Hellbender Press

07/25/2025

Solid reporting as always from J.j. Stambaugh for Hellbender Press.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/helene-erwin-plastics-company-will-face-no-criminal-charges-in-connection-with-worker-deaths
Erwin plastics company will face no criminal charges in connection with six employees killed in Helene flooding. Attorney for families says civil suits are likely.

07/23/2025

Some good news for you: A happy ending and new beginning after a sad story at Appalachian Bear Rescue.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/a-happy-ending-to-a-sad-story-at-appalachian-bear-rescue

06/18/2025

Foothills Land Conservancy needs your help with a biological survey of 1,000 acres that could one day become a public park in Harriman.
Writeup of this cool thing at Hellbenderpress.org via the indefatigable Shelby Lyn Sanders.

06/18/2025

Foothills Land Conservancy needs your help with a biological survey of 1,000 acres that could one day become a public park in Harriman.
Writeup of this cool thing at Hellbender Press via the indefatigable Shelby Lyn Sanders.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/take-an-inventory-of-life-on-a-walk-in-a-possible-harriman-park

06/09/2025

Edward Abbey once said ‘there’s nothing older than the news.’ Welp, when the news is about the news, might want to sit a spell. I’m not always the best at leaning into the brand.
Hellbender Press won three first-place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for its coverage of the Great Flood of 2024. Paige R Penland and J.j. Stambaugh and Wolf Naegeli really stomped the terra on the coverage. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I’ll never forget it.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/hellbender-press-receives-three-first-place-awards-for-helene-reporting

05/12/2025

Trump cuts bleed UT Agriculture Institute of $31 million.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/trump-cuts-bleed-ut-agriculture-institute-of-31-million

04/22/2025

Debris removal following Tropical Storm Helene needs to be done more carefully to not destroy high-priority habitat and endangered species.

04/22/2025

Happy Earth Day to you! A smattering of events (don’t seem to be too many this year) is available at Hellbender Press, because that’s what we do. Please advise if you have something you’d like to list anything happening the rest of the week.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/happy-earth-day-to-you-happy-earth-day-to-you

04/07/2025

Happy to all you beaver-believers! ❤️🦫

To celebrate, we have a story from The Revelator, our news and ideas initiative, on how a group of citizen scientists are helping restore the ecosystem engineers to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

Ultimately, the key to attracting beavers — and more importantly, convincing them to stay and set up shop — is restoring habitat.

Read more ➡️ https://bit.ly/4joBkxr

04/07/2025

Not quite as scandalous as the last story from the Ag Campus (Professor ate research subjects), but an interesting piece of news nonetheless. Scott Schlarbaum has done great things at UT.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/ut-joins-forces-with-two-state-agencies-to-promote-healthy-forests-in-tennessee

04/04/2025

Great reporting from J.j. Stambaugh for Hellbender Press.
State labor regulators conclude Erwin plastics company is not at fault in Helene deaths. Civil trials await. His writing really captures how terrifying the ordeal was that day on the Nolichucky River.
https://hellbenderpress.org/news/state-labor-regulators-reach-conclusion-in-plant-probe

04/04/2025