Following the recent shooting in Orlando that left 50 dead and more injured, Dr. Rev. William Barber’s keynote address to the crowd at the Mountain Moral Monday rally in Sylva was a bit different than expected, but the message was the same.

The Jackson County Branch of the NAACP will host more than a dozen like-minded Western North Carolina organizations in Sylva on June 13 for an event called “Mountain Moral Monday.” 

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• NAACP gains ground in WNC communities
• Local leader represents NAACP’s changing face

The event will include a keynote address from Rev. Dr. William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, as well as speeches from local people who have been negatively impacted by the policies being passed in Raleigh for the last several years.

An air of excitement and expectation reigned over downtown Sylva last week as crews and stars alike rolled in to film streets transformed into the fictional town of Ebbing, Missouri. 

SEE ALSO: 
• The long road to the big screen
• ‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Three Billboards,’ and economic ripples

Crowds gathered on street corners, craning their necks for a view during scenes filmed outdoors on Sylva’s Main Street or keeping a more laidback watch during indoor scenes, hoping for a glimpse of the Hollywood A-listers cast in the big-budget film, called “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

Getting a movie to come to town isn’t something that happens overnight.

“Three Billboards” isn’t the only major filming project going on in Jackson County this month. Last week, ABC wrapped up a week of shooting for its remake of “Dirty Dancing,” turning the High Hampton Inn and Country Club into Kellerman’s Resort, circa 1963.

Sylva residents will likely see their tax rate skyrocket 42 percent this year, but town commissioners say that even the steep increase won’t let them do much beyond simply balance the budget.

Sylva’s leaders have known for a year that taxes would have to go up in 2016, but it’s unlikely any of them expected to be discussing a budget featuring a 41.7 percent tax rate increase.

Drawing thousands of visitors each year, the 19th annual Greening Up The Mountains Spring Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 23, in downtown Sylva. 

The daylong event is a celebration of renewal, of revitalization, and a time of reconnecting with friends, relatives and neighbors. Browse the more than 190 vendors, representing arts, crafts, demonstrators, culinary delights, local schools, business, community, environmental, health, safety, children’s activities, and more.

Sylva’s leaders are applauding a plan to build a new apartment complex across the road from Harris Hospital as a step toward addressing the town’s long-standing shortage of housing that’s affordable to workers on the low end of the income scale.

As Sylva’s leaders work toward a new budget for the new fiscal year, there’s one big question on everybody’s mind — how much will taxes increase?