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MNJ photos/Rachel Hoskins. Felicity Miller and Zoe Hall of Spruce Pine dressed up as Hellbenders for the first N.C. Hellbender Festival in Spruce Pine this weekend.

MNJ photos/Rachel Hoskins. Felicity Miller and Zoe Hall of Spruce Pine dressed up as Hellbenders for the first N.C. Hellbender Festival in Spruce Pine this weekend.

All about the Hellbender

Mitchell News-Journal
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
The streets of Spruce Pine were packed as residents and visitors joined in to celebrate the Hellbender and the reopening of businesses on Lower Street.

County oks contracts

Mariel Williams
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners approved two engineering contracts and passed a resolution in support of the Mitchell County Economic Developent Commission in a recent meeting.
MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Multiple agencies and a helicopter banded together to rescue an injured hiker in Yancey County last week. The hiker was stranded near Celo Knob, shown here from the South Toe Valley side of the mountain.

MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Multiple agencies and a helicopter banded together to rescue an injured hiker in Yancey County last week. The hiker was stranded near Celo Knob, shown here from the South Toe Valley side of the mountain.

Injured hiker rescued from mountainside

Mariel Williams
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
MICAVILLE — Multiple agencies worked together last week to rescue an injured hiker in Yancey County. The hiker was stranded late in the evening near Celo Knob, a 6,326-foot high mountain on the northernmost end of the Black Mountains.

DEQ denies Horizon 30 mining permit

Mariel Williams
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
A mining permit application for the Horizon 30 mine in Poplar has been denied by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources. DEQ announced the permit denial last week.

Horizon halts mining ops

Mariel Williams
Monday, August 25, 2025
The Horizon 30 mine in Poplar has ceased mining operations in accordance with a judge’s order, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Public Information Officer Kat Russell said Friday.
Festival graphic

Festival graphic

Hellbender festival set for this Saturday

Mitchell News-Journal
Monday, August 25, 2025
The North Carolina Hellbender Festival will highlight the Labor Day weekend on Aug. 30, in downtown Spruce Pine. This free, family-friendly event celebrates the Eastern hellbender salamander and the rivers it calls home. From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
MJN Photo/Noreen Nickolas. Bikers and automotive aficionados prepare for their journey from Bakersville to Morganton in the seventh annual Maggie’s Ride. Their participation is helping raise money for the Maggie Rae Young Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor of Maggie, age 6, who died in 2018.

MJN Photo/Noreen Nickolas. Bikers and automotive aficionados prepare for their journey from Bakersville to Morganton in the seventh annual Maggie’s Ride. Their participation is helping raise money for the Maggie Rae Young Memorial Scholarship Fund in honor of Maggie, age 6, who died in 2018.

Maggie’s Ride

Noreen Nikolas
Monday, August 25, 2025
Dozens of bikers and a variety of automotive enthusiasts hit the road for charity at the seventh annual “Maggie’s Ride” recently. The fundraiser was organized in honor of Maggie Rae Young, age 6, who died in 2018.