Bumpy road for vehicle tax proposals

With municipal budget season coming down to the wire and those municipal budgets coming down to the penny, two Haywood County town governments are hoping to avoid property tax increases by introducing vehicle registration fees. 

Central Haywood gym will come down

An engineering report issued to Haywood County Schools June 11 resulted in unanimous approval of a resolution by the board that same day declaring Central Haywood High School’s gymnasium “unsound and unsafe,” but complicated funding streams have left Haywood officials wondering where to find some of the money to replace it.

Laying down the law: Officers, DA explain challenges within the system

If you don’t have much experience within the criminal justice system, trying to navigate the system can be frustrating.

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 Commerce, there appears to be some progress being made.

Cold Mountain Music Festival returns to Lake Logan

The second annual Cold Mountain Music Festival will return June 8-9 to the Lake Logan Conference Center. 

The festival will feature top-notch musical talent. Friday’s schedule will be The Kenny George Band (4:30 p.m.), The Broadcast (5:45 p.m.), Jon Stickley Trio (7 p.m.) and Mandolin Orange (8:45 p.m.). Saturday’s schedule will be The Broadcast (1 p.m.), Dangermuffin (2:15 p.m.), Tyler Ramsey (3:45 p.m.), The Steel Wheels (5 p.m.), River Whyless (7 p.m.) and Shovels & Rope (9 p.m.). The event will raise funds and awareness for Lake Logan and Camp Henry.

No small feat: Dwarfs wrestle with perception, performance

Perhaps not unique in that the reasons for both its popularity and its controversy are intertwined like the limbs of two grapplers struggling to gain the advantage, dwarf wrestling provides jobs where they’re scarce, boosts local economies with events and promotes positive examples of how dwarfs aren’t so different from their average-sized peers. 

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 be subsiding, and the county’s tourism attractions are drawing more of a year-round crowd. 

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 nestled away snugly in the center of Haywood County.

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 the Historic Haywood County Courthouse drew citizens and elected officials who explained that the problem was really more a societal issue, than a security issue. 

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 the wake of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting Feb. 14. 

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