Follow the trail to the issues, conversations and information connecting the region.

Dear reader,

Today, many of us woke up to bitterly cold temperatures as winter settles in on the trails across the region. It is definitely time to pair your thick socks with hiking boots. 

January is flying by, and the state's primary will be here in a hurry. In fact, the first set of absentee ballots hit the mail this week, and election planning is now finalized across the state. Planning to vote early? We have the latest for you on where those sites will be available. 

The State Board of Elections approved the final early voting plans this week. The board agreed with the proposed plans from almost all of the majority party’s (GOP) requests for voting sites for early voting which starts in February. 

The one exception was Madison County where some voters will still have to drive more than an hour to get that much-admired “I Voted” sticker. That's even with state board's compromise plan to set up two early voting sites. Much of the concern for access in the county is based on continued Helene recovery, including access for Hot Springs voters.

And speaking of Helene recovery, we heard yesterday that the federal government plans to release another $116 million to help families and businesses in Western North Carolina. More on that below!

Check this out

The State Board removed early voting site at WCU and three other college campus polling locations. Here’s why that matters.

Jackson County Board of Elections was one of a dozen counties that brought their early voting plans before the state Board of Elections. (Photo: Screenshot of NCSBE livestream)

People in several Western North Carolina counties will have fewer options for places to cast their ballots in the March primary. 

The state Board of Elections approved the majority of early voting plans, proposed by county boards to set the precinct locations, before the holiday, But the dozen counties whose boards couldn’t agree on a plan went before the state board on Tuesday morning to argue about times and locations of early voting sites.

From Western North Carolina, Jackson and Madison Counties both sent officials to Raleigh to make a decision about early voting polling places for the March 3rd primary which starts on Feb. 12. 

Most disputes centered on Sunday voting hours and the number of sites that would be used during early voting. 

Republicans said reducing sites saves counties money, while Democrats said it will make voting more difficult. But beyond the partisan dispute, advocates for more polling locations view the state board’s decisions as an attack on voting access. 

Read more...

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"The Department of Homeland Security has approved it," Stein said. "Then it has to go through another level of review through DOGE called Defend the Spend. Our hope is that within one to three weeks, the money will actually be in the bank accounts of these local governments and property owners."

Winter weather 

Last night, snow fell across parts of Western North Carolina as a Winter Weather Advisory was in effect for Graham, Swain, Haywood, Madison, Yancey, and Mitchell counties. 

The National Weather Service posted a Hazardous Weather Outlook for some counties in the region. The outlook called for several inches of snow at elevations of 3,500 feet or more, especially along the Tennessee border. At a lower elevation? We still see some flurries but expect less than an inch of snow. But the whole area is feeling intense winds and very cold temperatures. 

Stay off the roads if you can, and check out these tips to make sure you are ready for this winter blast.

Colder weather means higher energy bills. There is help for those rising costs. Read more at NC Local. 

The slopes at Sugar Mountain are frosted with snow. (Sugar Ski and Country Club Live Cam) 

My open tabs

• NC likely won't have a new budget until at least April, as tax cut impasse continues (WUNC) North Carolina is the only legislature in the country that didn't pass a budget bill last year. Learn why.

• Trump administration grants another $116 million in disaster funds for North Carolina (WRAL) 

• In Helene's wake, NC's landslide hazard mapping program tries to become more useful for emergencies (NC Newsroom) 

• What's to come of Mountaineer Inn? Asheville files suit against owner (Asheville Citizen-Times) 

• Groundbreaking held for Cherokee Cultural Grounds (Cherokee One Feather) 

• Walsh Among Inductees To Blue Ridge Music Hall Of Fame (The Wilkes Record) 

• Sheriff candidates speak at GOP forum (Franklin Press)

• ICYMI: ‘In the Boat Together’: Post-Helene, Faith Communities Have Been Central to NC’s Long-Term Recovery (100 days in Appalachia) 

My favorite trail

Angelina Jumper

Angelina Jumper is the Cultural Resources Supervisor for the Junaluska Museum in Robbinsville. She spoke with us for an upcoming story on the Noquisi Mound. She’s a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee who lives in Graham County.  

Welcome to a regular feature of The Trailhead: My Favorite Trail. Each installment will feature a WNC trail. This week, Angelina Jumper shared her favorite spot. Want to share your favorite trail for a future newsletter? Email me! 

Some of the old growth trees in Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest are more than 400 years old. (Wikimedia) 

The Trail: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Trail Loop

The trail includes two loops that make a figure 8 and total about two miles. It moves through tulip poplar trees and others in the 3,800-acre Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The forest includes rare old-growth hardwoods in a cove with some trees that are more than 400 years old. The forest is part of the 17,000-acre Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Why it is my favorite 

Jumper said she can feel her family history when she walks in the forest. She has recently enjoyed the forest even more since a wildfire last year that burned 3,000-acre, she said. 

I covered the fire for BPR and got to hear how the U.S. Forest Service kept the old growth forest that includes 400-year-old trees safe. 

“If you were to take the right side of the loop up and around and start your hike from that right side of the loop, you'll see to your right where a lot of the fire had kind of come through and it is so so green,” Jumper said. “You can just see how fire actually acts as a medicine to the ground underneath it because you have so much greenery and undergrowth that's newly sprouting right up underneath it.” 

Jumper gives the hike a 10 out of 10.