Jackson County is hoping that grants will offset the $847,000 cost of extending water and sewer connections to a piece of land being eyed for a new outdoor adventure park in Dillsboro, and last week commissioners gave the county the go-ahead to apply for just such a grant — $50,000 from the N.C. Department of Commerce.

Shining Rock Classical Academy will be able to construct an outdoor classroom on its campus this year thanks to a $10,000 grant from Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina — the state’s leading parental school choice advocacy organization.

Bryson City Bicycles will use a $20,000 grant to expand its online presence and to provide a fleet of bicycles for Swain County High School.

Even before BearWaters Brewing announced its intentions to leave Waynesville for nearby Canton, the town has touted itself as Haywood County’s most desirable place in which to locate a business. 

Last month, the town of Canton’s highly anticipated municipal pool project hit an unexpected snag when it was learned that a 40-year United States Department of Agriculture loan would not be available as part of the complex, 10-part financing package town leaders created to pay for the project.

The Canton Board of Aldermen was in high spirits Aug. 25 even before Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss walked in to the meeting five minutes late.

Macon County Emergency Management Services hopes to expand an existing health care model to better serve mental health patients in the county — and a grant from the Evergreen Foundation may help the department fund it.

A partnership that could quadruple patient volume and expand medical staffing for the uninsured of Jackson County has been the subject of a flurry of meetings and conversations since The Good Samaritan Clinic of Jackson County announced last week that it’s moving toward a partnership with Hendersonville-based Blue Ridge Health Center.

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad officials say they will make their deadline for getting a steam engine back up and running in Bryson City.

Canton’s outdoor pool has given the community a place to gather, play, exercise and relax for more than 70 years.