The Smoky Mountain News takes note this week of some of the newsmakers of 2012 by handing out our annual awards. Back issues of the newspaper never fail to reveal a variety of humdingers: the funny, the astonishing, the interesting, the dismaying. Some we’d like to forget, others we love to relive for the good laughs they bring.

For those who made the list, hats off to you for giving us something to write about this year. For those who didn’t, there’s always 2013.

The most wonderful time of the year — it’s a line is engrained in us all. But nobody embraces and exudes Christmas quite like Betty Porter.

As she talked on the phone outside a cottage at Broyhill Baptist Children’s Home in Clyde last week, the jolly face of Santa Claus peered out from the red sweatshirt she wore, just one of many that make up her large selection of holiday attire.

The task of finding a new top lawman in Haywood County to replace retiring Sheriff Bobby Suttles will begin in early January and likely be decided by March.

Haywood County Sheriff Bobby Suttles announced last week he will retire in February, stepping down early despite another two years to go until his term is technically up.

Tourism numbers are looking good for Haywood County so far this year, and tourism leaders are keeping their fingers crossed that a cold winter will drive visitors to Cataloochee’s slopes.

Joey Del Bosque scrolled through his appointment book for the week; time slot after time slot was filled, with just enough room to breathe.

Belle On Main, a salon and massage parlor along South Main Street in Waynesville, opened in May and quickly started picking up business.

The Haywood County Board of Commissioners have postponed voting on a controversial flag display policy until after the New Year, but that did not keep Confederate flag supporters from protesting outside the county courthouse Monday.

What to do with a hulking, four-story, run-down, decades-old, now-empty former hospital in Waynesville?

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is in the middle of buying nearly 40 Haywood County properties that stand in the way of its plans for redesigning “malfunction junction” — the interchange where Lowe’s and Shoney’s are — but there are still a few holdouts.

It may seem a relatively unimportant issue, but in truth it is very symbolic because it recognizes a reality that is upon us.

I’m talking about a request that will come before the Waynesville Town Board this month concerning public transit benches and shelters at large retail centers. Mountain Projects transit director Susan Anderson hopes the town will pass an ordinance requiring stores to install waiting areas for public transit patrons.