Canton town manager suspended
Effective immediately Canton Town Manager Jason Burrell has been suspended indefinitely without pay pending further board action, Mayor Zeb Smathers told a meeting of town employees earlier this afternoon while accompanied by Mayor Pro Temp Gail Mull.
Biden’s American Rescue Plan means millions for NC local governments
While most Americans are looking forward to receiving the $1,400 payments included in President Joe Biden’s $1.88 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) passed by Congress on March 6, counties and towns across the country are also eagerly awaiting a stimulus package of their own.
Haywood scores touchdown on stadium capacity limits
It’s not something that happens all that often, but a late fourth-quarter drive by Western North Carolina’s state and local elected officials helped them find pay dirt in the end zone — in this case, raising the coronavirus-related capacity limits on outdoor high school athletic events.
Insurrection: WNC leaders react
In the interest of transparency, all responses from local officials regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection have been published online, in their entirety. Some submissions may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and punctuation or to conform with AP style.
Canton alderman candidate backs out of race
The race to fill an unexpired aldermanic seat in Canton just got a lot easier for Pisgah High School science teacher Tim Shepard.
Local officials weigh in on legal marijuana
On Jan. 15, The Smoky Mountain News contacted almost every elected official in Haywood County for whom an email address was listed with the county’s board of elections. Around half failed to respond, but those who did were sometimes too verbose for print, so an excerpt from their response was used in the Jan. 23 edition of The Smoky Mountain News. In the interest of transparency, their full responses are included here.
Following in the footfalls: Canton’s new mayor takes the reins
One of Zeb Smathers’ earliest memories is sitting in the cereal aisle of his grandfather’s downtown Canton grocery store, which wasn’t open on Sundays and didn’t sell booze.
“When the movie Ghostbusters came out there was a Ghostbusters cereal and I remember pleading with granddad,” Smathers said. “Mom would never allow us sugary cereal.”
Mayor, board elections represent the changing face of Canton
Although the Municipal General Election isn’t until Nov. 7, when the candidate sign-up period closed on July 21, Canton’s fate was sealed.
