Have your say in the future of the county’s tourism industry by attending a community input session for the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority’s forthcoming destination master plan.

Consultants finally delivered to Haywood County commissioners a report on the results of a secretive, long-awaited “listening post exercise” meant to chart Haywood County’s economic development vision — revealing in the process that there was no input from average working-class residents, an omission that may prompt some to question the applicability of the report’s findings despite the project’s tagline of “stronger together.” 

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority announced last week that it had awarded just over $250,000 in grants to 18 organizations for more than two dozen community projects all across the county. 

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

A lawsuit filed against Kituwah LLC that was initially dismissed is heading back to court after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the tribally owned corporation waived its sovereign immunity.

June 1, 2024, was a historic day for a historic town, as members of Waynesville’s government and the Downtown Waynesville Association were present to unveil a new decorative arch over South Main Street, replacing one torn down more than 50 years ago. 

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.

Great Smokies Mountain National Park has seen new changes in recent years, from soaring record attendance placing it head and shoulders above the field for the most visited national park to a first-of-its-kind parking tag program designed to generate revenue while also protecting visitors and natural resources that has generated the ire of some surrounding communities. 

The National Park Service (NPS) will close Ramsey Cascades Trail on weekdays while trail crews finish the full-scale rehabilitation work started in 2022.

To the Editor:

Last week, we were informed that one of our Macon County commissioners is planning to eliminate the floodplain (development) ordinance. My small eco-tours business will be negatively impacted by this.