it was only a matter of time

what appears to be the least vaccinated school here in Buncombe County (23.5%) got some of the most private school voucher money ($1 million+) last year)

“those who experienced solitary confinement at some point during their incarceration died at over twice the rate of those who did not” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

As ICE detention numbers creep upward, some advocates are worried that detainees could be compelled to work to fill gaps in the workforce of some of the most dangerous jobs in the country, including on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. buff.ly/ogK5Zgj

The crisis was on full display in the first half of this year. In a five-month span, nearly every county was slammed with extreme weather. More than 50 were killed. Many towns were still recovering from disasters of years past when new storms arrived. www.courier-journal.com/story/news/l...

Major disaster declaration numbers from FEMA show a staggering concentration in Eastern Kentucky — more than anywhere else in the country from 2010-2025, we found. datawrapper.de/_/U37jj/

So if you're a family evicted from your apartment, or a mother fleeing domestic violence with her children, or someone unhoused trying to get off the street or out of their car for a night... you're not allowed to stay at these Asheville hotels. Just unabashed discrimination.

A Hampton Inn in Asheville just canceled my family's reservation because our address (incorrectly) showed Asheville—and the hotel bars locals within 50 miles. When I asked why, they said, "because of our homeless population," adding that most hotels here have similar policies. This is outrageous.

NEW: With my colleagues at @ncite.bsky.social we've spent a considerable amount of time diving into the state of criminal cases against alleged 764 members. Our new report - Prosecuting 764: An Examination of Federal and State Charges www.unomaha.edu/ncite/news/2...

New national Catawba-YouGov survey finds affordability pressures widespread and cut across party lines www.salisburypost.com/2025/12/24/n...

The media criticism is fair. But it's quite hard to give sustained attention to something that's not happening. A murder is an event.

These declines are MASSIVE. And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING. “Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?” THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it. Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.

hadn't looked at this old piece on Sy Hersh in years. Some of it is pretty funny. www.cjr.org/special_repo...

1/ Just weeks after a Democrat was elected governor of NC in 2024 by an overwhelming margin, the state’s GOP-controlled legislature set out to strip him of powers. What happened next illuminates the breakdown in the separation of powers throughout the nation. THREAD 👇 tinyurl.com/y3v6np59

CBS didn't run the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT, but over here at @propublica.org we've been working on the story since March, including finding out who each and every man sent to that maximum security prison was. You can see our reporting here: www.propublica.org/series/depor...

good animation here! www.propublica.org/article/nort...

You can just say that to the White House, it’s easy

Sometimes the no comment is the entire story!

The Justice Dept quietly removed 16 photos from the Epstein files. Twelve were of the notorious massage room in Epstein’s NY mansion. One is of an empty hallway. And one is of Trump. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/u...

woof www.thepaper.media/news/educati...

update: 20 filed!

When I emailed Border Patrol about this raid, they just sent me a link to a presser about the handful of criminals they got in New Orleans.

JFC 18(!) people vying for 3 seats on Asheville City Council.

Facing an uphill legal battle, the Stein administration reversed its cuts to Medicaid providers last week. But the governor’s attempt to steamroll the deadlocked legislature could make a still-looming crisis harder to fix. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

Foraging can help people save money and prevent food waste. And for Ethan Welty, one of the biggest benefits of Falling Fruit is that it can help people learn about the “different plants that have some sort of edible use” in their city.

“We’re not talking about weapons here,” said Yeckley of her daughter’s search. “Even if she had a vape, even if they found one, that does not, in my opinion, constitute a strip search.” news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/s...

some good North Carolina in this (yadkin valley longhunters; Boone v. Crockett hats; deerskin was the second largest commodity behind rice during colonial times) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khk3...

Another #wnc / #ncpol one 14 (!) candidate running for 3 open seats on Asheville City Council with 1.5 days of filing to go #ncpol #wncpol #avl

. #nc11 candidates thus far. Whipple, Briarwood, and Groo filed today #ncpol

Prettt crazy news out of Wilkes thewilkesrecord.com/da-tom-horne...

New @bloomberg.com: The US plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a key climate-science hub in Boulder, Colorado, which the Trump administration says strayed from its mission decades ago by taking up climate change research. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump officials have circled the federally funded research institution, based in Boulder, Colorado, as a hub for "federal climate alarmism" after it was established decades earlier in 1960 for research in atmospheric chemistry and physical meteorology. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Big new Jeffrey Epstein investigation just dropped: How he built his fortune based on scams and lies. New revelations about his ties to Clinton and Trump. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/m...

"She said she would no longer say cultures are 'not equal,' instead saying they are 'not the same,' and emphasized that she was not suggesting any culture has less value." www.wfae.org/politics/202...

More than a year after Helene, hundreds of residents are still trying to figure out what to do with their damaged homes. FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program offers a chance to sell or rehab those properties — but appears to be stalled. www.bpr.org/helene-recov...

New @theintercept.com: I wrote about the oral argument in Hamm v. Smith, digging a bit deeper to trace how the case ended up at SCOTUS. It's another example of far-right conservatives leaning on the court to burn down its case law to advance their agenda (more executions, less 8th amendment).

The Supreme Court grants one new case this morning, a case about racial discrimination in jury selection. Here is the full orders list: www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

President saying Reiner and wife murdered because Reiner opposed him — does he know something not yet made public?

incredible to me that Jackson, Stein, Cooper don't catch more grief (from their own supporters) for their actions as attorneys general www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

Hundreds remain in quarantine in South Carolina as a measles outbreak accelerates.

“The first time a constituent of mine dies because of measles, I’m going to lose my mind.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/u...

lots of good reporting here on Bovino’s ties to North Carolina. (They interview his wrestling coach!) chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

A publicly available Venmo account for “Antanette Mosley” featuring a picture of the vice mayor posted a payment for “Property Tax Appeal” to Vinson dated May 28 of this year. nclocal.org/2025/12/12/t...

SCOOP: The Trump administration is providing the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports to immigration officials in search of people with deportation orders, a substantial expansion of government efforts to draw on data to hunt down immigrants. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

Read more: www.bpr.org/politics-gov...

Looking forward to like a year from now when he'll ask something along the lines of: Do you support the Trump administration's militarized actions against families that don't download Paramount+ as a measure to keep Americans entertained?

From @prisonpolicy.org: New analysis of government data from ICE via the Deportation Data Project shows federal agents reliant on local jails and police to reach their arrest numbers.

To many, the staff at Carolina Migrant Network are heroes. Their alerts warned people where Border Patrol was during Operation Charlotte’s Web. But the small team said they don’t feel heroic. They just tried their hardest: www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/c...

An NC Local investigation finds Asheville Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley has been claiming a tax benefit for a home in Georgia. Full story here: nclocal.org/2025/12/11/a...