A heavy lack of rainfall in the area has wreaked havoc on conditions outdoors, which has sparked a pair of unrelated fires – one planned, one not – and the implementation of an outdoor burn ban.

Topton – It is a meeting point for frequent carpoolers, three counties and all four cardinal directions of travel.

Franklin – Four people survived when an air ambulance en route from Murphy to Asheville crashed in Macon County about 7 p.m. Thursday.

Topton – Two cars collided – but no one was injured – April 28, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 19 and U.S. Highway 129 in Topton.

Topton – There is a weathered wooden sign on a rutted turnout off U.S. Highway 129 southeast of Robbinsville that tells part of a story.

While people in western North Carolina are indeed returning to work, compared to the initial drastic dip with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic approximately a year ago, experts familiar with the

By Penny Ray

Cherokee Scout