Haywood County School Board at a Jan. 12 meeting officially gave the new Haywood Innovative middle school the green light to open its application to prospective students. 

“We are looking for students who choose to be here, who are motivated to be here, who would benefit from a rigorous and accelerated middle school experience,” said Lori Fox, principal of Haywood Early College and Haywood Innovative. 

The Voices in the Laurel choirs have announced that spring registration is now open and the organization invites new/returning singers from Haywood, Buncombe, Jackson and Swain counties to be part of its 30th season. 

John Burgin Construction, LLC workers arrived at Haywood Community College’s Poplar Building Jan. 5, marking the start of an estimated 120-day renovation process driven by the addition of middle school called ‘Haywood Innovative’ and managed by the county school system. 

Haywood County Schools is renting the building to do “a tenant upfit … They’ve hired an architect, and they’re overseeing that,” said Brek Lanning, the college’s vice president of infrastructure, campus development and technology. 

For nearly 20 years, the United States Department of Education has helped fund Full-Service Community School programs in “high-poverty” and “high-poverty rural” schools across the nation, while coalitions and existing community partners ensure on-the-ground, local implementation. 

Haywood County commissioners have approved a proposed land purchase intended to expand the physical footprint around Tuscola High School in Clyde, giving the school district some flexibility to meet future needs if and when they become apparent. 

The action authorizes a $1.176 million budget amendment within the Haywood County Schools debt service fund to appropriate fund balance for the purchase of two adjoining parcels totaling 13.07 acres on Hospital Drive.

Grace Church in the Mountains in Waynesville will host a daylong series of worship services, presentations and artistic offerings focused on peace, education and action in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

What do rangers eat for lunch? How did the Great Smoky Mountains get their name? Do rangers have to feed the bears? Are there alligators in the park? What about moose? Dolphins? 

“The kids really want to know,” said Scott Young, a volunteer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park who, together with his wife Jayne, has answered every letter kids from across the country send to the national park since they first took on the task in 2021.

Three former members of the Western Carolina University women’s basketball team stepped up to the line to tip off the process of raising enough philanthropic support to name the current Catamount squad’s locker room after the founder of the program. 

That opening shot has resulted in a resounding “swish,” as that locker room now bears the name of the individual who launched the program during an era when women’s intercollegiate athletics was primarily an afterthought. 

Haywood Community College’s Department of Arts, Sciences and Natural Resources and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will offer two opportunities for hunter safety courses in Spring 2026. Classes will be offered Jan. 6-7 and April 1-2 from 6-9 p.m. on the HCC campus in Clyde in the Walnut building, Room 3322. Participants must attend two consecutive evenings to receive their certification. 

Six months after the North Carolina General Assembly’s deadline to produce an annual budget, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee is left weathering the effects of this stalemate — and preparing for an uncertain future.