WNC

Canton residents are still waiting for answers about the sale of stock by executives of the Pactiv Evergreen papermill. Local leaders are calling for an investigation and for $12 million in state incentives to be returned.

The members of the 2023 North Carolina General Assembly will be sworn in on January 11. A national swing towards state political power, and a Republican supermajority in the Senate and state Supreme Court will underpin the next legislative session.BPR’s Regional Reporter Lilly Knoepp spoke to North Carolina politics expert Chris Cooper, head of the public policy institute at Western Carolina University about the upcoming year.

Collaboration and connection were the major themes in a community conversation about local news and information held just before Thanksgiving on the campus of Western Carolina University.

The 78-foot-tall tree, "Ruby the Red Spruce," from the Pisgah National Forest will be lit November 29th in Washington, D.C. at the Capitol.

Cherokee Nation went to Capitol Hill to ask that a nearly 200-year-old treaty be honored to give the tribe representation in the federal government. However, the other two federally recognized Cherokee tribes say they also deserve representation.

Three counties in BPR’s listening area Cherokee, Clay and Graham stayed in a low economic category of “at-risk, according to the new Appalachian Regional Commission report. Meanwhile, Buncombe County changed designation.

Across Western North Carolina, protesters took to the streets in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to an abortion. BPR was at one march in Sylva.

A local advocacy group is raising awareness about the number of missing and murdered indigenous women in Western North Carolina. The Qualla Boundary MMIW Committee is hosting its third annual awareness walk this Saturday.

BPR talked with Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt about the newspaper’s special coverage exploring the many facets of the Violence Against Women's Act that was reauthorized this month.

Along with other state and federal funds, the investment totals nearly a billion dollars for rural connectivity, statewide. Local leaders attended a broadband summit in Franklin this week to talk about what this funding means for Western North Carolina.