The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council has classified most of the state as abnormally dry, while 56 counties are at least partially in a moderate drought, including almost the entire Smoky Mountain News coverage area. 

To the Editor:

State Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, is facilitating property de-annexation with a group of current Town of Maggie Valley property owners. They are testing the water to see if they can put more dollars in their pockets, take tax dollars away from the Town and allow unfettered development to their parcels.

To the Editor:

Are Donald Trump and Elon Musk incompetent or malevolent in their actions toward America and the American people? You decide.

Trump complained about the lack of water to fight the fires in Los Angeles. He said he ordered two reservoirs north of the fires to release water.

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. 

Almost a year after its internal publication, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has made public a report detailing the results of comprehensive ground and surface water sampling required at and around the site on which the now shut-down Pactiv Evergreen papermill sits. 

North Carolinians who lost access to water through a private well or damaged septic system as a result of Hurricane Helene may be eligible for FEMA assistance. 

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Asheville to hear firsthand from local, state and Tribal officials, emergency managers, food bank staff and volunteers, and impacted producers on the region’s relief and recovery efforts and highlighted resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help producers, families and communities in the Tarheel State recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. 

The power of water. Today was a rough one. 

To preface, I’ve been entirely caught up in the chaotic whirlwind in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, whether it be with my journalist hat on interviewing flood victims or simply being a distraught resident of Western North Carolina. 

No book review today. Instead, some words about the importance of words — yours.

If you’re reading these words and live in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, or parts of Georgia and South Carolina, then you survived the Great Flood of 2024.  

Kind Hearts, this hurricane has made me think about water, and I can say with certainty that water once had a role in my grandparents’ life that was near to a religion. Several years ago, a friend sent me a warning that confused me. “An organization named Nestlé is coming for your water.” What the hell? I struggled to understand how anyone could steal my water.