In recent years, the phrase “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers” has evolved from its originally earnest and spiritual meaning to an ironic online take on the resiliency needed, given the current state of affairs, to maintain day-to-day existence. It’s a rebuke of the idea that if bad things come into our lives, it’s because we know how to handle them — or that we must suffer immensely, with a brave face, in order to grow. 

Four women — Shennelle Feather, Lavita Hill, Shannon Swimmer and Venita Wolfe — were elected to a previously all-male Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal council this fall, and they’re ready to make things happen. 

When Eric Spirtas and Two Banks Development LLC bought the dormant Canton mill property in early January from global corporate supervillain Pactiv Evergreen, the reaction across town was equal parts relief and side-eye.

Relief, because communities across the country have seen too many hulking industrial sites sit shuttered for a decade or more, rotting quietly into the ground while communities wait for a miracle that never comes. 

The Roadless Rule Recission is genuinely so unpopular to have perhaps been inspired by a claim that Trump couldn’t possibly do anything more universally hated than gutting National Park funding, to which the president said, “Oh yeah? Hold my beer.” 

Jackson County’s various governing boards spent much of the year demonstrating that governing does not require attendance, consistency, basic curiosity about consequences, respect for the law or for the feelings of taxpayers, voters and young people. 

Throughout a year when Western North Carolina was begging for more hurricane recovery funding and a less bureaucratic inefficiency, the North Carolina General Assembly demonstrated incredible flexibility and focus — just not on governing. 

The nature of growth requires counties to constantly develop and improve to keep facilities safe, reliable and up to fulfilling the needs of communities.

Voters in Macon County will have a chance to pass the buck, in a sense, on vital projects looming not far on the horizon. Some are so close you can smell them.

Editor’s Note: Since August 2012, Garret K. Woodward has held the position of arts and entertainment editor for The Smoky Mountain News. In December 2018, he also became a contributing writer for Rolling Stone.

Below are a handful of excerpts from my Rolling Stone travels this year covering some of the best albums of 2025, excursions that took me from Western North Carolina to Montana, Florida to Colorado, Tennessee to Utah and then some — always in search of all things beautiful and true, especially when it comes to the sacred, ancient act of live performance. 

Late Monday morning. While taking a sip of my coffee at the Main Street Diner in Waynesville, I scanned the room at the tables filled with faces enjoying warm meals and hearty conversation. It was at that very moment when I started thinking about this anonymous postcard I received several years ago. 

The Nantahala Racing Club and Nantahala Outdoor Center announced they have been honored with the American Canoe Association’s 2025 “Event of the Year” award for hosting the 2025 Junior Olympics and Regional Teams Development Camp.