Among the earliest flowering members of the Aster Family (Asteraceae) is the robin’s plantain (Erigeron pulchellus). Around Cullowhee, the robin’s plantain begins blooming in early April at lower elevations and can be seen blooming at higher elevations into June.

After a surprise move by Commissioner John Smith at a meeting on Feb. 18, Jackson County is one step closer to partisan school board elections. 

But the move, which was approved unanimously by the commission, was not on the agenda, which means the public, and members of the Board of Education, were left in the dark on the issue and the fact that commissioners were even considering the move. 

Jackson County is embarking on a conservation plan with goal of protecting certain tracts of land. 

“Jackson County is, from a natural resources perspective, a phenomenal county,” said Owen Carson, senior ecologist at Equinox Environmental in a presentation to commissioners Feb. 4.

The spring semester is underway at Western Carolina University and that means looking at how the university’s enrollment is shaping up for the first few weeks of the new year. 

As part of the Great Backyard Bird Count initiative, a global community science project that helps researchers understand how birds are doing before they undertake their great spring migration, Mainspring Conservation Trust is hosting its own event. 

Western Carolina University officially kicked off the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s 136-year history, an effort to secure $100 million in philanthropic support with a focus on increasing the financial resources necessary for long-delayed upgrades in facilities used by Catamount student-athletes. 

A state-mandated, county-wide property reappraisal took effect on Jan. 1 this year. 

Prior to the appeals process, the reappraisal showing a massive increase in real property taxable value for Jackson. 

Youth soccer is coming to Jackson County next month.

Registration for spring soccer begins Jan. 1 and runs through Jan. 31. Registration fee is $65. Anyone born between 2011 and 2020 is eligible to participate. 

As fall is slowly transitioning to winter, so, too, comes the holiday cheer. And although Thanksgiving Day, the official kickoff of the Christmas season, is still a week away, there are a handful of events already in motion to get the ball rolling. 

Just before sunset on Oct. 15, Becky and I left home for the Jackson County Airport, its runway laid on a flattened-off ridge near Cullowhee named Berry Mountain.