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Jail expansion project enters critical phase Tentative plans for a jail expansion in Waynesville have generated spirited debate. File photo Opponents of Haywood County’s proposed $16 million jail expansion project are ramping up pressure on county commissioners to consider alternative proposals that would devote more resources to keeping people out of jail.  “Before we actively ruin peoples’ lives with a jail, we have to address these drivers of incarceration,” said Jesse Lee Dunlap, an organizer with local grassroots advocacy group Down Home North Carolina. “We want s...

Greg Shuping (center) briefs media outlets during the July 2019 search for Kevin Lynch in National Park lands near The Swag. Lynch was ultimately found safe after a five-day search. Donated photo Greg Shuping was 19 years old when he launched his emergency services career in his native Burke County. The son of a volunteer firefighter, Shuping had spent most of his life hanging around the firehouse, at least when he wasn’t busy exploring nearby Linville Gorge.  As a teenager, Shuping struggled to settle on a clear direction for his post-high school life, but his dad, a state employee, ha...

Spend county money compassionately To the Editor: Our Haywood county government is planning to build a new jail at a cost of over $14 million. Important questions have been raised about this project. One of the most important  is “What can we do to prevent another new jail being needed in ten years?”  Given the increasing cost of land and construction, this will probably cost the taxpayers of Haywood county more than the current price of $14 million. And further, is putting more folks in jail, especially non violent offenders, the best way to spend our tax money. Sheriff Greg ...

State report calls for greater police transparency A task force founded by Gov. Roy Cooper in the wake of violent protests after the police killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd last summer makes dozens of recommendations to strengthen and support North Carolina’s law enforcement community, including several that would lead to greater transparency by law enforcement agencies.  “It’s high time that North Carolina’s open government laws move out of the basement and into the vanguard of the best open government states in the country,” said John Bussian, a Raleigh intellec...

They say hindsight is 2020 and that is definitely true as we’re all eager to put this disaster of a year in the dumpster and light it on fire.  While many of us remember way back in January feeling like 2020 would be our year — we just couldn’t predict it would be our year of high unemployment, isolation, fear, sickness and uncertainties.  All we can hope for now is that 2021 will bring an end to this pandemic and that we’ve all learned some hard lessons we can take along with us in this uncertain future.  But before we move on, The Smoky Mountain News once again takes a look back...