Lately, it seems Ann Melton was born in the wrong century.

During the past two years, Melton has spent more time living in the late 1800s — the days when boarding houses and hitching posts lined Waynesville’s Main Street, when general stores still had butcher counters and bartering was a way of life — than the comparatively humdrum trappings of the 21st century.

Waynesville residents will get their first chance to weigh in on the possibility of adding Lake Junaluska to the town limits with two public hearings this month.

Nightlife in Waynesville’s downtown Frog Level district is brighter thanks to the addition of new lampposts along its two main streets.

Lake Junaluskans got their first glimpse this weekend at what it would take for the community to become its own town.

Incorporating as its own town comes with a host of regulatory, political and logistical hurdles. A task force studying the future course of Lake Junaluska residential neighborhoods heard a report on the ins-and-out of forming their own town at a public meeting Jan. 26.

The longest-serving town clerk in Waynesville’s written history will retire next week, taking with her a vast store of institutional knowledge of the town’s inner workings.

Beer had been flowing from the taps of Headwaters Brewing Company in Waynesville for just a few months when the bad news arrived — a cease-and-desist letter from another brewery claiming rights to Headwaters’ name.

Victory Brewing Company out of Pennsylvania makes a beer called Headwaters Pale Ale, and while Headwaters Brewery had its name first, Victory Brewing beat them to the trademark punch.

Pulling into a row of unimposing metal garage-sized storage units on Frazier Street in Waynesville, the sound of buzzing is heard.

You think maybe the truck heater is finally kicking on and combating the cold December morning, or it’s the usual hustle and bustle of traffic on the highway bypass. Yet, the source of the noise seems to be echoing from a slightly cracked garage bay at the end of the row.

Lake Junaluska and the town of Waynesville are pressing ahead with the possibility of a merger. The two entities have put the wheels in motion to introduce a special bill in the N.C. General Assembly in March that would bring Lake Junaluska into Waynesville’s town limits.

It may seem a relatively unimportant issue, but in truth it is very symbolic because it recognizes a reality that is upon us.

I’m talking about a request that will come before the Waynesville Town Board this month concerning public transit benches and shelters at large retail centers. Mountain Projects transit director Susan Anderson hopes the town will pass an ordinance requiring stores to install waiting areas for public transit patrons.

The ongoing Confederate flag tug-of-war in Haywood County took an unusual turn last week.