Lavita Hill has dreamed of joining tribal council since high school. 

Painttown’s Shannon Swimmer feels less like she’s taking on responsibility with her new role — and more that she’s “stepping into it.”

Shennelle Feather of Yellowhilll took the leap because she saw the right opportunity. 

I’ll never get that smell out of my memory. The stench of mud and rotting debris. Most of you reading this will immediately know what I’m referring to — the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. And yet, that stench was already in my stored subconscious, seeing as I first encountered it with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred in 2021. 

Last September, my family was gearing up for our first “leaf season” (and apple season, and hayride season, and football season) in Haywood County. As recent transplants from another state, we had heard about how beautiful the mountains are in early fall, and we were looking forward to experiencing it.

As you enter Chimney Rock, you will see bulldozers and construction workers and other visceral reminders of Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic impact. But as you absorb the village’s incredible landscape and people, you’ll notice shops newly reconstructed and others half-filled with merchandise, a proud proclamation of their survival. 

A large majority of U.S. adults (86%) say they at least sometimes get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet, including 57% who say they do so often.….

Americans turn to radio and print publications for news far less frequently. In 2024, just 26% of U.S. adults say they often or sometimes get news in print, the lowest number our surveys have recorded. 
— Pew Research Center 

I turned 40 years old today.

This morning, I awoke in the guest bedroom of my parents’ farmhouse in my native North Country of Upstate New York. It was 12 degrees outside with a frigid breeze, the sun shining brightly. I rolled over and looked out the second-story window onto a backyard blanketed in snow, each flake sparkling. 

Yesterday was a rough one. Real rough. She moved out the last of her things from my apartment, formerly “our apartment.” She’d already signed a lease for a new spot across town. And she seemed genuinely excited to see what this next chapter of her life will look like in the coming weeks, months and years. 

Even though we’re already a couple weeks into 2025, I’m still feeling the heightened energy that surrounds a New Year.

My parents were teachers and both worked second jobs. Dad was a night manager at the Roses in Asheville and Mom spent evenings organizing and sorting Avon inventory, and this was in addition to our practices and other activities.

In listening to the tributes regarding the death of President Jimmy Carter, a phrase from his inauguration speech struck a chord: “…. individual sacrifice for the common good.” 

Last Friday wasn’t Mark Beam’s first time facing a judge at the defendant’s table in Haywood County District Court, but it seems like it may have been the last. 

Beam’s defense attorney, Jake Phelps, stood to address District Court Judge Monica Leslie. Phelps’ voice wavered as he evoked his client’s case number, and many in the gallery and the jury box wiped away tears.