With the month of June over, that means all four major North American sports leagues have conducted their annual player drafts. With that fresh in our minds, John & Marcia sat down with BPR's Matt Bush to figure which of the four drafts is most fair to players, and which one they would want to enter if they had the choice. (Music featured includes Vienna Jazz by Dee Yan-Key)

The Cherokee language is officially in a state of emergency according to the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. Blue Ridge Public Radio sat down with an Eastern Band native speaker at the new Kituwah Academy to learn more. Myrtle Driver Johnson is 75 years old. She’s an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and a Beloved Woman. Johnson introduces herself in Cherokee before switching to English. “I’m the translator here and I’m also the translator for the tribal council

Asheville city council will hold a work session Tuesday evening on potential legal options for the city to stop the imposition of electoral districts for future city council elections. Suing the state or changing the city charter to ensure all council seats remain elected at-large are two of the main options that will be discussed at the meeting. But city councilman Vijay Kapoor will offer a third.

The Henderson County Department of Public Health is the newest public feeding site to address issues of food insecurity for youth during the summer. Students who regularly receive meals through school lose this access during the summer. In response, Henderson County Public Schools' Child Nutrition Department established four public feeding sites over the county that provide free lunches for youth between two and 18 years old. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program funds

Asheville city council will hold a work session Tuesday evening on whether to take legal action stop the imposition of electoral districts for future city council elections. Council members appear split on whether to sue the state in an attempt to stop districts, which were created after the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved a measure creating districts last year.

Lake Junaluska has hosted the Western North Carolina conference of the United Methodist Church for decades. For many of those years, its felt more like a family reunion than a convention. But this year was a little different. Kids play in swimming pool on the edge of the lake while adults get ready for another long day of voting. This is Robin Tate Uhl’s first annual conference at Lake Junaluska in Haywood County. She’s up for election as a laity delegate. That means if elected she would go to

North Carolina has a lot of work to do when it comes to addressing women’s health and wellness. That's the finding of a state commissioned report released in Asheville this week at Mountain Area Health Education Center . BPR’s Helen Chickering has details.

Online purchasing is giving rise to small businesses that take the middleman out of the supply chain. The so-called “direct-to-consumer” model has changed the way we buy even the most mundane products, from mattresses to razor blades. One example is an Asheville-based pottery maker hoping to capture a larger slice of the ceramic dinnerware market. East Fork Pottery is facing some challenges -- due largely to its rapid online success.

Both chambers of the General Assembly are set to vote on a budget agreement crafted by Republican leaders. Governor Roy Cooper seems likely to veto it when it reaches his desk, however, as it does not contain Medicaid expansion. That has been a chief goal for the governor and his fellow Democrats. Here’s more on a report out today in support of expanded Medicaid. The report commissioned by two state foundations and completed by economists at George Washington University explains expected

The general election is months away on the Qualla Boundary, but sexual assault allegations are resurfacing against a candidate for tribal council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.