Parades are a holiday season staple. The town of Canton's Christmas parade is scheduled for December 7th. It will be the first parade in the Haywood County town since the Labor Day parade, where several marchers showed up carrying Confederate flags. Town officials have been trying to decide how to prevent similar displays in the future. Canton Alderman Dr. Ralph Hamlett has been leading the effort to define what will be acceptable parade displays in the future. Several town residents showed up

North Carolina’s Republican-dominated General Assembly has made a number of changes to the way judges are elected in the state, with many more proposals under current consideration. They include making races partisan and changes to district lines and term lengths, even eliminating some vacancies and proposals to do away with elections for judges altogether. Former state Supreme Court justice Robert Orr, a Republican, is no fan of the changes. He spoke with BPR’s Jeremy Loeb about the proposals

Short term rentals were easily the most discussed issue on the campaign trail ahead of this month's city elections in Asheville. Even after the votes have been counted, the future and prevalence of AirBnB-style lodgings remains a political flashpoint in the city. The Planning and Zoning Commission has received requests from outside developers to allow units be set aside for short term rentals in planned townhouse and condominium projects, like McCormick Place (pictured above) which is slated to

Nearly 200 countries are wrapping up the annual United Nations Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany this week. Notably absent is the United States. This summer, President Trump declared he is pulling the U.S. out of the landmark Paris Climate Accord , which aims to reduce carbon emissions and holds countries accountable for limiting the rise in global temperatures. But the move hasn’t stopped hundreds of climate scientists and researchers from participating, including Western Carolina University’s

The highest level of women’s professional tennis is coming to Asheville early next year. The Fed Cup is the annual international team tournament in women’s tennis, and the United States just won it last weekend for the first time since 2000, defeating Belarus. The U.S. team will begin its title defense at the U.S. Cellular Center this February. Jeff Ryan of the U.S. Tennis Association says Netherlands will be the American’s opponent in Asheville on February 10 th and 11 th . “Asheville will be a

Buncombe County is suing five manufacturers and three wholesale distributors of opioids, as the number of overdoses in the county on those drugs has sharply risen again this year. It’s an approach other governments at all levels across the U.S. have tried. In the first eight months of this year, the number of emergency room visits in Buncombe County due to opioid overdoses nearly tripled as opposed to last year. That’s just one of many statistics that gives county board of commissioners chair

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer got a resounding vote of confidence earlier this month, winning re-election with more than 80% of the vote. She stopped by BPR to speak with Jeremy Loeb about the election results and to look forward to her second four-year term. She also discussed possible actions the city might take in response to a legislative effort to force districts for council members, something Asheville voters overwhelmingly rejected.

If you suffer from allergies, you may have noticed you sneezed a little longer this fall. But you may not have linked that extra sneezing to global warming. Scientists and Public Health officials met in Asheville last week for a workshop on the climate health connection. BPR’s Helen Chickering reports.

A common frustration for residents throughout the mountains of Western North Carolina is the lack of high speed internet access. They now have a place where they can vent. BPRs Davin Eldridge has more… Author's Note: a link to the survey is provided at the bottom of the article.

This week's election in Asheville will produce the most ethnically diverse city council in its history. Vijay Kapoor, Sheneika Smith, and incumbent vice mayor Gwen Wisler were all elected to city council. Kapoor is the first Asian-American ever elected to the body (he and Pratik Bhakta, who lost in this year's primary election, were the first Asian-American candidates ever for Asheville city council). Smith's election means for the first time in 26 years, there will be two African-Americans on