State senate rematch already in the making

Last fall’s election is barely in the rearview mirror, but battle lines are already being staked out for 2016.

And voters may be looking at a rematch for the state senate seat that sprawls from Waynesville to Murphy, spanning seven mountain counties. Both N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and challenger Jan Hipps, D-Waynesville, say they will run again in two years.

Break-in reported at Swain election office

No personal voter identification information was found missing following a break-in at the Swain County Board of Elections Office in Bryson City.

Race is on for tribal elections: Hicks not seeking re-election

Cherokee will have a new chief when Election Day concludes this September.

Principal Chief Michell Hicks, who is serving his third four-year term, will not seek re-election, but five candidates have filed in hopes of taking his place.

New Haywood tax collector sidelined after hitting a bond snag

fr matthewsThe newly elected tax collector in Haywood County has been benched indefinitely.

Mike Matthews was supposed to take office Monday, but his swearing in ceremony was canceled at the 11th hour. Matthews wasn’t able to get bonded at the amount stipulated by county commissioners — namely a $410,000 professional liability bond. 

No oath of office for new Haywood Tax Collector: County in holding pattern after elected tax collector couldn’t get bonded

The newly elected tax collector in Haywood County was unable to take office Monday as scheduled after failing to secure a $410,000 bond.

For now, the long-time tax collector David Francis will continue in the role on an interim basis.

New tax collector had to have wages garnished

fr matthewsIn a narrow upset in the Haywood County Tax Collector race last week, voters elected a man with a history of delinquent property tax bills and little experience for the job.

Upset election for tax collector prompts job reshuffling

fr davidfrancisA new tax collector has been elected in Haywood County, but when he takes office next month his duties will be substantially less than the outgoing tax collector.

Steep slope ordinance rewrite timeline: The inopportune arrival of a slow but steady train

When Jackson County commissioners halted the controversial rewrite of the steep slope development rules earlier this year, critics were both pleased and skeptical.

Pleased that a rollback of the county’s steep slope rules wouldn’t be pushed to the finish line before November’s election, but skeptical that the sitting commissioners would really stop work on the rollback. Instead, many thought the incumbents were trying to save their own re-election chances and would pick up where they left off after November.

Seven years war for the mountainsides rages on in Jackson

Controlling mountainside development is a universal issue grappled with across Western North Carolina.

But Jackson County’s residents have wrestled more passionately, more vocally, more extensively and more heatedly over mountainside development than almost any other county in the region.

A voter’s guide to the 2014 WNC election

Stories from the 2014 midterm election:

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