Is our therapeutic culture damaging children?

Search online for “are more teens today suffering emotional problems,” and a boatload of websites pop to your command. Explore a few of these sites, and you’ll find psychologists and counselors of all kinds writing about the mental and emotional stresses faced by 21st century teens; 32% of these young people, for example, have an anxiety disorder, and 1 in 5 experience depression.  

The state of JCSO: Overdoses decline, detention center at max capacity

Jackson County Sheriff Doug Farmer gave his annual report to his county commissioners last week, and while overdose deaths have declined dramatically, the agency is facing difficulties housing inmates in a crowded jail. 

By the numbers: Where Helene recovery stands, and where it's going

While the financial impact of Hurricane Helene has been apparent since the morning of Sept. 27, 2024, economic data from the North Carolina Department of Commerce and other sources now show Western North Carolina counties started to feel the pain even before the storm hit. 

Outgoing Haywood Pathways director recalls seven years with nonprofit

After serving as the executive director of Haywood Pathways Center since 2017, Mandy Haithcox is stepping down. Haithcox and her family will be moving back to Minnesota where aging family members live and need the comfort of family in their midst. 

WCU sees high retention rate, notable increase in enrollment for spring 2025

The spring semester is underway at Western Carolina University and that means looking at how the university’s enrollment is shaping up for the first few weeks of the new year. 

By all means, do the research

To the Editor:

One of the few good things to come from the pandemic is you hear more and more people say, “I’ve done my own research.” As we face this election season, that has never been more important.

State of the waterways: New report details potential impacts of ordinance revisions

The Macon County Commission decided this month to delay consideration of changes to its watershed and floodplain ordinances until at least the new year, in part due to the organization of a Water Quality Advisory Committee and its new report on the state of Macon County waterways. 

Doing battle with the world's deadliest animal: WCU researchers join the fight against mosquito-borne diseases

Sure, mosquitos are an important link in the food chain for amphibians, birds and other insects, but they’re annoying, they’re persistent and they can actually kill you. Two researchers at Western Carolina University are working on a faster, cheaper, more reliable method to identify which ones will. 

Parkway visitation, spending grows

Visitors to one of the country’s most unique national park units pumped nearly $1.4 billion into local economies in 2023, continuing a growing trend that has powered rural Western North Carolina’s economy over the past decade. 

North Carolina free from extreme drought

North Carolina is free from extreme drought in the latest advisory issued by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) on Thursday.

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