Children, the elderly, the ill, the mentally challenged and the incarcerated in Haywood County all have at least one thing in common: in the event of an emergency or evacuation, they might not be able to move to safety quickly or efficiently.

This November, voters will have another choice to make at the polls — whether to allow beer and or wine sales in areas of Haywood County that currently don’t offer such conveniences.

Allen Alsbrooks serves on the Maggie Valley Zoning Board, and used to serve on the town’s planning board; he’s also been the owner of the Hearth and Home Inn on Soco Road in Maggie Valley since 2007, so it’s safe to say he’s got his finger pretty close to the pulse of Haywood County’s tourism-based economy. 

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“It’s the best year I’ve ever had,” Alsbrooks said. 

Dr. Kristen Hammett had just left the current Haywood County Animal Shelter when she appeared before the Haywood County Board of Commissioners Sept. 6, clad in her familiar teal T-shirt emblazoned with the Friends of the Haywood County Animal Shelter logo.

School performance indicators issued last week paint a picture of a very good Haywood County School System that continues to improve but is still haunted by a few troubling issues.

Haywood County political activists hope to hold a gun rights rally on the grounds of the Historic Haywood County Courthouse just days before the General Election in November.

Shining Rock Classical Academy leaders were hoping students would start classes this year at a new campus on Dellwood Road, but a delay in getting the modular classrooms installed forced them to change the plan. 

A task force studying the issue of affordable housing in Haywood County since March recently issued findings presenter Dona Stewart called “sobering” and “multi-faceted.”

Let’s be completely honest: the Haywood County School Board’s long-time practice of recording its work sessions makes it one of the most transparent elected boards in the region. No other boards in Haywood County do the same, and I’m betting not many in the entire state record work sessions. For that, the school board should be commended.

So when School Board Chairman Chuck Francis announced Aug. 4 that the board would stop recording those sessions, many of us who argue for open government were incensed. When a board embraces openness, going backwards seems much worse and more suspicious. Because every presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in the early 1970s has released their tax returns, Donald Trump’s refusal to do so arouses suspicion.

• Affordable housing issues on Haywood County’s horizon
• Habitat houses give people hope
• Old hospital’s rehab into low-income housing falls flat
• Affordable housing development looks for resources
• Self-build program empowers low-income families
• Some look to downsized housing for personal freedom, financial security