Blue Ridge Public Radio
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BPR informs, inspires, connects, and reflects the people and places of Western North Carolina, on air at BPR News & BPR Classic, and online at https://t.co/IGA4hPu0SJ.
Asheville, NC
Joined January 2010
Gov. Josh Stein’s latest funding request to the General Assembly for Helene recovery includes $792M for local governments, small businesses and nonprofits. The request comes as federal recovery funding is stalled by a partial government shutdown. https://t.co/hPudwZlYlN
bpr.org
If the request is fully funded, state lawmakers will have spent more than $3 billion on storm recovery.
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After Helene, many people depended on resilience hubs to access critical resources like food and water. Now, Asheville's policy makers are considering investing in them more formally. https://t.co/y7AHpk6KHF
bpr.org
Policy makers believe these hubs, which “saved the day” during Hurricane Helene by providing access to clean water, satellite internet and other resources, are deserving of public investment.
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North Carolina recovery officials are cautiously hopeful that newly confirmed Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, will speed up the flow of federal disaster aid to the state. https://t.co/WiEZSNYRdn
bpr.org
Newly-confirmed DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin told senators the policy was “micromanaging.”
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Local governments in four Western North Carolina counties are receiving a total of nearly $8.5 million to help them rebuild public infrastructure that was damaged by Hurricane Helene and is essential to small businesses. https://t.co/KAr5Zn4qDr
bpr.org
The projects include sewer lines in Ashe County, stormwater drainage in Jackson County, and infrastructure upgrades in Caldwell and Mitchell counties.
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FEMA announced plans to reinstate a climate resiliency grant program after 19 states filed a joint lawsuit against the agency. https://t.co/7jBVukuKJ4
bpr.org
In North Carolina, $200 million in awarded grants have hung in the balance while state officials fought for the funding.
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Republican state House Rep. Mike Clampitt, who represented Swain, Jackson and Transylvania counties, died Wednesday at age 71.
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Former N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, now a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, campaigned Wednesday in Asheville’s River Arts District as part of his “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour. The statewide tour is aimed at highlighting Cooper’s plans to make life more affordable.
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Hundreds of signs across the National Park System have been flagged for removal under guidelines the federal government enacted last year. A recently leaked database indicates at least ten of these signs are in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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Time is running out! ⏰ BPR needs 200 new donors by Wednesday to unlock an additional $20K to support the trusted news and cultural programming you rely on. Give now:
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North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Parkway is very close to completely re-opening. Around 35 miles have remained closed since Hurricane Helene, but repairs are estimated to be done by the end of the year, according to Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Tracy Swartout.
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The Town of Canton is buying back a piece of its decommissioned paper mill from its out-of-town owner. Mayor Zeb Smathers says he hopes the purchase is a step toward creating more manufacturing jobs and economic opportunity to the Canton after the paper mill shuttered in 2023.
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President Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and said GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma would replace her.
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Sen. Ted Budd announced Wednesday that $81M in delayed federal aid is on its way to WNC for Helene recovery. The announcement came a day after Senate Democrats released a report that claims DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “created extraordinary bureaucratic gridlock."
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