For four decades, Western Carolina University has participated in a daylong effort of cleaning up a portion of Jackson County’s Tuckasegee River. 

An intoxicated Jackson County man who drove at a high rate of speed and careened into two other cars, killing the second vehicle’s driver and seriously injuring a passenger, will serve more than 14 years in prison, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said. 

Diversity within the Western Carolina University workforce has been inching up, with the latest report showing that the last year’s worth of staffing changes held steady the proportion of racial and ethnic minorities on the university’s payroll while strengthening the existing majority of female WCU employees and resulting in a sharp increase in the percentage of employees with a disability. 

A special stage production of “Fantasia on Mysterium: The Epic Immersive Theatrical Recital” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25-27 at the Bardo Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. 

Cullowhee-based Landmark Learning is now enrolling for a variety of wilderness medicine certification courses planned for the winter months. 

Earn your place as a cornhole champion during a tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Cullowhee Recreation Center in Cullowhee. 

Starlight Night, the annual fundraiser for Full Spectrum Farms, will take place 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, on the farm.

A beloved long-time Western North Carolina tradition, the 49th annual Mountain Heritage Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

NCDOT awarded a $6.2 million contract to replace a bridge, build a roundabout, new sidewalk and new bike lanes in Cullowhee.

  This year the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating 100 years of work and involvement in its community — fostering both economic development and future leaders.