During a pandemic, an 83-year-old man is attempting to become the oldest person to complete the over 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail. BPR spoke with him as he made his way through Western North Carolina: It's spring in Franklin. That means that the town is full of hikers making their way up the Appalachian Trail. After hours at a downtown bakery, a group of locals and hikers are wolfing down spaghetti and meatballs. Among them is a well-known bearded figure in the hiking community. “I’m Sunny

After losing an entire season, baseball returns to Asheville Tuesday.

The Campaign for Southern Equality has made its “Trans in the South” directory fully available online. The resource is meant to help connect transgender individuals to gender-affirming legal and health services close to home.

Five years ago, entrepreneur and philanthropist Mack Pearsall thought he had discovered Asheville’s path to great wealth and world acclaim. Not through its beer; not because of its natural amenities.

In this episode of The Porch, from BPR News, we explore this question: If communities benefit from the work and presence of artists, what is our collective responsibility to publicly pay for the arts? This episode includes: Interviews with Nate McGaha of Arts NC and Sheila Smith, recently retired from Minnesota Citizens for the Arts A look into our local arts councils, focusing on Transylvania County, Haywood County and the council serving Mitchell and Yancey counties. Interviews with educators

A hospital at the western end of North Carolina is expanding psychiatric services through a pilot program that is the first of its kind in the state.

The town of Andrews in Cherokee County is currently without all four of its police officers following an incident at the police station.

A group of protesters from last year’s racial justice marches is still waiting on a response from Asheville Police regarding a complaint alleging use of excessive force. The complaint filed by 20 individuals -- 19 of them anonymous -- alleges that Asheville police officers used unethical, even military-style tactics to disperse crowds during last year’s protests.

In this episode, Darin and Marcus again speak with Dr. Meredith Doster of the William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations. They talk about the four R’s important to building and living in community – rest, reflection, relationship, and reckoning. This sets up our next run of shows which will look deeply at another R – reparations.

BPR is answering listener queries about the Coronavirus in a new segment – Talk to Us: COVID Questions . BPR’s Helen Chickering brings us this week’s answer.