For years opioids were overprescribed by physicians and overused by patients, leading to skyrocketing rates of addiction, overdoses and drug-related crime. Now that the issue has risen to the level of a national public health and safety crisis, society is more aware of the dangers associated with opioid abuse and physicians are learning new ways to manage patients’ pain levels. 

Tucked in the depths of Wall Street in Waynesville, the Green Orchid Soap Co. is meant to be found by chance or happenstance — this cozy spot just off Main Street, right down a side alley away from the bustle of downtown.

The N.C. Department of Transportation will pay water and sewer hookup fees for businesses displaced by the N.C. 107 project, but it will be up to business and property owners to ask for reimbursement, right-of-way agent Jake Day told the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board last week. 

Abundant Labs CEO Chip Miller looked like a college chemistry professor as he started drawing diagrams and compound percentages on the blackboard while trying to explain what it is the new enterprise is doing in Canton.

The Abundant Labs partners announced this summer they would be opening the $12 million state-of-the-art hemp processing facility inside the NEO Corporation building off I-40 in Canton and has now been in production for a month. 

Hemp has only been legal in North Carolina for a couple of years, but already the plant is presenting an issue in the criminal justice system that the legislature is still trying to iron out. 

If the United States’ outdoor recreation industry were its own country, it would be the world’s 25th largest economy. And, while towns like Moab and Boulder and Jackson Hole might have more name recognition on a nationwide scale, Western North Carolina has everything it takes to command a large piece of that hypothetical country’s pie.

After years of disuse, a hidden gem in the heart of Waynesville’s downtown is finally ready to reclaim its rightful role as one of the community’s social and business hubs. 

With right-of-way acquisition for the N.C. 107 project in Sylva set to begin in January, the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority is hoping to adopt new policies this December aimed at assisting ratepayers impacted by the endeavor. 

It’s a serendipitous sort of happenstance when you stumble across the White Moon coffee shop. Tucked in the depths of Mill Street in downtown Sylva, the cozy establishment is meant to be a refuge from whatever may be distracting you from hearing the most important voice in your life — your own.

CORRECTION: Due to inaccurate information presented at the July 23 government meeting when the road project was discussed, the number of businesses slated for relocation in the story is incorrect. The project will require relocation of businesses located on 39 parcels of property, but the total number of businesses on those parcels is 55. The list of businesses included with the story names all 55 businesses.

The number of businesses to be displaced by the upcoming N.C. 107 project in Sylva could be fewer than the 54 named in last spring’s preliminary plans, but the cost and duration of the project will be greater than initially expected, according to an update N.C. Department of Transportation Division Engineer Brian Burch gave to an assemblage of Jackson County’s elected leaders last week.