(UPDATE 12:20 p.m. Wednesday) - The Asheville city council is calling for an audit of the city police department, following the release of a video last week showing a then-city police officer beating an unarmed black man last August. In a statement released Wednesday morning, the council wants the audit to 'determine the degree to which structural racism and implicit and explicit bias continue to contribute to the operations and actions of the department and its officers.' The council wants the

Candidate filing for the 2018 North Carolina General Assembly elections ended this week, and both parties will field enough candidates to ensure all 170 seats will be contested this year. It’s making Democratic Governor Roy Cooper very happ - and confident. Cooper has been in office for 14 months, but his legislative power remains quite limited. That’s because Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly allowing them to override any vetoes from Cooper, something

Leonardo da Vinci may be best known for his artistic masterpieces, but he was also an accomplished engineer and scientist. That mix of science and art helped inspire a local group of artists, scientists, teachers and citizens to launch the area’s first arts and science festival. BPR’s Helen Chickering caught up with one of the organizers, biologist Jason York. Asheville’s first Arts and Science Festival will be held on Saturday, March 31 from noon to 6 p.m. at the Salvage Station. The event is

Everywhere you turn inside Sassy Frass Consignment , your eye catches bejeweled, gleaming crosses and other Christian symbols sprinkled among t-shirts, furnishings, glass baubles and other nicknacks . Then there are very different signs about one special chapter in the store’s history -- the charred doors left behind by a firey Molotov cocktail and the giant block letters that temporarily hung on the building’s facade, spelling out Ebbing Police Department. Two springs ago, cast and crew spent

Winning an election is just the beginning for a public official – governing is challenging, ever-changing and can become extremely technical in a legal sense. So newly elected officials go back to school to learn what they can and can’t do, and what might land them in jail. Since 1931, the University of North Carolina’s School of Government has been a nonpartisan, policy-neutral resource for elected officials across the state and is the largest such organization in the nation, with dozens of

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen looking for information on election security in North Carolina. This comes on the heels of last week's indictments by special counsel Robert Mueller of 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian businesses for interfering in the 2016 election. Stein joined BPR's Jeremy Loeb to discuss that and other matters.

The squabbling within the Haywood County Republican Party is showing no signs of stopping. Last year, four members of the county GOP were officially kicked out of the party. Now, a the vice chair of the Haywood County Republican party Debbie King is suing the faction of the county party those members belonged to over some internet memes. Smoky Mountain News reporter Cory Vaillancourt has been following this story from the start and joined BPR's Matt Bush in studio for an update on the latest -

Climate City is just one of Asheville’s many nicknames. A local nonprofit is working to elevate that moniker to a new level. In March, the climate innovation center, The Collider , is kicking off ClimateCon 2018 . The business of climate is the headline event of the conference that organizers say – has something for everyone. BPR’s Helen Chickering spoke with Megan Robinson, The Collider’s Executive director. A number events during The Climate City Experience are open to the general public and

The 2018 Fed Cup brings international professional tennis competition to Asheville Feb. 10-11 for the USA vs. Netherlands World Group First Round. The weekend competition features tennis star Venus Williams and her sister Serena, who is making her debut after maternity leave and who, on Friday, made an Asheville teen’s dream come true. Fourteen year old Kennedi Green was chosen to select names out of the Fed Cup trophy that decided the draw. Kennedi got to meet Team USA and even spent a bit of

As the opioid epidemic deepens, the need for foster parents has exploded in Western North Carolina. That was one of the findings of a series of stories from the Asheville Citizen-Times that explored many topics and issues around opioid abuse in the region. Reporter Alexandria Bordas joined BPR's Matt Bush in studio to discuss the series, which took 5 months to compile.