Once Jay Ruebel started seeing the billboard, which advertised the 28.3-mile Trailblaze Challenge hike, it seemed like he couldn’t stop seeing it.

Jay likes challenges, and he knew who he wanted to conquer this one with — his 16-year-old daughter, Gracie. Jay’s wife and other daughter both enjoy short hikes, but Gracie’s the one who’s into long excursions and multi-day treks. It’s how they hang out.

The population of folks in need of overnight housing has been increasing in Jackson County, prompting Jackson Neighbors in Need to ask commissioners for $23,400 to help them shelter higher-than-expected numbers of people through the end of March. 

Town of Canton officials faced a “sink or swim” moment Jan. 3 when, in a special public hearing, they had to decide whether or not to move forward with plans to seek commercial financing for the town’s beleaguered pool project.

Canton officials may be starting to wonder if plans to replace the town’s aging public pool aren’t cursed.

UPDATED Nov. 4 , 2016 10:11 a.m.

Third-quarter campaign finance disclosures from state candidates were due by Oct. 31, and as the state board of elections slowly posts them online, they’re also slowly revealing who’s giving, and who’s getting.

The town of Sylva is in hot pursuit of what Police Chief Davis Woodard called a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to add a canine component to the ranks of municipal law enforcement.

The clock is ticking to get a new library constructed in Swain County before the land donation reverts back to the owner, but the fundraising committee says it can’t move forward without some kind of commitment from county commissioners.

After months of fundraising, cash is now in hand to get a monument to the country’s founding documents in place at Mark Watson Park in Sylva.

When John Cottingham, then working as — in his words — a “stuffy, corporate lawyer,” walked into the Pisgah District Ranger Office to drop off a donation, he was surprised to learn that there actually wasn’t a way for the Pisgah National Forest to accept donations toward projects.

The community support behind getting a new public library in Swain County has been impressive, but the fundraising efforts have been slow-moving in the last couple of years.