We’ll get through this, but we’ll need help

We’ve had more than a week of picture-perfect fall days, usually a part of the recipe for a busy, successful tourist season. But there’s an unshakeable uneasiness among the business community since Helene, and especially in Haywood County. I hope elected leaders take note. 

This must be the place: The long road home

Putting the truck into park, my girlfriend, Sarah, and I finally returned to our quaint apartment in downtown Waynesville Monday evening. After a long journey from the North Carolina coast back to Haywood County this weekend, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions.  

New river gauge installation begins in Haywood County

The first of eight planned new river gauges will be installed in Haywood County this week. When complete the project will greatly enhance Haywood County Emergency Services’ ability to monitor upstream river levels. 

Bethel Rural Community Organization rededicates historic marker

Nearly three years after a historic marker on Haywood County’s oldest continuously operating farm was damaged by Tropical Storm Fred, the Bethel Rural Community Organization has replaced it — this time, adding language that acknowledges the sacrifice of the enslaved people who kept the farm in operation until their 1865 emancipation. 

Join HWA for a West Fork workshop

Haywood Waterways Association and Haywood Community College invites the public to discover the amazing aquatic life living in the West Fork Pigeon River on July 19. 

One person hospitalized after officer-involved shooting in Haywood County

The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer-involved shooting with the Haywood County Sheriff’s office over the weekend.

Bethel students win state hunting skills tournament

A team from Bethel Middle School in Haywood County took top honors at the 2023 Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament.

The Bethel Middle team won the overall junior division with a total score of 3,499. Students competed in rifle, shotgun and archery marksmanship, orienteering and a hunter responsibility exam. The team rose to the top of 28 teams competing at the state level.

Championship competitors advanced from district events held in March to showcase shooting and outdoor skills, as well as knowledge learned through the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Hunter Education Program. The teams were made up of participants from public and private schools, as well as homeschool associations and 4-H clubs.  

Legislative tour focuses on lingering flood impact

Nearly two years after rains from Tropical Storm Fred inundated Haywood County and flooded parts of Bethel, Canton, Clyde and Cruso, important infrastructure projects are continuing with significant help from the North Carolina General Assembly.

On April 17, Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood) brought legislators from across the state to show them firsthand the work that remains.

Haywood County Schools names teacher of the year

Bethel Middle School teacher Sally Hundley was named Haywood County Schools’ 2023 Teacher of the Year.

‘It can’t be like that all the time’: Farmers recover from Fred amid inflation, weather worries

When Gary Griffith woke up a rainy Tuesday on Aug. 17, 2021, he never imagined that by the next morning, the 12 acres of green peppers he’d grown along the Pigeon River in Bethel would rest in drifts miles downstream, the unofficial symbol  of the catastrophic tragedy that was Tropical Storm Fred.  

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