Western NC

North Carolina has seen 11 measles cases since December, with many of them occurring in communities where vaccination rates are below a level that would prevent community spread.

North Carolina's hazard mapping program is trying to better predict which landslide-prone places face threats in future storms. The state's geological survey responded to more slides after Helene than it had between 1990 and 2023.

Rep. Jake Johnson is a member of N.C. House leadership now. His challenger, Mike Hager, was the House majority leader before resigning the seat nearly a decade ago.

Last year, Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, which is where the popular native Fraser fir tree also used as a Christmas tree grows. The storm and inflation have been challenges for Christmas tree growers in the western part of the state.

Regulations meant to prevent unfettered health care expansion are withholding needed hospital beds in a rural part of North Carolina. Here, as in communities around the country, some officials and health care providers are contesting such “certificate of need” laws.

A family in Morganton, North Carolina, shared how they lost everything due to Hurricane Helene, and how their community helped them recover in the year since.

Many are traveling to western North Carolina to witness the region's iconic fall foliage. Here are some scenes captured in the Pigsah National Forest near Table Rock Mountain.

Lawmakers spoke out against the impact of the government shutdown on WNC as the area waits for millions in federal relief funds.

For a variety of businesses in Western NC, a bustling summer tourism season is sorely needed to balance their books.

For hundreds of communities nationwide, plans to protect against natural disasters and climate change have been upended because of the Trump administration's elimination of a federal grant program.