean Hicks is still a coach at heart. 

“I’m an old coach, I don’t want to be average,” Hicks said. “No coach could settle for average, and I don’t think North Carolina should either.”

Editor’s note: The Smoky Mountain News spent a day with Jane Hipps, a Democratic challenger running for the state Senate seat spanning the seven western counties.

8:40 A.M.

Jane Hipps was getting a later-than-normal start on the campaign trail, unless you count the cards she passed out at her crack-of-dawn dentist appointment. In a proud moment of positive thinking, Hipps had diligently made her next dentist appointment as she left, for 7:30 a.m.

Tax reform was one of the top issues tackled by the new Republican majority in Raleigh last year, but voters hitting the polls this election season don’t yet know whether they’ve come out ahead or behind, since the changes don’t come into play until next April’s tax returns.

Three challengers running for Haywood County commissioner are touting lower property taxes, a smaller budget, limited government, less regulation and personal freedom — the core tenets of conservatism with a Libertarian twist.

“The government needs to live within its means,” said Philip Wight, a Republican challenger. “It doesn’t seem like we are moving toward lower spending in the government. We keep looking at what more can the government provide. That is an unsustainable path.”

Criticism over taxes and spending from the conservative arm of the local Republican Party is nothing new for Haywood County commissioners.

So this election year, the three Democrats running for re-election came armed with talking points: only 29 counties have a lower tax rate, the county budget is smaller than it was five years ago and there are fewer employees now than five years ago.

A debate between N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and his challenger Jane Hipps, D-Waynesville, last week was lively, testy, heated, fiery and passionate — and that’s just talking about the audience.

Despite ground rules laid down by the moderator at the start of the debate expressly prohibiting cheering and jeering alike, the electrified audience had the air of spectators at a sporting event. With a crowd of 300 strong, it was a better turn out than expected for the third and final debate in the inaugural debate series hosted by the Western Carolina University Public Policy Institute and political science department.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is known for his direct and unapologetic communication style, but it landed him in hot water with some audience members at a debate held at Western Carolina University last week.

Davis made a reference during the debate to the large percentage of African-American children born to unwed mothers, which in turn made them more likely than the general population to end up in jail.

The race for top prosecutor over the seven counties between assistant district attorneys Jim Moore and Ashley Welch has grown increasingly heated as it heads into the homestretch.

The latest development: a twist on the gender stereotypes that typically saddle male and female candidates.

A Tennessee man in a wheelchair accused of helping bury a dead body in a barrel has emerged as an unusual focal point in the hotly contested race for district attorney in the seven western counties.

To be clear, Stevie Franklin wasn’t in a wheelchair at the time of the alleged body burying. His spinal injury came later, after he tumbled off a porch roof in a fight.

The three Democratic challengers in the Jackson County commissioners race took the sitting commissioners to task for their inaction on fracking at a candidate forum last week.