Morgan Sykes

3 days ago | mountainx.com | Gina Smith |Brionna Dallara |Morgan Sykes |Greg Parlier

- by Brionna DallaraAsheville City Council heard little from the public regarding a proposed property tax increase at a May 27 public hearing on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025-26. Instead, the… - by Morgan SykesThe proposed budget forecasts a net lodging tax revenue of $32.5 million.

1 week ago | mountainx.com | Edwin Arnaudin |Kay West |Morgan Sykes

Western North Carolina’s foster care system struggles with a shortage of foster families, overwhelmed courts and limited resources for aging-out youths. Additionally, high turnover at the Department of Social Services worsens the problem, making the region one of the hardest in the state for foster kids to find stability.

2 weeks ago | mountainx.com | Morgan Sykes

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners got an earful May 20 as more than two dozen residents either asked for more education funding or for the commission to hold off on a tax hike. Commissioners are considering a proposed $624 million operation budget, including a $435 million general fund for fiscal year 2025-26 that relies on a 6% property tax rate hike of 3.26 cents per $100 of appraised value that will cost owners $130.40 more per year for a property valued at $400,000.

3 weeks ago | mountainx.com | Morgan Sykes

Local author aims to illustrate a topic many leave unexplored DIRE EFFECTS: “Only 22% of elementary schools in the entire country are teaching puberty,” says local author Julia Considine Pierce. Not learning the basics, she warns, can have dire effects. Photo courtesy of Pierce Julia Considine Pierce is more scared of Appalachian black bears than anything in the Sahara Desert.

3 weeks ago | mountainx.com | Gina Smith |Kay West |Morgan Sykes |Brent Brown

When a Tree Falls: Artists craft beauty from Helene’s downed trees Volume / Issue Cover Design Credit: Scott Southwick Cover Photography Credit: Caleb Johnson In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, Liisa Andreassen founded Echoes of the Forest, a nonprofit that transforms fallen trees into public art to memorialize nature and support community healing in the region. The project brings together local artists and woodworkers to create sculptures and installations from salvaged wood....