The Town of Canton’s governing board has been through a lot in the last four years — with the 2021 flood and the 2023 closure of the town’s largest employer — but they must be doing a good job managing the chaos, as voters decided overwhelmingly to return Mayor Pro Temp Gail Mull and Alderman Ralph Hamlett for another term. 

More than two years after deadly flooding killed six people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to public and private property from Bethel to Cruso to Canton to Clyde, Haywood County will purchase an early warning siren system to keep residents better informed for when — not if — it happens again. 

Evergreen Packaging is no longer making paper in Canton, but it’s still receiving environmental violations. A new notice issued Thursday, Oct. 26, brings the mill to 17 since May 2021. 

The Town of Canton’s governing board has been through a lot in the last four years — with the 2021 flood and the 2023 closure of the town’s largest employer — but they must be doing a good job managing the chaos, as voters decided overwhelmingly to return Mayor Pro Temp Gail Mull and Alderman Ralph Hamlett for another term.

Despite all the important elections taking place in Western North Carolina this fall, there’s probably no other town with more on the line than Canton. 

Haywood County’s three Rotary Clubs collected non-perishable food on Sept. 30 at the Canton and Waynesville Ingles locations.

A research project aiming to understand contamination levels outside the fence line of the now-shuttered Canton paper mill is likely to draw more than a quarter-million dollars in state funding to test soil, water and air samples nearby. 

The now-shuttered paper mill in Canton has received a new violation for exceeding permit limits on toxicity for water released from the plant, continuing a pattern established over the last two years of averaging more than one notice of violation every two months. 

Plott hound enthusiasts and their pups from across the United States will assemble to compete in bear bay and coon treeing contests, as well as a sanctioned UKC bench show as part of Plott-tober Fest in Canton from Oct. 5-8.

The Haywood County Arts Council’s annual “Haywood County Studio Tour” will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24.