An effort to envision the future of Cashiers is now underway as work begins to create a small area plan for the unincorporated Jackson County community. 

What began as an effort to give Western Carolina University’s campus radio station broader coverage could end with construction of a 185-foot tower capable of expanding coverage for emergency communications, broadband and cell service in the Cullowhee area.

Swain County residents recently crowded a room to voice their dissatisfaction with the internet and cell service they are — or aren’t — receiving from Frontier Communications.

For many Swain County residents, waiting until 2020 in hopes Frontier Communications will be able to provide them with any kind of broadband internet service is not a realistic option.

Macon County’s concerted efforts to bring better broadband capabilities to residents are moving right along.

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer

Broadband internet service is vital for future economic growth in Macon County, but it will take time.

Many rural Americans who voted for Donald Trump last November did so based on his promise to cut the federal deficit and rein in spending. When he announced his preliminary budget proposal March 16, however, Democrats and Republicans alike were shocked at the extent of proposed cuts to programs that serve some of the nation’s poorest rural communities.

It was just a press release, one among the dozens a week that media outlets receive and that may or may not make it into the paper, on TV, on the radio or on a website. When it came across my computer screen, though, it seemed suddenly clear to me that it was symbolic of how our economic development priorities have to change.

“Gov. Cooper recommends eight Western North Carolina projects for ARC funding,” read the headline. Looking at the eight projects revealed that of the $3 million the Appalachian Regional Commission will most likely award, $1,374,714 was for an access road to a new development in Morganton and another $873,509 was to repave a road to an existing industrial site in Rutherford County.

Haywood County Commission candidates faced off last Thursday at a forum hosted by The Mountaineer, and while there wasn’t a lot of dissention among them, the questions they received provide insight into the needs and wants of Haywood County residents.

The all-important push to bring high-speed internet to Western North Carolina generated a lot of optimism earlier this summer when the town of Waynesville and the Land of Sky Regional Council entered into an agreement with the goal of expanding high-speed internet service to the area.