Haywood County voters will be asked to weigh in during the general election on whether businesses outside town limits should be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages.

Eric Messer only has one complaint about the health and wellness initiatives the town of Waynesville has been pushing with its employees. The fitness tracking bracelets passed out by the town weren’t designed with sewer plant workers in mind.

Haywood County residents support land-use planning by a large margin, according to the results of a recent telephone survey.

It will be a bittersweet transition for Smoky Mountain Development Corporation executive director Allan Steinberg. On one hand, he has to watch the nonprofit he’s led for nine years dissolve, but on the other hand, he’s excited about the possibilities ahead as Haywood Community College takes over the organization’s facility.

Rules governing where commercial outdoor shooting ranges can go in Haywood County would provide security and peace of mind for rural residents who fear the intrusion of a gun range in their midst, but shooting advocates fear the proposed regulations are too prohibitive.

Gun supporters turned out en masse this week urging Haywood County commissioners to allow concealed guns on county property, from the historic courthouse to youth sports fields.

Turning the steering wheel onto Johnson Street, one quickly leaves the unrelenting bustle of two-way traffic along N.C. 110.

Immediately, you enter the serene suburbia of the quiet dead end road in downtown Canton. Pulling in front of a nearby fieldstone house, the sound of a barking dog can be heard from behind the front door. Soon, the door opens and a friendly face emerges, a neighborly wave hanging above their head.

The primary for Haywood County commissioner showed clear and overwhelming support for a single front-runner from each party, and both are political newcomers.

Students who attend Central Elementary School in Waynesville learned this week what their new school will be come fall.

SEE ALSO: Map of new school districts

The primary visitor center for Haywood County will be moving this spring from downtown Waynesville to Maggie Valley.