Many still missing in Haywood after last night’s floods

More than 30 people remain unaccounted for and search and rescue operations continue at this hour after heavy rainfall from…
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Making sense of the unimaginable: Floodwaters ravage the tightly-knit mountain community of Cruso

It’s about a mile past Jukebox Junction, down along U.S. 276 heading towards the small mountain community of Cruso, when…
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Labor market impacts college hiring season

Amid a nationwide struggle to fill open positions in a multitude of sectors, higher education institutions in Western North Carolina…
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Shining Rock begins school year in new, permanent home

The quiet calm of a bright summer morning dissipates like dew off the freshly manicured lawn upon entering Shining Rock…
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Pandemic pivot: Some used lockdown to reach educational goals

Kaitlyn Nelson was three-and-a-half months into living her Australian dream when the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, forcing her and her partner…
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As COVID cases rise, schools reverse mask decisions

As COVID-19 cases rise, in large part due to the spread of the new Delta variant, school boards across the…
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Residents file suit against Mission Health

A group of Western North Carolina residents has filed a class action lawsuit against Mission Health System and its parent…
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Zoning change could result in sale of Waynesville parcels

A pair of undeveloped parcels at the southwest corner of Asheville Highway and Howell Mill Road have undergone a zoning…
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Down Home N.C. fire local organizers

Over the past few years, political action group Down Home North Carolina has made a name for itself in Western…
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First responders ‘Tired, frustrated, angry, fearful’

The resurgent Delta variant of COVID-19 has created a dangerous situation across the country and across the state, and now…
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Sylva faces $2 million road repair

Fixing ongoing landslide issues on Allen Street could cost up to $2 million — an amount equivalent to more than 40%…
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Downtown Waynesville Association narrowly survives contentious hearing

The Downtown Waynesville Association has been in the fight of its 36-year political life since Waynesville aldermen refused to renew…
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More COVID cases, deaths in Haywood

In the week since the last press release, Haywood County Public Health has received notice of 206 new cases of COVID-19.  As…
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After emergency meeting, Haywood Schools still won’t require masks

Almost three weeks after controversially voting to start the school year with optional masks for students, the Haywood County Schools…
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Cherokee establishes medical cannabis program

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will establish a medical marijuana program on tribal lands even as the drug remains…
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Masks back at college

With case numbers surging and fall semester beginning, local colleges and universities are reinstituting indoor masking requirements that had been…
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Parents petition Haywood school board to require masks

A petition to start the school year with universal masking in Haywood County Schools has over 630 signatures. This comes…
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Haywood amends school calendar
 

Haywood amends school calendar

The Haywood County Schools Board of Education voted to amend the 2021-22 school calendar during its Aug. 9 regularly scheduled…
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Sarah Thompson joins Dogwood Health Trust
 

Sarah Thompson joins Dogwood Health Trust

Dogwood Health Trust hired seasoned economic and community development executive Sarah Thompson to join the organization’s Impact Team on Sept.…
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Haywood Hospice honors volunteers

Volunteers with Haywood Hospice & Palliative Care were honored at a recent luncheon held at the First Presbyterian Church in…
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A new phase for Pathways Center

It’s been nearly seven years since Haywood Pathways Center served up its first meals to the needy, after the then-prison…
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Haywood highway dedicated to fireman
 

Haywood highway dedicated to fireman

The N.C. Board of Transportation unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to dedicate a section of U.S. 276 in Haywood County…
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Medical cannabis advancing through General Assembly

Now that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has decided to move forward with a medical cannabis initiative, the rest…
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Swain will mandate masks in schools

Swain County Schools will start the year with a mask mandate, reversing a previous decision to make masks optional for…
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Businesses impacted by COVID-19 cases

A couple of Haywood County businesses have had to shut their doors temporarily after several employees were exposed to COVID-19.
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As hospitals mandate staff vaccines, Mission Health resists

By Peter H. Lewis • Asheville Watchdog | The largest health care providers in Western North Carolina, including Mission Hospital…
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Forest therapy trail approved for Sylva

Sylva may soon be home to the first certified forest therapy trail in North Carolina following the town board’s unanimous…
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Macon woman wielding machete video goes viral

A video showing two white men and one Black woman wielding a machete in the middle of Georgia Road in…
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Waynesville homeless task force meeting cancelled over COVID concerns

A meeting designed to gather public input on draft recommendations  made by the Waynesville Task Force on Homelessness scheduled for…
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Cherokee to consider same-sex marriage law in September

After twice refusing  to grant the legislation a perfunctory first reading, during its Aug. 5 meeting the Cherokee Tribal Council…
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Democrat Jay Carey brings perspective to NC11 field

With a father in the Navy and a mother from Poland, Jay Carey grew up in a middle-class family in…
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Cherokee elections around the corner

On Thursday, Sept. 2, Cherokee voters will select the next Tribal Council, three School Board representatives and answers to three…
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After a brief pause, eviction moratorium returns

A Trump-era policy designed to protect renters impacted by the Coronavirus Pandemic was allowed to expire on the last day…
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Axe & Awl honors past with modern twist

By Diana Conard • Contributing writer | Courtney and Spencer Tetrault established Axe & Awl Leatherworks six years ago as…
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As COVID rages, Canton Labor Day events debated

After the Canton Board of Aldermen/women spent nearly three hours on Aug. 9 going back and forth with Haywood County…
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Sylva man found guilty of ransacking ambulance

With admissions last week of stealing and breaking into motor vehicles, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said, a Sylva man…
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COVID-19 Outbreak at Haywood nursing home

The Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency has identified a COVID-19 outbreak at Maggie Nursing & Rehabilitation in Maggie…
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Highway dedicated in honor of Beloved Cherokee man

Jerry Wolfe’s voice crackled across the speakers telling one more story.
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New CEO hired at Angel Medical Center

Mission Health has hired Clint Kendall to serve as the new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer at Angel…
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COVID-19 cluster found at Canton PD

Haywood County Health and Human Services have identified a COVID-19 cluster connected to the Canton Police Department. Six employees, at…
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Cherokee legalizes medical marijuana

The Cherokee Tribal Council today approved a 42-page ordinance that will establish a system to support legalized medical marijuana on…
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Highlands Road Safety Project Underway

FRANKLIN – A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation recently started a safety project along a stretch of Highlands Road…
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Cawthorn’s first Republican challenger appears

There’s been lots of speculation since very early in Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s tenure in Congress that he’d face a Republican…
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Another Democrat begins campaign for Madison Cawthorn’s seat

Army veteran and 2020 state House candidate Josh Remillard, of Mills River, has officially entered the race for North Carolina’s…
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Buncombe Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara wants Madison Cawthorn’s seat

Some people will say a gay woman who’s a Christian minister just can’t get elected in the South.
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Masks back at WCU

With case numbers surging, Western Carolina University has announced that it will ask members of the campus community to report…
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Tourism businesses engage in legal battle

Two of Swain County’s largest tourism brands — Nantahala Outdoor Center and Great Smoky Mountains Railroad — are engaged in a…
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UPDATED: Report reveals Cawthorn gun gaffe

Congressman Madison Cawthorn attempted to bring a firearm though airport security this past February, but the freshman Western North Carolina…
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Recording reveals Cawthorn's gun gaffe

Congressman Madison Cawthorn attempted to bring a firearm though airport security this past February, but the freshman Western North Carolina…
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HIGHTS receives United Way grant
 

HIGHTS receives United Way grant

HIGHTS (Helping Inspire Gifts of Hope, Trust, and Service) works with the community’s most vulnerable youth to provide essential clinical…
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