Shows
Polk LoreMeet Polk's Punk Prom KingMyles 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 deeperAll Blissed Out Live Playlist (YouTube)John Oliver Tonight: Transgender Rights II (YouTube)Sex Redefined (Scientific American)Non-binary sex (Substack)Sarah McBride, first trans member of Congress (Apple Podcasts)UK Court ruling (BBC) on...2025-04-2430 min
Polk LoreHow can the Democrats win again?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 conversation, but stick around for the last few minutes when he really gets fired up about how his team can win.Further reading:NC Democratic Party leadershipThe Hollow Parties: The...2025-04-1751 min
Polk LoreHow much are firefighters worth?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. Is thirty thousand dollars a year really the best we can offer? I asked, Virginia Purdy, who trains paramedics at Blue Ridge Community College and volunteers...2025-04-1028 min
Polk LoreSo much for "from farm to table"Jon Klimstra is not a high-value target in the war that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are waging on the imperfect but mostly successful post-war, liberal consensus on how to expand freedom, equality, and prosperity in America and around the world. He and his wife are just apple farmers. But here they are in the midst of it all. In this episode, Jon and I talk about how he’s being affected by the cuts to the Department of Agriculture, and why everyone in the county should be worried.Further readingUSDA cuts:htt...2025-04-0334 min
Polk LoreHey, hey. Ho, ho. We’ve had enough of the status quoI'm not sure the Tryon Daily Bulletin was even at the Tryon rally the other day — they didn't take their own photos, for one thing. It was good to see some coverage, but that coverage didn't really capture the spirit of the event. So here's a short audio essay on what went down, along with some important context.SourcesMeasles eliminated in 2000https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.htmlNational Parks ROI:https://www.npca.org/articles/1269-new-study-valuing-america-s-national-parks-at-92-billion-underscores-theirGSMNP impacthttps://www.forbes.com/sites/br...2025-03-1417 min
Polk LoreThe once and future diplomatA few years from now, no matter who is running the country, there's going to be a big hole in the civil service thanks to the one-two punch of a hiring freeze and a U-turn in foreign policy now being performed in Washington D.C. Polk County's Cecelia Thompson is a casualty of those forces. She's a senior at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where she’s studying political science, specifically the politics of peace and justice. Until a few weeks ago, she was on track to serve as an employee of the US State De...2025-03-0522 min
Polk LoreImmigrants: We get the job doneWhat role should local governments play in the national crisis we're living through? How far outside their comfort zone is it reasonable to ask county and city politicians to go? I don't have answers. But we can start at least acknowledging the problem.SourcesBrevard City Council Feb. 3 meeting:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DivXuyb0rVIPanama hotels imprison US deportees:https://www.npr.org/2025/02/19/nx-s1-5301668/panama-us-deportees-hotelBlue Ridge Highway repairshttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2025/02/18/blue-ridge-parkway-sections-still-closed-from-helene-what-to-know/78956829007/WNC recovery at risk from...2025-02-2013 min
Polk LoreStopping the steal: This time it's for realWithin a few weeks, 141 Polk County voters have a very real chance of discovering that the ballots they cast in last year's election have been thrown out. All because the losing candidate in the election for an NC Supreme Court seat wasn't able to accept the outcome of the election.
One of those 141 is David Twiggs. He's not happy about that scenario — which is the subject of a court battle at the moment — and in this episode he explains why more is at stake than just a seat on the state's highest court (as if that isn't enou...2025-01-2040 min
Polk LoreSwiftwater rescue in the aftermath of HeleneThere’s a long list of people who went above and beyond in the hours and days after Tropical Storm Helene smashed into the Blue Ridge Mountains. For some communities in Polk County, that list is dominated — not by first responders and other government employees who are paid to help when disaster strikes, because so many of them were trapped at home by blocked or washed out roads — but by those who could get out and those who had the rescue skills and the equipment the rest of us needed.
Among that list are a group of white-wa...2024-12-2039 min
Polk LoreMeetings at the mailboxes: Big Hungry recovers from HeleneThere's a little piece of Polk County you've probably never heard of. Tropical Storm Helene destroyed a bridge on the only road in and out. The story of how the folks who live their responded is worth hearing, because it changed the very nature of the piece of the county,
Resources
Brennan Center story on Big Hungry and Cliff Marr:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/north-carolina-wont-let-hurricane-hamper-election
Globe and Mail story
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-in-north-carolina-officials-scramble-to-ensure-flooding-doesnt-dampen/
Washington Post story
2024-11-1845 min
Polk LoreYou probably think this song is about ... Michael FlynnHad enough of election coverage? Stop tearing out your hair, because cued up next is just what you need: a politics-free discussion with Saluda singer-songwriter-composer Michael Flynn, a.k.a Slow Runner.
I’ve been bugging him for ages to do an episode of this show so we can talk about the economics of the music industry, Taylor Swift, and a certain song that he can't not sing, Finally, with the release of his new album, Yesterday Don’t Fail Me Now, he agreed.
Resources
(Old) age and interest in new musichttp...2024-11-0142 min
Polk LoreFinal observations on the extraordinary election of 2024One county commissioner runs afoul of his profession's state licensing board. One congressman tries to thread the needle of partisan disinformation. One podcasters tries to put it all in context.
Sources
IRS funding:
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/aug/28/donald-trump/fact-check-trump-falsely-said-harris-voted-to-hire/
Cooper and Biden calls:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tim-moore-claims-biden-never-called-about-helene-response-but-he-heard-from-white-house/ar-AA1sJH1H
For every extra degree Celsius of warming, air can hold 7% more water.:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2304077120
= Clausius–Clapeyron equation...2024-10-2822 min
Polk LoreUS House District 14 candidate Pam GenantPam Genant, who wants to represent about two-thirds of Polk County as a member of the US House of Representatives. Isn't she the Democrat who ran against congressman Patrick McHenry in 2022 for District 10? Yes. Here's how she ended up on our ballot this year:
Redistricting last year left Saluda and Coopers Gap in District 11. Tryon, Columbus, and Green Creek are now in District 14, which just happens to be home of state representative Tim Moore. It's now represented by Democrat Jeff Jackson, but the district is no longer so Democrat-friendly, and Jackson is running for Attorney General instead...2024-10-2136 min
Polk LoreUS House District 11 candidate Caleb RudowUS Congressional District 11, in addition to being a bit of a cursed, and repeatedly gerrymandered, seat, is pretty darn spread out. Polk is on the eastern outskirts, and the the western end is the Tennessee line. There are a lot of counties in between here and there crying out for some attention, and we’re never going to be near the top of any candidate’s priority list. Making things worse this time around is the fact that Democrat Caleb Rudow and the Republican incumbent he’s trying to displace, Chuck Edwards, are asking for votes from only about a third...2024-10-1729 min
Polk LoreNC House District 113 candidate Michelle AntalecIn the 2022 election for NC House District 113, Republican Jake Johnson, running for his second full term, received 27,267 votes, which worked out to all of them, because the Democratic Party of North Carolina couldn’t find anyone to run against him. Two years before that, Johnson, who was running to fill out the term left by the resignation of fellow Republican Cody Henson, drew 30,367 votes against 20,596 for the Transylvania businessman Sam Edney. The results in both years, in the district and in Polk County specifically, were pretty consistent, with the Republican candidate taking about 60% of the vote.
So it’...2024-10-1435 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidate Rob ParsonsRob Parsons is the most recent addition to the Polk County Board of Education, which has to get at least some of the credit for that success. In this first partisan school board election in history, he’s running as a Democrat, and his Saluda seat is the only one that’s being contested by a Republican.
His fellow Democrat member, Rick Covil of Tryon, is running unopposed, and independent Cindy Allen, who represents White Oak, and was on Polk Lore earlier this year while she was trying to qualify for the ballot, is facing only a Democr...2024-09-2432 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidate Rick StichAnd until this year, our school board was mercifully free of the direct influence of the political parties. But last year, North Carolina’s legislature, with the cooperation of our state representative and senator, and over the objections of the county commission, local leaders of both parties, and just about everyone else, made seats on the board partisan positions. So here we are.
But then a strange thing happened. Instead of a rush of candidates from both parties for the three seats up for grabs this election cycle, only two are being contested. Of the incumbents, Tryon’s Rick...2024-09-2057 min
Polk LoreCounty commissioner candidate Libby MorrisWhy a candidate is seeking your support is probably a good way to tell the good ones from the bad. You don’t have to agree with their campaign platform to be able to trust them. You don’t even have to share their religion or philosophy. But any decent politician should have a good reason for running in the first place. The less selfish, the better.
Which brings us to this episode’ guest. You may or may not share Libby Morris’s concerns about the threats posed to Polk County by the nuclear power industry and the gove...2024-09-1838 min
Polk LoreCounty commissioner candidate Karen PackThough Karen Pack's relationship with Polk County goes back a long, long way — longer than most of the candidates seeking a seat on the county commission — it wasn’t until 2022, when the state decided it wanted a slice of her family’s land along highway nine, that she realized that not everything was hunky dory with county politics. While the county commissioners eventually agreed to write to the State Department of Transportation opposing the widening our portion of the highway, the wording of the letter left enough wiggle room for the state to justify plowing ahead without the county’s official...2024-09-1328 min
Polk LoreCounty commissioner candidate Ray GaspersonEven at the county level, it’s a bit surprising these days to hear a candidate for political office singing the praises of serving alongside members of the opposing party. But that’s Ray Gasperson for you. He was a Democratic county commissioner a few years back when his party held every seat, then when he had to share power, and then when he was outnumbered four to one by his Republican colleagues. If there’s anybody qualified to weigh in on what works best — and what needs fixing — in county politics, he’s your guy.
And there was a...2024-09-1033 min
Polk LoreCounty commissioner candidate Paul BeilerSeason 3 of Polk Lore begins with an onslaught of election interviews with candidates for county, state, and national offices. I invited everyone I thought might be willing or able to find the time to take part in my modest attempt to fill the vacuum left by the collapse of the local news business model. As of early September, not everyone had accepted, but there's still hope...
First up is incumbent county commissioner Paul Belier, an establishment guy who will appeal to pro-establishment voters. But as Polk County has learned over the past couple of years, sometimes the...2024-09-0642 min
Polk LoreThe Biden dilemma: A local perspective on what to about itThe chances that the Democratic Party will have to revert to what used to be called a brokered convention this year are non-zero. I think it safe to say they are significantly greater than that. This isn’t what the delegates to the convention signed up for.
Well, technically they did, because the party rules spell out exactly what they're supposed to do if something happens to the presumptive nominee between winning the primaries and accepting the nomination. It has been argued that such an event took place last week in Atlanta.
I was hoping th...2024-07-0330 min
Polk LoreVulture vomit and mouthless mothsEven the best schools these days have trouble teaching their students about the awe and wonder of the natural world. The goods news (yet again) is that Polk Schools, with the help of a non-profit called Champions for Wildlife, is doing something to make up for that modern-day shortcoming.
Drawing on our county's natural attractions and creative community, Loti Woods and Dale Weiler are using art to connect kids with nature and wildlife, and it's anything but a gimmick. I guarantee you will enjoy this episode, and not just because it has nothing to do with presidential...2024-06-2843 min
Polk LoreEncouraging curiosity (and not just about books)Taking the good things in life for granted is never a good idea, but that’s what happening in some corners of this country when it comes to the value of public libraries. In Georgia, legislation that would require all public libraries to sever ties with the American Library Association just passed the state senate. Over in South Carolina, the Greenville County Library system did just that years ago. You might think that no would consider an association dedicated to promoting literacy and supporting libraries and librarians to be a hotbed of radicalism and socialist propaganda, but you would be w...2024-03-1336 min
Polk LoreCandidate for governor Chrelle BookerA good number of listeners will be familiar with Chrelle Booker, a Polk County native who’s been on a member of Tryon’s Board of Commissioners since 2017. She’s now Mayor Pro Tem, which is the municipal equivalent of vice-president. She’s also served as president of the National League of Cities’ Women in Municipal Government caucus. So, it’s not like she doesn’t have some experience outside of small-town politics.
But still, to call her campaign for the right to be the Democratic Party candidate for this November’s election for governor of the state of North Carol...2024-02-2629 min
Polk LoreOur guardian of democracyThis year’s elections are going to be a fair bit different, even if you’re veteran at casting ballots. For one thing, you're going to need photographic proof of your identify. And that not the only change that the state legislature has foisted on us. In fact, Polk County has been singled out for several additional changes to way we vote, and the way we’re represented, at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels. So I asked our county’s director of elections, Cliff Marr, to go over them with me, and he graciously agreed. I’m willing to be...2024-02-1932 min
Polk LoreCommissioner candidate Chris JonesThe first campaign speech by Chris Jones the prospective politician was delivered at a county GOP gathering. Aside from one throwaway reference to Boiling Springs as the kind of place we don’t want to turn into, his four-and-a-half-minute speech made no mention of anything or anyone locally specific. It’s as if he was reading a boiler-plate speech that could be written for a candidate for any government post in any Polk county in the country, of which there are several, and not someone who wanted to be one of our Polk County commissioners.
That’s not usu...2024-02-1437 min
Polk LoreStaying the course on the school boardWhy does Polk Lore devote so much attention to education? Because it’s one of the few things that just about everyone in the county, no matter their political persuasion, agrees is a source of pride. Polk Schools isn’t a perfect institution, of course. But overall, our little school system’s teachers, staff, and board warrant the widespread support they get from the public, from our County Commission, and from the folks who rate schools. There’s a reason why most everyone objects to the recent move by the state legislature to shove the square peg of partisan elections...2024-02-0526 min
Polk LoreRunning against the wind (of party politics)Polk County, along with Henderson and Transylvania, are lumped together in what is now called Court District 42. Judicial elections are partisan affairs around here, but I’ve always thought that was a particularly bad idea — for what I hope are obvious reasons — so I was pleased to discover that one of Polk County’s veteran lawyers, a woman who was appointed last year to fill a vacancy on the district court, is running to stay on the bench as an unaffiliated candidate, which is not an easy thing to do in this hyper-polarized country of ours.
Judges aren’t al...2024-01-2923 min
Polk LoreMeltdown on Facebook: Nuclear waste and the misinformation messA couple of days before Christmas, one of the Facebook pages devoted to issues of community concern in the county reproduced a letter to the editor of the Tryon Daily Bulletin warning us all to “speak out and take Polk County off the list of potential locations for a nuclear waste disposal facility.”
Not too surprisingly, the post drew dozens of comments, mostly from those who were angry to learn that Polk County was being considered as a possible home for the country’s high-level radioactive waste. So problematic was the post — and the letter that started it all —...2024-01-1238 min
Polk LorePushing the envelope at Tryon PresbyterianJust before Halloween, I found myself in the pews of the Tryon Presbyterian Church listening to some of the most challenging music I’ve heard in the last 20 years. The musician was Drew Banzhoff, a Gen Zer hired this spring to serve as the church’s musical director. The instrument was the organ, which was no surprise given that the venue was a church.
But it didn’t take long for the playlist to stray into less-familiar territory. Drew even warned us that we were about to head into "difficult" territory, which isn’t something you hear from your...2023-12-1848 min
Polk LoreDemocracy on the ballot: Jake Johnson does some explainingPolk County has taken it on the chin this year when it comes to democracy.
Beginning next year, elections for seats on the Polk County Board of Education will be partisan affairs. Anyone who wants to run for one of the three seats up for grabs has to choose between publicly embracing one of the two main parties, or fighting to get on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. Which isn’t all that easy to do.
Polk County also lost its off-year elections, which meant that the municipal elections scheduled for t...2023-12-051h 10
Polk LoreWho speaks for the trees?Shane Varndore has been a tree guy for pretty much his entire life. But he doesn’t just saw them down and it’s not fair to reduce what he does for a living to just getting rid of inconvenient vegetation. I wouldn’t have asked him to be part of Polk Lore if that was the case. We’ve known each for quite a while, and I guess he’s learned to trust me enough to sit down for an honest talk about trees, our relationship with them, and some things that we’re doing with them and to them that...2023-10-1635 min
Polk LoreA visit to the hospitalOverseeing a rural hospital isn’t exactly a soft landing as you prepare for the retirement phase of your career. But that's the path Bill Miller has chosen for himself. More than a hundred and ninety rural hospitals in the U.S. have closed since two thousand five. According to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, thirty percent of the ones that are still accepting patients are at risk of closing.
Usually, the problem comes down to simple math: most of the revenue at rural hospitals comes from government insurance – Medicaid for low-income pati...2023-09-2945 min
Polk LoreAppraising our affordable housing optionsThere are only four big cities in the U.S. where buying a house makes more economic sense than renting. Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Houston. Everywhere else, investing in a home is way out of reach for just about everyone who doesn’t make most of their money from surfing the stock market.
I’ve been planning an episode devoted to the affordable housing problem since I began this podcast, but I couldn’t figure out a new angle. There are plenty of people working on the problem, of course. Here in Polk County, we have Outreach, which h...2023-09-0437 min
Polk LoreBack to school (already?)The big news on the education front in Polk County is the end of non-partisan elections for the school board. In a move that almost no one in the county thought was an even marginally bright idea, the state legislature voted this summer to make elections for seats on the Board of Education partisan races. Like it not changes are on the way for Polk Schools.
So, I thought it would be a good time to check in once again with Polk Schools Superintendent Aaron Greene to see how things stand this year and e...2023-08-2432 min
Polk LoreArt with a sense of urgencyMore than 50 years ago, on Christmas Eve of 1968, as Apollo 8 rounded the far side of the moon, astronaut William Anders grabbed a camera and snapped a picture of the Earth as it slipped into view. That photograph, “Earth Rise,” is one of the most influential images ever created. It changed the way we thought about our place in the universe and helped launch the modern environmental movement.
But a hundred years before that, a select group of artists hauled their painting gear across America to capture somewhat-more-close-up scenes of the natural world. Their illustrations were publi...2023-07-2242 min
Polk LoreWhat happened to Talia?Talia Petoia, who had just turned 27, was shot and killed, reportedly by her boyfriend, 21-year-old Tyler Laughter, on March 10, in Mill Spring. Within a few days, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced that the killing was accidental — an unintentional discharge while handling a gun. Three months later, following a grand jury hearing, the district attorney indicted Talia’s boyfriend with involuntary manslaughter. His trial, assuming he doesn’t plead guilty, is scheduled for Aug. 15.
Dozens of people in Polk County and neighboring communities have collectively put up about $20,000 to help Talia’s family hire a law...2023-07-0629 min
Polk LoreEat, Live, Play: Getting back on trackThere’s new non-profit community-minded organization in your part of the world dedicated to improving your life and those of the people around you. The new organization is called “On Track Saluda.” Its mission is to raise the quality of life in Saluda — and hopefully set an example for the rest of the county — by supplying guidance on how and what we eat, how much we get outside and play, and how much time we spend connecting with each other. The details are drawn from something called the Blue Zones Project, which has its academic origins in a 2004 paper in the peer...2023-05-3130 min
Polk LoreIt's OK to change your mindOne of my favorite pieces of wisdom comes from Garrett Hardin, an American ecologist who wrote “you cannot do only one thing." What he meant is that everything is connected with everything else, and that anything we do will have unintended consequences. He was writing first and foremost about the environment, but I like the line because it really a rule for understanding how we organize society in general.
I was reminded of Hardin’s rule while editing my conversation with Nena Butterfield, an experimental psychiatrist at Pavilion, a substance abuse rehabilitation center up in the northern corner...2023-05-0238 min
Polk LoreThe long road to YFor as long as I can remember, Polk County has wanted its own YMCA. There’s one in Hendersonville, and Asheville, Greenville, and Spartanburg all have at least one branch. There’s even Ys in Black Mountain and Marion. The Spartanburg Y runs some programs here, and Camp Skyuka dates back to the 1950s. But what people really want is an indoor pool. Of the 3,000-odd people who filled out a survey last year, 84 per cent wanted a place to swim year-round.
But indoor pools are expensive. And until recently, the cost seemed to be out of reac...2023-04-0735 min
Polk LoreWhither Coon Dog DayIt’s only just the beginning of spring, but if you consider yourself an engaged member of the Saluda community, it’s never too early to start thinking about Coon Dog Day, which is held each year on the first Saturday after July 4.
There was a time when Coon Dog Day was kind of like the third rail of politics in Saluda. No one was going to touch it — let alone challenge its very existence. Over the years, though, what was once the biggest celebration in the county started to lose its lustre. After the city ended the pr...2023-03-2927 min
Polk LoreIt takes a village to foster a childOne of the best parts of producing a podcast is learning that someone is actually listening. And more importantly listening closely enough that they have a good grasp of what you’re actually trying to accomplish. This episode is the product of some feedback from one listener who really does get it.
I was asked: Why don’t I do something about foster kids in Polk County? Apparently, there’s a new project based in Saluda and it really deserves some attention.
Kim Wilson, who is the Senior Social Work Service Manager for the county has a l...2023-03-2238 min
Polk LoreJake Johnson and the broadband bonanzaWhen my wife I and were thinking about moving to Saluda, about 19 years ago, my first thought was: Sound great. But does it have high-speed internet?
Fortunately, a few seconds on my current internet connection was all it took to find out that yes, Saluda did have high-speed service. Not everyone in Polk County is so lucky. My Facebook feed includes almost daily complaints from someone somewhere whose service is either too slow or too unreliable. And as our experience during the first year and a half of the COVID pandemic proves, there are a lot of f...2023-03-1457 min
Polk LoreElections reflectionsElections are funny things. They can suck up all the oxygen for weeks at a time, only to evaporate the moment the votes are counted. If you’re a political junky, you can probably find a few podcasts and cable news programs that will agonize over the outcomes of all the big races for a few days, but most of us waste no time getting back to worrying about the price of eggs or whatever it is the Department of Transportation wants to do to our highways.
Here in Polk County, the 2022 mid-term elections were a relatively se...2022-12-1541 min
Polk LoreFacebook. The necessary evil and the benevolent moderatorFacebook.
Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it. Rarely does a day go by that it’s not tempting to conclude the world would be better off without the soul-sucking, time-wasting, black hole that is social media.
From a recent edition of Wired magazine:
"Social media has brought a level of exposure never seen before in human history—and it turns out being observed by so many people appears to have significant psychological effects. Studies have found that high levels of social media use are connected with an increased risk of symptoms...2022-11-2938 min
Polk LoreRunning with the Rangers: Aaron Burdett's musical journeyNear as I can figure, there are two ways to make it big in the music business. You can either drop everything else in your life — family, financial security, stability, you name it — and hit the road with whatever instrument you think you’re good at as soon as you’re old enough to leave home, playing tiny venues and begging for opportunities to open for established names until, if you’re very lucky, someone with connections notices you … in Nashville, New York, or LA.
Or … you can plug away at your craft quietly, writing songs, practicing whenever you ha...2022-10-3133 min
Polk LoreThe Highway 9 AffairThe NDOT has already spent millions of dollars surveying and studying the highway. They have concluded that it’s not safe in its current form, and the project is now so far along, that it may not be easy to put the brakes on it. In face of growing pressure from the community, the Commissioners held a special meeting on October 10 to approve a letter making a “NO BUILD request to the Foothills Regional Commission’s Rural Planning Organization, or R P O, which is the agency responsible for representing the county’s needs – and wishes – when it comes to DOT projec...2022-10-1937 min
Polk LoreBoard of Commissioners candidate Andy MillardThree seats on the Polk County Board of Commissioners expire this year. All three are currently held by Republicans, and all three of them are running for re-election. Only two Democrats are in the race, so, there’s no chance that Democrats will achieve take control of the Board. It wasn’t so long ago that they did have control, however, so it’s entirely conceivable that the next Board could be a quite a bit different from the outgoing one. Or it could be exactly the same. In the previous episode of Polk Lore, I talked with Ray Gasper...2022-10-1230 min
Polk LoreBoard of Commissioners candidate Ray GaspersonAll politics is local. How many times have you heard that old saw? It's probably time we retired it, as even a cursory review of recent history clearly shows that, at best, politics is now a battle between those who would like to keep their campaigns local, and those who defer to the national stage. In some parts of America, local issues are entirely irrelevant.
In a desperate attempt to swim against that current. I’ve invited all five candidates for the three Polk County Board of Commissioner seats up for grabs this fall to sit down fo...2022-10-0637 min
Polk LoreTurning rails to trails: The Future of the Saluda GradeAlmost since the day the last coal train rolled down the Saluda Grade 21 years ago, the idea of converting the rail bed to a bicycle and hiking trail has captured the imagination of Polk County’s leading citizens. At first, the scheme wasn’t much more than a fantasy. The railroad, Norfolk Southern, repeatedly insisted that it had no intention of abandoning its right of way, and there were others who would have liked to see the grade turned into a seasonal excursion line for tourists, like the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad over in Bryson City.
When I fi...2022-09-2932 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidates: Sherry PageThis is the sixth, and probably the last, in a series of interviews with candidates for the Polk Schools Board of Education. If you haven’t already listened to the first interview, with Mike Ashworth, please find the time for at least the first few minutes, as I supply an overview of the elections, which seats are up for grabs, and an explanation of why I’m interviewing some candidates and not others.
In this episode I talk with Sherry Page, who has been the member of the board for Green Creek for 24 years. She’s facing several challengers this year...2022-09-2232 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidates: Judy JacksonThis is the fifth in a series of interviews with candidates for the Polk Schools Board of Education. If you haven’t already listened to the first interview, with Mike Ashworth, I’d recommend you run through at least the first few minutes, as I supply an overview of the elections, which seats are up for grabs, and an explanation of why I am interviewing some candidates and not others. Of course, I hope you listen to the rest of the interview with Mike, and all the other interviews.
In this episode I talk with Judy Jackson, who...2022-09-1537 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidates: Dee O'BrienThis is the fourth in a series of interviews with candidates for the Polk Schools Board of Education. If you haven’t already listened to the first interview, with Mike Ashworth, I’d recommend you run through at least the first few minutes, as I supply an overview of the elections, which seats are up for grabs, and an explanation of why I am interviewing some candidates and not others.
In this episode I talk with Dee O’Brien, who is running for the Cooper’s Gap seat. We recorded the interview early in September at the Columbus...2022-09-1530 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidates: Brittany KlimstraThis is the third in a series of interviews with candidates for the Polk Schools Board of Education. If you haven’t already listened to the first interview, with Mike Ashworth, I’d recommend you run through at least the first few minutes, as I supply an overview of the elections, which seats are up for grabs, and and explanation of why I am interviewing some candidates and not others. Of course, I hope you listen to the entire interview, and the other episodes in the series.
In this episode I talk with Brittany Klimstra, who is runn...2022-09-1523 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidates: Rob ParsonsThis is the second in a series of interviews with candidates for the Polk Schools Board of Education. If you haven’t already listened to the first interview, with Mike Ashworth, I’d recommend you run through at least the first few minutes, as I supply an overview of the elections, which seats are up for grabs, and why I chose to interview who I did. Of course, I hope you listen to the entire interview, and the other episodes in the series.
In this episode I talk with Rob Parsons, the current Saluda representative on the boar...2022-09-1536 min
Polk LoreBoard of Education candidates: Mike AshworthThis is the first a series of interviews with candidates who want to serve — or continue to serve — the county as members of the Polk Schools Board of Education. It’s been a long time since so many people have been willing to do what is essentially a thankless job. In the past, acclamation has been the rule, or, if a seat opens does open up, the departing member finds a replacement, who is elected without competition. When’s the last time you saw a campaign sign for a school board candidate? Well, they’re out there now.
School bo...2022-09-1537 min
Polk LoreSaving land and building affordable housing: Is there really a conflict?One of the other hats I wear is that of chair of the Saluda Planning Board. It’s just an appointed position that pays nothing and requires you to stay awake and engaged for hours at a time discussing municipal zoning, housing density, sign ordinances, and a whole bunch of other topics that most people wouldn’t touch with a proverbial 10-foot pole.
Betsy Burdette is not one of those people. As the driving force behind the Saluda Community Land Trust, she lives, eats and breathes that kind of stuff. A land trust is what you go to w...2022-09-1046 min
Polk LoreA river runs through itThe Green River Tavern. Green River Frame Shop and Gallery .Green River Cove Tubing. The Green River Brew Depot. Green River Barbeque. Green River Adventures. Green River Well and Pump.
Everyone one of those businesses is trading on the good name of the Green River. Some literally depend on its waters to pay their bills. Take the river out of the county, and there’d be a big hole to fill, not just on the map, but in our economy. It doesn’t just keep a few river guides employed, its trout attract fly-fishing aficionados from far and...2022-08-1540 min
Polk LoreCoping with COVIDIf you haven’t had COVID by now, you almost certainly know at least a couple of people who have suffered through it. You may even have a lost a close family member or a friend, although that seems to be relatively rare – for the moment. Aside from the threat that this new coronavirus poses to our health, it’s also taken a big toll on the economy. It’s upended careers, shortening some and derailed or redirected others. Not every business made it through. And if you were a teacher, a student, or a parent over the last couple o...2022-07-2637 min
Polk LoreAfter Roe: Who still gets to have a family?Last month, a few hours after the Supreme Court of the United States reversed its 1973 ruling that had granted American women the right to terminate a pregnancy, about 70 Polk County residents gathered on the lawn of the county courthouse. Which is a pretty impressive turnout for 4 p.m. on a workday with no advertising or advance notice. They were there to object to the decision and to share some stories about what losing the right to abortion could mean.
My guest is someone with a very personal perspective on the ramifications of letting states decide whether woman s...2022-07-0329 min
Polk LoreEDUCATION Part 3: The SuperSo far in this series on education in Polk County, we’ve heard from a teacher and student. But right from the start it was clear that this series wasn’t going to be complete without a talk with Aaron Greene, the superintendent of Polk Schools. Before taking over the top job six years ago, he was assistant superintendent, and before that principal at Polk High. It’s probably safe to say if anyone has their hand on the pulse of public education in the county, it’s Aaron Greene.
But these days school administrators have a lot more...2022-06-1841 min
Polk LoreEDUCATION Part 2: The StudentFor the second part of our series on education, let’s turn to the student’s point of view. I’ve known Myles Freeman for about a decade, since he was a student at Saluda Elementary, and one of my son’s friends. I’d like to able to claim that I long ago recognized he would rise above the pack. You know — the way some teachers say they can identify right from kindergarten who will succeed and who will fail. But the truth is, Myles was pretty much like any other student. Exceptionally good at some things, like soccer — and...2022-06-1825 min
Polk LoreEDUCATION Part 1: The TeacherPolk County is a diverse community. Not nearly as ethnically diverse as a major metropolitan center like New York or Chicago, but when it comes to opinions, it’s not hard to find representative samples from across the political spectrum. Nowhere is this more in evidence than at a Polk County school board meeting.
So it seemed like a good idea to kick off this podcast by exploring the state of our county’s schools, which, are still ranked among the top performers in North Carolina. What I needed was someone intimately familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of our scho...2022-06-1042 min
The Big Shots NFL Draft PodcastEpisode 148: WR, TE standouts at NFL Combine, evals on Joshua Williams, Keyshawn JamesCo-host Devin Jackson goes solo to discuss some of his biggest standouts from Day 1 of the combine, and discusses his evaluations on Fayetteville State's Joshua Williams and Keyshawn James.2022-03-0428 min