When Dr. Bill Nolte was promoted to superintendent of Haywood County Schools this past summer, one of the first things he said he’d do was begin the process of creating a long-term plan for the award-winning school district that recently slipped in academic rankings from 11th to 14th out of 115 districts across the state. 

Imagine this — you’re atop a hundred-story building, and it’s on fire. As the flames and smoke close in, you really don’t want to jump, but there simply doesn’t seem to be any other way. 

While Hurricane Florence spared much of The Smoky Mountain News coverage area when it rolled through the region last week, the same can’t be said for a vast portion of the North Carolina coast, which saw rainfall totals of more than 33 inches in places. 

More than a year after a contentious public comment session during which the Haywood County Board of Commissioners weighed the pros and cons of having the state’s only elected tax collector, there’s no sign any change is coming despite the dispute still smoldering.

For months, Valerie Oberle has been the public face of the three-person partnership supposedly taking shape at the long-shuttered Ghost Town amusement park in Maggie Valley. Along with husband Spencer, Oberle’s had a frustrating summer marked by unmet promises and modest progress. 

Early on Sept. 14, a flurry of press releases from Haywood County, the Town of Maggie Valley and the Town of Canton declared states of emergency in each jurisdiction.

While no effect has yet been felt in Western North Carolina due to Hurricane Florence, the next 72 hours could bring heavy rain, downed limbs, gusty winds and localized flooding.

Here’s the full text of the Haywood County declaration:

As a precautionary measure, Haywood County will declare a state of emergency effective noon today. The state of emergency allows the County to access critical resources, coordinate support and provide assistance in case conditions worsen. In order to receive FEMA reimbursement, a local state of emergency declaration is required.

Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency for all 100 counties in North Carolina on September 7, 2018.

Haywood County Board of Commissioners Chairman Kirk Kirkpatrick stated, “Our emergency response teams and law enforcement have been monitoring and preparing for the storm all week. Haywood County is taking the necessary precautions with the uncertainty of the storm.”

“We know the storm is coming. We don’t know the impact the storm will have on our area,” said Emergency Services Director, Greg Shuping. “A state of emergency alerts our citizens to monitor the rain, wind and landslide potential during the storm. Please take the time to make necessary preparations now.”

Citizens should stay tuned to your local news stations and the latest updates from state and local authorities.

Haywood County Alerts was developed for these types of emergencies. This system provides emergency alerts for Haywood County and all municipalities within Haywood County. To receive emergency (emergency only) *text message* alerts, simply text your Haywood County zip code to the number 888-777.To receive additional information including road closures and utility interruptions, visit http://alerts.haywoodcountync.gov to choose the types of alerts you want to receive.

Western North Carolina may not be over-“Flo”-ing with water just yet, but the region is awash in information about available resources for people affected by Hurricane Florence.

As The Smoky Mountain News went to print Tuesday, a potentially catastrophic storm was barreling down on the Carolinas, with North Carolina poised to bear the brunt of it. 

Slow progress and a string of broken promises from new Ghost Town operator and former Disney exec Valeria Oberle haven’t stopped her from talking to people about her plans for the park, but they have stopped her from allowing people to record or broadcast them. 

Recent uproar over dozens of tax payments improperly waived by Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews seemed to be quieted with his announcement that he’d personally cover more than $1,200 of the $4,100 he’d waived.

Achieving high academic performance levels is one thing, but maintaining them is quite another, and after two straight years ranked 11 out of 115 public school districts in the state, recent reports from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction show that Haywood County schools slid three places to a still-impressive 14. 

Why don’t Polish salt miners ever get sick?

No, it’s not a joke, according to Marisa Spagnoli, owner of Waynesville Salt Room, a new Montgomery Street business that’s capitalizing on one of the latest trends in the spa industry. 

Despite pages and pages of published studies and hundreds or thousands of anecdotes extolling the benefits of cannabidiol, it’s the word stem — “canna” — that still raises eyebrows as much as the plant stem. 

When you take in the totality of photographer Bill Killillay’s work, you might think it comes as the result of intensive schooling at some fancy film or art school. But you would be wrong. In fact, you might say he just fell into it.

A slew of county tax penalties waived by Tax Collector Mike Matthews’ office will have to be re-added to some tax bills because they were improperly released.

It takes a lot of work throughout the year to produce the Folkmoot festival; much of that work goes on behind the scenes and much of it is done by volunteers, without whom the festival simply couldn’t sustain itself.

It's gameday in Haywood County! Here, for the first time anywhere, is Canton-based singer/songwriter Keil Nathan Smith's ode to one of the most intense high school football rivalries anywhere - the Black Bears of Pisgah High School versus the Tuscola High School Mountaineers. Scroll below to listen. 

Many among us have been touched by the tragedy of suicide, and in the age of social media, many more of us have heard or seen behavior from family, friends or even total strangers that gives us pause. 

The Town of Waynesville dropped the ball on a minor procedural change to how some zoning decisions are made, but at least taxpayers won’t be left holding the bag. 

One of the key stipulations in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 is that those who go without health care coverage for all or part of a year will pay a substantial fine, tied to their income tax filings. 

For more than a century in the tiny Haywood County town of Canton, the sun has risen and set — literally and figuratively — on the sprawling paper mill located in the heart of town. 

Although none of them were personally in room 3A of the Haywood County Courthouse, pornographer Larry Flynt, Rev. Jerry Falwell, former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump, pop sensation Sonny Bono and acclaimed singer Cher have all emerged in a lawsuit brought by a local Republican Party official who says she’s been injured by a series of mocking memes. 

Amid high hopes for a rejuvenated Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park, it’s looking more and more like the been down this road before crowd may be on the right path. 

Most playgrounds aren’t accessible to children with physical or cognitive challenges; what’s worse, those kids are often left on the sidelines when their peers of average ability hit the slides, swings and sandboxes. 

After nearly a year without a permanent county manager, Haywood County commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 20 to extend an offer to Assistant Gaston County Manager Bryant E. Morehead. 

“When I was matched with Ann in fourth grade, I had grown up with some difficulties in my life,” said Megan Galloway. “It was my thing that I went to every week, where I was like, ‘Oh, I get to see Ann!’” 

That was seven years ago last February. Galloway, now 17, is a student at Haywood Early College and will likely graduate from the program a year early before going on to study marine biology at UNC Wilmington. 

Just weeks after a violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville last August, complaints arising from the display of Confederate imagery in the Town of Canton’s 111th annual Labor Day parade prompted an alderman to propose regulating the display of controversial speech in town-sponsored events. 

Last August, three-term Asheville Republican Congressman Mark Meadows held his fourth Veterans Solutions Seminar in Waynesville. Last week, he held his fifth. The difference is that this time, protesters were waiting for him. 

Near the end of 2016, the North Carolina Department of Transportation announced plans for an $18 million makeover of Russ Avenue, including a disastrous modification that would have forever altered the character of one of Waynesville’s most historic neighborhoods. 

As first reported in The Smoky Mountain News more than four months ago, Waynesville’s getting a new hotel, and that new hotel is getting lots of tax breaks. The reasons why are no mystery either, according to Haywood County Program Administrator David Francis. 

With a net pickup of four seats in the House or six in the Senate, North Carolina Democrats could break the Republican Party’s veto-proof legislative lock on Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper this November. 

As Haywood County’s economic development efforts ensue, one oft-overlooked aspect of the area’s offerings — like land development opportunities and development incentives — is the quality of the workforce. 

The site plan submitted by developers for a controversial 200-unit apartment complex off Plott Creek Road was approved by the Town of Waynesville Planning Board July 30, but not before a marathon meeting that dragged on for more than six hours and threatened to stretch into the next day. 

Even the smallest communities are composed of a dizzying array of institutional and organizational groups that can either work together — or against each other — in the collection and distribution of limited resources to the utmost benefit of that community. 

A 4.4-acre parcel in the Allens Creek community could soon put a small dent in Haywood County’s affordable housing crisis, if negotiations between the owner and local human services agency Mountain Projects go well. 

Almost 10 months after the abrupt resignation of County Manager Ira Dove, Haywood County is drawing closer to finding his permanent replacement. 

Among the groups visiting this year’s Folkmoot Festival from other countries is one from a place that isn’t quite a country, but is perhaps a historical microcosm of current geopolitical and spiritual conflict between East and West. 

“It’s mostly sunny weather, two or three months we live in winter, the rest of the year, around 30 or 40 Celsius degrees,” said Burcin Ozqus, a performer with Kyrenia Youth Centre Association. “It’s green most all the time of the year.”

Now in its 35th year, the Folkmoot Festival has been around 11 years longer than Maarten Krijger has been alive, but it doesn’t take 35 years of experience with the annual event to understand what has to happen in the next 35. 

Five seats on the Haywood County Schools Board of Education are up for election this year, but only one challenger has stepped forward to contest any of the incumbents, all of whom are seeking to return.

A multi-year effort by Burnsville Republican Rep. Michele Presnell to scrap vehicle emissions testing requirements in more than two dozen North Carolina counties finally got the green light from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Lindsay Regner and Megan Hauser tromp down an old railroad line, their steady pace creating a predictable beat of feet dragging across road-grade gravel. 

The polls are usually thought of as a place to vote for or against people, but this year in North Carolina, they will also be a place to vote for or against ideas — six of them, in fact; a spate of proposed additions and amendments to the state’s constitution will go before voters Nov. 6, after making it out of the General Assembly’s spring session with the required 60 percent level of support. 

Rolf Kaufman was there, at the beginning, 35 years ago. Now approaching 88, he’s spent nearly 40 percent of his life involved in the Folkmoot Festival.

As approximately 200 international performers descend on Hazelwood in the coming days, much of the public — from Franklin to Hickory and everywhere in between — will see them flawlessly execute their demanding dance routines in elaborate wardrobes, often accompanied by substantial live instrumentation. 

Last year’s inaugural Sunday Soiree featured the usual festive Folkmoot fun — drinks, dancing and heavy hitters on the stage, including Grammy Award winner Secret Agent 23 Skidooo and perennial favorite Empire Strikes Brass — but this year’s event looks to take it up a notch by focusing on the food. 

A quick discussion by the Haywood County Board of Commissioners on July 16 about the possibility of taking responsibility for the International Paper Sports Complex in Canton left commissioners with more questions than answers. 

When a controversial text amendment passed the Town of Waynesville Planning Board and Board of Aldermen in back-to-back public hearings almost two months ago, Mayor Gavin Brown told opponents that they’d again have their chance to oppose the development that instigated it. 

Haywood County Schools superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte wasted little time in announcing the administrative support team that will help him maintain and improve upon the school district’s eleventh overall statewide ranking. 

A startling engineering report that called Central Haywood High School’s deteriorating gymnasium “unsound and unsafe” prompted Haywood County Schools to spring into action June 11, and now that a bid for demolition has been accepted, the gym’s deconstruction will soon begin.