It’s been two months since Jackson County Manager Chuck Wooten announced his impending retirement, and county commissioners are beginning the search for their perfect match to take over the reins.

Jackson County Commissioners will vote this week on whether to approve a referendum vote for a quarter-cent sales tax increase to appear on the June 7 ballot for the U.S. House of Representatives primary.

Phones in Jackson County’s planning department have been buzzing lately with people interested in developing property in Cullowhee, and that news has spurred county commissioners to work toward getting a planning council in place to handle requests that might come their way.

A plan to replace the football field at Smoky Mountain High School with artificial turf is likely to move ahead following an engineer’s finding that the work could be done well within Jackson County Public School’s $715,000 cap for the project.

Running through the hearts of Dillsboro and Sylva on its tumble down from Balsam, Scotts Creek has star potential. It could be a centerpiece of both downtowns — a magnet for anglers, kayakers and kids looking for a place to splash around.

Construction on the 0.7-mile connector road through Southwestern Community College has come to a halt after the contractor working on it defaulted on its $15.9 million contract this week.

A three-way finger-pointing contest over cracks in Southwestern Community College’s biggest building — and their relation to construction work on the R-5000 connector road project — could result in a lawsuit if the parties involved aren’t able to decide who should pay to fix it.

A $15,000 contribution from Jackson County Commissioners will ensure that housing for the county’s homeless continues through the winter.

Every month, the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority shells out $2,650 to keep its website updated, get it to show up prominently in search results and analyze digital traffic.

What’s the best way to spend $55 million? As far as the leadership at Southwestern Community College is concerned, the answer is simple — build, build, build until the lengthy checklist returned from its recently completed master plan is all done.