The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council has again classified the whole state as at least abnormally dry with a moderate drought now affecting the entire Smoky Mountain News coverage area other than a sliver of northern Haywood County. 

Glass half full, that’s me. Lots of good folks out there doing good things. We had a couple of gentle reminders of this on Monday. 

I’m hunkered down on a drizzly day in the cabin of our boat, which is docked at Duck Creek Marina in Bridgeton, North Carolina. That’s just across the Neuse River from New Bern for those familiar with the Carolina coast. 

To the Editor:

I do not share Mr. McLeod's optimism that the the legislature  "...will do what is needed for our region ...." (Volume 26, Issue 28). 

With North Carolina’s Republican-dominated General Assembly still dead-set on refusing to provide meaningful relief for mountain communities hit hard by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper traveled to Washington, D.C., with a delegation of western leaders, appealing to higher authority for help.

A trio of high-ranking state and federal agriculture officials is warning that if farmers affected by Hurricane Helene don’t get help soon, next year could be a bleak one for both producers and consumers. 

When you’re a columnist for a newspaper, you don’t take the space for granted. It is a gift and an honor to be given a page every other week to offer my thoughts and opinions on matters of the world or matters of the soul.

Over the last couple of weeks, the drought has expanded in Western North Carolina, and it now covers all of Haywood, Swain, Jackson and Macon counties. There was widespread rain over the last week, but it remains to be seen whether that precipitation cut into the drought. 

The old paper mill in the heart of Canton will have a new owner by the end of the month — if everything remains on track — according to a three-page letter filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 30.

It’s been almost a decade in the making, but anyone over 21 with a valid ID can purchase THC products in Western North Carolina. 

Sales began last Saturday morning, Sept. 7, at 10 a.m. at the old bingo hall on the western end of the Qualla Boundary. The dispensary is owned by the Great Smoky Cannabis Co., operated by Qualla Enterprises, LLC, an Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians-owned company that also operates a 22.5-acre cannabis farm.

After a spring lull, the coronavirus has returned with a vengenance, leading to a surge in Western North Carolina that experts didn’t expect.