Work begins for Green Energy Park makeover
An idea to turn the Jackson County Green Energy Park into a campus for creativity, learning and animal adoption now…
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Jackson passes $71.67 million budget
Jackson County Commissioners voted unanimously June 18 to adopt a $71.67 million budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which starts…
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Tibetan tour connects women across cultures
Standing on a mountaintop ascending above 10,000 feet — an ancient farming village in the valley below and a Buddhist…
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Board can now begin quest to diversify tribal revenue
The Kituwah Economic Development Board is now ready to start pursuing expanded business opportunities for the Eastern Band of Cherokee…
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Chief Pontiac statue will leave Asheville
After 51 years standing high on a hill along Patton Avenue in Asheville, a 23-foot-tall statue of Chief Pontiac is…
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$100,000 reward available for information on Cherokee vote tampering
The reward for information leading to a conviction for ballot tampering in Cherokee’s September 2017 elections has been quadrupled from…
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Health and human services board member resigns
The tension that surrounded Jackson County commissioners’ decision to merge its health and social services departments wasn’t hard to sense…
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Swain sheriff suspends mutual aid to town; Opponent claims the move is purely political
Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran has suspended a longstanding mutual aid agreement with the Bryson City Police Department, though the…
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Survey to document local African American history
A cultural survey currently underway that seeks to document the legacy of an overlooked Waynesville community could add to the…
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Rep. Presnell revisits voter ID issue
North Carolinians will be asked this November to weigh in on the controversial issue of voter ID if a bill…
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Swain budget holds the line
Swain County’s proposed budget for 2018-19 will maintain the status quo without a proposed property tax increase or any major…
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Commissioners move to clear J-Creek dirt delays
Five months into the economic development partnership between the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Haywood County Chamber of…
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WCU unveils new economic tool
A new tool that compiles a mind-boggling array of economic and demographic data and presents it in a simple map-based…
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Macon schools faces drastic cuts without more funding
Macon County commissioners are considering contributing another $750,000 toward public education to prevent further drastic cuts to Macon County Schools’…
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Jackson finalizes proposed budget
When the Jackson County Commissioners met June 5 to discuss final changes to the proposed budget for 2018-19, they came…
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Over opposition, Waynesville passes controversial text amendment
A Gastonia-based developer’s request to change a small part of the Town of Waynesville’s zoning rules to allow for multi-family…
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Grants made for home repairs
Over the last couple months, there have been some grants made for home repairs to enable veterans, senior citizens, and…
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Sheriff warns of phone scam
The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office has received several calls from concerned citizens regarding a phone scam that is very specific…
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Apply for Maggie Valley boards
The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen is now taking applications for appointments for both the Planning Board and the Zoning…
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Waynesville seeks volunteer board applicants
The Town of Waynesville Board of Aldermen is accepting applications to fill the following vacancies on various community boards and…
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More Boy Scouts programming open to girls
Darrian Childers is quitting Boy Scouts after joining a local troop about three years ago when his family moved to…
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New state office to focus on outdoor recreation growth
Outdoor recreation leaders in the region recently had the opportunity to weigh in on a newly established North Carolina Outdoor…
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Jackson to vote on Blackrock conservation project
Sylva commissioners voted unanimously during their May 24 meeting to contribute $250,000 to a 441.5-acre conservation project adjacent to Pinnacle…
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Jackson seeks homeless shelter manager
Before Jackson County commissioners can answer the question of whether Jackson should have a permanent, year-round homeless shelter building, they’ll…
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N.C. 107 remake could displace many Sylva businesses
For more than 30 of its 45 years in business, Speedy’s Pizza has served its famous pies out of the…
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Haywood County tourism strong, growing
Encouraging signs from Haywood County’s Tourism Development Authority suggest the lingering effects of the Great Recession of 2008 may finally…
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Tribe looks to diversify business interests
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is hoping to diversify its revenues beyond gaming through creation of a new limited…
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Term limits could end for Jackson ABC
Term limits could soon be lifted for the Jackson County ABC Board, pending a final vote from the Jackson County…
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Renovated Lambuth Inn looks to the next 100 years
Western North Carolina is a region filled with special places, one of the best known being a century-old religious retreat…
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Franklin proposes 4-cent tax increase
The Franklin Town Council is recommending a 4-cent property tax increase this year in order to cover its growing expenses…
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A penny for your thoughts: Fee increases keep Waynesville taxes down
The Town of Waynesville is about to embark on year two of a more conservative budget mindset; the days of…
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A penny for your thoughts: Fee increases keep Waynesville taxes down
The Town of Waynesville is about to embark on year two of a more conservative budget mindset; the days of…
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Plotting progress: Community conflicted over proposed apartment complex
It’s rare to see great interest taken in the meeting of a municipal planning board, but a contentious proposal that…
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Teachers take to the streets: WNC teachers demand more money for public education
More than 20 school districts in the state of North Carolina had to shut down as more than 15,000 teachers…
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Clampitt: teachers need to start ‘sharing the toys’
As thousands of North Carolina teachers descended on the state capitol last week demanding more education funding and better pay,…
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Haywood’s legislators show support for Second Amendment
One day after the 22nd school shooting of 2018 took place in Texas, a previously planned Second Amendment rally at…
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Macon budget battles increasing costs
Macon County’s proposed budget for 2018-19 does not include a tax increase despite increasing costs and capital needs throughout the…
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Macon Schools request $3.2 million for capital projects
Between Macon County Schools and Southwestern Community College, education expenses make up 18 percent of the county’s budget.
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Never again, again: School safety could be beyond the reach of counties, states
In April, students at Santa Fe High School southeast of Houston walked out of classes to protest gun violence in…
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Sneed investigation results ‘ease concerns’ about wrongdoing, press release says
An investigation into the legality of a lawsuit settlement in which Principal Chief Richard Sneed agreed to pay seven former…
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Tax increased proposed in Jackson
A proposed property tax increase in Jackson County would pay for increased school safety personnel and community safety resources.
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TWSA to keep upfront fees
The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority will look to keep up-front fees for water and sewer hookups high when it…
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Cherokee to vote in alcohol referendum
Increased alcohol availability could be on its way to the Qualla Boundary pending the outcome of a referendum vote slated…
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Conservation project stalls in Jackson
An effort to conserve 441.5 acres of land in the Plott Balsam Mountains adjacent to Sylva’s Pinnacle Park has met…
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Affordable apartments for seniors coming to Franklin
A second affordable apartment development is coming to Siler Road after the Franklin Town Council approved a special-use permit.
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Vaya Health moves to new Sylva location
Vaya Health announced it will move its Sylva regional office to a new location in town as part of an…
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Growing the greens: Agritourism flourishes in Western North Carolina
For generations, American farmers have plowed the fields, milked the cows and slopped the hogs to the seasonal rhythms of…
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Future of farming: Agritourism activities key to fruitful business
Many farmers today understand they can’t put all their eggs in one basket.
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Support needed for Darnell Farms expansion
Darnell Farms would like to expand to offer more for families when they visit, but it needs support from the…
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Ten acres of goodness
Ten Acre Garden in Canton has created an experience for visitors. They can come pick their own seasonal berries — blackberries,…
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