Local

School district completes CTE needs assessment

LEDGER – Administrators of the Career and Technical Education, or CTE, program for Mitchell County Schools, have completed a Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment to meet new requirements of its updated federal funding, Perkins V.

Chamber of Commerce awards grant to NC Mountaineer Festival

SPRUCE PINE – The Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce announced the recipient of the Chamber’s Small Tourism Grant for the spring round of the program.  The Chamber’s Tourism Committee is awarding the $1,500 grant to the inaugural NC Mountaineer Festival scheduled for October 2020 in Bakersville.

ASK DENISE: Coping with grief from a pet’s death

Editor’s note: Writer’s answers do not reflect those of the Mitchell News-Journal and are not meant to replace medical or mental health care.   Dear Denise: I recently lost my sweet dog that has been my best friend for 14 years. I can’t stop crying over her; I am just so upset about this.

OPINION: We're still here

As everyone already knows, the Spruce Pine Police Department is what people like to call “essential.” I have discovered over the past couple of months what “essential” truly means.

OBITUARY: Virgil Wayne Sparks

  Virgil Wayne Sparks, 85, of New London, died Wednesday, April 29, 2020, at the Saturn Healthcare – West Sugar Creek Campus in Charlotte. Wayne, as he was more commonly called, was born April 26, 1935, in Spruce Pine, the son of Milton “Preacher” and Mabel Brinkley Sparks.

OBITUARY: Jim Gouge

  Jim Gouge, 83, of Spruce Pine, died Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine after a two-year battle with various health issues. He was born in Spruce Pine to James Jeffery Gouge Sr. and Georgia Nichols Gouge, both of whom preceded him in death.

OBITUARY: Loretta Edwards

  Loretta Howe Edwards, 88, passed away Saturday, May 2, 2020, at the Wayne T. Patrick Hospice House in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She lived a long, full life. She will be greatly missed, but we know she has moved to a better place. Loretta was born Oct. 28, 1931, to Jesse and Rosa Howe.

OBITUARY: Troy Cox

Troy Arvin Cox, 81, of Tucson, Arizona, who served honorably in the U.S. Army for more than 20 years, passed away Wednesday, April 15, 2020, in Tucson. Troy was born May 20, 1938, in Spruce Pine, to Troy Avery Cox and Nora Lillian Duncan Cox. He was a graduate of Harris High School.

Mitchell County Animal Rescue announces ‘The Great Mitchell County Pet Fix’ event

  SPRUCE PINE – Mitchell County Animal Rescue announces “The Great Mitchell County Pet Fix,” spay/neuter program. Funding for this program was provided by The Fund for Mitchell County, an affiliate fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy local

N.C. Cooperative Extension, Mitchell County Center, has launched an online guide to locally produced food, to connect consumers with farmers, gardeners, people who raise livestock and poultry, orchards, beekeepers and nurseries.