Helene

Melissa McKinney has always wanted to be on stage at MerleFest, and this year she’s getting her chance. Her five-piece band, Mama & The Ruckus, will be one of eight acts competing in the festival’s annual band contest.

However, officials say market uncertainty and the global trade wars could have an impact on the vital summer tourist season.

State officials say more than half of people in North Carolina prisons have mental health conditions, and three-quarters live with substance use disorders. The new initiative aims to help those at risk connect with care.

The state Senate's proposal, unveiled Monday, would bring the total dollar amount of funds the state has shifted to respond to the 2024 storm to more than $2 billion.

In September, the forecasts from the weather monitoring service sent workers at Hospitality House into motion ahead of Helene. Chief Development Director Todd Carter says the Boone-based nonprofit was able to get many homeless people living in the woods and by the rivers into shelters before the storm hit.

Under the plan, more than $800 million would go towards reconstructing and rehabilitating owner-occupied housing damaged during the storm.

Six months after Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina, roughly one-third of the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed, but the National Parks Service has begun projects to repair the damage.

More people have been asked to leave their homes in the North Carolina and South Carolina mountains as wildfires spread and the forecast for