Mangas Colorado, a well-known Apache tribal chief from the 1700s, was an inspiration for a local band from the mountains of NC. The band got their name, Mangas Colorado, after reading the book Bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown in August 2013 while Jarrod Couch, vocalist and banjo, and Thomas Allison, vocalist […]
Mass incarceration from a federal and state perspective
The United States imprisons more people at a higher rate and for longer periods than any other country in the world. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are over 225,000 state prisoners that are currently incarcerated for drug-related offenses – a costly result of policies created during the drug war that began […]
Vecinos, Inc. celebrates 10 years of assisting WNC farmworkers
North Carolina is home to about 150,000 farmworkers, among the largest in the country, and yet we hear so little about them. Majority of those workers speak Spanish as their native language. Farmworkers, both in the state and throughout the country, face tough living conditions, discrimination and language-related barriers that often go unnoticed, despite North […]
The Affordable Care Act and student impact
Leslie Boyd has more than enough reason to be spreading information about the Affordable Care Act all across North Carolina. “One of the reasons we’re so avid about [the Affordable Care Act] is because I lost my son from a lack of health care,” she starts her story. If her son, Mike Danforth, had just […]
Duke Energy and McCrory administration still seeking solution for NC coal ash ponds
The biggest energy provider in North Carolina, Duke Energy, continues to roll in the news for their problems in the ash ponds around N.C. and Governor McCrory is finally responding, as is Duke Energy. However the response from McCrory is not what the environmental organisations wanted. As Charlotte Observer reported earlier in April, McCrory calls for […]
Local brew means big business in WNC
Brewing business is seeing a boom in industry, especially in the area of Western North Carolina. Twenty years ago, it was merely a hiccup in the draft market and today, according to The Asheville Citizen Times, it is a multi-million dollar business. The NC Brewers Guild estimates that there are around 100 breweries and brewpubs — […]









