Asheville Watchdog

The 2026 midterms are taking shape, and the campaign trail is offering plenty of storylines — from shifting odds and dubious claims to changing political fortunes. Here are a few snapshots. On the two-year anniversary of Tropical Storm Helene’s devastating blow to western North Carolina, the candidates for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat diverted from their familiar campaign themes to blame each other for failing to deliver desperately needed recovery assistance.

The United States has just 10 national scenic areas. Given that scarcity, southern Appalachia is a relative hotspot, featuring Georgia’s Coosa Bald and three scenic areas in Virginia: Mount Pleasant, Bear Creek, and Seng Mountain. If Congress manages to pass this year’s seemingly doomed Farm Bill, the latter state will get a fourth, Shenandoah Mountain.

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: It appears to me that over the last three or four weeks that all kinds of leaves are dropping prematurely from trees of various species. This seems to be true particularly of large mature trees. During this time, we’ve had a lot of extremely warm weather with above-average temperatures and a period again of relatively little rain.

Thank God for this recent cooldown. It’s the only thing that stopped the sweating after my excursion to the Biltmore Championship Asheville golf tournament a week ago Thursday. Seriously, that 90-degree humidity-fest in late September had me sweating in places I didn’t know had glands. I sense that you don’t want to hear anymore about my glandular activity, so let me get to the point.

This week marks two years since Tropical Storm Helene devastated western North Carolina. Recovery continues, with progress in many places and difficult work remaining in others. For many people, Helene is remembered not only for its destruction, but for the way neighbors, volunteers and communities came together. To note the anniversary, Watchdog photographer Katie Linsky Shaw revisited some of the places in Buncombe County hit hard by the storm and created this video.

Two years ago, Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation across Western North Carolina. Flooding and landslides left thousands without housing, water, power and communications. More than 100 people died. The state of North Carolina estimated Hurricane Helene caused nearly $60 billion in damage and mitigation needs. Federal and state funding directed toward recovery falls short, covering about $14.4 billion, roughly 24% of total needs.

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: My question today (heck, every day) regards the Swannanoa Ingles (or lack thereof). Around a year ago (more?), we were finally blessed with Ingles’ plans for the new store. Looks great! That info itself took a long time after the storm to be made public. Then we waited (actually not too long) after that for the strip building to be demolished and carted away. Since that time: nothing. Not a peep or shovel.

The millions of dollars in federal affordable housing funds up for grabs last spring brought high hopes that Buncombe County could replace hundreds of dwellings destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene and, maybe, make a dent in its crushing need for subsidized housing.

Three years ago, nationally renowned litigators brought a class action lawsuit against Mission Hospital and its parent company HCA Healthcare. It claims that HCA was using the regional monopoly Mission built up as a nonprofit to force insurers into anticompetitive contracts leading to higher healthcare costs and worse services for residents of western North Carolina.

As a journalism student during the Vietnam War era, I was assigned to read a history called The First Casualty by Phillip Knightly. The title is drawn from the maxim that when war breaks out, truth is immediately killed by propaganda.