Election season: Here is what you need to know on how to vote this year

The general election is upon us once again. Hurricane Helene and the devastation it caused in the Western North Carolina region will have its impact especially in the counties that suffered extensive flooding and damages. North Carolina State Board of Elections are not planning to extend voting registration deadline on Friday, Oct. 11. This could […]

Amanda Allen: From aspiring journalist to elections director

(Story was corrected on Oct. 7 we had unintentional mistake instead of district we had county in the paragraph on county commissioner candidate Jenny Lynn Hooper.)There are a lot of moving parts in an election. There is the ordering of the ballots, the staffing of the polls and overall ensuring the Board of Elections office […]

Tennesee representative visits WCU for Harris-Walz campaign

Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson (D – Memphis, TN), in collaboration with the Harris-Walz campaign and the College Democrats at Western Carolina University, hosted a meet and greet at the WCU A. K. Hinds University Center Wednesday, Sept. 4.  The event aimed at connecting with locals and college students advocating for social change and rallying […]

Marsha Lee Baker: Military daughter and wife

Story co-produced with Daniel Reid Marsha Lee Baker’s story reflects the side of the military community that supports from behind the scenes. The families of service members endures alongside them and their own unseen scars. When service members are battling their demons, their families battle alongside them.  Marsha Lee grew up as what the military […]

Tom Baker: A wanna-be warrior

Story co-produced with Daniel Reid Tom Baker has suffered from PTSD for over 50 years. He enlisted in the Army and was overseas fighting in Vietnam at 19 years old. “Nineteen years old and you think you’re God’s gift to the war,” Tom said. “I wanted to jump out of airplanes. I wanted to get […]

Austin Summers: Overcoming Afghanistan and finding community

Story co-produced with Daniel Reid When people think of veterans, they think of people like Tom Baker. Yet combat trauma does not discriminate based on age. Austin Summers is a 25-year-old combat veteran. He served in Afghanistan for roughly six months and lost three of his friends.  Austin enlisted in October 2016 and shipped out […]