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A Florida engineer is adamant he spoke with Brian Laundrie on a deserted road near the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina on Saturday morning. Dennis Davis’ alleged encounter with the boyfriend of slain Long Island native Gabby Petito comes as police receive tips that Laundrie may be traversing the trail, the world’s longest footpath. “There is no doubt in my mind I spoke to Brian Laundrie — none whatsoever,” Davis, 53, said. “Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter sent me an audio file of Brian’s voice and the voice was the same I heard.” A lost and dazed man allegedly waved...

North Carolina authorities have been investigating a flurry of calls suggesting that Brian Laundrie is hiding out on the Appalachian Trail, according to local reports. The sheriffs’ offices in Watauga and Avery counties both confirmed to WSOC-TV that they had received more than half a dozen tips earlier this week about Gabby Petito’s 23-year-old fugitive boyfriend. It has also been a focus for the private search team led by Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman, whose daughter Lyssa Chapman tweeted a plea for “experienced HIKING/SURVIVALIST near the Appalachian Hiking trail in North Carolina.” “If you have hunters in your family,...

Dog the Bounty Hunter arrived at Brian Laundrie’s parents’ home Saturday, knocked on the door and met silence – but he’s already picked up a scent. The reality TV star and legendary bounty hunter, whose real name is Duane Chapman, is a father of 13 and lost a daughter around the same age as Gabby Petito in a car accident in 2006. He was already in Florida on a honeymoon with his wife Francie Chapman, he said, when people began reaching out to him to look into Laundrie’s disappearance.

After receiving about 500 tips from viewers, John Walsh, host of “In Pursuit With John Walsh” on the Investigation Discovery network, believes he has narrowed down the list of possible locations Brian Laundrie could be. “We had at least three times more phone calls than we’ve had on any fugitive.” Walsh said. In just three seasons of his show, Walsh has helped authorities capture 26 fugitives and locate eight missing children. He covered the Gabby Petito investigation on his show this week. “We haven’t had this much attention since Elizabeth Smart,” Walsh said. Walsh said the tips he has received...

Friday December 6th marks the thirtieth anniversary of the "Montreal Massacre" - a grim day in 1989 when fourteen female students at the École Polytechnique were murdered by a man known to posterity as "Marc Lépine". Much followed from that terrible slaughter, including various useless "gun control" measures - and the formal annual commemorations that, three decades on, are attended by as many eminences as Remembrance Day or Dominion Day. The men present in that classroom are now in their mid-fifties; the women are not. I was far from home that December and was not back in Quebec until Christmas....

“Put a you-know-what sock in it!’ You would think that Republican Congressman Mark Sanford media-dubbed as “hiker of the Appalachian Trail”, would be the last one to blame President Donald Trump for being “partially to blame” for the severe divide in politics currently plaguing the nation. But you would be wrong. “I would argue that the President is at least in partially—again not in any way totally, but partially to blame for demons that have been unleashed,” Mark Sanford, R-SC, said on MSNBC. (ABC, June 15, 2017)

Ultra Runner Karl Meltzer Sets Appalachian Trail Record, Fueled by Beer and Candy - NYTimes.com By LINDSAY CROUSE September 18, 2016 At a time when “endurance running” no longer means mere marathons — and even 100-mile races are attracting the masses — Karl Meltzer, a former ski-resort bartender, has proved he can suffer longer and faster than almost anyone else. When he staggered onto Springer Mountain in Georgia before dawn Sunday, Meltzer set a record for completing the Appalachian Trail. He covered the 2,190 miles over 14 states in 45 days 22 hours 38 minutes. Meltzer, 48, is a little...

Grayson and Whitter by sgrieb11 3 videos Handsome Molly Grayson and Whitter 2:45 Grayson and Whitter "Going Down The Lee Highway" 2:46 Grayson & Whitter-Train 45 {Vi} 3:07

From the top of a mountain in Maine, he swigged champagne and recounted the historic trek. By noon Sunday, 50 people had reached the summit of Mount Katahdin. They hiked a trail through the woods, up boulders, and across a windy ridge to camp out on jagged rocks overlooking the lake-dotted Baxter State Park in central Maine. They waited to see ultramarathoning history. They all had the same question. Where is Scott Jurek? At 2:03 p.m. ET, they got their answer. He was clutching a faded wooden sign, his cheek brushing the engraved letters that read, “KATAHDIN, Northern Terminus of...

Jenny Sanford is asking that U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford undergo a psychiatric evaluation and take anger management and parenting courses in the latest filing in the couple's contentious divorce. She also wants the court to appoint an impartial guardian to look after the interests of the youngest of their four sons. SNIP She says the change of circumstances that led her to request the psychiatric exam will be in a complaint filed once the record is sealed.

Here's the challenge: certain words and phrases characteristic of Appalachian English in eastern Tennessee and elsewhere can be traced back to Scottish English. Some of these are disappearing; others have spread throughout the South; a few seem to be making it into widespread usage. How many do you know? 1. backset; 2. let on; 3. bonny-clabber; 4. palings; 5. redd up; 6. creel; 7. kindling; 8. hull; 9. nicker; 10. whenever. (I knew 5 of the 10, so that makes me 'bout half smart . . .)

The unenlightened assume that Appalachian accents and usages are a “hillbilly” corruption of the flatlands Southern drawl. This is not so; the accents and usages of the Backcountry developed contemporaneously with the versions of English spoken in the other areas of European settlement. The society and culture of the Backcountry were dominated by the large numbers of Scotch-Irish immigrants, blended with the influence of German, Dutch, Welsh, Scottish, and yeoman English settlers. Appalachian speech developed from the versions of English introduced by these settlers, independently of the development of the Southern drawl and the Yankee accent of New England. The...

Are yous up for a few more words on the subject of Appalachian English? The words for today being "yous" and "you'ns," along with variant spellings like "youse," "yooz," "you-uns," and "youens," and their Scotch-Irish roots. The traditional speech of the Backcountry is not a "corrupt" dialect, as is often assumed by those from "yonder" and “away,” and its roots can be traced to the places from whence the Backcountry settlers originated. "Yous" or "youse" as the plural form of "you" is of ancient origin and came to America with Scotch-Irish settlers in early colonial times.

An order of the Virginia Colonial Council dated May 4, 1725, concerned an allegation that "divers Indians plundered the Quarters of Mr. John Taliaferro near the great mountains [i.e., the Blue Ridge] . . .[and carried off] some of the Guns belonging to and marked with the name of Spottsylvania County . . . ." The Council concluded: "It is ordered that it be referred to Colo. Harrison to make inquiry which of the Nottoway Indians or other Tributaries have been out ahunting about that time . . . ." Now, the Colonial Council was an august body and its...

Here's the challenge: certain words and phrases characteristic of Appalachian English in Eastern Tennessee and elsewhere can be traced back to Scottish English imported to this country by Scotch-Irish settlers. Some of these are disappearing; others have spread throughout the South; a few seem to be making it into widespread usage. How many do you know? 1. piece; 2. beal, bealing; 3. mend; 4. airish; 5. chancy; 6. muley; 7. bottom; 8. discomfit; 9. singlings; 10. fireboard . . . .

In 1869, writer E. A. Pollard toured the western provinces of Virginia gathering material for his book The Virginia Tourist (J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1871). Pollard noted and included in his book fragments of the English spoken by the mountaineers, including a pair of interesting words, "extrornificacious" and "beatingest." These and a few other Appalachian English words are presented in context in an excerpt from The Virginia Tourist. NOTE: These are not "dirty" words! [Sorry!]

Europeans named the southern mountains after the Apalchen or Apalachen tribe of natives. How did the name progress from "Apalchen" to "Appalachia" and "Appalachian Mountains?" By the whims of cartographers and geographers, it seems. The steps from "Apalchen" to "Appalachian" can be traced by referring to vintage maps which provide names for the mountains of the East.

Go to the article link to see the full-size (much larger area) image.

Boone, N.C. — Appalachian State University has put all campus buildings on lockdown and is urging students and staff to stay away from an area near campus after reports of a masked gunman.

Appalachian State rolls over Delaware for third straight title Chattanooga, TN (Sports Network) - Armanti Edwards threw for three touchdowns, and Appalachian State captured its unprecedented third straight national crown by routing Delaware, 49-21, in the Football Championship Subdivision title contest. The Mountaineers (13-2), who pulled off a shocker by beating Big Ten powerhouse Michigan on the road in their season opener, and won the Southern Conference, culminated the season with their 12th consecutive playoff victory. ASU became the first Division I squad since Army in 1946 to win three national championships in a row. The Mountaineers are undefeated in...