Free Republic

Recovery and rebuilding efforts from the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene on towns like Chimney Rock, North Carolina has largely faded from the headlines and the public’s awareness. Over the past 6 months, however, a team of 2,000 volunteers from the Great Needs Trust, a Pennsylvania Amish community, have been quietly and steadily rebuilding the town’s homes, businesses and bridges. Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary told WCNC, “When we look around, we still see tremendous damage and realize it will take a long time to build back. But at the same time, we have made tremendous progress, and that is...

Matt Van Swol @matt_vanswol 🚨 #BREAKING: FEMA has confirmed that 3,500 households in #WNC will lose their Transitional Sheltering Assistance, just days before the worst winter storm rolls in. Videos from the non-profit, Beloved Asheville, show a car line "1 mile-long" for portable heaters and propane

(AP) GREELEY, Colo. The funeral for a soldier from Evans killed while serving in Iraq was held on Friday, Veterans' Day. Pvt. 1st Class Tyler Ryan MacKenzie, 20, died Nov. 2 when a roadside bomb blew up south of Baghdad near the Humvee he and his fellow soldiers were riding in. MacKenzie was assigned to the First Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, Second Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was the first Weld County resident killed in the Iraq war.