As one Haywood volunteer fire department celebrates a big win, others struggle
As the sun set behind the Saunook fire station in west Haywood County, members of the community gathered in the bay that would normally house the fire trucks and anxiously took their seats. They were told the news was good, they just didn’t know how good.
Beyond bureaucracy: When Helene exposed government failures, nonprofits stepped in
As on any other rainy late summer morning in Southern Appalachia, the sun rose over densely wooded, knobby green peaks cloaked in a thick downy mist.
At a large, nondescript warehouse off Swannanoa River Road just outside downtown Asheville, it may have looked like any other day — workers bustling about, trucks coming in and out — but for MANNA FoodBank, which fights food insecurity in a historically poverty-stricken region by serving up to 190,000 people a month, this day would be unlike any other for perhaps the last thousand years.
Despite tepid D.C. response, the work goes on
It was a time and a place, and now that place is gone.
Or is it?
I came across some version of that idiom about time and place a few months ago, just as we at The Smoky Mountain News were beginning to discuss how to cover the one-year anniversary of Helene’s historic and deadly impact on this place we call home.
Post-Helene, Clyde church still serving free meals
Accessorized with purple-rimmed glasses, dangly beaded earrings and a well-worn Café Du Monde apron, Denise Teague brings the humility and unwavering tenacity needed to sustain Clyde United Methodist Church’s community kitchen since the earliest days following Hurricane Helene.
Haywood commemorates Helene this week
Haywood County will mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene this week with a series of commemorations beginning during the opening ceremonies of the annual Haywood County Fair. At 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, a proclamation will be read at the Smoky Mountain Event Center, and attendees will have the chance to recognize first responders, volunteers and partner organizations who have played a role in recovery.
Grant funds free well water testing following Helene
Since Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, residents have learned countless lessons and encountered unforeseen circumstances, even long after the initially recovery phase began.
Volunteers beautify Franklin’s Women’s History Park
On June 26, the Folk Heritage Association/Women’s History Trail completed the final stages to beautify the town’s Women’s History Park.
In March 2024, FHAMC and the Town of Franklin opened the park.
Rally against Trump at Haywood courthouse
To the Editor:
For the past month, several hundred people have gathered in front of the Haywood County Courthouse at noon every Friday. We have declared our defiance of the Trump-Musk billionaire takeover of our government and their assault on freedom, justice and the well-being of our nation.
Word from the Smokies: In the fight against litter, volunteer organizations are key
Every year, millions of people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park to experience its clear mountain streams, verdant views, and diverse forms of natural beauty. The mountains exert a powerful spell — but too often, that spell is broken by the sight of plastic bottles and candy wrappers scattered beside trailheads and overlooks, fast food bags and old tires flung along roadsides and plastic bags or balloons hung in treetops.
Macon to add one animal control position
During a Feb. 11 Macon County Commissioners meeting, Interim Manager Warren Cabe announced that the county would be hiring a new position for animal control, a department that runs largely on the work of volunteers.
