Western North Carolina has struggled for decades with a simple problem that produces complex consequences — not enough primary care providers practice in rural areas. Specialists often practice in urban areas, routine care gets delayed until an urgent problem arrives and options for patients are limited. The Mountain Area Health Education Center was created to address that gap, and continues to do so with a new facility in Cullowhee. 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month — a time to honor survivors, remember those lost to violence and recommit to building a community where everyone feels safe and valued. For nearly four decades, REACH of Haywood County has been doing exactly that: working quietly but persistently to make Haywood County a safer, stronger place to live. 

Vecinos, Inc. has humble origins. First founded through the Jackson County Health Department, the nonprofit, which provides “equitable, culturally centered healthcare and wellness services in Western North Carolina,” transitioned in 2004 to providing bilingual healthcare to migrant farmworkers through mobile clinics. 

Squeezed into a corner room on the ground floor of what was once a grade school in a quiet Waynesville neighborhood, a small free pantry and market provides food, clothing and household goods to some of Haywood County’s most vulnerable citizens at no cost. The pantry is one of many, rooted in compassion and community, but also in contradiction. 

To the Editor:

I am 91 years old. For close to 50 of those years we lived at 116 Cowan Street in Sylva. We were active members at First Baptist Church; our five children attended Fairview Elementary and Sylva-Webster High School. My wife, Barbara, taught piano, dulcimer, guitar and other instruments to dozens of people throughout Western North Carolina. We Osments will always consider Sylva to be our hometown. 

This is my response to an article in The Franklin Press following the December 10 meeting.

The actions of John Shearl at the Dec. 10 Macon County Commission meeting opposing the hiring of a kennel attendant and chastising current staff at the Macon County Animal Shelter at best reflect ignorance and at worst reflect obstructionism and grandstanding. 

After Hurricane Helene completed its devastating march from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Smoky Mountains, the struggles of disaster survivors — from environmental devastation and bureaucratic hurdles to inadequate recovery support — have exposed a broken cycle of aid and accountability, where truth and trust become enveloped in a murky ethical mist that consists, at least partially, of exploitative promises made worse by false premises and finger-pointing.