During the immediate aftermath of Helene, as soon as I got a moment, I went to our public works facility, looking to thank and check on the many public servants personally. In that visit I asked several folks how they all personally fared throughout the storm.
Chimney Rock was devastated by Helene’s flood waters and has been inaccessible to the outside world since late September. The fall tourism season was completely lost, and getting tourism dollars back is vital to the community's recovery.
Western North Carolina is still waiting for funding from Congress nearly three months after Hurricane Helene. If the government shuts down at midnight on Friday, as is increasingly likely, the region will continue to go without critical federal aid for the foreseeable future.
Candidates who feed into this hatred of FEMA, spread or fail to correct the rumor that only $750 will be offered to victims, or, even worse, claim that Helene was an artificial storm, manufactured by liberal political operatives to disable rural Republicans and take their land — the damage from those lies transcends political party and rural/urban identity
Elected officials in North Carolina, led by Governor Roy Cooper, met with President Joe Biden and members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation last week to advocate for federal support for the state’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.
Governor Cooper, I believe you should veto this bill. And to every lawmaker in Raleigh: Then do what is right. Reject partisanship. Uphold the veto. Let’s show the people of WNC that their leaders are as strong, resilient, and determined as they are.
There will be dollars coming from Raleigh and from Washington to help places like Ashe County and for that we are grateful. But local people, those of us who have raised generations here, need to make sure that those dollars are used to provide for everyone in our community.
With LGBTQ+ youth facing startlingly high rates of mental illness, especially in rural communities, we talked with mental health professionals and local activists about how to make change. They say anti-LGBTQ+ policymakers at the state and local level are contributing to the problem.
With abortion, public education, and decency on the ballot, the NC Democratic Party chair believes rural voters can be convinced to break up with Republicans.
Nearly 500,000 North Carolinians have enrolled in the state’s Medicaid expansion program, nearly 40% of whom live in rural communities. The five counties that have seen the highest enrollment rates are also rural, with enrollment rates nearly double the state average.
