Kara Fohner

Reports of more than 160 missing children in Spruce Pine are not true. In fact, there is only one person who first responders have not managed to locate since Tropical Storm Helene, according to the Mitchell County Manager Allen Cook. citizen-times.com/story/news/loc…

Just read a social media post saying that “the only coverage” of Asheville, NC is “on social media.” Here is a sample of NPR’s coverage, which has continued for days and that you can share on social media. npr.org/search/?query=…

One caller asked for help finding her brother. Another needed info about evacuation routes. A third worried if a nearby dam was about to burst. And many callers said "I'm just so proud of my neighbors." Local radio in western North Carolina is a literal lifeline right now 🧵

I need people to understand something with the news coverage regarding effects of hurricane Helene. There is a lot more to the NC Mountains than Asheville. Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, Vilas, Sugar Grove, Elk Park, West Jefferson, Black Mountain, Swannanoa, Sylva, Cullowhee, Brevard, Bryson City, Hendersonville, Cherokee, Waynesville, Burnsville, Candler, Canton, Spruce Pine, Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, Linville, Marshall, Maggie Valley, Newland, Grandfather, Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Old Fort, Morganton, Marion are just a few of the cities and towns that have been flooded and/or destroyed. The counties of Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, Ashe, Watauga, Transylvania, Burke, Caldwell, Alleghany, Madison, Buncombe, McDowell, Rutherford, Polk, Henderson, Wilkes, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Clay, Cherokee, and Swain are devastated and in need of the same help, some even more. Other counties that fall under various definitions of Western North Carolina include: Alexander County, Catawba County, Cleveland County, Surry County and Yadkin County. When these counties are added, they form a total regional area of roughly 11,750 square miles (30,400 km2). This makes the region roughly the size of Massachusetts. Western North Carolina holds 11% of our state's population. There are millions of people up there with no electricity, no communication, no water, and no way to get out or let rescue teams even know where they are. I am not taking anything away from Asheville and the utter destruction there or any other areas in NC that have damage. The level of destruction is unimaginable. But it's not one or two cities or towns that are in need of help. This does not include the destroyed areas in the Tennessee mountains, Western Virginia, Georgia, or South Carolina. Please do 2 things for me: 1. Donate to Operation Airdrop, Samaritan’s Purse, or Fleet of Angels (or all 3!) 2. Contact news media to get coverage for ALL of Western North Carolina. People need to know the full scope of this disaster so that more people can get desperately needed help. And so more people can be located because a lot of us have loved ones up there and we don't know if they're dead or alive. These are our homes. These are places we raise our families. These are communities I work in on a daily basis. My heart breaks for everyone involved.

A man accused of poisoning his wife with eye drops, setting a helicopter on fire, and later staging his own kidnapping, is now accused of harassing witnesses in the case, poisoning his own daughter in an attempt to implicate other people: gastongazette.com/story/news/loc…

Mount Holly Police are investigating a potential credit card skimmer at a local gas station after a Gaston resident lost more than $400 filling up her tank. gastongazette.com/story/news/loc…

SCOOP: The Gaston County attorney and his deputy county attorney resigned on the same day last week. gastongazette.com/story/news/loc…

NEW FROM ME: The Gaston County Sheriff's Office overspent its budget for staff and has not been following county policy when hiring new officers, according to a draft of a memo circulated among the Gaston County Board of Commissioners. gastongazette.com/story/news/loc…

@gretchemaben My brother had a concussion a while back and kept asking over and over again if he had health insurance. 🥲 (He didn’t.)

My brother had a nasty concussion about 20 years ago & I was intrigued by how he kept saying the same things over & over. My stepdad was called at the scene of my accident by a bystander & he told me I did the same thing and kept repeating these things like 15 times. 1/

@skinnyprinsess Three hours or more for me

what do americans consider ‘far away’ ???? in my country ppl see a 30 min drive as far away but ive been noticing that americans are COMPLETELY different than us in europe lol

Gaston County's manager intends to resign, and she will be replaced by her deputy county manager, according to county documents. gastongazette.com/story/news/loc…

A Belmont man was convicted of breaking into a Belmont Abbey College dorm and inappropriately touching a 19-year-old female student as she was sleeping. gastongazette.com/story/news/cri…

A former high school track coach was convicted Tuesday of having sexual contact with a student while he was a coach at Forestview High School. gastongazette.com/story/news/cri…

Gaston County ended its contracts for ambulance service with Stanley Rescue and Ranlo Fire and Rescue, and Stanley Rescue says it may be forced to close its doors. gastongazette.com/story/news/loc…

Regardless of where you are in your career, this is what texts from writers look like.

Someone stole William Woods’ identity. The LAPD arrested him, believing the identity thief over him. A judge later sent Woods to a mental hospital because he maintained (rightfully so) that he was the real William Woods. I interviewed him here latimes.com/california/sto…

To any young reporters out there, don’t let anyone tell you that “being there” doesn’t matter. #Eagles

We tend to assume that boredom is something to be avoided, but in centuries past you would go wandering through the woods or stare at the walls of a cave for an hour and accidentally invent beer or a new religion or write Alice in Wonderland.

A man released from jail after reportedly shooting someone has been arrested again and is this time accused of stalking a woman he encountered in a hospital emergency room. gastongazette.com/story/news/cri…

@EthanClarkWX Yeah, I got that last night and wasn’t sure at first what it meant. My first thought was wondering if it was similar to a silver alert

Unfortunately, the average person would have no clue what this means. We probably need to give more information when sending out Blue Alerts.