The event was part of a series of nationwide forums held by the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) as part of its Department of People Who Work for a Living campaign to fight threats to federal workers.
Updates on WNC parks projects delayed by Helene
Major recreation projects in Black Mountain, Hendersonville and Woodfin got delayed by Tropical Storm Helene. Where do they stand seven months later?
Sustaining community: Things you can do to support local trails
“You don’t need to be a trail expert to help,” says David Huff, councillor for communications of the Carolina Mountain Club.
Sustaining community: Energy Savers Network branches out to reduce energy costs
“Since 2017 Energy Savers Network (ESN) has been hard at work weatherizing over 1,400 low-income homes in Buncombe County,” says Steffi Rausch, director of operations for Energy Savers Network.
Sustaining community: Laurel Community Center member reflects on Tropical Storm Helene
“Most that have lived along streams and rivers already know: We must be prepared,” says Mary Kelly.
In photos: Thousands gather at Pack Square for The People’s Town Hall for Liberty
“An empty town hall is what happens when a politician is invited to a community forum but decides to ghost their constituents harder than a bad Tinder date,” Gerry Nugent of Good Trouble WNC told the crowd of 2,000 at Pack Square Park.
Jackson County high school students build and compete in robotics
Xpress recently sat down with members of the Smoky Mountain Academic Robotics Team to learn about the group’s backstory and growing success in the field of robotics.
People on the streets. Or in trailers. Or tents. It all points to a post-Helene housing crisis in Western NC.
With 1,500 evictions filed since Tropical Storm Helene, 100,000 housing units damaged or destroyed and an ever-growing number of people who are unemployed, the housing crisis in Western North Carolina has reached a fever pitch.
Sustaining community: Hope as resilience
Sarah Thornburg, chair of Asheville City Board of Education, shares why she is hopeful about the future of our county’s two school systems.
Planting the seeds for passing down farms
More than half of North Carolina’s farmers are over the age of 65. Yet, nearly 60% of farmers lack even a basic will to protect their farmland and businesses from common issues such as debt or familial disputes.
The music and politics behind Drew Ball
In December, Drew Ball was voted in as the newest member of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. Despite newfound responsibilities, Ball still plays in three bands in addition to his full-time job with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Warren Wilson and UNCA launch new programs aimed at climate change
Xpress recently caught up with faculty from both programs to learn more about how the two institutions are thinking about environmental studies in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene.
Sustaining community: Black Mountain Presbyterian Church works to rebuild WNC
“The most hopeful things are when a family or individual’s life has been changed by the generosity I see coming into our valley,” says Mary Katherine Robinson, pastor of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.
Inside the fight to conserve Richmond Hill
Conservation easement saves large parcel next to Richmond Hill Park, thwarting a decade of attempts to add large developments.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ report outlines possible FEMA improvements
“Western North Carolina cannot afford for recovery to be interrupted by total terminations of critical recovery programs,” the report states. Its recommendations are intended to increase the functionality of disaster response programs, while reducing the size of the federal disaster footprint.
Parents ask county to raise taxes for schools
Families of Asheville City Schools (FACS), a group made up of parents from every school in ACS, has launched a “Two Cents for AVL” campaign lobbying the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to raise the supplemental property tax rate for the district.
The story behind a geologist’s viral tutorial
After Tropical Storm Helene, people were desperately trying to understand what had just happened to turn their mountain refuge into an unrecognizable hellscape. Geologist and landslide researcher Phillip Prince thought he might be able to help.
Sustaining community: Support for educators is key to school success
“My multidecade vision for public education is that we become a people that praise educational attainment, uplift everyone who works in education and support students in every way possible as they pursue education,” says Timothy Lloyd, president of ACAE.
Feeling the burn: An exodus of staff has made it hard for NC Forest Service to fight wildfires
Extensive personnel shortages at the NC Forest Service hampered the agency’s ability to manage the wildfires that raged in Western North Carolina this spring, state and county officials say.
Why the Forest Service is logging after Hurricane Helene — and why some say they should slow down
Of the nearly 800,000 acres of trees that Helene downed, about 187,000 lie in national forests. Salvage logging — a practice scientists and forest advocates have long questioned — is the Forest Service’s primary method of handling such a large disturbance.
‘Mass confusion’ at the Asheville VA
A flurry of legal actions and a steady stream of executive orders from President Donald Trump and large-scale firings by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have caused confusion and chaos at the WNC veterans medical center.
