![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a48c2be/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x1333+500+0/resize/150x200!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1c%2F96%2F4298e8114984bfb7cebaf9e403ef%2Flily-knoepp.jpg)
Lilly Knoepp
Senior Regional ReporterLilly Knoepp is Senior Regional Reporter for Blue Ridge Public Radio. She has served as BPR’s first fulltime reporter covering Western North Carolina since 2018. She is a native of Franklin, NC who returns to WNC after serving as the assistant editor of Women@Forbes and digital producer of the Forbes podcast network. She holds a master’s degree in international journalism from the City University of New York and earned a double major from UNC-Chapel Hill in religious studies and political science.
Email: lknoepp@bpr.org
-
Here’s how President Joe Biden’s announcement is playing out among elected officials and candidates in Western North Carolina.
-
Tensions ran high at the most recent Macon County Commissioners meeting where about 300 people turned out to express their views on proposed changes or the three public comment periods on the flood damage prevention ordinance, soil erosion and sedimentation control and water supply watershed protection.
-
Buncombe County cannot intervene in North Carolina General Attorney Josh Stein’s lawsuit against HCA Healthcare, the NC Business court held this week. The county is already part of another lawsuit but had asked to intervene in Stein’s suit, claiming $3 million in damages.
-
Macon County Commissioners have been discussing updating current floodplain regulations since March. Ethical questions, environmental concerns and the departure of a county director are all leading to a July 9 public hearing.
-
Eastern Band of Cherokee dispensary will sell recreational marijuana first only to enrolled members beginning July 4.
-
Hundreds attended Haywood County's first LGBTQ+ Pride parade, held in Waynesville. Many other Western North Carolina towns have increased Pride support in recent years.
-
Conservation groups fought to stop logging in an area of Macon and Jackson Counties for years. This week, the SELC agreed to drop a lawsuit against the Forest Service in return for a 15-acre logging plan to not move forward.
-
Jackson County Commissioners approved free meals for students at all county public schools next year as part of the annual budget.
-
North Carolina municipalities can establish social districts since a state law change three years ago, permitting adults 21 and older to drink alcohol in designated public zones. The downtown Franklin social district opens on Saturday, June 22.
-
The embattled company running Mission Hospital faces nurse union complaints, a lawsuit in North Carolina, and continued scrutiny amid community concerns.