The Mountaineer

The town of Waynesville is continuing a community food drive to collect non-perishable food items to help “Pack the Pantry” at Haywood Christian Ministry.  Town of Waynesville employees are volunteering their time to collect food to help others in the community.  

Haywood organizations among recipients

Bi-Lo Charities donated $49,700 to Asheville-area organizations Wednesday thanks to funds raised during the 26th Annual Bi-Lo Charity Classic Golf Tournament, which took place last June.



The 18th Annual Haywood County Motorcycle Parade and Toy Run rolled its way through the towns of Haywood County on Nov. 14, raising funds for the children of Haywood and Jackson counties. 

One of the better known centenarians in Haywood County is Gudger Yost Palmer, who grew up in Cataloochee before it was purchased as part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Anyone who is not aware of the variety of programs and fitness equipment available at Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center will have the opportunity to tour the facility from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 5, at no cost.

The owner of a pit bull who attacked a girl in January will spend at least the next 12 consecutive weekends in the Haywood County Jail after pleading to a felony assault charge Tuesday.

The integration agreement among Haywood Regional, WestCare and Carolinas HealthCare System is about 200 pages, but it outlines how the affiliation will look after Jan. 1. 

Bryan Hickman awoke Tuesday morning to some unusual behavior from his cat, Leroy.

Around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, Leroy jumped on Hickman’s bed with an insatiable meow.

Tuscola sporting events, it’s not hard to spot Dalton Moore.

He is the one with a long grey beard, tall hat and overalls, dancing for the crowd on a Friday night at a football game.

With a new operating company and affiliation just around the corner, those in the Haywood County medical community are generally optimistic about the hospital’s future. 

During a year where Haywood County’s tourism revenue was down for seven months straight, including a 21 percent dip in May, a welcome uptick in September was more than offset by an October rock slide that closed Interstate 40 to Tennessee and left the tourism economy reeling.

Four-year-old finds disemboweled feline hanging from noose

A 26-year-old man from the Bethel area is in police custody on charges of animal cruelty, accused of gutting a cat and hanging the carcass from a neighbor’s mailbox. 

While the circumstances were different, the stories were virtually the same for the several hundred job applicants that started lining up in front of the state Employment Security Commission at 5 a.m. Monday. All wanted a steady, good-paying job that included benefits.

Long Grove Art School instructor Dominick DePaolo will hold an oil painting demonstration from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at Mountain Home Crafts, 110 Miller St., Waynesville. The demonstration is free. 

HRMC Auxiliary events

Haywood Regional Medical Center Auxiliary will be holding the following holiday events: 

Phelan raises funds for breast cancer research

CHARLOTTE — A local hospice volunteer joined 1,200 other walkers to raise money for breast cancer research at the annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, held Oct. 24 through 25 in Charlotte. Participants walked 26.2 miles during the two-day event.

Members of the Smoky Mountain Local 507, the labor union for Evergreen Packaging employees, early last week passed local supplements for a five-year labor contract that included a nearly 12 percent wage increase throughout the duration of the contract.

While the hopes are high at Ghost Town in the Sky, the park’s revenue generated during final weeks of the season was too low to make payroll. 

While state lawmakers fight to close loophole after loophole in rules governing video gaming throughout the state, local authorities have their own related issues to address as well.

Under a starry sky, some teenagers got a taste of homelessness.