Archives for February 2020

N.C law pushes Jackson county to update voting system

North Carolina General Assemble passed Session Law 2013-381 (HB 589), VIVA Election Reform, requiring all 100 counties to use a voting system that produces a paper ballot, ‘an individual paper document that bears marks made by the voter by hand or through electronic means.’ Prior to 2020, Jackson and the 34 other counties used Direct Record […]

Whee Lead: WCU’s upcoming conference on inclusive leadership

The 2020 Whee Lead Conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29 in the University Center at WCU. The conference is free and open to all students, staff and faculty. WCU has been holding Whee Lead conferences since 2011. This year’s conference focuses on inclusive leadership. The conference is […]

House divided: Trump delivers his third SOTU address

The clear divide in Congress was on display Tuesday night, Feb. 4, as President Trump delivered his third State of the Union address.Trump boasted on his success while the house leader, Nancy Pelosi tore up his speech because she believed it was dishonest and misleading. During the speech, Trump repeatedly boasted his accomplishments including many […]

Hunter Safety returns to Smoky Mountain curriculum

Smoky Mountain High School is bringing back its hunter safety course after an eight-year hiatus. The course will be taught by the schools agriculture teacher Blake Fox. He has been teaching agriculture at Smoky Mountain since July of 2019. Fox received his agriculture education and extension education degree from N.C. State University. He has been […]

Smoky Mountain High School spreads loves and breaks records on Valentine’s Day

Story co-written with Sara Stanley. Story was originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 20, 2020 Smoky Mountain High School attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘most people hugging soft toys simultaneously’ on Friday, Feb. 14 in the school’s new gymnasium. Over 800 students and staff from SMHS and the Catamount School […]

Democratic hopefuls speak out in Sylva

Originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 13, 2020. The five Democratic hopefuls vying for their party’s nomination for the N.C. 11 congressional seat being vacated by four-term Republican Mark Meadows gathered in Sylva last Thursday to make their case to about 100 people in a forum at the Jackson County Public Library’s Community […]