WNC officers, activists gather to craft DWI legislation

Western North Carolina has one of the most proactive anti-drunk driving forces in the state, and now a contingent from this region is pushing for a new set of laws that will further restrictions.

Let speeders pre-pay for the privilege

I think most of you would agree that there are more people speeding, and speeding faster on the highways with less enforcement in evidence than there used to be a while back. Well, I have a suggestion concerning that, and I will ask you all, “Why not?” But first a few caveats.

Bringing help: Western North Carolina’s connection to the war in Ukraine

Leaning against a wall in the basement of the train station right about midnight, they were cold and tired and broken, and it quickly became clear that they wished to go no further.

Bringing hope: In Ukraine, American nonprofits stave off humanitarian catastrophe

Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine millions of people have left the war-torn country, with millions more driven from major cities and small villages in the east by the fighting.

Litmus test of a community: A look back at the arts in WNC 2022

As it has been stated in this publication many times before, the litmus test of the strength of a community is by how strongly its arts is supported.

2022: A Look Back

The year 2022 was no 2020. But hey, that’s a good thing. In some ways the year seems less exciting than the pandemic years that preceded it, but when you take a step back and look at all that happened, it’s striking how consequential this trip around the sun may have been.

Can we slow the gentrification of WNC?

Dinner conversation last night with a young couple who live in New Zealand but are here for the holidays — he’s a native Kiwi, she’s from Haywood County — came around to how it seems this area is getting so many newcomers from all over the country. As 2022 draws to a close, you gotta wonder just how many more people will be moving to this region over the next few years, and subsequently, how it will change this place we call home. 

WNC foodbanks feel the pinch

The holidays, a time of overabundance for some, can be the toughest time of year for those suffering food insecurity looking ahead toward a long winter.

Notes from a plant nerd: Leftover Cranberries

Many of us may be tired of cranberries by now, having eaten our fill, and then some, at our recent fall harvest celebrations. And whether you were on team fresh cranberry sauce, or you prefer the canned cranberries, you ate the fruit of a plant native to North America called large cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon).

Republicans dominate Western North Carolina races

The highly anticipated red wave hit Western North Carolina hard on Nov. 8, with Republicans retaining several crucial legislative seats and knocking off some longtime Democratic incumbents on the local level.

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