Hurricane Helene’s torrential rains in September 2024 caused the Pigeon River to surge to record flow that ripped sections of Interstate 40 to shreds, but the nearby Walters Dam, and powerhouse 12 miles below it, withstood the devastating storm with little damage. 

“The dam was in no way compromised. It functioned perfectly, just like it should. We opened it up to let water out,” Alan Stuart Jr., a senior project manager for Duke Energy, told a Haywood County audience last week during a presentation about the hydropower plant on the Pigeon River. 

The National Park Service plans to burn approximately 180 acres in Wear Cove Gap (north of Metcalf Bottoms) and 243 acres in Lynn Hollow (near the Top of the World community) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Weather permitting, burn operations may begin as early as March 25 and may continue through March 31. These prescribed fires will help to safely reduce fuels, maintain resilient natural systems and protect communities along the park boundary. 

Charlotte Rollman swears she used to be shy.

“I did art so that people would like me,” she said, telling the story of how, as a fourth grader, she once drew money and passed it out to her classmates, who then “really liked me.”

But when John Adkins met the woman who would later become his business partner, shyness was nowhere to be found among his first impressions.

The Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site in Johnson City, Tennessee  will host its 23rd Annual Maple Syrup Festival and pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Come out to Tipton-Haynes to discover the history, lore and method of making maple syrup.

Amid the ongoing federal government shutdown, the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies will continue to provide funding to ensure Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains open with basic visitor services and limited staffing from Nov. 3, through Jan. 4, 2026. 

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.

Nearly one month into the federal government shutdown, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains open to the public, and the National Forest Service’s logging and disaster response capabilities remain active. 

The title of this week’s column is a lyric from a song by rising singer-songwriter Angela Autumn. The melody, “Electric Lizard,” is an incredibly haunting number, especially the solo rendition (just her and guitar) on the EP under the verbiage “Live from NYC.”  

Sevier County has signed an addendum with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to continue funding full operations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the ongoing federal government shutdown. This effort is supported through a partnership that includes the cities of Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Pittman Center, Blount County, Cocke County, the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Friends of the Smokies and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

When the federal government shut down at midnight Oct. 1, there were a lot of questions, especially for Western North Carolina, where business owners and residents are already on the heels of a year of economic uncertainty.

Hello from Room 304 at the Delta Hotel in Bristol, Virginia. Sitting here at the desk, I can hear the hustle and bustle of nearby Interstate 81. Right outside my window, the howling of tractor-trailers zooming by into the unknown night, either heading south over border into Tennessee or the depths of the Shenandoah Valley going north.