News Headlines

 

EXCLUSIVE: Payton McNabb’s victim speaks out

On May 2, 2024, a brief, awkward moment inside a women’s restroom at Western Carolina University was recorded, uploaded to social media and sparked a flashpoint in America’s ongoing culture wars.

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JCPS budgets for change

With a new middle school on the horizon, Jackson County Public Schools is budgeting for a changing school system. On May 6, JCPS made its official request for local funding from the Jackson County Commission.  

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‘It’s got to go’: Commissioners want to remove Jackson libraries from FRL

Anyone who thought that two years, dozens of meetings, thousands of dollars and hours of public comment to reach a new interlocal agreement between Jackson, Macon and Swain counties for the Fontana Regional Library would spell the end of the controversy over local libraries thought wrong. 

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Sensing opportunity, Dems lining up to run against Edwards

Henderson County Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards’ repeated failures on economic policy, entitlement programs and Hurricane Helene recovery have left him vulnerable, according to a slew of Democrats who are now competing for the right to run against him in 2026. 

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NC-11 Dems elect new chair

Just two weeks after western Republicans elected a new 11th Congressional District chair, their Democratic counterparts have now done the same. 

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Woods Named JCPS District Teacher of the Year

Fairview School kindergarten teacher Anna Woods was named the Jackson County Public Schools District Teacher of the Year during the Excellence in Education Awards Evening on May 8th, 2025. 

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Two men plead guilty to drug trafficking

District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch announced that two men in two separate cases in Macon County pleaded guilty this week to trafficking illegal drugs.

In the first case, Franklin resident Joshua Charles Schooler, 36, was sentenced in Macon County Superior Court for trafficking in methamphetamine. 

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Going with the flow: Canton, developer ink interim deal to maintain wastewater service

Canton’s toilets will continue to flush thanks to an agreement born of urgency but put on paper with cooperation and cautious optimism.

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Eastern Band votes to allow for homegrown cannabis, again

Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who live on tribal land and possess a medical marijuana card will now be able to grow their own cannabis. 

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