2025 A Look Back: Perfectly clear priorities award

Throughout a year when Western North Carolina was begging for more hurricane recovery funding and a less bureaucratic inefficiency, the North Carolina General Assembly demonstrated incredible flexibility and focus — just not on governing. 

Federal gridlock continues to stall Helene recovery

Nearly 15 months after Hurricane Helene tore through rural Appalachia, North Carolina recovery officials said in a Dec. 15 meeting and press conference that federal recovery programs meant to help communities rebuild after $60 billion in damages are still slowing them down. 

Michael Whatley, appointed by President Donald Trump as Helene recovery czar in January, has spoken to the head of the governor’s recovery task force only once this year. 

What can gridlock teach us?

With spring comes a time of rebirth and renewal. Endings that left us in the void during the winter created space for us to reflect on all the ways in which we diminished ourselves so that we could begin the process of unfolding from a new point of view. How do our endings allow us to begin anew?

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