A lively conversation on the history of the French Broad River corridor’s transformation — as well as the opportunities and challenges facing the watershed today — will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, at Manheimer Auditorium at University of North Carolina Asheville, and over Zoom.

The deadline for public comments on an Environmental Assessment examining the impact of proposed changes associated with the Laurel Falls Trail Management Plan has been extended through Sunday, June 4.

Since 2021, the Highlands Biological Foundation has invested $300,000 in its University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Highlands Field Site Program.

Pick up the Pigeon River during a cleanup 9-10 a.m. Saturday, May 13, in Canton.

An Environmental Assessment examining the impact of proposed changes associated with the Laurel Falls Trail Management Plan is out for public comment through Friday, June 2.

The proposition is simple — establish a transition from fossil fuels to 100 percent clean energy by 2050 or face climate calamity, according to the N.C. Climate Solutions Coalition.

Working in support of the former is retired Haywood County schoolteacher Susan Williams, who for months now has been circulating a resolution to Haywood County’s local governments calling for support.

Although the clean energy resolution circulating through many local governments of late has been alternately called “aspirational” and “empty” by some, a quick survey of some of the Western North Carolina municipalities that have adopted the resolution shows that while a few have long been in the business of greening up government, others may just use the resolution as an impetus to start doing so.

Nearly a century old, the aging Cullowhee Dam is at a crossroads — with risk of failure increasing, Western Carolina University must decide whether to renovate the existing structure or remove it completely.

The dam hasn’t been used for power generation since the 1960s, but it creates a reservoir of still water that supplies WCU and the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority. However, some would like to see the dam disappear, offering increased opportunity for paddlers and allowing fish and other aquatic life to travel freely through a more natural, higher-quality river.

Our new denier-in-chief believes “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”

The tidal wave of negative political news in 2016 was staggering in its magnitude and emotionally overwhelming. Thankfully all that is behind us. But we can’t say adios to the year’s local news until our writers and editors sift through those events and mold them into our annual tongue-in-cheek spoof awards. With apologies in advance to those who can’t take a joke, here’s our tribute to the people and events that left an indelible mark on 2016.