Bernard Arghiere of the Astronomy Club of Asheville has been speaking at events all across Western North Carolina ahead of the total solar eclipse that will pass through the region on August 21st. He says the most common question he gets is when should people take off their special eclipse glasses during the event to see it . But there are plenty of other queries too, and Arghiere joined BPR's Matt Bush to answer them, such as how rare are total eclipses (not really he says...there will be 68 of

Around 100 people demonstrated in Pack Square Sunday night. They were there to honor Heather Heyer, the counter protestor who was killed at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The crowd steadily grew to the point police arrived and closed the roads around the upper part of Pack Square. Chants, signs, and sing-alongs dominated the event, which encircled the Vance Monument. The choice of that site was intentional, as sporadic chants of “tear it down” could be heard. Flyers were

"They don't have anywhere else to turn." Pisgah Legal Services executive director Jim Barrett was referring to the roughly 2,000 people that could lose access to their services due to cuts in the state budget. Pisgah Legal Services is one of three aid groups across the state that will feel the impacts of the cuts.

The total solar eclipse will be here in less than a week. Thousands will watch the eclipse within the 'path of totality' in Western North Carolina. Bernard Arghiere is with the Astronomy Club of Asheville . He's been speaking to groups across the region ahead of the eclipse. He says the question most commonly asked at those meetings - when is it safe to take your eclipse glasses off when watching the eclipse? Arghiere sat down with BPR's Matt Bush to answer that question, and many others

As this year’s total solar eclipse draws near, it is expected to close out a record summer for tourism in the mountains. BPR’s Davin Eldridge has more…

Western North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, held a town hall Monday in Flat Rock. Here is the nearly full audio (with two edits, due to equipment) from the town hall. Our previous report on the town hall is here .

The Town of Andrews is among the smallest towns in all of Western North Carolina. Thanks to it being the only town in the state to fall directly in the path of this month’s solar eclipse, its population is expected to grow exponentially. BPR News's Davin Eldridge attended its latest town board meeting to find out how everyone in Andrews is preparing for the event…

This week, BPR gardening expert Alison Arnold talks about the solar eclipse and the ways light affects plants.

Author Steven Nash is well-versed on Zebulon Vance, and the post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction when Vance became a U.S. Senator and political powerhouse in North Carolina. He wrote the book " Reconstruction's Ragged Edge: The Politics of Post-War Life in the Southern Mountains ". Nash was featured in the first of our two-part story on the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville. The East Tennessee State University professor spoke at length with BPR's Matt Bush about Vance's life and

The city of New Orleans earlier this year removed statues of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee. Asheville has its own monument to a Confederate leader – Zebulon Vance, who served as North Carolina’s governor during the Civil War and U.S. Senator during the post-war Reconstruction period. The future of the prominent landmark in Pack Square - home to two other monuments honoring the Confederacy - is now under debate, as is the lack of equivalent commemoration of