Lilly Knoepp

 US Route 441 is a main artery in Western North Carolina. However, a crack in the road on Cowee Mountain in Jackson County has slowed traffic since late February.

Nathan Tanner is the Department of Transportation resident engineer for three counties of Western North Carolina - thats district 2 of division 14. He explains why they decided to redirect traffic down to two lanes:

Southern neighbors Georgia and Alabama both passed bills that restrict abortion access this month. Activists say these laws will negatively impact access to healthcare in North Carolina - not just access to abortions for women.  

  Outside of Murphy in Cherokee county at the tip of Western North Carolina. We’re heading to a small farm where innovation brought one woman a new career.

Past a wide creek and a pasture of running horses, the small RCP Farm sits outside of Murphy. California-native Christina Newhouse has lived here since 2005 when she moved across the country with her husband Robert.

Newhouse is keeping a close eye on her high tunnel right now because squirrels have been sneaking in and eating her strawberries:

The Franklin Town Council has voted to transfer the deed to the ancient Nikwasi Mound to a nonprofit.   

The hall broke out into applause after the town council voted unanimously in favor of transferring the property to the Nikwasi Initiative - a nonprofit made up of representatives from Franklin, Macon County, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Mainspring Conservation Trust.

Hope Huskey is on the board of the Nikwasi Initiative and a member of the Eastern Band.  

  There are over 20 land trusts in North Carolina.  BPR sought to find out what a land trust does at an event intended to teach millennials the answer.

  This time of year plenty of hikers along the Appalachian Trail are making their way through Western North Carolina.  They are vital for the economies of towns that sit along the trail – like Franklin, which was the first designated Appalachian Trail Community.  

  Western Carolina’s 12th chancellor was introduced for the first time on campus today.

Chancellor-elect Kelli Brown was welcomed with a standing ovation today in her first address on the Western Carolina University campus. Brown highlighted her commitment to higher education and to first generation college graduates during her speech to faculty and community members.

 The Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded a grant to connect local students with agriculture opportunities in the region.

  Western Carolina University has grown leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. However, that hasn’t been the case for the Cullowhee area.  Here’s more on the growth of college town.

  Last year over 25,000 people marched at the state capital in Raleigh to support public school teachers through the Red 4 Ed NC cause. This year they’ll do it again on May 1st.

Franklin High School teacher John deVille is the vice president of North Carolina Association of Educators. He’s also on the Red 4 Ed advisory board.  He says May 1st isn’t a protest.

Despite this week’s summer temperatures, the weather will chill across the mountains this weekend. Here are tips from a horticulture expert on when you should start planting for summer.

Don’t be fooled by the flowers and tomato plants on sale across the region, says Christy Bredenkamp Horticulture Extension Agent for NC State. We aren’t past the “frost-free” date just yet: “So the Internet says the end of April is the last frost date and May 4th or 5th and May 10 and May 15th. I’ve seen all those dates - so which one is right?”

  A bill in the North Carolina General Assembly would allow Swain County to control more of the money it was paid by the federal government for the so-called ‘Road To Nowhere.”

  As the controversy over the ownership of the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin lingers on, Macon County officials are highlighting their working relationship with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee.

Governor Roy Cooper wraps up a six-county tour of Western North Carolina on Friday. BPR caught up with him at Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital in Murphy where he was talking Medicaid Expansion.

At a roundtable with hospital officials and Murphy community leaders, the governor heard a lot about the need to expand Medicaid - especially for the Western end of the state.  

  Artists at Western Carolina University and a historic 20th century house might be an odd combination. But they share a common goal. Here’s how this unlikely duo is hoping to build a community.

Holding onto memories of Appalachian traditions can take many forms. Artists, preservations and oral historians are all working to protect those memories - each in different ways.

The Franklin Town Council delayed its decision until next month on transferring the deed of the Nikwasi Mound to nonprofit The Nikwasi Initiative.

It was standing room only for the public session on the transfer of the Nikwasi Mound, as 19 different people spoke before town council for and against the deal. 

  At its March meeting, the Franklin Town Council moved forward with a motion to transfer ownership of the Nikwasi Mound to a nonprofit.

The origin of the ancient mound has been called into question. BPR spoke with historians and archeologists about the mound and what makes it a sacred space.

  At its March meeting, the Franklin Town Council moved forward with transferring ownership of the Nikwasi Mound.

Now certain residents and Franklin Mayor Bob Scott are asking for more information on the Nikwasi Initiative, the non-profit that will receive ownership of the mound.  BPR spoke to members of the group about their history and funding.

The I-26 expansion in Asheville isn’t the region’s only major road project. The town of Sylva is in the middle of a plan to widen Highway 107  -  one of the busiest roads through that corner of Western North Carolina.

Sylva Town manager Paige Dowling says that discussions about improving Highway 107 have been going on since 2003. Growth in Jackson County and at Western Carolina University have both contributed to the heavy traffic on the road.

“The intersection gets 30,000 cars a day. It’s the busiest in the seven westernmost counties,” says Dowling.

Record numbers of public comments, the government shutdown and innovations have all been factors in the slow pace of the release of the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest Management Plan. 

Here’s an update from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. 

The new plan will provide strategies for managing both forests over the next 15 years.

The forest plan doesn’t just impact conservationists. Fisherman, horsemen, rock climbers and business people are all interested in how the management of over 1 million acres of forest will change.

It’s Sunshine Week - which media outlets use to underscore the importance of government transparency and access to public records.  The Sylva Herald recently had to take legal action against Western Carolina University over a public document regarding the Cullowhee Dam. Herald reporter Dave Russell joined BPR’s Lilly Knoepp to talk about why the Jackson County paper felt the document was important enough to fight for.

Here are excerpts from the interview: