The Buncombe County Special Collections blog opens up to community submissions. Plus, local multimedia artist puts on augmented reality show, author chronicles history of the Toe River Valley, and photographers express experiences of queerness through visual autobiographies.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted more people to focus on their health, and the city’s many natural products stores rose to the occasion.
The U.S. Forest Service’s proposed land management plan for the Pisgah and Nantahala forests has drawn thousands of objections, leading to an extension of time to review concerns. The Forest Service chief now calls the plan revision process, which took more than a decade, unsustainable.
Xpress chats with Thomas Mabry — waterfall enthusiast and photographer — about the best outdoor places to visit in WNC.
On Monday, June 20, historian and educator Kelly Dunbar and doula Cindy McMillan will present African American Women’s Midwifery and Doula Work in Buncombe County: Then and Now.
As of this April, 26 states and the District of Columbia had granted nurse practitioners full practice authority — the ability to diagnose and treat patients without physician supervision — according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. And if the N.C. General Assembly passes the SAVE Act, North Carolina will join that list. The bill, reintroduced in March 2021, is currently in committee and has bipartisan support.
Brevard officials hope other Western North Carolina local governments will join the city’s lawsuit alleging monopolistic practices by HCA Healthcare. None have, but none say they have ruled it out.
On June 7, Carolina Public Press held a free and open virtual event with a panel of experts to discuss threats to the future of public forests in the state, including climate change. A recording of the event is linked to this story.
Xpress speaks with Safi Martin about her behind-the-scenes role as COO of Hood Huggers International, how she balances business and home-life while working with her spouse and Blue Note Junction — a new project the couple is launching to teach people in historically marginalized communities how to grow their own businesses.
“By expanding the blitz to four counties and making a game of it, we hope to be able to engage more people and find more species,” said MountainTrue Public Lands Biologist Josh Kelly. “We might even find some that have never been recorded in our region.”
Three hospitals plan to file applications to build a new 67-bed hospital in Western North Carolina.
As presented by Lucy Crown, the city’s greenways program planner, Close the GAP combines a proposed map of greenway and pedestrian networks with updates to city policies and design standards. Asheville City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal in July.
A letter drafted by Chair Brownie Newman and scheduled for a June 7 vote of approval by the full Board of Commissioners urges state regulators to favor nonprofit health care systems over HCA Healthcare, which owns Mission, when considering applications to build new hospital capacity.
When complete, the document will be a nonbinding, advisory blueprint of where residents and county officials want the county to be in 2043 and will outline the goals, objectives and policies needed to achieve that vision.
Supporters of medical marijuana and the local hemp industry want to see the state allow the use of cannabis as a treatment option for debilitating medical conditions. But there are disagreements with Senate Bill 711 as written.
Innovative approaches such as land restoration and private-public partnerships, as well as revisiting tried approaches such as herd grazing and indigenous land management, offer partial answers to the challenges of a changing climate in WNC forests.
A new health center opened May 2 to reach adolescents in need of health care right where they are: in school. Asheville Middle School’s school-based health center, or SBHC, is a medical office located on campus and open during school hours. It is staffed by a physician assistant part-time and a full-time registered nurse; a […]
Maintaining trails in Western North Carolina’s mountain forests poses tough choices between recreation and sustainability.
In her latest monthly feature, local garden expert Chloe Lieberman addresses questions about fertilizers and weeds.
Climate change and extreme weather events disrupt habitat areas and food sources in NC mountain forests, while human infrastructure blocks natural migration paths and creates dangers near roadways for large animal species.
Researchers seek to understand risks climate change poses for the Blue Ridge woodlands of Western North Carolina while many residents experience the disruption of extreme weather.
