When Grace Powell walks into the Jackson County Public Library on June 1 as its new full-time director, she will inherit more than a building full of books — she will inherit a community still divided. 

Powell, a lifelong Sylva resident, earned her elementary education degree at Western Carolina University, taught third grade at Scotts Creek elementary school for a year and a half before earning a master’s degree in library science from East Carolina University.

From bears and bobcats to eagles and elk, 22,893 species have been documented so far in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — and nearly half of them are insects. Becky Nichols, the park’s long-time entomologist, has dedicated her career to learning about and protecting lifeforms like bees, wasps, moths and butterflies. 

As a child in rural Washington state, Nichols gravitated toward nature and animals of all sorts. She knew from a young age that she wanted a career related to the environment. 

Shortly after opening the doors of the Don Tomas Health Sciences Center back in 2021, Southwestern Community College developed a strategy for not only filling the area’s tremendous healthcare workforce needs — but also providing a promising future for soon-to-be high school graduates. 

Shining Rock Classical Academy’s governing board is weighing whether to end its high school operations by summer after a new financial sustainability report revealed the Dellwood Road campus is operating at a $300,000 deficit and would require more than $1.1 million in facility investments over the next few years.

The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department will host expert fly-tying instructors from the Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited and conduct an “Introduction to Fly Tying” class on three evenings in February. Intended for first-time fly tyers wanting to learn the basics, the class will also appeal to crafters seeking a challenge, as well as to anglers looking to get some expert tips. 

Longtime Western Carolina University supporters and friends have come together to honor the legacy and dedication of the university’s former sports information director, Steve White, a man many affectionately refer to as “the walking encyclopedia of Catamount athletics.”

WCU alumni David and Joy Wiggins have made a lead gift to the university’s “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign and chosen to direct their gift toward the naming of the football stadium’s new Western Skybox media center in White’s honor.

A week and a half after Fontana Regional Library Director Tracy Fitzmaurice tendered her resignation, the board is moving forward to find a replacement. 

At a specially called Feb. 9 meeting at the Jackson County Library’s community room, the board went into a closed session to discuss details. 

When you see a plant growing, flowering and fruiting in a garden, field, forest or pot you’re only seeing a part and not the whole. Much of the plant exists below the ground in the soil in the form of roots. It’s common to think that half of the plant is aboveground — stems, flowers and leaves — and half is below the ground in the roots, but this is not true across the board. 

The North Carolina State Extension Office in Haywood County is calling on anyone interested to learn how to become a master gardener.

Extension master gardener volunteers are an essential component of the extension office and assist local county horticulture agents in various aspects of home horticulture, from answering gardening questions to becoming involved with and teaching in school and community gardens.

The seeds of chaos sown into the fertile soil of the embattled Fontana Regional Library system over the last few years have sprouted. 

The FRL Board of Trustees has struggled to function over the last year, but things have come to a head the last couple of weeks as trustees, local media and a former librarian all received anonymous emails riddled with misinformation and threats. All the while, the board is still without an attorney, and now, that lack of representation is holding up crucial decisions.