Things are going so well at two of Haywood County’s best-known industrial employers that they’re both hiring and expanding, making them eligible for the county’s economic development incentive plan. 

Sales tax receipts are booming in Sylva and a newly completed property revaluation will bump real estate values by about 14.5 percent this year — if tax rates stay the same, the town would expect to receive $345,000 more in the coming fiscal year than in the current year’s budget.

After months of working breakneck speed to clear an ever-expanding backlog of people waiting to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, local health departments are reporting a marked slowdown in signups, even though only about 30 percent of the population has received at least one shot. 

As North Carolina Republicans seek to maintain dominance across the state and in the 11th Congressional District, they’ll do so under new leadership after electing Hendersonville Republican Michele Woodhouse as their new district chair on April 10. 

The Jackson County Department of Public Health will pause its use of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19 vaccine following a recent joint statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The COVID-19 Vaccine Drive Thru Clinic scheduled on Thursday, April 15, is cancelled as a result.

Effective immediately Canton Town Manager Jason Burrell has been suspended indefinitely without pay pending further board action, Mayor Zeb Smathers told a meeting of town employees earlier this afternoon while accompanied by Mayor Pro Temp Gail Mull.

A Franklin man admitted in Macon County Superior Court to forcing his way into a woman’s house and sexually assaulting her, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said this week.

George Vanderbilt first opened Biltmore, his magnificent private estate, to family and friends on Christmas Eve 1895. Today, 125 years later, his descendants continue welcoming guests with that same spirit of gracious hospitality.