BPR News Extended

In this special episode of The Porch, we hear from rural retirees about what their lives are like in the mountains.

On this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

The nation's political eyes are on North Carolina. First, for the gerrymandering lawsuit that the state supreme court is expected to rule that will determine lines for U.S. House and General Assembly elections this year, but also for the U.S. Senate election which could determine which party controls the chamber next year.

Bob Orr has had a long career in the public eye. His latest career move actually falls in line with what he first went to UNC Chapel Hill to study.The radio student is now hosting a podcast focusing on Western North Carolina's Congressional district, and all the candidates running to represent it. The Battle for NC 14 features interviews with candidates, plus Orr's insight from his career in law. He served as a North Carolina Supreme Court justice from 1994 to 2004, and ran for Governor in North Carolina in 2008. He was a Republican during his time office, but last year he officially changed his voter registration to unaffiliated, citing his disgust at the path of the party under former President Donald Trump.

On this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

A lot contributes to climate change. A Warren Wilson College professor decided to examine one factor that many might find uncomfortable to talk about but is something we will all face - our death.Mallory McDuff is the author of 'Our Last Best Act: Planning For The End Of Our Lives To Protect The People And Places We Love.' It looks at the growing diversity of end-of-life choices in Western North Carolina, from 'green burials' that use only biodegradable materials, to body donation to body farms such as at Western Carolina University, to 'aquamation', also called water cremation. All these options reduce the carbon footprint of burials, and in many cases are far cheaper compared to traditional burials.

2021 in North Carolina politics saw a lot of what marked the state's politics in the prior decade - lawsuits and court rulings that left just as many questions as answers.Just as candidate filing for the 2022 primary election got underway this month, it was stopped by the North Carolina Supreme Court so lawsuits claiming new Congressional and General Assembly districts are illegal gerrymanders could be heard. The primary is now May 17th. That's about all that's set in stone says Dr. Chris Cooper, political scientist at Western Carolina University. He joined BPR's Matt Bush to go over 2021 in North Carolina and national politics, and tried to shed some light on what we might see in 2022.

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

New maps made new lines. Those inspired Western North Carolina's Congressman to run somewhere else, meaning the region will have a member of Congress come 2023. Maybe.Republican Madison Cawthorn announced November 11th he would run in the newly-drawn 13th Congressional district in North Carolina, instead of the one he currently represents, which will be renumbered as the 14th district for next year's election. His decision has shifted the region's politics, not necessarily in ideology, but in personality. Western Carolina University political scientist Dr. Chris Cooper joins BPR's Matt Bush to catch up on the region's political news of the past week. You can listen to the whole interview above, and also during a new episode of The Porch that premieres Friday morning November 19th at 9 on Blue Ridge Public Radio.

A federal government housing voucher program is making the problems it was designed to alleviate only worse in the South. That's according to a six-month investigation done by the USA Today Network.Fred Clasen-Kelly is the reporter behind the investigation into Section 8 housing vouchers. He spoke about what he found out, including in both Asheville and Shelby in North Carolina, with BPR's Matt Bush. You can hear the full interview above, and listen to it during a new episode of The Porch premiering Friday November 19th at 9 a.m. on Blue Ridge Public Radio.

Just one month after the protests following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Asheville City Council approved a resolution calling for reparations for the city's black community. 16 months later, most of the details are still being worked out.That pace has frustrated many local activists in the city, but organizers of this weekend's 8th annual African Americans in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia conference at UNC Asheville want to put the focus back on the need for reparations and practical solutions. The one-day online event Saturday will focus solely on reparations. Dr. Tiece Ruffin, the director of Africana Studies at UNC Asheville, says all the work that has been done in the past 16 months on reparations can't become 'an exercise in futility.' "The purpose of this conference is how do we move beyond what we have already done with resolutions and appropriations and rhetoric," Dr. Ruffin told BPR in an interview, which you can hear in full above.

For almost 40 years, faculty at UNC Asheville have helped in the creation of the annual global Political Terror Scale. The report measures and codes human rights violations by countries across the globe.Mark Gibney is a professor at UNC Asheville and one of the principal researchers for the report. He said in general, things got worse in 2020. He told BPR he didn't believe it was necessarily pandemic related, but had more to do with the protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Gibney says there was a worldwide ripple effect from the marches in the United States, which led to more confrontations between demonstrators and police and security forces in other countries. In particular, Gibney noted countries like Australia, Belgium, France, Peru, and Portugal - which previously had level 1 rankings - saw their political terror scale ratings drop in the past year.

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from -

On August 17th, historic flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred devastated Western North Carolina. Haywood County was hit hardest, as six people were killed in the Cruso, Canton, and Bethel areas.To mark the one-month anniversary of the floods, the BPR news team put together an audio postcard of those who were there that day. They told us what they saw, smelled, and felt - and how they're dealing and grieving one month later.

On August 17th, flash floods caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred left six people dead in Haywood County, and devastated homes and businesses there and in neighboring Buncombe and Transylvania Counties. While the analysis is ongoing of what caused such rapid and destructive flooding in these tight spaces, one reason is inescapable - climate change.

Dr. Darin Waters will take over next month as North Carolina's Deputy Secretary for Archives and History. The job in the state department of Natural and Cultural Resources comes with many responsibilities, including being North Carolina's state historian.Since 2017, Dr. Waters has co-hosted The Waters & Harvey Show with his former UNC Asheville colleague Dr. Marcus Harvey on Blue Ridge Public Radio. As new episodes of the show are released, Dr. Waters took some time to talk with BPR's Matt Bush to discuss his new job, and his approach to telling and teaching history.

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from:

The 2020 U.S. Census figures arrived last week eagerly anticipated - and late (for a variety of reasons). One of the big early takeaways from the initial Census data that was released was that rural areas all around the United States lost population. One region where that wasn't true was Western North Carolina. Dr. Chris Cooper, political scientist at Western Carolina University, crunched the numbers and found that only five of the 16 counties in Western North Carolina's 11th Congressional District lost population over the past decade. The rest gained, and in some cases gained a lot.

Since BPR launched "The Porch" last summer, the news team has produced episodes centered on racial justice movements, policing, the insurrection on the US Capitol, all of this and more, while also navigating an unprecedented global pandemic.

One year after the racial justice protests following the police murder of George Floyd, how much closer are we to the goals stated by the marchers in Asheville and Western North Carolina?That's the topic of this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team. Our guests include -

In this episode of The Porch, from BPR News, we explore this question: If communities benefit from the work and presence of artists, what is our collective responsibility to publicly pay for the arts? This episode includes: Interviews with Nate McGaha of Arts NC and Sheila Smith, recently retired from Minnesota Citizens for the Arts A look into our local arts councils, focusing on Transylvania County, Haywood County and the council serving Mitchell and Yancey counties. Interviews with educators and students with UNC-Asheville's STEAM studio and the founding director of the Institute for Arts and STEAM Integration. (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music featured in this episode includes Three Floors by Blue Dot Sessions)

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear from - BPR's Lilly Knoepp about her reporting on the independent monitor tasked with ensuring HCA holds to the promises it made when it purchased Mission Health Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times about Asheville City Council's retreat this month which was at the center of a lawsuit filed by five local media outlets. Burgess also talks about the latest on how the city will set property taxes this year. Dr. Chris Cooper , political scientist at Western Carolina University, talks about the comparatively slow pace the North Carolina General Assembly is taking so far this year (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music featured in this episode includes Three Floors by Blue Dot Sessions)

In this episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch, we talk with-- Musician, poet and writer Chelsea Labate Mike Martinez of the ska-rock band Natural Born Leaders Autobiographical storyteller and actress Barbie Angell Melissa Hyman of the folk duo The Moon & You Psychologist and researcher Dr. Christa Taylor Psychologist and dance therapist Dr. Ilene Serlin (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger).

In this episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch, we talk with - Emma Johnson, the climate science fellow for The Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting. She's been examining how climate change is hurting Western North Carolina's famed trout fishing, and whether the pandemic has slowed or continued the damage. Dr. Edward Lopez, the director of Western Carolina University's Center for the Study of Free Enterprise , which recently put out a report looking at North Carolina's potential for economic recovery post-pandemic. He's joined by Emma Blair Fedison, a graduate student at George Mason University, who also worked on the study. Cicely Rogers and Toshia Sitton, of the REGAL Learning Pod at Pisgah View Apartments in West Asheville. REGAL -- which stands for Relevant Education Grows All Learners - is a framework that aims to support students of color by offering an inclusive learning space, led by adults in their own community. Six students from Asheville City Schools meet regularly at the

In this episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch - We feature an episode of WUNC's podcast Tested titled 'An American Coup' which looks at the only violent overthrow of a government in U.S. history, which occurred in 1898 in Wilmington, North Carolina Western Carolina University political scientist Dr. Chris Cooper gives us a civics lesson on what it takes to remove and/or discipline sitting members of Congress, plus how an impeachment trial of President Trump can go on even when he is no longer in office Asheville therapist Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis talks about vicarious trauma that a person can feel watching or listening the news about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music featured in this episode includes Feeling by Borrtex)

In this episode, we talk with - - Dr. David Ellis, the chief medical officer for Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, where the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Western North Carolina this week. - Irene Smoker-Jackson, a Cherokee language translator for New Kituwah Academy Elementary in Cherokee. She's one of just a few hundred fluent Cherokee speakers in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She lost her mother to COVID-19 this year. - Tamiko Ambrose Murray and Marisol Jiminez, who've formed their own consulting firm built on storytelling and unraveling deep trauma to help businesses of all stripes and sizes address their roles in structural racism. The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music featured in this show includes Musa, 6th Melody by Livio Amato

In this episode, we talk with - - Dr. Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University, about why partisanship was the biggest winner in this week's elections in North Carolina - Raul Saldana, the founding director of the new PEAK Academy charter school in Asheville - Peter Lewis, reporter for AVL Watchdog, who wrote two extensive stories about the sale of Mission Health to HCA, with more planned in the near future The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music featured in this show includes Kick, Push by Ryan Little

The sale of Mission Health to HCA made be concluded as a financial transaction, but the details of how it was reached are few and far between. Peter Lewis of AVL Watchdog wrote two stories last month ( here and here ) examining what details about how Mission reached its agreement with HCA, and whether the then non-profit health system sold for far less than it was worth. He spoke with BPR's Matt Bush for the second episode of BPR News Presents: The Porch. You can listen to the interview above.

What is the future of live performance in Asheville? BPR's Matt Peiken checks in with local performers working in contemporary and classical music, along with managers of the venues that stage them, about how they're strategizing and meeting challenges about performing in front of in-person audiences in a socially distanced reality. This is a condensed version of a Facebook Live broadcast from October 21st, which can be viewed here . Guests include the musicians Mike Martinez (Natural Born Leaders), Ashley Heath, Andrew Fletcher and The Resonant Rogues, leaders of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Music Center, Pan Harmonia and Asheville Choral Society, and managers of the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, the Orange Peel/Rabbit Rabbit, the Grey Eagle and Thomas Wolfe Auditorium / Harrah's Cherokee Center. (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger)

BPR News Presents: 2020 Local Election Special, is a production of the Blue Ridge Public Radio news team. It's three segments include an interview with Buncombe County elections director Corinne Duncan , and portions of two candidate forums done on the BPR Facebook page - for Asheville City Council , and for North Carolina State House District 119 . (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music featured includes FAWM9 by Damon Boucher)

Early voting in North Carolina runs from Thursday October 15th to Saturday October 31st ahead of the November 3rd general election.

On September 4 th and 5 th Blue Ridge Public Radio in partnership with Smoky Mountain News and Mountain Xpress held two forums with the major party candidates for the currently vacant seat in North Carolina's 11th Congressional district. Republican Madison Cawthorn and Democrat Moe Davis faced each other at Western Carolina University's Biltmore Park campus, and then again at the school's main campus in Cullowhee. Cory Vaillancourt of Smoky Mountain News and BPR moderated. Below is a condensed one-hour program the features portions of both forums. You can watch the full forums anytime on the BPR Facebook page . (The BPR News Presents theme song is The Vibes by Audiobinger)

For the superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the killing of George Floyd over the summer hit especially hard.

At this particular moment in history, we think it's vital that we give ourselves more time to listen to what's happening in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia. To do that, Blue Ridge Public Radio is launching a new program from its news department - BPR News Presents: The Porch . In our debut episode, we speak with Buncombe County elections director Corinne Duncan , Great Smoky Mountains National Park superintendent Cassius Cash , and the first Black principal in Macon County schools post-integration Shirley Parks . (The BPR News Presents theme is The Vibes by Audiobinger. Other music included in this episode includes I Care by Loyalty Freak Music)

North Carolina will be one of the state's that decides this fall's presidential election, plus which party controls the U.S. Senate. It also has one of the most watched gubernatorial elections in the U.S. this fall, plus every seat in the North Carolina General Assembly is on the ballot, all of the council state, seats on county commissions, city councils, town aldermen...you get the point. North Carolina is first in the country in this respect - it's the first state to mail out mail-in ballots that have been requested by voters. They go out Friday September 4 th , and because of the pandemic, requests for absentee mail-in ballots this year in North Carolina are more than 15 times greater than at this point four years ago. BPR's Matt Bush chatted over Zoom with Buncombe County elections director Corrine Duncan about all things mail-in ballot for the debut episode of Blue Ridge Public Radio's new program BPR News Presents: The Porch. You can hear it Friday morning September 4th at 9 a.m.,

Students started back to school last month amidst the uncertain world of COVID-19 and a racial justice movement across America. Franklin resident Shirley Parks remembers her own uncertain days as a student during integration in Macon County and much later in 2011 as the first Black principal in the county since integration. Parks worked in the Macon County School System for 33 years . She says its hard to watch children and parents struggling with the current COVID-19 pandemic. "No one is winning right now either way, so we just have to do what we can with what we have, with the training that the teachers are doing, and they are out there for the students. And I know that the parents are struggling to - especially the ones that have to go back to work so that you aren't there to help your little one... I was just thinking last night I'm so glad that I don't have to go through this, but you know overall, if I was I would be working just as hard as the rest of them. I'm just glad to be

On Thursday July 23rd, Blue Ridge Public Radio hosted a live Zoom panel to discuss police funding in Asheville. BPR News Presents: A Conversation On Policing In Asheville, is hosted by BPR's Matt Peiken. His guests discussing the call to defund the Asheville police department include Robert Thomas of the Racial Justice Coalition, Zaria Abdulkarim of Democracy NC, retired UNC Asheville professor and founder of The State of Black Asheville report Dr. Dwight Mullen, local Fraternal Order of Police president Rondel Lance, and Buncombe County sheriff Quentin Miller. You can listen to an abridged one-hour version of the conversation above, or on both BPR Classic and BPR News Friday July 31st at 9 a.m. and Saturday August 1st at 3 p.m. The entire two-hour talk can be viewed on the BPR Facebook page. (Music featured includes The Vibes by Audiobinger)

On February 6th, Blue Ridge Public Radio held a forum with four candidates running for the Democratic nomination for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, which encompasses all of Western North Carolina. The forum includes Moe Davis, Gina Collias, Michael O'Shea, and Phillip Price. Steve Woodsmall is also running for the Democratic nomination, but was unable to attend the forum. Those who have not registered to vote yet will only be able to do so during the early voting period. The deadline to request an absentee by mail ballot is February 25th, and primary day is Tuesday March 3rd. Photo ID is not required to vote in the primary election. FORUM TIME CODES 1:21 - Opening Statements 9:19 - What is the biggest issue facing North Carolina's 11th Congressional District? 15:04 - The U.S. has seen an extended economic boom over the last decade, but the federal deficit has risen to record levels at the same time. Why do you think that is and what would you do about as a member of

On February 7th, Blue Ridge Public Radio held a forum with two candidates running for the Republican nomination for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, which encompasses all of Western North Carolina. All told, 11 candidates are running in the GOP primary. Each were invited to participate in two forums BPR held. This forum features two of them - Lynda Bennett and Joey Osborne. Early voting for the primary election in North Carolina runs until February 29th. Those who have not registered to vote yet will only be able to do so during the early voting period. The deadline to request an absentee by mail ballot is February 25th, and primary day is Tuesday March 3rd. Photo ID is not required to vote in the primary election. FORUM TIME CODES 1:22 - Opening Statements 6:00 - What is the biggest issue facing North Carolina's 11th Congressional District? 7:55 - The U.S. has seen an extended economic boom over the last decade, but the federal deficit has risen to record levels at the

On February 7 th Blue Ridge Public Radio held a forum with three candidates running for the Republican nomination for North Carolina's 11 th Congressional District, which encompasses all of Western North Carolina. All told, 11 candidates are running in the GOP primary. Each were invited to participate in two forums BPR held. This forum features three of them - Wayne King, Vance Patterson, and Albert Wiley. Early voting for the primary election in North Carolina runs until February 29 th . Those who have not registered to vote yet will only be able to do so during the early voting period. The deadline to request an absentee by mail ballot is February 25 th , and primary day is Tuesday March 3 rd . Photo ID is not required to vote in the primary election. FORUM TIME CODES 1:21 - Opening Statements 6:58 - What is the biggest issue facing North Carolina's 11th Congressional District? 11:33 - The U.S. has seen an extended economic boom over the last decade, but the federal deficit has risen

On February 5 th, Blue Ridge Public Radio held a forum in its studios with the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for the North Carolina state senate seat for district 49, which covers central and western Buncombe County. Democrat Terry Van Duyn currently holds the seat, but is vacating it to run for lieutenant governor in 2020. Republican Bob Penland is running for his party's nomination unopposed. His opponent in the fall will be either Julie Mayfield, Ben Scales, or Travis Smith. Early voting for the primary election in North Carolina runs until February 29 th . Those who have not registered to vote yet will only be able to do so during the early voting period. The deadline to request an absentee by mail ballot is February 25 th , and primary day is Tuesday March 3 rd . And remember, voters do not need to show photo ID to vote in the primary election. TIME CODES FOR QUESTIONS AT FORUM 1:06 - Opening statements 7:34 - If elected, you will be headed to Raleigh during a

Early voting is underway in North Carolina for the March 3 rd primary. Voters in Western North Carolina will have plenty of candidates from the major parties to choose from for the 11 th Congressional District seat - 16 of them to be exact, 11 Republicans and 5 Democrats.

Early voting in North Carolina starts on February 13th and runs until Feburary 29th. Same day voter registration is available each day of early voting. Photo ID is not required to vote during the primary election. The deadline to register to vote in order to cast a ballot on primary day March 3rd has already passed, so those who have yet to register will only be able to vote during the early voting period.

Asheville city council members meet for the final time in 2019 Tuesday evening, and lawmakers will take up a resolution that calls for a climate emergency to be declared by the city. While the resolution calls for action but offers no policy, a set of wide-ranging legislative proposals around climate change could be in front of lawmakers early next year. Their sponsor refers to them as a local 'Green New Deal', patterned after the similarly-named plan introduced in Congress this year two Democrats - New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey.

Blue Ridge Public Radio's Lilly Knoepp sat down with North Carolina's Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green after she visited Western Carolina University writing students . Shelton Green talked about how she views her work as a part of Southern Literature, why poetry is important and where real change happens. Here are some key parts of the conversation. How people should be introduced: "I believe in the philosophy that what we keep, keeps us. So I ask people to introduce themselves by way of an object, a memory, a place or something special that they keep. And as we go around the room sharing that people start to hear their own stories inside of the other things that people are keeping." Tune in at about seven minutes to hear a story about Biscuitville, 'Make America Great Again' hats and Black History Month: "This story for me embodies what this work can be as the poet laureate, as an ambassador of literary arts across North Carolina. Meeting people where they are. Not being judgemental