Haywood County Community and Economic Development Manager Hannah White used a Jan. 5 presentation to give commissioners a detailed accounting of where broadband access stands today, how far the county has come since the depths of the digital divide were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and what work remains before reliable high-speed internet reaches every single household tucked into the county’s ridges, hollers and remote valleys. 

The Village of Forest Hills, home to about 350 residents, faces an election that will decide who leads the small Jackson County municipality through the next several years of growth and uncertainty.

NC Governor Josh Stein announced the launch of a new $50 million state-funded grant program to support local governments in their recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene. The Office of State Budget and Management will administer these Helene Local Government Capital Grants to repair, renovate or replace infrastructure damaged by the hurricane.  

Two Haywood County water systems will benefit from a combined $15 million in funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program for disaster-affected states. North Carolina is the first state impacted by Helene to award grants from this program. 

An Aug. 21 forum featuring most of the candidates in Sylva’s upcoming municipal election painted a broad portrait of a community wrestling with growth, values and limited resources, but it also revealed a few stark differences that could prove critical when voters begin going to the polls in November. 

Facing aging infrastructure and costly repairs made worse by Hurricane Helene, the Town of Waynesville is preparing to apply for state funding that could cover the tab for several major water and wastewater projects — at no cost to utility customers. 

On the nine-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene, Gov. Josh Stein signed the North Carolina General Assembly’s fifth major installment of recovery funding — a sweeping $575 million package aimed at rebuilding roads, bridges, schools and government infrastructure across the state’s western region while omitting the $60 million in small business grant support that House lawmakers had supported. 

The National Park Service will complete important maintenance along popular roads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park this June. This will require temporary partial closures of Little River Road and single-lane closures along the Spur to allow park staff to safely and efficiently complete this work.  

After more than four years of setbacks, political wrangling and bureaucratic delays, a small but vital infrastructure project in Haywood County is nearly complete — thanks in large part to the persistence of Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood). 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) State Energy Office has selected seven projects to receive more than $20 million to improve North Carolina’s electric grid.