Around a dozen students and staff from UNC-Wilmington are beginning their second week living on the campus of UNC-Asheville because of Hurricane Florence and its aftermath. Eleven students and four staff members headed west a week ago Tuesday when UNC Wilmington officially closed ahead of Florence, which has devastated the city of Wilmington. UNC Asheville offered space to anyone who had nowhere else they could go, and a school spokeswoman said they were expecting around 100 initially. When it

How much does climate change contribute to storms like Hurricane Florence? Asheville climate scientists are warning climate change is contributing to more powerful storms. Andrew Jones of Climate Interactive, housed in The Collider in downtown Asheville, says it's like giving the storms steroids. He spoke with BPR's Jeremy Loeb.

(Monday 5 p.m) The National Park Service says portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway are now open. Click here for the latest . The entire Parkway and most of its facilities, visitor centers and campgrounds, were shutdown on Friday in anticipation of storm damage from Florence. A stretch of the road to the south and east of Asheville - from the Tanbark Ridge Overlook to the French Broad Overlook - is now open, as well as the far western end of the Parkway from the Pisgah Inn to its terminus in the

In this episode, our conversation picks up from our last show. John & Marcia continue to examine the many ways sports and religion parallel one another - with a focus in this show on faith, outcomes, and those who wander away but return. (Music featured includes Musa, 6th Melody by Livio Amato)

It’s no secret that there is a housing problem in Western North Carolina. Prices are booming as the demand for mountain homes outweighs the supply in all price brackets. Representatives from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, U.S. Department of Agriculture, local nonprofits, county commissioners and many more came together to talk about how to bring more affordable housing to the area at a housing and economic development summit in Sylva, NC. Sarah Thompson, executive director of Southwestern

Carol Anderson's book "One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy" is an extensive look at voter suppression methods past and present. She spoke with BPR's Jeremy Loeb about her book and about suppression efforts taking place in North Carolina.

BPR will be interviewing candidates for state races in the 2018 midterms. Our series of conversations starts with Norm Bossert. Bossert is a Democrat running in the heavily Republican Senate District 48, which encompasses Henderson, Transylvania and southern Buncombe counties. It's currently represented by Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards. Bossert spoke with BPR's Jeremy Loeb.

Ballots are finalized (we think) for the high-stakes November mid-term elections. Voters will be deciding a state Supreme Court race, the fate of 6 amendments to the state constitution, who goes to Congress and who goes to the legislature. Western Carolina Univeristy political scientist Chris Cooper breaks it all down with BPR's Jeremy Loeb.

September 9 marks the beginning of National Suicide Prevention Week, but how many of us really know what to do when we see or hear things that could be construed as “red flags?” Many have been affected by suicide – a friend, family member or coworker perhaps – but even those who haven’t personally been touched by this tragedy do have their stories. “I got a text about 2 o’clock in the morning, saying, ‘Mr. Bob, I’m thinking about killing myself.’” The guy on the other end of that text was Bob

Some locations shine in summer or winter but arguably the mountains are the best when there is a chill in the air and bright colors are on the trees. Now that summer is winding down, we can expect the leaves to start changing says Beverly Collins, a biology professor and the proclaimed autumnal soothsayer of Western Carolina University. “It’s starting right now and it will really pick up during the end of September and the beginning of October,” says Collins. “It might be a little slow this year