The Town of Waynesville is applying for the Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program grant.

The goal is to implement the "Keeping Waynesville Beautiful Project,” which would aim to address several critical needs related to urban and community forestry.

“We have identified a pressing need for the enhancement of the town's urban tree population and the implementation of sustainable tree maintenance practices in two census tracts that include over half of the Waynesville population,” a news release states. “Furthermore, fostering community engagement and awareness about the importance of urban and community forestry is essential.”

By addressing these needs, the project seeks to elevate the overall quality of living in Waynesville while ensuring the long-term health and sustainability of urban and community forests.

The Town of Waynesville is seeking letters of support from community businesses and organizations that are interested in the beautification of Waynesville and the maintenance of local trees. Those letters can be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by July 31.

Macon and Jackson County commissions signed resolutions this month enabling the governments to receive funding from the Kroger opioid settlement, the third settlement of its kind for both counties. 

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners voted this month to commit to funding construction and renovation of Fairview School, which was recently identified as the system’s top capital needs priority due to overcrowding and outdated design. 

Every student in Haywood and Jackson County Schools can expect no cost breakfast and lunch in the coming school year, and Macon County is not far behind in meeting that mark as well. 

Without immediate action from the General Assembly, Pandemic-era federal grants to child care providers will run out on July 1 — plunging the state into a child care crisis that will hamper economic and workforce development, make child care more difficult to find and further burden North Carolina’s working parents already feeling the pinch from unaffordable housing and the relentless corporate greed that’s driving inflation. 

Museum of the Cherokee People has been awarded a major spring grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

A rare public impasse by Council Members over the Town of Waynesville’s proposed budget will leave things unsettled for the time being, foreshadowing prolonged negotiations over an all-but-certain tax increase. 

Despite increasing cost estimates, Macon County is in a good financial position to move forward with both the Franklin High School project and the Highlands School project.

For years, the old Francis Farm landfill was just that — a leaky, gassy problem that did little but sap resources from the county charged with maintaining it in perpetuity.

The Jackson County Department of Social Services has faced incredible challenges over the past year associated with placing children in foster care. Now both the state and the county are providing funding to try and alleviate that problem.