With the eyes of the state, the region and the county on the Town of Canton — flood recovery is approaching its third year and the sting of losing a major employer last June is still fresh — Canton’s governing board took the opportunity to reiterate its core missions of transparency and accountability during a special called meeting on the morning of July 16.  

The COVID pandemic may seem like ancient history to most western North Carolinians, but foster children in Haywood County are still feeling its ripple effects. Due to abuse, neglect or other adverse circumstances, they need stable and supportive temporary homes and there are not enough foster homes. 

Every student in Haywood and Jackson County Schools can expect no cost breakfast and lunch in the coming school year, and Macon County is not far behind in meeting that mark as well. 

The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible murder in the Panther Creek area of Clyde.  

Earlier this year, members of Safe Passage, including the N.C. Department of Transportation, led a tour of wildlife crossing project sites along Interstate 40. 

For many, a Pride festival is a fairly straightforward event, a celebration of unity among people marginalized for who they are and who they love. But in a purer sense, Haywood County’s historic first Pride festival and a competing prayer meeting held the night before were both compelling exercises of constitutionally protected rights, suggesting maybe — just maybe — that Americans can, in fact, disagree without being disagreeable.

Raymond Valentine has seen a lot of things in his long life, but after 80 years he doesn’t have to wait much longer to see a Pride festival in the rugged Appalachian county where he’s lived nearly his entire life. 

Appraisers are still in the field putting the finishing touches on the upcoming countywide property reappraisal set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025, but Haywood County commissioners are already battling misinformation about why it’s happening and what effect it could have on next year’s property tax bills. 

Contract crews for the N.C. Department of Transportation have completed major operations at two locations of Interstate 40 in the Pigeon River Gorge, allowing all four lanes to open Tuesday for the summer travel season.

The Maggie Valley Band will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.