A recount has been called in the Macon County Sheriff’s race after election day totals indicated Dereck Jones lost to Brent Holbrooks by just 54 votes — putting Jones within the 1% threshold required to do so.

Just three days after protesters gathered on the courthouse lawn in Waynesville to demonstrate  their support for legal abortion, a nonprofit with a different perspective on the issue that has roiled the nation since May 2 — when a leaked draft  of a U.S. Supreme Court decision showed that the landmark Roe v. Wade precedent is in danger — opened on the other side of Depot Street in downtown Waynesville.

After the Maggie Valley Town Board of Aldermen removed a zoning board member with little discussion, two residents spoke during public comment at the May 10 board of aldermen meeting accusing the board of mishandling these types of situations. During this meeting, the board also accepted changes to the bylaws of the planning board that could address some of these issues.

Saying that it invests in North Carolina’s “families, businesses and communities,” Gov. Roy Cooper presented his proposed 2022-23 budget, full of significant appropriations meant to deal with some of the state’s biggest problems — out-of-control housing costs, an increasingly competitive economic development landscape, a lack of law enforcement resources, threats to the natural environment, an underfunded educational system and affordable access to health care coverage.