Today marks the anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, one of the most important events in Appalachian history.

My latest for The Paper. Idlewild Acres residents are going up against Gvest Capital, a private equity firm based in Charlotte that owns mobile home parks across the region. www.thepaper.media/morganton-mo...

Morganton mobile home residents organize against rent surge

Idlewild Acres—one of more than 50 mobile home parks across the region that tenants say are owned or managed by MHP, Valleo Residential, and private equity firm Gvest Capital—is facing

thepaper.media

Methinks the corporatists and oligarchs are rather anxious.

My latest: Arriving nearly late to Morganton's 6th Annual Juneteenth Brunch, undeservedly landed me an audience seat at a table near the front of the room. This meant I had the chance to sit next to Johnny Eugene Smith, the 89-year old legend who was being honored with an Unsung Hero Award.

From Emancipation to Today: Black Leaders Confront Voter Suppression and America’s Unfinished Freedom

At a Juneteenth Brunch in Morganton, Black leaders from multiple generations confront systemic racism, voter suppression, and America’s unfinished promise of freedom.

commonappalachian.substack.com

Just one of the so-called “divisive concepts,” white conservatives and NC GOP don’t want students to engage with: “The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.” www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...

New NC law tightens campus DEI bans, placing new limits on ‘divisive concepts’

Though Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, previously vetoed the law, Republican lawmakers overrode that effort.

newsobserver.com

Via @thecentersquare.bsky.social: Election 2026: No change in Cooper’s 14-point lead in @catawbacollege.bsky.social - @today.yougov.com poll of North Carolinians #ncpol www.thecentersquare.com/north_caroli...

Election 2026: No change in Cooper’s 14-point lead in Catawba poll

(The Center Square) – New polling, same result.

thecentersquare.com

As someone who grew up in actual rural Appalachia with a parent who had a prescription drug addiction and is roughly the same age, I cannot tell you the level of hatred within my heart for that book and that man. Words do not even begin to describe it.

It's a shame I've only recently become familiar with DJD's work. As a novelist, he's what I wish John Irving could be; as a thinker and activist, he grows the Wendell Berry tradition in ways more befitting the 21st century. bigskyjournal.com/local-knowle...

Local Knowledge: The Hearth Light and Fire of David James Duncan - Big Sky Journal

It’s midafternoon in October, and a bonfire is burning behind our house. With me is David James Duncan, revered Montana author, storied activist, and one of the deepest spiritual and ecological minds ...

bigskyjournal.com

"Small towns in Western North Carolina experienced the highest rates of population loss. Chimney Rock Village experienced the largest percentage loss with 10.6%, Old Fort lost 2.8%, and Marshall lost 2.4% of their population between 2024 and 2025." carolinademography.cpc.unc.edu/2026/05/27/u...

U.S. Census Bureau 2025 City and Town Population Estimates | Carolina Demography

Earlier this month the Census Bureau released the 2025 city and town population estimates. These population estimates show how the city and town populations in North Carolina have changed between July...

carolinademography.cpc.unc.edu

I spoke with Southlands editor @boyceupholt.bsky.social about his new magazine and the challenges of writing about a region one has adopted as home. This tension sits with me every time I write about Appalachia. commonappalachian.substack.com/p/who-gets-t...

Swain County Commissioners Tuesday unanimously passed a 12-month moratorium on new data centers in the county. www.bpr.org/climate-envi...

Swain County unanimously passes data center moratorium

Residents expressed fear of climate, environmental impacts

bpr.org

Amidst everything else, the Trump regime has quietly killed off the U.S. Forest Service 🌲 “One hundred and ninety-three million acres of your national forests… just handed, on a silver platter, to the people who’ve spent their entire careers trying to destroy it.” www.hatchmag.com/articles/tru...

Trump administration orders dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service

Late Tuesday afternoon, with the subtlety of a wrecking ball and the morality of a foreclosure notice, the Trump administration announced the most devastating attack on the U.S. Forest Service in the ...

hatchmag.com

In hew new memoir, Beth Howard invites white Appalachians to fight for racial and economic justice. “The truth is every single one of us can have a chance at the world we deserve. If working-class white people choose solidarity with Black and brown people instead of siding with whiteness.”

Bringing White Appalachians into the Fight

In ‘Song for a Hard-Hit People,’ Beth Howard shares her story of activism and organizing in Appalachia.

progressive.org

The number of people, and the quantity of decision makers, who attended surprised me. I had the chance to speak with several, and most were very enthusiastic about our chances. Western North Carolina hasn't been this close to getting passenger rail restored since it was discontinued in 1975.

WUNC News@wunc.org · 7mo ago

Blue Ridge Public Radio: The project is already in the federal government’s pipeline. The big question now is how local governments will fund their part of it. www.wunc.org/2026-03-31/r...

This weekend's nationwide demonstrations look to be historic in number. Many Appalachians in Western North Carolina are expected to show out against what they view as the further "erosion of fundamental constitutional rights." commonappalachian.substack.com/p/no-kings-r...

'No Kings' Rally on Historic Burke County Courthouse Square Aims to 'Make Joyful Noise'

Indivisible Burke NC is hosting a third "No Kings" event on Saturday, March 28, one among 3,000+ demonstrations planned nationwide in support of democracy.

commonappalachian.substack.com

I'm a sucker for maps of Appalachia. Here's a comparison between what's considered Appalachia according to ARC and where the Appalachian mountains are located.

In its latest research report, the NC Rural Center uses recent data to investigate the status of housing recovery in the hardest hit parts of Appalachian North Carolina. Here's a look at some of the household damage. You can read the rest of their report here: ow.ly/G0iQ50Y8nHY.

Housing Recovery in Western North Carolina

This report looks at housing recovery in the Western North Carolina areas most impacted by Hurricane Helene, and where recovery might go in the future.

ow.ly

Counties throughout western North Carolina are preparing for Winter Storm Fern this weekend. Here's a noncomprehensive guide of shelters that have been announced across the region. www.bpr.org/climate-envi...

Shelters open throughout WNC ahead of Winter Storm Fern. Here's where

Here is a list of the shelters across the region that have been publicly announced so far.

bpr.org

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina has officially released its new documentary, "A Dream for the Future." I have to admit, sitting in the audience last week during the formal launch event, I teared up seeing this area I love showcased on the big screen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkPj...

A Dream for the Future, a Documentary Film by Foothills Conservancy

YouTube video by Foothills Conservancy

youtube.com

#DidYouKnow Cherokee and Coosa Counties have the highest prevalence of arthritis in #Appalachian #AL, at 43.6%% & 42.2%, respectively, compared to the state rate of 34.2% and the national rate of 27.7% Learn more: https://www.appli.org/alabama

So this happened in Appalachia! There was some Land Back!

NEW: Publishers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announce they are shutting down the newspaper on May 3, 2026. Hours ago, the Supreme Court of the US declined to extend a stay on a court order for the paper to pay its journalists following the end of a 3-year strike.

North Carolina’s 2026 economic distress designations are here. And several counties in Appalachia, those directly impacted by Hurricane Helene have been downgraded, meaning they are considered more economically distressed than they were in 2025. Source: carolinapublicpress.org/73725/helene...

Burke County has the 4th-highest concentration of state employees per capita in North Carolina. That means changes to the state health plan hit us harder than almost anywhere else in the state. My latest for The Paper on what's at stake: www.thepaper.media/as-state-hea...

As state health costs soar, Burke agencies fear a workforce exodus

Burke County state employees face 2026 health premium hikes up to 220%. State agencies and leaders fear the costs will worsen staffing shortages at schools, parks, and hospitals.

thepaper.media

$7.7 million of this is going toward rebuilding the municipal golf course in East Asheville. Surely there's an expansive list of better ways to allocate this funding. Folks are still living in temporary housing. Small businesses are still repairing and recovering from damage to their storefronts.

Blue Ridge Public Radio@blueridgepublic.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The latest round of federal funding — $29 million — is on its way from FEMA to Western North Carolina to reimburse cities, towns and state agencies for Hurricane Helene recovery projects.

The healthcare crisis is not abstract policy; it's a 69-year-old in Morganton weighing whether to stop taking heart and diabetes meds he cannot afford, and a 20-year-old nephew making $13 an hour who still cannot realistically buy affordable healthcare coverage. www.thepaper.media/federal-stat...

Federal, state failures push health care further out of reach for Burke residents

Cascading effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the federal government shutdown, and a state budget deadlock make vital health care unaffordable for a growing number of Burke County residents.

thepaper.media

Tom Andrews takes 11 medications. His wife takes 18. They have $6,000 in savings. Due to mounting healthcare costs, Medicare cuts, and expired ACA subsidies, they'll soon have to choose which life-saving drugs to keep My latest for Common Appalachian: commonappalachian.substack.com/p/those-are-...

'Those Are Life-Saving Medicines They Need': Burke Faces Healthcare Affordability Crisis

Cascading effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the federal government shutdown, and a state budget deadlock push vital healthcare further out of reach for Burke County residents.

commonappalachian.substack.com

Vance’s version of Appalachia is full of intentional victims held back by laziness and government dependency. Kingsolver’s Appalachia looks starkly different: a place populated by fiercely independent people whose connection to their land and willingness to work make them easy to exploit. (3/13)

Dozens of pro-immigration demonstrators gathered at four locations around Morganton on Saturday, protesting federal immigration raids that have swept through western North Carolina. I spoke with several protestors in rural, Republican Burke County about what brought them out to protest yesterday.

Indivisible Burke NC Organizes Pro-Immigrant Demonstrations Around Morganton, Protesting ICE Raids

Several pop-up demonstrations took place on Saturday, mostly around downtown Morganton, following a week of intense immigration enforcement by ICE in the greater Charlotte area.

commonappalachian.substack.com

An investigation by the @washingtonpost.com shows that many areas of the Eastern U.S., including Central #Appalachia, are vulnerable to extreme rainfall and #flooding. Mountains, economic challenges and infrastructure along waterways make preparing for and recovering from floods more challenging.

Where the sky keeps bursting

A Washington Post investigation shows why much of the eastern U.S. is increasingly vulnerable to extreme rain and floods.

washingtonpost.com