The annual Cold Mountain Music Festival will be held May 30-June 1 at the Lake Logan Retreat Center in Canton.

Artists to appear onstage include The Last Revel, American Aquarium, Melissa Carper, Fireside Collective, Denitia, The Moon & You, Fancy & The Gentlemen and more. 

The Haywood County Public Library recently unveiled a memorial to Fred Chappell at its Canton branch, which honors his literary achievements and dedication to teaching creative writing. 

More than two dozen vendors will take part in the fifth season of the Mill Town Farmers Market, which opens Thursday, May 15, and continues every Thursday through Oct. 30. 

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson visited Canton last week, meeting with local officials and new mill site owner Eric Spirtas, who gave tantalizing tidbits of what’s in store for the 185-acre parcel and promised a bold master plan within six months. 

The Town of Canton is currently wrestling with one of the ugliest budget conundrums in decades due to a combination of natural and human-caused disasters, the general unsustainability of the American health care coverage system and a colossal mistake by a contracted service provider.  

Last Thursday afternoon, dark storm clouds overtook downtown Canton. Sitting on a couch in the Cold Mountain Art Collective on Adams Street, Hannah Burnisky gazes out at the raindrops sliding down the large front windows of the business. 

Equipment and personnel have arrived in Haywood County to begin removing debris at 22 sites along the Pigeon River. 

The initial focus of the debris removal will be on things like downed trees, appliances and vehicles that, if dislodged and sent downstream, could cause further catastrophic damage.

Most days, Brandon Rogers has dirt under his fingernails — a badge of honest labor. Owner of a small auto repair shop on the outskirts of Canton, Rogers usually wakes up, puts on some sturdy workwear and heads to the shop to support his family, one customer at a time. Last Tuesday, his day began not with the percussive whir of impact wrenches or the earthy aroma of motor oil, but instead with a crisp suit and a trip to the airport. 

It had been a warm spring day that finally gave way to twilight of cobalt-grey, sharpening the flashing red and blue police lights slashing through dusk restless and unyielding. Demonstrators waving signs and banging rhythmically on locked glass doors, their chants pulsed through the cool evening air. 

“Save our democracy.” 

The Town of Canton is about to receive a huge economic development boost after Rep. Chuck Edwards announced a $41 million appropriation from a Biden-era water resources program.