On May 2, 2024, a brief, awkward moment inside a women’s restroom at Western Carolina University was recorded, uploaded to social media and sparked a flashpoint in America’s ongoing culture wars.

Anyone who thought that two years, dozens of meetings, thousands of dollars and hours of public comment to reach a new interlocal agreement between Jackson, Macon and Swain counties for the Fontana Regional Library would spell the end of the controversy over local libraries thought wrong. 

In response to a public records request made by The Smoky Mountain News, Jackson County Manager Kevin King revealed that commissioners not only failed to discuss in any official meeting removing plaques placed on the controversial “Sylva Sam” Confederate statue at the old courthouse in 2020, they also failed to document any deliberations — likely violating state sunshine laws.  

On the morning of April 8, county employees removed commemorative plaques from the Confederate statue outside the Jackson County Library and placed them in the county’s storage facility. Few in the county, save the board of commissioners, knew the possibility of removal was even on the table. 

Just months after Jackson, Macon and Swain counties reached an agreement to approve a new version of the Fontana Regional Library interlocal agreement following more than two years of controversy, an email originating from the account of a Macon County Library Board member plots a path for dissolution. 

After over a century since receiving recognition from the state of North Carolina as an Indian Tribe, the Lumbee appear to be on the cusp of full federal recognition. 

It’s been almost a decade in the making, but anyone over 21 with a valid ID can purchase THC products in Western North Carolina. 

Sales began last Saturday morning, Sept. 7, at 10 a.m. at the old bingo hall on the western end of the Qualla Boundary. The dispensary is owned by the Great Smoky Cannabis Co., operated by Qualla Enterprises, LLC, an Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians-owned company that also operates a 22.5-acre cannabis farm.

To the Editor:

Kudos to the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) for rescinding the grant over the proposed passport program. The program put forth by the entity called IDEA is another example of a certain minority desiring special recognition above others and causing unnecessary controversy. 

A proposed change to Macon County’s floodplain regulation has prompted outcry from the public and rippled across the county government. 

In its final week of classes, Western Carolina University became the subject of a video that went viral on social media in which a trans woman was filmed inside a women’s bathroom on campus.