Local Covid-19 News

Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced nearly $40 million in funding for NC Student Connect, a new partnership created to address internet connectivity gaps that are a barrier to remote learning for many North Carolina students. When school resumed in August,...

Plan A Now Available for Public Elementary Schools Governor Roy Cooper yesterday announced that after several weeks of stable COVID-19 trends and continued low virus spread in school settings, North Carolina public school districts and charter schools can choose to...

The Sylva Herald, By Dave Russell Jackson County COVID-19 cases continue to climb, but the rate of the growth has slowed. From a peak of 29 cases reported on July 21, five were reported to the Jackson County Department of Public Health on Tuesday. The county currently...

Smoky Mountain News, written by Admin The Southwestern Commission Council of Governments is pleased to announce the availability of low interest loans for small businesses and entrepreneurs adversely affected by COVID-19. Loans are available to qualifying applicants...

Smoky Mountain News, Written by Admin The Jackson County Board of Education voted to proceed with Phase 2 of the district’s reentry plan at their work session on Sept. 1.  Interim Superintendent Dr. Tony Tipton recommended the change that allows students to return to...

The Sylva Herald, by Jim Buchanan The grind of dealing with a significant uptick in food need during the coronavirus crisis has led Sylva’s Community Table to take a short break to regroup and prepare for increased needs in coming months. Paige Christie, the...

The Sylva Herald, By Dave Russell Jackson County COVID-19 cases rose by 9.6 percent over the last week. That’s down from an almost 40 percent jump a month ago but up from a 3 percent increase last week. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Jackson County Department of Public...

The Sylva Herald, written by Patrick Clemons Move-in weekend is usually a joyous occasion for Western Carolina University students and their parents. For many occupants of The Husk and The Helm apartment complex, this has not been the case. The Husk and The Helm faced...

The Sylva Herald, written by Carey Phillips The Southern Conference joined most others across the nation last Thursday when the Council of Presidents announced the league will not have fall conference competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference hopes to...

The Sylva Herald, written by Carey Phillips Two days after releasing a revised sports calendar for the 2020-21 school year (see story on page 1A), the N.C. High School Athletic Association issued a moratorium on schools scheduling athletic events. The NCHSAA hopes to...

The Sylva Herald Jackson County students returned to school Monday in a year unlike any other. Classes opened with a limited number of students, who are divided into groups A and group B. Each group comes two days per week (A group comes on Monday and Tuesday and B...

The Sylva Herald, written by Dave Russell Jackson County COVID-19 cases rose by just 3 percent over the last week. That’s down from almost 40 percent a month ago. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Jackson County Department of Public Health reported 479 cases of full-time...

The Sylva Herald, written by Carey Phillips There will be no high school sports in Jackson County until at least November, and college sports will be limited at best due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s the result of decisions made last week by the N.C. High School...

Smoky Mountain News,  (Opinion by By Kelli R. Brown, chancellor of Western Carolina University • Guest Columnist) These are uncertain and challenging times. Our communities, our state and our nation are grappling with an unprecedented set of issues that affect each...

Smoky Mountain News, Written by Holly Kays Seventeen employees at University of North Carolina System schools — including two from Western Carolina University — are suing the university system and Gov. Roy Cooper in a class-action lawsuit demanding a halt to plans to...

The Sylva Herald, By Carey Phillips and Dave Russell While the rate of infection is dropping locally, Jackson County has reported three more deaths in the past week from COVID-19. That brings the total to seven since the pandemic started in March. The Jackson County...

The Sylva Herald, By Beth Lawrence As students migrated out of other towns and states into Western Carolina University residence halls and student housing, WCU’s Faculty Senate debated a resolution to oppose in-person learning. Upwards of 400 people from staff,...

The Sylva Herald, By Beth Lawrence Vecinos, a nonprofit dedicated to meeting healthcare and other needs of Western North Carolina’s farmworkers, has had to change the way it delivers its services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest impact to Vecinos has been the...

The Sylva Herald Editor’s note: The Herald submitted a series of questions to Western Carolina University leadership regarding the opening of the school year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Below are answers from various campus leaders. The Herald thanks Chief...

The Sylva Herald, By Carey Phillips Western Carolina has reported seven student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19 last month. Meanwhile the Catamount athletic department is waiting for direction from the NCAA Board of Governors and Southern Conference chancellors...

Stabilizing trends are good but fragile, and now is the time to double down on safety measures Governor Roy Cooper today announced that North Carolina will remain paused in Safer At Home Phase 2 for another 5 weeks as students and staff return to schools, colleges and...

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) today announced its selection of seven vendors to hire and manage over 250 Community Health Workers, who will be deployed in 50 targeted counties to connect North Carolinians affected by COVID-19 with...

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has 38 upcoming community testing events scheduled in Alexander, Beaufort, Bertie, Chowan, Columbus, Duplin, Graham, Henderson, Hertford, Jackson, Lenoir, Pitt, Randolph, Sampson, Wake and Wilson...

The Sylva Herald, By Dave Russell The Jackson County Department of Public Health reported Monday the death of a fourth county resident related to COVID-19. The individual was between the ages of 65-74 with underlying health conditions. The health department...