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 […]
“Stop The Bleed” to help save lives in Jackson County
February 7, 2019 by
Originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 7, 2019. More than 500 teachers and school personnel in Jackson, Swain, and Graham counties will be trained to be immediate responders by the 2019-20 school year and will utilize small medical kits that will enable them to do so. Executive director of the Great Smokies Health […]
2018 Election results: Democrats successful on local level; easy win for Mark Meadows; Voter ID amendment passes
November 7, 2018 by
There was a feeling of anxiety and excitement in the air at Highland Brewing Company for the Buncombe County Democratic watch party on Election night. A big screen in the front of the room projected the national coverage and a smaller screen beside it showed the numbers from the Buncombe County races. The room would […]
Adventure Race Raises Money for Military Families
June 16, 2017 by
This story was originally published in Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine Providing adventure for racers while raising money for a worthy cause, the Special Operations Adventure Race (SOAR) was hosted in Highlands, NC for its 16th year on Saturday, June 10. “The teamwork we witness is always phenomenal, as well as the sportsmanship. There is incredible camaraderie in […]
WCU Chancellor addresses campus diversity issues
April 13, 2016 by
Western Carolina University’s Chancellor, David Belcher, proposed his three-point plan at increasing diversity and inclusion on campus during a one-on-one interview Tuesday, April 12. Belcher said providing information about campus policies, engaging people in conversation and using feedback to create a list of approaches is his plan to make WCU more diverse. “What I’m trying to do […]
Stop Legislating Hate, North Carolina!
March 25, 2016 by
This post was previously published on CandidCeillie, Ceillie Simkiss’s personal blog. I am disappointed and disgusted with my state this week. For those of you who don’t know, North Carolina’s General Assembly wasted $42,000 yesterday calling a special session in order to pass an “anti-discrimination bill” that gives homophobes and transphobes the ability to be […]
