Polk Lore

After more than two decades of wishful thinking and dead-end proposals, the Norfolk Southern railbed that runs through Polk County is about to be replaced with a cycling and walking path. The North and South Carolina legislatures have appropriated millions of dollars to buy the right of way from Inman to Tuxedo. The Saluda Grade Trail, as it will be known, now has a dedicated, full-time project ma...

For years John Vining was county director for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. His grandfather founded the  Bulletin  and his father later took over the paper. He's served on so much boards and committees that it's easy to loose count. If there ever was someone who deserves to be included in the guest list of a podcast devoted to the culture of our county. He’s it.  Source...

Indivisible seems like a perfect way to sum up what so many Americans, including a sizable number in Polk County, are trying to do. But given how polarized we've all become, how realistic is the task of bring people with disparate politics? Chris Silverman, one of the leaders of Indivisible Polk Foothills, the organization that helped attract about 700 people to the recent No Kings rally in Co...

Did you miss the third No Kings rally in Columbus? This episode of Polk Lore is a condensed version of the event, with four speakers and some (hopefully) helpful context. For example, it was easily the biggest political gathering in recent memory in our county, but how important was the turnout? Sources BBC claims about 3.5% Research on 3.5% Tad Stoermer’s take on the 3.5% rule Tad Stoermer on Sub...

Democrats who listen to this episode are going to hear a lot of things they like. If you're a registered Democrat in Congressional District NC 14 — which includes the southeastern half of Polk County — then sit back and get ready for a straight shot of optimism. Just know that you won’t be able to apply what you hear to the March 3 primary vote, because my guest is not running as a Democrat. ...

State Trooper Keith Henderson may be an exception to the rule that police officers are more comfortable asking questions than answering them. He still chooses his words carefully, though. Which is probably a good thing for someone seeking the office of county sheriff. Compare and contrast this interview with those I conducted with Saluda Police Chief Clayton Price and former police officer Neenan...

The primary ballot in this year’s elections includes three Republicans who want to be sheriff. The incumbent, Tim Wright, is facing two challengers. For this episode, I sat down with the Clayton Price , who is currently the chief of police in Saluda. We talked at the Saluda Library on February seventeenth. 

Given the threat posed by a 1,000 cases of measles on our doorstep, I wanted to find out how our county’s health department was responding to both the change in public attitudes and the outbreak itself. After all, measles was supposedly eradicated from the US a quarter=century ago. Natalie Trachsel , who is the current health director for the county, and  Elizabeth Burnett , a nurse with the healt...

I haven't conducted any polling, but I am willing to bet that the world view of my guest for this episode, soldier turned strategic consultant Adam Smith , is shared by many thousands of registered Republicans.  I have no doubt that is true for most of North Carolina Congressional District 11. So I tried not to make this an ideological debate. Just an exploration of why one candidate for this...

According to the North Carolina Rural Center, 446 houses and 60 rental units were damaged or destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene. Sixteen months later, dozens of families are still living in temporary housing, which, as the tail end of January proved, is often not to up to task of providing decent shelter when the good old polar vortex gets shoved a thousand miles south of where it belongs. Putting...

Keenan Nesbitt  has worked for two different police departments in our region. When asked to describe his relevant qualities, he came up with "young, aspirational, and fearless." His vision of a sheriff’s department is one the fosters a community of love, respect, and trust.  In this episode, we talk about why he thinks Polk County’s current sheriff isn’t doing enough to bring about that...

UNC cell biologist Paul Maddox is more than a little frustrated with the lack of intelligence in evidence in Washington these days. He’s one of a historic number of scientists running for office this year. Which should tell you something. For this episode, though, he doesn't claim his PhD makes him more qualified than the other Democrats who want the seat he's after: NC 11 of the US House...

I have been thinking about an episode on soccer ever since I started this podcast more than three years ago — and since I became soccer dad and started watching Premier League games from Europe with my son. Recent events conspired in favor of doing one sooner than later.  My guests are Polk High School boys’ soccer coach George Alley and two of his top players  — seniors Will Garrison and Thomas V...

Unlike just about everyone else who is running to unseat an incumbent in 2026, Republican Mike Hager is not a political newcomer, not by a long shot. He served as state representative for District 112 for six years, finishing up as House Majority Leader — until 2016, when he gave up his seat to look after his parents. Back then, his home in Rutherford County was in District 112. Now it’s in 113, a...

The Republican majority in the NC state house, led by then–NC House Speaker Tim Moore, recently redrew Congressional District 14 to strongly favor candidates with Rs after their name. Moore went on to run in that district, winning easily and making it hard to dream up scenarios in which even the most popular Democrat can win in next year's election. A serious challenger in the Republican prima...

One of every eight Americans makes use of federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. One out of eight. Let that sink in for a minute.  In Polk County, things aren’t quite as bad, at just one in nine. That’s still awful. But it’s much worse in some places. Next door in Rutherford County, for example, it’s about one in five. Why do we, the richest country in the history of the w...

Zelda Briarwood is a 35-year-old former wilderness therapist and banking field technician who is, to be blunt, running an uphill battle for the nomination. But the truth is, neither of the better-known challengers has any more political experience than she does. Which is to say they are all starting their runs for the US Congress from absolute zero. That says a lot about the Democratic Party in Di...

Dr. Richard Hudspeth is the former CEO of Blue Ridge Health, a non-profit agency that helps folks in Polk and other counties in western North Carolina get the physical, mental, and dental care that they might not otherwise have access to. He’s also a general practitioner. So, it’s fair to say he probably has a pretty good idea of what works — and what doesn’t — in the U.S. health care system. That...

I know it's a big ask, given how horrible all the political news is these days. But if you live in Saluda or Coopers Gap, or certain parts of White Oak, and you’re interested in who your representative in the US House of Congress should be, then it's time to accept the need to pay attention to politics again. Jamie Ager , who, along with his wife, runs Hickory Nut Gap Farm, wants to be the...

A state government that's engaged in a war on public education. The challenge of enforcing a ban on smartphones in classrooms. Artificial intelligence that threatens to put an end to critical thinking. Now is perhaps the least attractive time in history to be running a public school in North Carolina — or pretty much anywhere else, for that matter. So you have to applaud the courage of Todd Mu...

Surprise: It turns out that driving all that heavy machinery up and down the middle of the Green River, and ripping out all those fallen trees may have made things worse, not better. At least, in some places and in some circumstances, from an ecological perspective. Almost year after Helene, it's probably time to start preparing for the next storm, and how we can avoid making the same mistakes aga...

A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump ordered Congress to stop funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Congress, including Polk County’s two congressmen, complied. That saved US taxpayers about a billion dollars, but it put in peril scores of public radio stations like WNCW that used to rely on the corporation for at least part of their budget. Plenty of stations are laying off staf...

Myles Freeman is about to graduate from Polk High School, so as part of my attempt to revisit some of the guests and topics I’ve covered over the past three years on Polk Lore, I asked him to come back and tell me how he, as a trans man, is doing at what is a critical juncture in anyone’s life. Dig deeper All Blissed Out Live Playlist (YouTube) John Oliver Tonight: Transgender Rights II (YouTube)...

Twenty years ago, Democrats could win seats in Polk County. without too much difficulty. Today, they can't even beat a Republican organization that needs to call police to break up their meetings. Is there anything they can do about that? I asked NC Democratic Party First Vice-Chair Jonah Garson , who was in Columbus recently for the Polk Democrats County Convention. It's a long conversati...

Everyone says they appreciate our firefighters and other first responders. But when you find out just how little we pay the people who put their lives on the line to protect our homes and businesses — and accept a lifespan that is, on average, ten years shorter than what the rest of us can expect to enjoy — it becomes pretty clear that maybe we don’t   actually appreciate them as much as we should...