WCQS News

In this episode of The Porch, a production of the BPR news team, we hear a special episode on rural retirees. Across Western North Carolina, about 25 percent of the population is 65 and older. Before retirement these members of our community worked at every job and lived everywhere. So who are the people who have decided to spend their retirement in the mountain - whether they moved here or were born here? Today you are going to meet a few of them. Retirees from across the region called into BPR

Advocates on the right and left say this year’s school board campaigns will be ground zero in America’s culture wars. The conservative North Carolina Values Coalition prepared people for that battle this week by holding training sessions for prospective school board candidates in Raleigh and Mooresville. Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the Raleigh-based group, says the issues that have led to heated protests at board meetings are fueling intense interest in running for office. “Parents

UNC Charlotte will start a new program with the goal of helping to predict and fight future pandemics.

Duke Energy says it expects to reduce energy generated by coal to just 5% of its total by 2030 and to eliminate coal entirely by 2035.

In this episode which falls during Black History Month, our hosts examine the history of the celebration, including why it’s the month of February.

A trial court panel will name an outside remapping expert to help them determine whether upcoming replacement redistricting maps comply with partisan limits required by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Nature has been a solace for folks in Western North Carolina long before COVID-19. But during the pandemic, local trails and forests saw record-breaking numbers of visitors who wanted to find a quiet place to safely escape the masked reality of crowded public spaces. Some people where lucky enough to escape in their own backyards, BPR’s Lilly Knoepp and Foxfire curator Kami Ahrens visited one such garden in November 2021 as part of BPR and Foxfire Museum’s COVID-19 Oral History Project. Mignon

It's our annual Super Bowl episode - but this one comes in stages. The day after John and our show's producer recorded it, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL alleging racial discrimination, sham interviews for coaching positions, and more. We recorded a second time to include that in the show, plus we also feature part of an earlier Going Deep episode where John and Marcia explained why coaching in the pros is far more difficult than in college. (Music

Oral arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday at the North Carolina Supreme Court over lawsuit s that will define this year’s election in the state - and potentially for the whole decade.

The new Angel Medical Center in Franklin is starting to take shape. BPR took a tour of the construction site. David Sibilio is the superintendent of the project. “This right here is our biggest OR for you guys to see,” said Sibilio. Bigger rooms – both for operations and for care – are one of the highlights that Angel’s CEO Clint Kendall wants the community to see. “Normal rooms, you have more than enough room right now. It’s about the size of a two bedroom room at the current hospital,” said