Smoky Mountain News

Smoky Mountain News is a complimentary weekly publication located in Waynesville, North Carolina. It is available for readers in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties in the state.

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‘Trash’ or ‘Tribute’?: Community responds to statue plaque removal

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Hannah McLeod

Latest ‘Trash’ or ‘Tribute’?: Community responds to statue plaque removal Wednesday, April 16, 2025 A little over a week after the county removed what has been referred to as the “compromise plaques” from the Confederate memorial outside the Jackson County Library, residents showed up at the county commission’s April 15 meeting to speak on both sides of the issue, despite the lack of public discussion about the decision from commissioners. In total, seven people spoke about the Confederate...
‘As lean as we can be:’ HCS on a tight budget

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Hannah McLeod

“We’re as lean as I would allow us to be,” said Putnam. During the first six months of Putnam’s tenure, he said he cut 42 positions, both faculty and administration at the Central Office. But now, Putnam says, there’s no more cutting to be done. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, the school system is limiting budgetary expansions.
Term limits are not a cure all

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Martin Dyckman

To the Editor: To prescribe term limits for what ails Congress is like offering bleach for COVID-19. It can’t help. It is likely to make matters worse. It’s a distraction from what ought to be done. Term limits, adopted by initiative, ruined Florida’s legislature when they took effect in 2000. They didn’t just purge the most experienced members. They also insured that new ones would not be around long enough to remember or learn the mistakes of the past.
Haywood farmers talk Hurricane Helene recovery, continuing loss of farmland

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Cory Vaillancourt

“Most people eat three meals a day, and they never really think much about where that food comes from,” said Don Smart, longtime president of the Haywood County Farm Bureau. “Those eggs over there and the bacon this morning comes from North Carolina.
From hurricanes to handcuffs: Sheriff Wilke recaps a whirlwind year

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Cory Vaillancourt

“Nothing remains static, particularly in the law enforcement world,” Wilke told commissioners April 8.
Maggie budgets for ‘needs, not wants’

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Cory Vaillancourt

“This is a year of needs, not wants,” said Town Manager Vicki Best during an April 11 preliminary budget presentation at Maggie Valley’s town hall. The proposed budget totals $4.1 million in general fund revenue, an uptick from the current year’s $3.8 million with no change to the property tax rate and no planned use of fund balance. At 40 cents per $100 in assessed value, Maggie Valley’s property tax rate remains lower than 60% of North Carolina’s municipal governments.
Small increase proposed for Haywood Community College budget

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Cory Vaillancourt

The proposed budget was presented to the Haywood County Board of Commissioners on April 7 by President Shelley White, recently named the North Carolina Community College President of the Year by the state board and the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation. White began her presentation by recounting the uncertainty that Hurricane Helene visited upon the school’s students.
Mountain Projects raises alarm on housing crisis

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Hannah McLeod

Latest Mountain Projects raises alarm on housing crisis In the face of challenges with Section 8 rental assistance, Mountain Projects Executive Director Patsy Davis visited county commissions in both Haywood and Jackson counties this month to inform elected officials of just how dire the situation is becoming. “I felt like as elected officials in Jackson County and our leaders, you needed to know what we’re seeing and the housing crisis that I feel is coming,” Davis told Jackson County...
FEMA decision to cost WNC millions: Rep. Edwards accepts ruling while governor files formal appeal

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Hannah McLeod

Rather than fight the decision, the region’s representative in Congress, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) said he’s ready to move on. “Instead, I’m focusing on other ways I can make a tangible difference in helping the citizens of Western North Carolina recover more quickly,” Edwards told the Asheville Citizen-Times April 11. On Sept. 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene ravaged Western North Carolina, causing an estimated $60 billion in damage.
Behind closed doors: Commissioners make covert decision about Confederate statue

1 week ago | smokymountainnews.com | Hannah McLeod

That’s because, while the decision to install the plaques — which covered up a depiction of a Confederate flag and the words “Our Heroes of the Confederacy” — in 2021 was a highly public discussion among community members, the decision to remove it was made in secret. The reasoning behind the decision to remove the plaque is still vague. The only commissioner who responded to requests for comment, Chairman Mark Letson, said he was not in favor of removing the plaque.