Members of the public interested in Western North Carolina court cases now have better access than ever to criminal and civil files. 

The public in Western North Carolina is about to have more access to the courts than ever before, assuming all goes to plan. 

Family farms across the region are eligible for emergency loan assistance from the Farm Service Agency due to damage or losses from drought occurring this fall. 

Drought has re-entered the western region, with the most recent drought conditions map labeling Transylvania and Henderson counties as experiencing moderate drought.

Western North Carolina courts are about to get a leg up, but it isn’t all that everyone hoped for. 

Voters in Graham County can now establish legal residency simply by declaring their “intent” to reside in a particular place, despite overwhelming evidence that they do not actually reside in that place, after a Sept. 28 ruling by the Graham County Board of Elections.

More than a hundred economic development professionals, elected officials, internet service providers and interested parties from across North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties met March 21 in Franklin to acquaint themselves with the ways in which unprecedented amounts of state and federal broadband monies will be used to close the digital divide in rural Appalachia.

Seven counties in Western North Carolina have the opportunity to band together and receive money for affordable housing through the Southwestern Commission. As of June 15, several counties have signed on to make up the Southwestern NC HOME Consortium. 

Heavy rains and high winds associated with strong storms last Sunday night led to plenty of headaches Monday morning, as downed limbs cut power and closed roads while swollen streams slipped their banks, flooding businesses and residences across Western North Carolina.

Members of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors recently requested a meeting with Swain and Graham County officials to discuss the TVA’s recent decision to remove all 1,800 houseboats from its 49 lakes within the next 30 years.