Hospital sale over, but when can we get our money?
Although the ink is dry on the sale of Haywood Regional Medical Center, how much the county will get for the hospital remains a moving target.
Haywood Schools to end cheap childcare incentives for teachers
An innovative tool to help recruit the best and brightest teachers to Haywood County has become too costly for the school system to continue in light of education budget cuts in recent years.
Sewage standoff lands offender in jail
The owner of a rental trailer in the Cruso community of Haywood County will be locked up until he complies with a court order to stop spilling raw sewage onto the ground.
New playground will round out Lake Junaluska’s family appeal
A new park and playground under construction at Lake Junaluska carries a price tag of more than $200,000.
Haywood candidates take sides on emergency management ordinance
Six candidates are vying for three seats in the Haywood County commissioners race. They fall in two tidy camps when it comes to their views on the county’s emergency management ordinance, making the issue a quick study for voters.
When passed in 2009, the emergency management ordinance was a sleeper, a bunch of government legalese that few paid attention to other than the emergency services workers who actually think about things like FEMA money and disaster declarations.
What’s in a name? Town pride muddies selection of new Haywood tourism logo
In a never-ending quest to lure tourists to Haywood County, the county tourism agency has once again changed the logo and slogan that will appear in its marketing and advertising materials.
Amid controversy, Canton changes alcohol ordinances
The Canton Town Board has recently made changes to their alcohol ordinances, allowing for the option of public consumption at events.
“As an elected official and Christian, I understand this is a divisive issue,” Alderman Zeb Smathers said. “After hearing from both sides and studying the issue, I voted to allow Canton the opportunity to fully compete with our sister cities as it concerns attracting events.”
Dairy whistleblower describes experiences at Osborne Farms
When Gna Wyatt called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about the manure piles covering Osborne Farms in Clyde, she wasn’t trying to make headlines. She just wanted life to get better for the cows she had spent the summer milking.
French Kirkpatrick: The boy from Laurel Branch
{youtube}http://youtu.be/bfgI_8TPZ5I{/youtube}
French Kirkpatrick just wanted to play music.
“I kind of wanted to be a singer, but I couldn’t sing worth a hoot,” the 75-year-old chuckled. “I wanted to be a regular picker, a banjo player, I even tried to play the fiddle one time, played the harmonica — I was a multiple-testing type of person.”
Play me that mountain music: Carroll Best and The White Oak String Band
French Kirkpatrick can sum up Carroll Best.
“What he did with the banjo was above and beyond,” Kirkpatrick said. “He was the most, probably without a doubt, the most creative banjo player I was ever in a room with.”
Recently at his home in Ironduff, a mountain community a few miles outside of downtown Waynesville, Kirkpatrick, an acclaimed musician in his own right, relaxed further back into his couch and reminisced with a smile about his late friend.