Each year around this time, North Carolina takes a look at the economic prosperity, or lack thereof, in every one of its 100 counties. That analysis reveals the haves and the have nots, but it’s about much more than just bragging rights. 

Passing modest, nondescript houses with swing sets and dog houses in their yards, the big red pickup truck lumbered up the winding mountain road, bed filled with bread, cereal boxes, canned goods and the like. Negotiating one final hairpin, it slowly creeps into the grassy driveway of Hannah Orlikowski. 

A routine update to the Town of Waynesville’s State of Emergency ordinance finally passed on Dec. 8 after being tabled for weeks due to an uproar among anti-mask citizens who embarked on a marathon series of public comment sessions in fear that the town was also planning to enact a mandatory mask-wearing edict.

After several public meetings where intensive questions were posed by the Haywood County Republican Party to seven candidates, the party has chosen its nominee to fill an impending vacancy on the Haywood County Board of Commissioners.

Calling the stakes dire and the situation “a matter of life and death,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced a new modified “stay at home” order and threatened additional restrictive measures if the startling increase in the state’s coronavirus numbers doesn’t subside.

Weeks after controversy erupted due to a mischaracterization of a routine local government housekeeping measure in Waynesville, conspiracy theorists continue to spread false information about COVID-19 and a purported mask mandate. 

Round two of the Haywood County Republican Party’s candidate screening process is now complete, and after fielding more than two hours of questions on everything from COVID-19 to homelessness and needle exchange programs, it’s becoming apparent that there are few — if any — differences in viewpoints among the candidates. 

A vacancy on the Haywood County Board of Commissioners will soon be filled, albeit through an unusual method that gives the privilege to the Haywood County Republican Party. 

The results are in — well, sort of — and Republicans in Western North Carolina don’t have much to complain about right now other than the reelection of Gov. Roy Cooper and the ultimate fate of President Donald Trump; they retained all western state legislative seats as well as their congressional seat and reclaimed a state House seat that’s flipped back and forth several times in the past eight years. 

It was one of those fairy tales that actually came true. Madison Cawthorn, a 25-year-old political unknown, pounced upon an unexpected congressional vacancy last December, survived a Primary Election field of 12 candidates to claim a spot in the runoff where he defeated a runoff opponent that was hand-picked by incumbent Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and endorsed by President Donald Trump. Cawthorn then ultimately prevailed over a well-qualified former judge and retired U.S. Air Force colonel in the General Election.

Franklin Republican Karl Gillespie will now become the third Macon County commissioner in the last decade to make the jump to Raleigh to represent the citizens of North Carolina’s westernmost counties, with his convincing win over Murphy Democrat Susan Landis.

The abrupt departure of Western North Carolina’s congressman, Asheville Republican Rep. Mark Meadows, wasn’t the only surprise of the 2019 candidate filing season — four-term Burnsville Republican Rep. Michele Presnell unexpectedly called it quits as well, throwing open Democrats’ best opportunity to claim the seat in nearly a decade.

A pair of Republican incumbents seeking to retain their seats will remain on the Haywood County Board of Commissioners after they topped two upstart Democrats.

The Macon County Republican political machine just keeps on cranking out winners.

Western North Carolina’s longest-running political feud, between two men whose families have plodded about these here hills and hollers since before the United States was even established, has once again come to a conclusion.

A report presented to Haywood County commissioners says the county’s detention center is approaching operational capacity and because the minimum security annex needs costly repairs and upgrades, a $16.4 million jail expansion that would allow for growth through 2045 is in order. 

Democratic vice-presidential nominee/California Senator Kamala Harris visited Western North Carolina last week, reminding voters of the importance of getting to the polls on or before Nov. 3.

Earlier this month, nearly 300 people packed the four-bay garage of the Jackson County Rescue Squad in Sylva on a Saturday night during the height of campaign season to witness a high-stakes struggle between two fierce competitors.

They’ve been fighting over your attention on the internet and the television for what seems like forever now; they’ve got their slogans and catch phrases, their soundtracks and color schemes, their gimmicks and gags, their die-hards and their haters. One’s a hero, the other’s a villain. Countless hopes ride upon the outcome but in the end only one can be victorious. 

Since last fall, events in North Carolina’s 50th Senate District have largely been overshadowed by an attention-grabbing race in the 11th Congressional District, but the bigger story is that one of Western North Carolina’s most powerful voices won’t return to Raleigh next session. 

Last Thursday, Democratic vice presidential nominee and California Sen. Kamala Harris was forced to cancel a planned trip to Asheville after two staffers tested positive for COVID-19, but that didn’t stop her from returning Oct. 21 to speak at an event at UNC-Asheville. 

After more than a year of work, Haywood County’s property revaluation process is nearly complete and will be presented during a forthcoming public hearing. 

As the tumultuous 2020 election season draws to a close, partisans on both sides of the aisle are expressing anger and frustration over a rash of vandalism and sign thefts in Haywood County. 

Those who hadn’t learned through backchannels a day or two beforehand found out early on a cold mountain morning late last winter that Mark Meadows was out. 

Less than a week after cancelling travel to Asheville and Charlotte, Democratic vice presidential nominee and California Sen. Kamala Harris is ready to try again.

When North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper gave the order to close bars and restaurants back on March 17, that was only the beginning of a series of blows the Coronavirus Pandemic would inflict upon the state’s leisure and hospitality industry. 

During the summer and fall of 2019, room occupancy tax data collected by Haywood County’s Tourism Development Authority suggested that the county was on track for another strong year, perhaps its best ever. 

Longtime commissioner and current Chairman of the Haywood County Board of Commissioners Kevin Ensley is seeking re-election to his seat, as is fellow Republican Brandon Rogers. 

Less than three weeks from Election Day, California senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will visit the North Carolina cities of Asheville and Charlotte.

A policy adopted by the Town of Waynesville that was designed to alleviate financial hardship during the early stages of the Coronavirus Pandemic is about to end, and town officials want to be sure no one’s caught by surprise. 

Even though it’s largely a ceremonial post, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor has an important role in state government — especially when the governor is from the other party. 

There are few races in North Carolina this cycle that hold more consequence than that for the United States Senate seat currently occupied by Republican Thom Tillis. 

Continuing what he called the state’s “dimmer switch” approach to reopening, Gov. Roy Cooper announced today that North Carolina will move into Phase 3 beginning on Monday, Oct. 5 at 5 p.m.

It’s the kind of street – lined with modest, well-kept houses flying U.S. flags – where neighborhood children haphazardly cast their bicycles in piles on a playmate’s lawn to tear off and play in the woods or on a backyard Slip ‘N Slide.

They’ve now run against each other five times in 10 years so there’s not much voters don’t know about them already, but the first question of the Blue Ridge Public Radio/Smoky Mountain News forum Sept. 24 between Democratic Rep. Joe Sam Queen and his Republican challenger Mike Clampitt took a more substantial purview of their decade-long feud.

The work groups tasked with assessing different aspects of the Waynesville homelessness situation gave their reports on possible practical solutions for both homeless individuals and the community at large, and there was one  consensus — the pressing need for a low-barrier shelter.

A request by the Town of Clyde to disband its police force and contract with the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office for policing services was approved by Haywood County commissioners Sept. 8.

Shortly before Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Sept. 18 after serving on the nation’s highest court for 27 years, she dictated to her niece her final wish: that her seat not be filled until a new president was elected. 

The General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and there are plenty of ways to vote early, or vote from the comfort of one’s own home, but there are a lot of deadlines and procedural steps that voters need to be aware of, to ensure their vote counts. Here’s a quick rundown on available options and processes for voting. 

After eight years in office, Burnsville Republican Rep. Michele Presnell will probably be better remembered for the things she didn’t do than the things she did. 

The major party candidates seeking the NC11 congressional seat recently left vacant by former Rep. Mark Meadows spent much of the first two debates attacking each other and defending themselves against those attacks, but now that controversial tweets by one of them have resurfaced, there’s even more focus on how the current partisan discord is turning modern political discourse into a war of words that can never be won. 

Around 30 demonstrators affiliated with a group called Sunrise North Carolina showed up to a congressional forum held by Southwestern Community College in Sylva on Sept. 9, but they weren’t there to watch — they were there to sound off against the environmental positions of Republican candidate Madison Cawthorn.

A three-decade tradition, Waynesville’s Apple Harvest Festival, will indeed take place this year but as with all things coronavirus-related it will look very different than in any of those previous years. 

Continuing what has thus far been an aggressive push toward economic development, Haywood County and the Town of Canton have teamed up to make a long-vacant industrial site more attractive to potential developers. 

Quick police work coupled with private surveillance footage landed a Haywood County woman behind bars on several counts related to the partial burning of several American flags. 

The affordable housing crisis in Western North Carolina isn’t anything new, but it is entering a dangerous new phase due to ever-increasing home values, limited supply and a red-hot real estate market that has refused to use the Coronavirus Pandemic as an excuse to cool down.

Trends in several key coronavirus metrics are stabilizing or declining, leading North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to let up on some restrictions that have been in place for months.

The faces of more than 2,000 overdose victims – many from North Carolina, and some from Haywood County – will be on display this coming Monday, in commemoration of International Overdose Day.

President Donald Trump made an appearance in Mills River on Monday, touting a food program designed to reduce food insecurity and retain jobs in North Carolina’s critically important agriculture sector. 

Even Hollywood screenwriters would be hard-pressed to craft a more quintessentially American story.