Gov. Cooper returns to Haywood, checks in on flood recovery

On March 15, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper made several stops in Western North Carolina, including one in Waynesville, where he checked in with local leaders on the progress of recovery from Tropical Storm Fred. 

Temporary home for Central Haywood High School 


Due to the flooding that ravaged the Canton, Cruso and Clyde areas in the wake of Tropical Storm Fred  last summer, Central Haywood High School was badly damaged

Canton begins to explore rebuilding flood-damaged facilities

In addition to the devastating loss of life and tremendous damage to private property, Tropical Storm Fred caused millions in damage to facilities owned and maintained by the Town of Canton. During a Jan. 27 all-day budget retreat, town staff and elected officials began to make some decisions on what, how and when to rebuild.

Pisgah Bears unlikely to play on home turf this fall

There’s a 1% chance football will be played at Pisgah Memorial Stadium come fall. That is according to an estimation by Haywood County Schools Maintenance Director Josh Mease. 

Up in the air: Challenges await Canton in the coming year

By the summer of 2021 things seemed to be on the up-and-up in North Carolina, and in Haywood County’s microcosm of it, Canton. 

‘I’ve just never seen water that angry’

By Bill Graham • Special to SMN | Poet T.S. Eliot wrote that there’s something about growing up beside a river that’s hard to communicate to people who didn’t.

Herrons offer home to family that lost everything

By Bill Graham • Special to SMN | For Ed Herron, childhood at Lake Junaluska in the 1960s was idyllic. He loved it. 

Finding the will to go on: New Canton gallery reopens after flood

On Aug. 13, Hannah Burnisky’s longtime dream of owning a pottery studio and art gallery came to fruition when the Cold Mountain Art Collective opened its doors. But, just four days later, on Aug. 17, the downtown Canton business closed — its future uncertain and in limbo. 

Following devastating August flood, BearWaters Brewing reopens

Sitting at a picnic table on the banks of the Pigeon River in downtown Canton, Kevin Sandefur turns around and points to the high-water line on the side of the BearWaters Brewing building. 

Canton’s future at stake in upcoming election

A scant three months ago, when candidates filed for the upcoming municipal elections, the Haywood County town of Canton was facing the usual set of local issues not much different from any other small-town Western North Carolina government. 

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