When Cheryl Hillis started managing vacation rentals in Haywood County 15 years ago, Airbnb didn’t exist, reservations were made with phone calls and mailed checks, and she lived nowhere near Western North Carolina. Hillis was the face of Buffalo Creek Vacations, but she took reservations and managed payments from whichever town her military husband and their four boys lived at the time.

Sometimes, the trip isn’t  about the journey — it’s about the destination. 

A COVID-era sports seating bill has now morphed into a pro-development bill that would hobble the ability of Haywood County’s municipalities to exercise certain zoning and development powers considered critical for directing and controlling growth.

The Clyde Fire Department’ assistant chief and his wife have been charged with embezzling money from the department. 

Due to the flooding that ravaged the Canton, Cruso and Clyde areas in the wake of Tropical Storm Fred  last summer, Central Haywood High School was badly damaged . 

Raised on a family farm just outside of Greensboro, Jean Osborne was surrounded by hundreds of cows and thousands of acres — a place where she roamed freely and in her own time on her horse. 

By Bill Graham • Special to SMN | For Ed Herron, childhood at Lake Junaluska in the 1960s was idyllic. He loved it. 

More than 30 people remain unaccounted for and search and rescue operations continue at this hour after heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Fred slammed southeastern Haywood County last night, pushing the Pigeon River up over its banks.

Editor's note: As the sun rose above Haywood County on the morning of Aug. 18, residents and first responders were hard at work surveying flood damage from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred. Smoky Mountain News staff were there too, gathering photos and firsthand reports. This page will be updated throughout the coming days as photos and stories continue to arrive from across the county. 

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.