With the help of the Jackson County Municipal Grant, Sylva may soon be able to implement a Sylva Art Walk. 

When Western Carolina University Professors Katie Allen and Cyndy Caravelis approached Sylva Police Chief Chris Hatton with a proposal for a Community Care pilot program, using social work interns in the police department he was understandably skeptical. Crisis response involving a student intern seemed like a risk he was not willing to take.

Sylva plans to hold a public hearing on a panhandling ordinance after residents raised concerns about its growing prevalence at the Asheville Highway, NC 107 intersection during an August meeting.

Sylva has taken the next step in the long process of repairing Allen Street after slope failure destroyed parts of the road early in 2020. 

As part of its public art initiative, Sylva will host a large, interactive cat sculpture in Bridge Park this fall and winter, after which the Sylva Art + Design Committee will find a more permanent home for the feline.

In the face of a housing shortage and increased competition for employees, the Town of Sylva has updated its policy that allows police officers a take-home vehicle. The board also decided that in the future, updates to this policy would not have to come before the board but would be an administrative decision made within the police department. 

When the Town of Sylva instituted its social district earlier this year, it planned to revisit the ordinance six months later to determine how things were going. That six-month mark came up last week and the town board decided not only to keep the ordinance in place, but also extend the social district’s operating hours.

The second annual Sylva Pride Festival will take place this weekend, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva. The Pride Parade will kick off at noon, beginning at Bridge Park before proceeding down Main Street. 

Over the next month, the Town of Sylva will be constructing a temporary skatepark in the lot behind Motion Makers, the result of work by both the town and a grassroots group of Jackson residents.

Sliding into a booth at The One Stop, a storied basement music venue in the heart of downtown Asheville, lead singer Brett O’Connor readies himself to soon take the cavernous stage, standing before a microphone in front of a sea of anonymous faces — all eager to see just what he and his band, Sneezy, have to offer.