Blue Ridge Public Radio

12/11/2025

The childhood home of Nina Simone in Tryon has now been fully restored, but it is not yet open to the public, according to a recent news release from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Simone, born Eunice Waymon in 1933, spent her early years in the small, three-room clapboard house before rising to international fame as a musician and civil rights voice. Local preservation efforts over more than a decade helped keep the 650-square-foot home standing, but stalled plans eventually led to its sale in 2017 to New York-based artists Adam Pendleton, Ellen Gallagher, Julie Mehretu and Rashid Johnson, a turning point in the long preservation story BPR has continued to track.

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12/10/2025

The Asheville Police Department will wait at least another month to relocate its West Asheville base from Haywood Road to the Tanger Outlets on Brevard Road. Asheville City Council removed a 10-year lease agreement for the new location from the consent agenda during its Tuesday meeting.

As outlined in a city staff report, the new police resource center would more than double the current 1,800 square feet facility at 970 Haywood Road. Tanger Outlets has also renovated the space at its own expense of roughly $1 million, offering APD greater security and capacity than officers have at the current building, which was originally built as a library in 1953. Asheville’s rent for the new base would start at $6,000 per month, with a total estimated cost of about $837,000 over the 10-year term.

Council also approved two contracts totaling $24M to fund additional debris removal throughout the city.

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12/09/2025

The City of Asheville is slowly moving forward on repairs to several major parks that were destroyed by Hurricane Helene, including Azalea Park and a collection of parks along the French Broad River.

On Wednesday, city staff will host an open house at Asheville Middle School from 6-8 p.m, where residents can provide initial input on what they’d like to see as the city starts to rebuild the parks. There’s also a survey that is open through Dec. 19.

D. Tyrell McGirt, the city’s parks and recreation director, said these projects are moving more slowly than other park repairs, like Richmond Hill Park, due to their cost and complexity. Helene caused $25 million in damage to the parks system in total.

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12/09/2025

Despite losing an estimated $1 million in business due to Hurricane Helene, East Fork Pottery is having a successful year. The 15-year old ceramic manufacturer, known for its sleek and colorful dishware, announced it will invest $2.5 million to grow its production facility in Biltmore Village.

Alex Matisse, the founder and CEO of East Fork, said the expansion will add 30,000 square feet to the company’s main production facility on Caribou Road and add 40 new positions to its 125-member team. The jobs pay an average of $26 per hour, he said. The goal is to double production – again – over the next three years.

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12/08/2025

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

The biggest portion of the funds, $7.7 million dollars, is going toward rebuilding the Muni, the municipal golf course in East Asheville.

News of the funding’s release comes one day after Budd and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) released their holds on some of President Trump’s Homeland Security nominees. The senators had blocked the nominations from moving forward until they received assurances from DHS that it would do more to support the region’s recovery from Helene.

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12/05/2025

Just off Gerton Highway, Donovan Green and her crew of eight are cleaning up debris from Hickory Creek. They work for the environmental group MountainTrue.

The creek runs through the nearby town of Gerton and a small portion of Bat Cave. Both towns were devastated by Hurricane Helene more than a year ago.

Green, who used to work as a regional program coordinator for REI’s outdoor guided program, has led this team since August.She said that although Hurricane Helene happened more than a year ago, debris cleanup is far from over.

Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed more than four million cubic yards of debris across Western North Carolina, MountainTrue officials say its eight teams across Western North Carolina are pulling out about 10,000 pounds of trash everyday from waterways.

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12/04/2025

The holidays are right around the corner — and so is our Holiday Cheer Pop-Up Shop! Come see us at the BPR studios in downtown Asheville TOMORROW and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days 💙

Preview the limited-edition merch on our website below.

Shop special limited-edition T-shirts, hats and more.

12/04/2025

It’s been talked about for years, ever since the last train used the tracks in 2001. Now, planning is at last underway for the Saluda Grade Trail, one of many rail-to-trail projects that aim to turn abandoned railroad lines into walking and biking routes.

Part of the planning happened inside the cavernous Farmer’s Market in Landrum, South Carolina on a recent evening. Dozens of people turned out to learn more about the project. Some were examining poster boards showing the future path of the 31.5-mile trail. Others were peppering volunteers and consultants with questions.

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12/03/2025

A first-of-its-kind effort to mitigate landslide risks will soon be underway in the Grovemont neighborhood of Swannanoa. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a $794,000 contract for design and engineering work on the project with Raleigh-based ECS Southeast.

As previously reported by BPR, the Grovemont landslides triggered by Hurricane Helene were extensive: nine separate slides, together nearly 2.4 miles long, with an average width exceeding two football fields.

Federal and state agencies don’t have a clear process for addressing such large landslides, so county staff have been working to pilot a funding and implementation strategy.

Read what else you need to know from the Dec. 2 Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting below.

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