Polk Lore

We old-schoolers can complain about the homogeneity and lack of a soul that characterizes the visual products of artificial intelligence, but that’s a minor problem when compared with the threat A.I. poses to the learning process. How are we supposed to raise kids with critical thinking skills if every answer can be solved with a couple of prompts to a machine that is programmed to tell you what you want to hear?

The man tasked with overseeing Polk School’s A.I. response strategy is Brandon Schweitzer. He used to be a history teacher but now he’s operations and technology director. So that means tackling if, when, and how to introduce large language models and other A.I. tools into the classroom. He's got a lot to say on the subject.

He's also giving a talk on AI in the classroom Nov. 18 at the Lanier Library. If you can't make it to that event, this episode should be the next best thing.

Resources

• Lanier Library Programs
• AI for Families at Polk Schools

Saluda voters will see three candidates for mayor on this year's ballot. Only two are still running. It's officially a non-partisan election, but the Polk Democrats have endorsed one candidate, and the chair of the Saluda precinct of the Polk Republicans has endorsed the other. And that's just the beginning. Polk Lore's last election 2026 episode features the two remaining candidates for Saluda mayor, recorded at a public forum earlier this month.

Resources:

Polk County Board of Elections

It wouldn’t be fair to say that Doyle Brown came out of nowhere. Everyone asking for your vote in every election comes from somewhere. For today’s guest, that place is just down the mountain in Rutherford County, which is part of North Carolina Senate District Forty-Eight. 

It is perhaps fair to say that Doyle Brown isn’t exactly a known quantity, at least in that portion of the district we live in. 

But by the same token, how many of us would describe the current senator for our district as a known quantity? Although as part of the ruling Republican majority, Tim Moffitt is, for better or worse, one of the most influential senators in Raleigh, he’s not exactly a familiar face around here. 

I haven’t had the chance to interview the incumbent— he didn’t respond to my requests, and I haven’t even be able to find a local campaign rally to attend — but I’ve had several opportunities to hear Democrat Doyle Brown get a crowd riled up, and earlier this month he came to the Polk County Library in Columbus to sit for an interview.

Doyle Brown campaign website

Is NC a Dillon rule state? (UNC School of Government)

My guest for this episode is perhaps one of the most familiar names in the county. Ray Gasperson is a farmer, a businessman, and for a very long time has been either defending his seat on the Polk County Commission as a Democrat or running to get back on the commission. If you look at the last few election results, he's never been far behind, so it won't take much for him to break the pattern of almost winning. He made his casea few days ago on a porch in Saluda.

Resources:

Ray4Polk

Andre Overholt served one four-year term — 2020 to 2024 — before deciding two years ago not to seek re-election. In this epsiode, he explains why, as well as why he decided to return to politics a little earlier than he originally anticipated. Other topics include the challenge of zoning in a county where property rights are highly valued, and campaigning as Republican when his party's leadership isn't all that popular. We talked on the last day of September in his Tryon office, where he sells insurance.

Resources:

Voting information (Polk Board of Elections)

Jon Klimstra insists he’s not a politician by nature, and it’s probably not too surprising that someone might not be all that keen on seeking public office when their busiest time of year — harvest season — coincides with demands of running a political campaign. But he has assumed a few leadership positions in the county. He’s the current president of the Polk County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and vice-president of the North Carolina Apple Growers Association. So he's as least as qualified as any other first-time candidate.

John Morgan took a rather interesting route to get onto the ballot in the election for state legislature, specifically the seat now held by Republican Jake Johnson for House District 113.

Not exactly a Democrat-from-birth, the retired pilot first tried to find the signatures necessary to run as an independent candidate. He fell short. But then the Democrat from Rutherford County who had been the only candidate to file papers for the party back in the spring, dropped out, leaving an opening that allowed the district’s Democratic party organizations to choose a replacement. They chose John. He joined me in Saluda to explain his political journey and vision.

Resource:

John Morgan for 113

This Thursday evening the Tryon International Equestrian Center is hosting somethings called Divertimentos and Dressage. It combines live classical music, provided by the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, with freestyle horse-riding, all in the service of supporting a global non-profit effort to improve the welfare of working horses, donkeys, and mules. We’re talking about animals who do the literal heavy lifting in near-subsistence economies, primarily in the developing world.

I had no idea, but now I do thanks to organizer Sally Frick, who talked with me at the Polk County Library in Columbus at the end of September.

Resources

• Tickets for Divertimentos and Dressage at the TIEC
• Brooke USA
• Ejiao and the donkey skin trade: An urgent One Health concern, Canadian Veterinary Journal,  2024 Apr;65(4):397–398.

Saluda is the only municipality in the county with competitive local elections this year. I guess the people of Columbus and Tryon are happy enough with the current crop of leaders.

Still, with six candidates for two Board of Commissioners seats and three running for mayor, it's a bit too big of a contest for individual interviews. Instead, this episode is a streamlined version of a public forum hosted by the Saluda Community Alliance on Sept. 15.

Why so much skepticism around about how our elections are managed? If anything, Polk County has one of the most secure and professionally run elections offices in the country. I can’t think of anyone who has anything untoward to say about Polk Elections staff or its Board.

But for anyone who is worried, I invited two well-informed Polk residents onto the show to explain why we should not be anything but confident that our votes will be counted fairly. 

Sarah Jayne and Katie Breckenheimer are both members of the League of Women Voters Henderson County chapter, which also oversees Polk County. We talked earlier this month on the Polk Lore porch in Saluda.

Resources

• ⁠Polk County Board of Elections⁠
• NC voter registration look-up tool
• Vote411.org (fully operational in time to vote)

• NC Guide to Using Vote411.org (YouTube)
• Hear from NC Candidates (YouTube)        
• How to View Ballot (YouTube)
• Vote Riders (or call or text  844-338-8743)
• League of Women Voters: Henderson County 
• League of Women Voters: North Carolina
• 1916 Election audit finds single case of voter fraud (News and Observer, Nov. 29, 2018)
• J.D. Vance speech in Greensboro
• Rep. Jim Himes on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sept. 27, 2026