The first of eight planned new river gauges will be installed in Haywood County this week. When complete the project will greatly enhance Haywood County Emergency Services’ ability to monitor upstream river levels. 

The effects of deadly flooding in 2021 are still being felt in the town of Canton, but thanks to a federal funding request from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), the town is poised to take another huge step toward recovery.

After twin tragedies in 2021 and 2023, the town of Canton still has a substantial list of ongoing projects in various stages of completion — in addition to the usual long-range planning initiatives most municipalities at some point undertake.

Just months after a staff realignment meant to free up then-Town Manager Nick Scheuer to focus on recovery and resiliency efforts in the wake of twin tragedies, Scheuer has submitted his resignation to Canton’s town attorney and governing board. 

In the past, Canton required that a request to use public spaces for events be submitted four months in advance. Thursday night’s council meeting changed that. The newly adopted special events outdoor policy lowered the submission requirement to 60 days to 120 days. 

A rezoning of the former paper mill parcel in Canton has replaced an expiring industrial development moratorium, maintaining the town’s limited control of the site despite the possibility of an impending sale to a developer with unknown intentions. 

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.  

This July, the American Red Cross continues to stress that blood and platelet donors are critically needed to support lifesaving transfusions this summer.

The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority announced last week that it had awarded just over $250,000 in grants to 18 organizations for more than two dozen community projects all across the county. 

The shuttered paper mill at the heart of Canton is still there — for now. One day it won’t be, but a forthcoming monument will ensure the generations of papermakers that made Canton great won’t ever be forgotten.