News

MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Downtown Spruce Pine is looking to fund another round of grants for storm-damaged businesses. Hurricane Helene left Lower Street (Locust Avenue) full of debris from gutted businesses and floodwaters from the North Toe River.

MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Downtown Spruce Pine is looking to fund another round of grants for storm-damaged businesses. Hurricane Helene left Lower Street (Locust Avenue) full of debris from gutted businesses and floodwaters from the North Toe River.

Canipe back as interim manager

Mitchell News-Journal
Friday, December 20, 2024
Mariel Williams editor@mitchellnews.com The Spruce Pine Town Council voted to hire Richard Canipe as interim town manager. Canipe served as town manager for 21 years before retiring in 2020. Under his new contract, he will run Spruce Pine after Darlene Butler’s retirement on Dec.

Spruce Pine approves temporary housing

Mitchell News-Journal
Friday, December 20, 2024
Mariel Williams editor@mitchellnews.com The Spruce Pine Town Council voted recently to amend its zoning codes to allow for temporary housing construction, in order to help disaster victims live on their own properties while rebuilding.

Sign up today for emergency alerts

Mitchell News-Journal
Monday, December 16, 2024
Noreen Nickolas MNJ Correspondent Mitchell County is encouraging residents to use the Hyper-Reach message system to stay on top of emergency alerts. Hyper-Reach is a mass emergency notification service that Mitchell County has used since 2016 to communicate with residents during emergencies.
MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Debris pickup is continuing along Mitchell County roadsides. According to debris contractors, the process has been complicated by increased dump truck traffic and the fact that old piles are replaced by new as property owners continue to haul rubbish out of flooded areas.

MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Debris pickup is continuing along Mitchell County roadsides. According to debris contractors, the process has been complicated by increased dump truck traffic and the fact that old piles are replaced by new as property owners continue to haul rubbish out of flooded areas.

Debris pickup

Mitchell News-Journal
Monday, December 16, 2024
Mariel Williams editor@mitchellnews.com Storm debris pickup has been complicated by lack of available trucks, increased dump truck traffic and new piles replacing old, according to Southern Disaster Recovery.

Buck Creek Fire 50 percent contained

Mitchell News-Journal
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
NEBO  – Firefighters made significant progress Sunday on containing the Buck Creek Fire in McDowell County, using burnout operations to secure firelines, according to a U.S. Forest Service release. The fire grew to 520 acres, with containment at 50 percent.
Submitted photos. Kim Gunter harvests honey from her beehives. Gunter, a first-time beekeeper, lost all her hives to September flooding. Her last jar of honey will be one of several featured in a blind taste test contest today in Burnsville.

Submitted photos. Kim Gunter harvests honey from her beehives. Gunter, a first-time beekeeper, lost all her hives to September flooding. Her last jar of honey will be one of several featured in a blind taste test contest today in Burnsville.

The last jar: Contest today

Mitchell News-Journal
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Debbie Griffith This is a story about Kim’s last jar of honey — the very last jar, at least for now. Kim Gunter wanted to be a beekeeper and was fascinated by honeybees and their work to collect pollen and nectar and produce golden honey.
MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Most of Spruce Pine’s wastewater customers are able to use their drains and toilets now. In the past, the town had asked customers to limit their use of the sewer system as wastewater was passing untreated into the North Toe River because of storm damage to the infrastructure.

MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. Most of Spruce Pine’s wastewater customers are able to use their drains and toilets now. In the past, the town had asked customers to limit their use of the sewer system as wastewater was passing untreated into the North Toe River because of storm damage to the infrastructure.

Most Spruce Pine sewer and water customers back on line

Mitchell News-Journal
Monday, December 2, 2024
Mariel Williams editor@mitchellnews.com   Spruce Pine is continuing wastewater repairs following severe storm damage in September. “Pretty much everyone can use their bathrooms except for a stretch of Beaver Creek where the lines have been washed away,” Town Manager Darlene Butler said.
MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. The North Toe River ripped up miles of railroad track in Mitchell County, with significant damage in Spruce Pine and the more rural northern communities.

MNJ Photo/Mariel Williams. The North Toe River ripped up miles of railroad track in Mitchell County, with significant damage in Spruce Pine and the more rural northern communities.

Getting back on track

Mitchell News-Journal
Monday, December 2, 2024
Jane Winik Sartwell   Carolina Public Press   Not a single train has chugged through Asheville for nearly two months now. Western North Carolina’s rail network was badly damaged, and in some cases destroyed, by Tropical Storm Helene.