A Western Carolina University Student organization is teaming up with a state non-profit organization to host a festival of sorts to educate people on the proposed Anti-LGBT, gay-marriage amendment that will hit the primary ballots on May 8th and to register people to vote.

If approved by Tar Heel voters, the amendment would make same sex marriage and civil unions illegal in North Carolina.

WCU UNITY! members, who work to support and advocate for people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning their sexuality, intersex, asexual and their allies, are working hand in hand with Equality North Carolina, the state’s leading force behind LGBTQIA+ issues.

The rising tide of whistleblowing websites has reached Appalachia.

Earlier in January, a small group of young volunteers launched Honest Appalachia, a site loosely based on the WikiLeaks model. The goal, according to a Jan. 10 press release announcing the launch, is “to assist and protect whistleblowers who wish to reveal proof of corporate or government wrongdoing to citizens throughout the region.”

For now, the site will focus on seven Appalachian states: Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. It offers a secure online platform for anonymously leaking documents, and the site’s organizers say they’ll vet any contributed materials to make sure they are authentic before posting them publicly.

GOP candidate seeks to grab open NC-11 seat.

Republican Congressional candidate Mark Meadows – a Jackson County real-estate investor – is attempting to gain some traction and separate himself from the rest of the GOP field, which includes seven other challengers, before the May primary. Meadows’ greatest strength thus far may be his ability to self-finance his campaign and raise additional money, an asset that has become crucial for anyone seeking political office to have in the modern era.

Indeed, 78 percent of Meadows’ campaign money raised came from his wallet. The latest campaign finance report released on Dec. 31, shows that his campaign has more money on hand with $321,832 than any other candidate.

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Shuler’s Chief of Staff to Seek 11th District Seat

Hayden Rogers, a Robbinsville native and longtime chief of staff to Congressman Heath Shuler, announced his candidacy for Congress last Thursday, Feb 9 for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

“It has truly been an honor to work on behalf of Western North Carolina alongside Congressman Shuler for the past six years. As a proud North Carolinian, I am humbled to have the opportunity to continue fighting for the families across the 11th District,” Rogers said. “I have seen first-hand how broken the political process can be in Washington. The divisive partisan gamesmanship does nothing to meet the challenges before us as a nation. Future generations of Americans are depending on us to face those challenges sincerely and directly. I will work across the aisle and with all honest people to solve them.”