After years of waiting, t he Nantahala Pisgah Forest Plan is being released this month. The Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan h as been in development for over five years. "I think one of the downsides of it being such a long drawn out process is that it's easy to even forget it's happening." That's Lang Hornthanl. He's part of the Nantahala Pisgah Forest Partnership. The group of over 25 organizations has been collaborating with the U.S. Forest Service throughout the process. The plan is a strategic

The independent monitor over HCA continued its tour of Western North Carolina at the Robert Carpenter Community Center in Franklin. T he meeting was held in the middle of a work day, something that frustrated the almost 50 people that gathered in Franklin to ask questions and air their concerns to Gibbins Advisors . Ron Winters is with the independent monitor overseeing HCA. "What we aren't charged with, and what we don't have the authority to do is to chase down individual issues. But what we

01/30/20 -- The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the final report on the public health investigation into an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in people who attended the 2019 NC Mountain State Fair at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher. While there isn't a 'smoking gun', the report confirms earlier findings that the outbreak was likely caused by exposure to Legionella bacteria in aerosolized water from hot tubs that were on display

The independent monitor hired to ensure HCA Healthcare follows through on agreements it made when purchasing Mission Health held its first public meeting Tuesday evening. BPR was at the Cashiers-Glenville Rec Center , which was full of concerned residents. Tom Urban and Ron Winters from Gibbins Advisors lead the discussion. Winters started out with the basics: "Let me go into the commitments that HCA made under the asset purchase agreement. There are four big categories: Retaining services at

Western Carolina University chancellor Dr. Kelli Brown says North Carolina's ongoing state budget stalement will likely take a toll on the school's record enrollment numbers if it continues.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation owed $18 million to counties across the state over the last 6 months because of budgeting issues. Public Transportation departments across Western North Carolina are running out of money. They have not yet received funds from one state program. In Swain County, that means the transit department worried it wouldn't be able to fund transportation across the sparsely populated county of 14,000 people much longer. It's waiting on $120,000 dollars.

The North Carolina Main Street and Rural Planning Center has selected six cities to receive help to revitalize their downtown areas. Those selected literally span the entire state. Murphy and Manteo made the list says Director Liz Parham . "We've just never had any applications for quite that far west or quite that far east until now," says Parham. These two towns - Murphy at the western tip of the state and Manteo on North Carolina's eastern edge on the Atlantic Ocean - were chosen along with

On Monday, thousands of peaceful demonstrators converged on the Virginia state capitol in protest of proposed restrictions on gun sales. A day later, the push for so-called "Second Amendment sanctuaries" picked up again in neighboring North Carolina. That included the home county of the late Riley Howell, the hero of last year's shooting at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

One town in Transylvania County has begun issuing identification cards to those who may not be able to obtain a government-issued state ID or driver's license. The grassroots initiative wants to serve the community's residents who don't have legal citizenship.

Climate change is getting lots of attention on the 2020 campaign trail. Among the popular slogans - "12 years to fix the climate". It appears on signs and in speeches, but what does it really mean? BPR's Helen Chickering met with the science editor who worked on the report that launched the catch phrase.