While most people agree that the $18 million Russ Avenue widening project in Waynesville is much-needed and long overdue, the long and winding road to groundbreaking has thus far been a rough one, even though construction won’t get a green light until at least 2022.

Tensions between Haywood County and a state legislator are on the rise as commissioners called her out at a recent meeting for yet again obstructing a request for legislation that has overwhelming local bipartisan support. 

The strange saga of Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews isn’t over, but for the moment the spotlight is back on the Haywood County Board of County Commissioners.

A bill set to make school board elections partisan in Haywood County took current school board members — including the chairman — completely by surprise and has so far earned poor marks from a majority of the board.

After scrambling to cut $2.4 million from last year’s budget, the Haywood County School Board has weathered the storm and presented a proposed 2017-18 budget that is significantly sunnier than in years past, but still sees storm clouds looming on the horizon.

A message sent by opponents of the Russ Avenue widening project’s Walnut Street segment appears to have been received loud and clear by state transportation officials.

A lot is going right in Canton these days, but a driver going left — right into a downtown building — hasn’t dampened downtown’s bustling mood.

Canton is the archetype of a small southern mill village: the river running through it helps churn the gears of industry while shaded streets host quaint homes where generations of Cantonians have embraced the red, white and blue-collar culture typical of many Western North Carolina towns.

A collaborative program designed to help students overcome the familial, financial and social obstructions of attending college lacks room to grow and is chronically underfunded, which may hamper efforts to serve more of the county’s most promising students.

A new park in Waynesville’s Pigeon Street community can finally move forward thanks to an agreement reached between Haywood County and the town of Waynesville.

Canton native William McDowell and his wife, celebrity songstress Gladys Knight, have big plans for McDowell’s old alma mater, Reynolds High School.

Special recognition could be coming to an overlooked quarter of Waynesville if a recently submitted grant application receives funding.

Standing in the parking lot of the Jones Temple AME Zion Church on Pigeon Street in Waynesville, Phillip Gibbs doesn’t look 71 years old.

The Haywood County Board of Education and local attorney Mark R. Melrose have agreed to a settlement that brings an end to his lawsuit over the shuttering of a Waynesville school that left parents shocked and some students in tears.

A 2012 change to a law that lays out requirements for yearly school calendars has the Haywood County School Board weighing the pros and cons of switching from a daily to hourly format. 

Canton officials and town staff met for four hours Feb. 16 to discuss achievements and goals, but will have to spend even more time discussing revenues and expenditures.

The rift between Haywood County commissioners and the last remaining elected tax collector in North Carolina — Mike Matthews — got a little deeper Feb. 20 when commissioners passed a resolution calling for an end to the practice of electing the position.

Budgeting for the 2017-18 fiscal year is underway across the state, but in Haywood County, a decrease in property tax value makes this year’s process more bitter than sweet.

A Smoky Mountain News inquiry into collection procedures in the Haywood County tax collector’s office shows that some county GOP leaders are not being aggressively pursued for payment.

Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews’ efficiency and his use of attachments to collect past due taxes have been called into question recently by county commissioners.

Haywood County Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Lynn Collins has been making the rounds like a travelling saleswoman lately — pitching a room occupancy tax increase to anyone who will listen.

With the new session of the North Carolina Legislature underway, a flurry of bills has been filed in both the House and Senate — more than 180 of them — as of Feb. 14. 

Brian Cagle is vice president and managing broker at Beverly-Hanks in Waynesville. Beverly Hanks doesn’t sell real estate, however; Beverly-Hanks sells a lifestyle.

A renewed effort to increase Haywood County’s room occupancy tax from 4 to 6 percent has already run into almost as much opposition as it has in previous years, calling into question its chances of passage in the state legislature. 

The active, outdoorsy lifestyle favored by residents of Western North Carolina has long been fostered by the Town of Waynesville, but if all goes according to recently released plans, it’s about to get much, much better.

Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews has been a lightning rod for controversy since before he narrowly defeated veteran incumbent David Francis in the 2014 election.

Ingles Markets Inc. is growing in Waynesville again — this time, on Brown Avenue in Hazelwood.

Every few years, elected officials at the local and county levels of government dribble the ball down the court, passing it back and forth while advancing toward the hoop with the kind of unselfish teamwork that usually results in an easy layup.

The Jan. 24 rezoning of three tracts along Howell Mill Road signals a continued effort by the town of Waynesville to appease homeowners and businesses, maintain the residential character of the area and create a buffer from Russ Avenue’s heavy commercial traffic.

The recent addition of eight full-time firefighters to the town of Waynesville — at a cost of $530,000 per year — required a 4.75 cents per $100 property valuation tax increase last June.

Savannah, Georgia-based artist Scott “Panhandle Slim” Stanton was born in Maryland and raised in Pensacola, Florida, but he has been known to pop up in all quarters of these United States, including Asheville — owing to his family’s vacation cabin in Swannanoa.

By rain-slicked granite sidewalks they came, early that morning. 

In rubber boots, sneakers and sandals they came, not knowing exactly where bound but following — only following — in the footsteps of those who’d come earlier. 

Although Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, has been Western North Carolina’s Congressman for only two terms, constituents in his heavily Republican district have watched his stock skyrocket nationally. He’s become a conservative media darling while at the same time rising to become chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a powerful and influential Tea Party-leaning group of Republican lawmakers advocating for smaller, more responsive, more fiscally responsible government.

Inaugurations make for early mornings. Getting into or out of the tangle of security and Humvees blocking the streets of Washington, D.C., requires an early-to-bed, early-to-rise mentality that quickly acquaints one with the deep blue hues of dawn punctuated only by the phosphorescent orange glow of municipal street lighting.

Photos from the inaugural week's ceremonies in Washington D.C., Jan 18-21, 2017. All photos by Cory Vaillancourt/Smoky Mountain News.

Parking was banned in many parts of Washington, D.C. during the inaugural weekend festivities. 

The flag of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians hangs outside the office of Congressman Mark Meadows, R-Asheville.

The East Front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

The West Front of the U.S. Capitol.

Chairs for President Trump’s swearing-in ceremony are set up near the West Front of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 19. 

The Newseum on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C.

A security checkpoint controlling access into the restricted zone on the morning of Jan. 20.

Thousands pack the general admission section of the Capitol Grounds before President Trump takes the oath of office. 

Tape covers a sign on a portable toilet on the Capitol grounds.

The West Front of the Capitol during the inauguration ceremony. 

Trash and newspapers being burnt by protestors on K Street across from Franklin Square. 

Protestors in Franklin Square stand atop a bus shelter just before violence erupts. 

D.C. police in full riot gear blocking access to K Street. 

The Washington Monument on the morning of Jan. 21, during the Women’s March on Washington. 

Marchers from Savannah, Ga. carry signs painted by artist/activist Panhandle Slim.

Competing viewpoints battle for attention during the Women’s March on Washington. 

Some at the Women’s March on Washington donned elaborate outfits to make their point.

What a difference a day makes.

After a Friday that left both protestors and police bruised and bloodied – and saw motorists and pedestrians screaming for relief from road closures and barricades – it all seemed to evaporate into the foggy morning mist of Saturday.

Washington, D.C. police said that more than 200 protestors were arrested yesterday afternoon when largely peaceful protests following Donald Trump’s inauguration descended into violence near Franklin Square.

Rock-throwing protestors injured six police officers during brief but intense clashes that also included several small fires, the vandalization of vehicles and destruction of some storefronts.

But today, an altogether different mood prevailed; most roads and bridges that had been closed to traffic were reopened, as crews worked throughout the night to dismantle and remove the metal fences and concrete partitions that created a massive security perimeter around the core of the city.

All this came just in time for yet another day of demonstrations – demonstrations that couldn’t have been more different than those of the day before.

The 2017 Women’s March on Washington wasn’t slated to begin until 10 a.m., but by 8 this morning, large knots of pedestrians – identifiable by their pink attire – began striding towards the event, some walking from as far as Arlington, Virginia across the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

It was wholly apparent even in those early hours that the attendance of the march would exceed estimates by police and organizers; no quarter of the district was untouched by the presence of men, women and children of all ages and colors, toting signs and banners, or wearing colorful costumes.

Some had come from across the region, the country or even the world to protest what they said were Trump’s policy priorities that could endanger the health and equality of women and LGBT groups.

By the end of the march – which began with a star-studded lineup of speakers who riled up a cheek-to-jowl crowd behind the Smithsonian Institution on Constitution Ave. for over three hours – there weren’t even whispers of the violence or confrontations with law enforcement like the ones yesterday.

Local media estimated the crowd at half a million; notably, the only things that crowd threw around were phrases like “excuse me,” “sorry,” and “thank you for your service” to the legions of law enforcement personnel lining the route.

Don’t miss the Wednesday, Jan. 25 issue of SMN, which will feature expanded coverage of the Women’s March on Washington, as well as the usual mix of news, opinion, A&E, outdoors and more. Listen to Cory Vaillancourt's report from Washington on North Carolina Public Radio WCQS: at http://wcqs.org/post/wnc-delegation-trump-inauguration.

Hillary Clinton emerged from the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building this morning, clad in white and looking out over a crowd of thousands who’d assembled on the west lawn.

Amidst heavy security and a conspicuous law enforcement presence, Washington, D.C. is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

Roads and bridges are closed throughout the district, pedestrian barriers strangle the streets like so many steel vines and one is never more than a few feet from a police officer or set of flashing lights.

An oft-repeated concern expressed during meetings of the Haywood County Affordable Housing Task Force is the scarcity of buildable land available in mountainous Haywood County, but a proposed rezoning for three parcels on Howell Mill Road may demonstrate a viable path forward in the push to make the area a more affordable place to live.

The town of Waynesville will move forward with plans to purchase three vacant, blighted lots straddling Calvary Street, despite interest from another private party.

After holding two public hearings that drew large crowds of opposition, Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown and the board of aldermen took an official stance on the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s unpopular proposal for Russ Avenue improvements.

For months now, a committee created by the Haywood County Board of Education has been looking for ways to entice teachers to remain in the system, with little success.

The building that once housed Central Elementary School may soon find new life in the private sector, if and when Haywood County Commissioners take a pass on it.

It isn’t often that citizens avail themselves of the public comment session offered by local governments.

Although work on the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s proposed improvements to Russ Avenue won’t begin until 2022, Waynesville residents have already been persistent and vociferous in their opposition to the Walnut Street segment of the project.

Town of Canton officials faced a “sink or swim” moment Jan. 3 when, in a special public hearing, they had to decide whether or not to move forward with plans to seek commercial financing for the town’s beleaguered pool project.

In a case that stunned Western North Carolina residents last November, 137 dogs were found being kept in varying states of neglect on a property outside the town of Canton.