In an unusual move, Canton Alderman Ralph Hamlett took time at the Canton Board of Aldermen/women meeting Oct. 26 to address rumors that his recent actions suggest he does not support veterans.

Just outside of a small Western North Carolina community known as “Papertown USA” sits a dilapidated 84-year old brick schoolhouse surrounded by an even smaller, mostly African-American community known as “Gibsontown.”

“It was a very boxed-in world,” said Billy McDowell, who grew up in the neighborhood. “That world was all you knew. The internet wasn’t here, and so the only thing we had was the six and 11 o’clock news, which we never watched.”

Canton Alderman Zeb Smathers isn’t quite mayor yet, but that didn’t stop one local brewery from releasing a “Mayor Smathers Victory Ale” over a month ago, nor has it stopped Smathers — who is running unopposed — from laying out an aggressive plan designed to make the last four years of Canton progress “pale in comparison.”

A highly anticipated public hearing that drew double the usual crowd to a Canton Town Board meeting wasn’t as contentious as it could have been, but the fight over a proposed Brunch Bill ordinance isn’t finished yet.

To mark the start of early voting, The Smoky Mountain News will host a pair of free candidate forums in the towns of Canton and Maggie Valley.

Giggles, snickers, snorts and outright laughter echoed through the Town of Canton’s Sept. 28 board meeting as an ordinance regarding “pigs as pets” was again discussed.

At one time or another, many of us have thought about giving up on the hustling, bustling daily life of the modern world — especially on those mornings where you wake up feeling like Charles Bukowski.

Two Canton residents lucky enough to do so are so grateful for the opportunity that their first instinct was to give back.

Over the past few years, Canton has made its case as a progressive, pragmatic, scrappy mill town fighting to attract new investments and new residents.

For decades, urban jurisdictions have enacted animal ordinances intended to sequester the odiferous, unsightly sprawl of animal husbandry outside of town limits.

The proposition is simple — establish a transition from fossil fuels to 100 percent clean energy by 2050 or face climate calamity, according to the N.C. Climate Solutions Coalition.

Working in support of the former is retired Haywood County schoolteacher Susan Williams, who for months now has been circulating a resolution to Haywood County’s local governments calling for support.