By Boyd Allsbrook • Contributing writer | It’s 10 O’Clock on a Monday morning. I stroll into J. Gabriel Home and Gifts on Waynesville’s Main Street and am greeted by a blur of commotion. Though the store’s just opened, people are already popping in and milling around displays of jewelry, clothes and chocolate truffles. There’s a flash of grey fur by my feet and I’m suddenly being nuzzled by a gorgeous ice-eyed husky. Pleasantly shocked, I reach down to pet it, but am interrupted by a short whistle that sends the dog careening away across the shop. 

Quick police work coupled with private surveillance footage landed a Haywood County woman behind bars on several counts related to the partial burning of several American flags. 

The window for the public to provide input on an important planning document is drawing to a close, but given the initial response to the Waynesville 2035 plan, there may not be much more to say. 

After more than two years of planning and public presentations the Town of Waynesville’s new comprehensive land use plan is ready for a vote by aldermen, but not before a final pair of public hearings.

As the largest North Carolina town west of Asheville, Waynesville often sets the bar for how other municipal governments handle issues of governance. Although it’s among the worst in terms of gender balance in the workplace, Waynesville’s leaders are now attempting to set an example of how to deal with it. 

By Brandi Hinnant-Crawford • Guest Columnist | In 2014, on my 30th birthday, I got a call from my former department head offering me a job at Western Carolina University. I was ecstatic; I was going home. Upstate New York winters are not kind to girls raised in the south (aka GRITS), and the Old North State is the state I love more than any other in the union — everyone was happy. Two years after living in Jackson County, I heard about these amazing kindergarten classrooms at Hazelwood Elementary; I wanted my kids to have this wonderful experience. After apartment living for two years, I moved into a colleague’s house in Waynesville. Finally—the west was feeling like home. My kids had a yard, and I had Belk (Modern, Southern, Style!). Plus, Waynesville is halfway between my Cullowhee office and Biltmore Park classroom. Jackpot! 

The proposal to temporarily turn Main Street in downtown Waynesville into a one-way street has been shelved for now. 

As small businesses begin to reopen following the Coronavirus Pandemic, some cities and towns are finding creative ways to help their businesses recover from the shutdown. 

Coming into this spring, Executive Chef Kaighn Raymond was looking forward to his restaurant hitting the 10-year mark. What he didn’t expect was for Frogs Leap Public House to be closed to the public. 

In a highly-anticipated relaunch of a beloved Waynesville business, Frog Level Brewing has finally opened its doors following renovations and relaxed government mandates in the era of the coronavirus.