A new fire substation in Franklin years in the making is now operational. 

After lingering in limbo following initial construction, the state came through with funding to complete the project after Sen. Kevin Corbin and Rep. Karl Gillespie, both Macon County natives, were able to procure what was needed. 

On the nine-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene, Gov. Josh Stein signed the North Carolina General Assembly’s fifth major installment of recovery funding — a sweeping $575 million package aimed at rebuilding roads, bridges, schools and government infrastructure across the state’s western region while omitting the $60 million in small business grant support that House lawmakers had supported. 

In a move more than a half-century in the making, the Town of Canton has announced the pending purchase of a key parcel of land where it plans to construct a new, state-of-the-art flood-proof wastewater treatment plant — ending a long chapter of dependence on a private system operated by the now-shuttered Pactiv Evergreen paper mill and setting the stage for a bold economic redevelopment of the historic site.

When Hurricane Helene slammed into Western North Carolina in late 2024, public attention focused on damaged homes, washed-out roads and the rigid bureaucracy meant to help with recovery, but the widespread physical damage was closely followed by a slow-moving economic catastrophe unfolding among the region’s small businesses, farmers and local governments. Now, eight months later, help may finally be on the way. 

The Macon County Republican Party will host a 250th anniversary celebration of the first declaration of independence from Great Britain and King George III in the Thirteen Colonies, preceding the U.S. Declaration of Independence by more than a year.

A bill introduced by Macon County Republican Rep. Karl Gillespie that seeks to bolster North Carolina’s local sawmill industry has garnered widespread bipartisan interest for its potential economic, environmental and housing affordability benefits. 

For the fourth time in four months, the North Carolina General Assembly has introduced a bill to address lingering unmet needs in communities affected by Hurricane Helene last year — and there’s a strong chance it won’t be the last. 

After decades of paying for hurricane recovery operations along the North Carolina coast, Western North Carolina taxpayers finally had a reason to ask the rest of the state to return the favor in the wake of Hurricane Helene. On Dec. 11, the rest of the state answered with a resounding “no.”

To the Editor:

I’m writing to thank Rep. Mike Clampitt, Rep. Karl Gillespie and Rep. Mark Pless for siding with the people of Western North Carolina in voting against Senate Bill (SB) 382.  

The number is $53.6 billion. That’s the estimate from the N.C. Office of State Budget and Management for the damage Helene inflicted on Western North Carolina. Those are just dollars; in the bigger picture, lives have been lost, transformed and forever changed.