Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Nowhere to hide: Microplastics are polluting western North Carolina watersheds
December 11, 2024
A year-long study finds an alarming trend about the distribution of microplastics in a remote section of a mountain watershed.
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North Carolina drug overdose deaths appear to be dropping. Why?
November 13, 2024
As drug experts parse the data trying to understand the factors that could contribute to a sudden drop in overdose deaths, harm reductionists in western North Carolina work to stave off a possible spike in overdoses after the destruction brought by Hurricane Helene.
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In rural Avery County, Helene washed away one of the only dental clinics
November 11, 2024
High Country Community Health has mobilized to help residents still reeling from the storm’s calamitous lurch through western North Carolina.
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Post-Helene, mental health providers help kids cope
October 18, 2024
Tens of thousands of NC kids have had their lives upended by Helene. Mental health professionals are taking the first steps toward supporting their long-term healing.
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Food bank bounces back from Helene to tackle hunger crisis in western NC
October 15, 2024
Organizations are moving quickly to address food insecurity as the region continues to reel from historic flooding.
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In Helene-ravaged Buncombe, even ‘gray water’ is tough to find
October 05, 2024
As the Asheville municipal water system undergoes extensive repairs in the Helene aftermath, residents search for water they can use for toilets and other household needs. Much of Chimney Rock, a quaint tourist village in Rutherford County, was reduced to rubble.
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Child care shortage isn’t a new problem; advocates decry decades of inadequate public money
September 11, 2024
Most states, including North Carolina, primarily support child care with federal funds and supplement it with state money. But neither federal nor state dollars have kept up with higher costs.
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Prescription for crisis: Rural pharmacies struggle to stay open
September 06, 2024
Pharmacy closures can be devastating for rural communities where residents skew older and are more likely to live with obesity, high blood pressure and other conditions than their urban counterparts. They also face greater transportation challenges and higher rates of poverty.
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State agricultural, veterinary officials stay on the lookout for bird flu in NC cattle
September 04, 2024
Ag commissioner Steve Troxler gave North Carolina farmers a chance to hear from agricultural and veterinary officials about the national outbreak and what that means for them.
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Rural NC county pursues experimental plan to revive shuttered hospital
August 12, 2024
Martin County could become the first community in the nation to bring a closed facility back to life using a new federal program.
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These paramedics are for more than just emergencies in North Carolina communities
July 19, 2024
As fentanyl-related overdoses increase across the state, community paramedics are administering medications to help people recover after opioid overdoses. McDowell County touted itself as one of the earlier programs in the country and among the first in rural North Carolina after launching in 2013.
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One year into new abortion limits, N.C. patients and providers struggle to shoulder the load restrictions bring
July 01, 2024
The new requirements mean that patients must visit clinics at least twice — and many need to travel long distances to reach one of the state’s 14 abortion clinics spread over nine counties.
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North Carolina to expand peer-led crisis services in push for more mental health support
April 29, 2024
The state is investing in a wider range of mental health crisis supports, including those run by people with lived experience of mental illness.
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Wilson County deploys overdose reversal kits to combat epidemic of opioid deaths
April 18, 2024
County uses big pharma settlement funds to create a ‘community of first responders,’ hopes to be a model for saving lives.
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Child care providers face difficult choices as funding cliff looms
April 05, 2024
A survey of child care centers released last week shows that without extra pandemic aid, centers expect to lose teachers, close classrooms, raise tuition and fees or a combination of those measures. More than 1,500 child care facilities in North Carolina could close.
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