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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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%…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
Masks back at college
With case numbers surging and fall semester beginning, local colleges and universities are reinstituting indoor masking requirements that had been…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.…
Read More
Haywood Hospice honors volunteers
Volunteers with Haywood Hospice & Palliative Care were honored at a recent luncheon held at the First Presbyterian Church in…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
Axe & Awl honors past with modern twist
By Diana Conard • Contributing writer | Courtney and Spencer Tetrault established Axe & Awl Leatherworks six years ago as…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
Highway dedicated in honor of Beloved Cherokee man
Jerry Wolfe’s voice crackled across the speakers telling one more story.
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.
Read More
Masks back at WCU
With case numbers surging, Western Carolina University has announced that it will ask members of the campus community to report…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More