The Haywood County Fair is coming up Sept. 28-Oct. 1, and the Home Economics Division is looking for volunteers to help handle the more than 350 entries expected for contests in preserved foods, home furnishings and more.

In the winter of 1978, Terryll Evans was a ninth grader in Orlando, Florida. But, by March, she and her family would pack up everything and move hundreds of miles away to the mountains of Haywood County — an unknown landscape for the teenager. 

North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis has taken a particular interest in Canton over the past few years, making multiple appearances in town after flooding in August 2021 and acting as a federal liaison during the ongoing paper mill shutdown saga. 

Support Haywood Waterways Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Haywood County during the annual Trout Race slated for 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at BearWaters Brewing in Canton.

Elisabeth Biser, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, made her second visit to Canton last week, touring Pactiv Evergreen’s shuttered paper mill and vowing to hold the company accountable for environmental issues that could poison future development of the parcel. 

The appearance of a bright yellow construction crane towering over Pactiv Evergreen’s shuttered Canton paper mill prompted questions from citizens late last week — and more speculation that the site has been or will be sold, but that’s not exactly the case. Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers confirmed Aug. 21 that the crane, which had arrived on Aug. 17, was there to lower the height of the smokestacks, so that Pactiv no longer has to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Generally, any structure more than 200 feet  above the ground must be marked and/or lighted.

— Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor

It’s only been open for about a year, but Canton’s Chestnut Mountain Park has already proven a popular, unique regional outdoor recreational attraction — even though it’s still growing.

The presence of multiple vehicles and a decontamination tent in downtown Canton today prompted tips to The Smoky Mountain News about a possible hazmat incident at Pactiv Evergreen’s shuttered paper mill — however, that’s not the case.

Pactiv Evergreen has been issued its second notice of violation in less than a month, bringing its total since May 2021 up to 15 — more than one violation every two months, on average.

Employees at Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill knew a health care coverage crisis  was coming, and many of them did exactly what the company told them to do to ward off a coverage gap, but some are only just now getting the coverage they’re entitled to — and paid for — and they’re pointing the finger at Pactiv for the expensive and potentially life-threatening delays.