Waynesville’s new town manager won’t take the helm until Aug. 22, but The Smoky Mountain News was recently able to speak at length with Rob Hites, 64, to learn more about who he is, where he’s been, and what he hopes to accomplish in Waynesville.

When hiring a new employee in any profession, the focus is first and foremost on professional qualifications, as it obviously should be. 

Sharon and James Earley had sought unsuccessfully for almost two years to have their property removed from Waynesville’s downtown taxing district, until a recently passed law gave them new hope that their wish would finally be granted. 

The Gracie family is well known to martial arts enthusiasts across the world; as perhaps the only martial arts practitioners as recognizable as Bruce Lee, the Gracies practically invented the modern form of Jiu Jitsu, known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

After almost three years with the town of Waynesville, Amie Owens is out as administrative services director.

A new state law calling for more competition and transparency in how Municipal Service Districts are managed sent shudders down the collective spines of some on the Waynesville Town Board when they learned that the contracts to manage such districts would now have to go up for bid.

The same 2015 law that robs local governments of control over how and for how long they can contract with the organizations that manage their Municipal Service Districts also dictates that local governments now formally address requests from property owners who wish to be removed from an MSD.

In May, the auditorium in the Folkmoot Friendship Center was dedicated to a man instrumental in establishing Waynesville and its environs as one of the most important centers of folk culture in the nation.

Waynesville utility crews will no longer donate labor to run power, water and sewer connections for community projects on a handshake agreement.

The lack of high-speed internet in Western North Carolina has been more than just an annoyance to Netflix binge-watchers — it’s also seen as one of the region’s largest economic development challenges.