Showing posts with label Economic Relevance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economic Relevance. Show all posts

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Hickory, NC News & Views | September 28, 2025 | Hickory Hound

 

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 Executive Summary and Key Points

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 🧠Opening Reflection:

A year can pass in the blink of an eye, or it can stretch into a slow march of days that feel unending. For those who lived through Hurricane Helene last September, the last twelve months have carried both sensations. My personal experience started in the early morning hours when the storm arrived . I have been in the middle of Hurricanes and this wasn’t like that. The wind gusted, but it didn’t roar. The storm came from the Gulf of Mexico, so much of the wind energy had dissipated, but the rain became a steady deluge that went on for hours.

Hickory was by no means ground zero of Helene’s destruction. I have seen what others went through. 20 miles west  and further from here in Burke, McDowell, Rutherford counties and along the Eastern Continental divide ridge line. That is where the storm stalled out and the rain came down the slope. These things have happened before around here. Back over a hundred years ago there was a little town called Mortimer up near Wilson’s Creek in Caldwell county that got washed out twice in around a 20 year span.

As the morning of September 27 moved along, I eventually lost my access to the internet and there were issues with cell service. The electricity blipped off a few times and once for a couple of hours. There were some limbs down and the neighbor had to cut one up that was blocking his driveway, but other than some water seeping into the basement there was no major damage.

My boss called and said they were going to open, but there was no rush to get to work. We were going to have some customers, because the club where I was working is in a closed community and some of the people there don’t know much about cooking or don’t have a desire to cook – modern convenience culture and all.

As I have stated on here before, I drove to work and took a path where I knew there would be no flooding and if the road was blocked it would be dealt with in short order. I didn’t see any trees down or power down. It just looked like one of those rainy Autumn days you always see. I only saw a tree down a couple of blocks from work and it had been mostly dealt with.

At work, there were only three of us working in the kitchen as opposed to the normal seven or eight. Many people take adverse weather conditions as an opportunity for a day off – I don’t. We worked our shift and did a bit of business, but we were never swamped, and at 9pm we were out of there.

I headed home, heading back the way I have thousands of times before, and I struck a humongous tree at 40mph, and was very lucky that wasn’t the end. Not to get back into this rabbit hole, because there is a book’s worth of material here, but I was less than an inch away from not being here. Like a friend said, “That was iffy.” When the rescue squad checked my blood pressure about 15 (or so) minutes later and it was 240/140. I called my sister and she was there in a hurry, I went to the hospital and got my head glued. That would be another part of the book.

 

The sun rose the next day and I caught a ride to work. I would never drive that little red car again. I didn’t really know what was going on in the world or about the aftermath of Helene. Over the next few days I discovered just how lucky I was. After Helene, the area to the west of here wasn’t the same. Any low lying areas from Morganton, Marion, Chimney Rock, and west of Asheville were flooded. Roads were buckled, rivers had changed course, homes lay open like broken boxes. The power of Helene hadn’t come from the wind. It was the aftermath of the water it wrung out over the tops of the Appalachian mountains that had nowhere to go but down the slopes to run through the valleys. We saw people’s videos of houses falling off the sides of the mountains and the valleys became rivers of debris.

Some people thought the shock would fade once the electricity was restored, once school buses rolled again, once the National Guard packed up and left. But as the months went by, the aftershocks revealed themselves to be heavier than the storm itself: families pushed into cramped motel rooms when trailers ran short; businesses shuttered after insurance stalled; children dealt with schools that were having to be renovated because of damage. Much of the visible damage has been cleared now, but the invisible wreckage still lingers on.

What people remember most may not be the floodwaters but the waiting. Waiting in lines for bottled water. Waiting for FEMA inspectors who came late or not at all. Waiting for claims adjusters to return phone calls. Waiting for the first check that might bridge a mortgage payment or cover a truck repair. And then waiting again when the money didn’t stretch as far as promised. In the stories told around kitchen tables, the storm often appears as a backdrop. The main character has been the wait.

Yet against the fatigue there were flashes of strength. Community churches opened their doors when shelters filled. Volunteer crews cleared roads before counties sent in equipment. Neighbors ran extension cords across yards to power a fridge, or cooked meals for families living without. These moments were never broadcast in Washington or Raleigh press releases, but they formed the foundation of recovery. In the quiet corners of these communities, people did for each other what systems failed at.

Scars remain. A year later, you can drive through parts of the affected areas and see houses with tarps over damaged roofs. You can walk into shops where “Help Wanted” signs hang, not because business is booming, but because the staff left town after losing homes that were condemned or apartments they could no longer afford. You can hear in ordinary conversations a fatigue that doesn’t fade: the sense that rebuilding has been something endured, not supported.

Anniversaries invite two instincts: remembrance and assessment. We remember the losses and the trials, but we also measure what has been learned, what has changed, and what has been ignored. Hurricane Helene was a natural disaster; the year that followed was a civic one. The storm revealed the strength of neighborliness and the limits of bureaucracy. It showed the cracks in housing, healthcare, and infrastructure. And it left behind a question that still echoes: if this happens again—and it will—will we be any more ready?

That is what this week’s News and Views must consider. Not only the night Helene struck, but the 365 days that followed, and the lives reshaped by both the storm and the system. This reflection is not about re-living fear, but about recognizing the burdens still carried by families and the lessons still waiting to be claimed. A year has passed, but the test of memory is whether it becomes preparation.

 Hurricane Helene Data References & Citations 

 

 

 

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📤This Week:

 

Monday - (Substack) -  The Foothills Corridor - Chapter 15&16: Healthcare & Renewable Energy - In a region grappling with economic displacement and demographic shifts, healthcare is emerging not just as a necessity. The rise of renewable energy infrastructure in the region marks one of the most understated but high-potential pivots in the local economy.

 

Tuesday - 🌐⭐The Dirt Is Moving—But What Are We Really Building? (Part 2)⭐🌐 - Hickory’s Housing Boom and the Risks of Short-Term Growth

 

 Thursday - 🧱  Factions of Self‑Preservation 4: The Invisible Majority -  How Immigrant Labor Keeps Hickory Running—While Remaining Tactically Excluded. Author’s Note:  This installment of Factions of Self-Preservation examines the immigrant side of the equation within the Shrinking Center framework. It reflects the conditions and dynamics faced by this group, but does not necessarily represent my broader personal view on immigrant status or policy.

 

 Friday -  (Substack) - The Foothill Corridor - Chapter 17: Community Education and Youth Retention - In a region where generational talent has long been exported to urban centers, the challenge now is not just to prepare youth for opportunity—but to build opportunity where they already are.

 

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📤Next Week:

Monday - (Substack) -  The Foothills Corridor - Part V - Scaling and Strategy - Chapter 18: The 20-County Challenge - The Foothills Corridor has proven it’s not done. We've seen the collapse, we've tracked the early signals, and we’ve documented the foundations that are starting to hold. But now comes the real test: Can the region move from isolated progress to coordinated momentum?

 

Tuesday - Dear Rachel – Episode 7: When Bodies Break & Systems Don’t Heal - confronts the human cost of chronic illness, economic displacement, and fading community memory. Through the voices of a disabled worker, an executive complicit in outsourcing, and a ghostly reminder of lost industry, the episode reveals how fragile bodies and fractured systems intertwine. It underscores the gap between resilience and support, urging protections for disabled workers, accountability in economic policy, and respect for memory as a guide to rebuilding.

 

 Thursday - 🧱 Factions of Self‑Preservation 5: No Way Up -  How Workforce Misalignment Injures Career Mobility and Economic Renewal

 

 Friday -  (Substack) - The Foothill Corridor - Chapter 19: Governance, Procurement, and Public-Private Coordination - the biggest ideas often stall—not because they’re unworthy, but because the systems needed to support them are fragmented, outdated, or misaligned. Good intentions die in committee. Bold ideas get buried under red tape. Projects fizzle out when public and private actors aren’t rowing in the same direction.

  

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 ⭐ Feature Story ⭐

Hurricane Helene: One Year of Recovery in the Foothills Corridor 

Immediate Aftermath (Sept–Oct 2024)

When Helene made landfall in late September 2024, the federal government issued disaster declarations within 48 hours. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) teams staged in Asheville and Hickory within the week, but logistics snarled as roads and bridges into mountain valleys were washed out. In Catawba and Burke Counties, Duke Energy reported more than 200,000 outages; full grid restoration took nearly three weeks in some rural hollows. Emergency shelters opened in Hickory, Lenoir, and Morganton, but capacity was thin — local gyms and churches improvised space for families waiting on cots and generators.

 

 

 

First 90 Days (Oct–Dec 2024)

By Thanksgiving, debris cleanup was only halfway to federal benchmarks. FEMA had approved thousands of aid applications, but many households were still waiting for checks. NC Emergency Management coordinated temporary trailer housing in Caldwell and Wilkes Counties, yet demand outstripped supply. Local relief funds — especially church-driven efforts and donations routed through the Red Cross — filled immediate food and clothing gaps. The National Guard played a key role clearing roads and distributing water. Still, by year’s end, the bottleneck of insurance claims and FEMA paperwork left many families in limbo.

 

Six-Month Mark (March 2025)

By spring, the numbers revealed both progress and delay. Roughly half of destroyed or heavily damaged homes in Catawba, Burke, and Caldwell had permits filed for repair, but fewer than a third were completed. Federal and state dollars authorized for infrastructure were slow to hit local budgets; bridges remained closed on secondary roads, forcing long commutes and cutting off farm access. Businesses struggled: some restaurants and small shops in downtown Hickory never reopened, while others limped back with reduced staff. Local hospitals bore ongoing strain, treating both storm injuries and the mental-health fallout of displacement.

 

Twelve Months (Sept 2025)

At the one-year mark, the ledger shows uneven recovery. Thousands of households across the western counties remain displaced — some doubled up with relatives, others still in temporary units. A non-trivial number of jobs were permanently lost, especially in tourism corridors like Chimney Rock and Blowing Rock, where visitor traffic never fully returned. In Catawba County, foreclosure and eviction filings tied to storm damage have risen steadily, reflecting the gap between insurance expectations and payouts. Several major roads and bridges remain under repair, while others were reopened with only temporary fixes.


Successes

  • FEMA’s early arrival, paired with NC Emergency Management, prevented an even deeper humanitarian crisis in the first weeks.

  • Volunteer networks — especially churches, the Salvation Army, and the National Guard — provided food, clothing, and shelter where official systems lagged.

  • Debris cleanup and power grid recovery, though slower than promised, restored basic functions before the winter freeze.

Failures

  • Insurance delays became a defining frustration, with many claims contested or underpaid.

  • FEMA paperwork bottlenecks left families waiting months for checks.

  • Federal infrastructure dollars authorized did not translate into timely rebuilds on local roads.

  • Rural areas — especially low-income neighborhoods in Caldwell and Wilkes — waited longest for housing support and debris removal.

Policy Misalignments

  • Federal housing vouchers clashed with a local housing shortage: paper aid existed, but no units were available.

  • State mandates required counties to meet strict reporting and compliance schedules that overwhelmed thinly staffed local offices.

  • Insurance companies exploited loopholes, classifying water vs. wind damage in ways that reduced payouts.

Metrics

  • Tens of thousands of FEMA assistance applications were filed; approval rates fell below expectations, leaving many in appeal limbo.

     

  • Less than 60% of infrastructure funds allocated to the region have been spent.

  • Housing permits issued for rebuilds trail demand: completion rates hover near one-third.

  • Eviction filings in Catawba County climbed by double digits, with storm damage a contributing factor.

Tensions

  • Agencies cite the need for compliance rules; locals experience them as red tape.

  • Governments prioritize big bridges and highways; residents wait for basic neighborhood repairs.

  • Political leaders make recovery announcements; displaced families still stare at tarps and trailers.

Hurricane Helene Feature Analysis with Suggested Footnotes / Reference List


This is the spine - Twelve months on, Helene’s record shows both real effort and real gaps. Aid arrived but often stalled; recovery advanced but left many behind. The storm is over — but for thousands in the Foothills, the disaster still frames daily life. 

The Impact of Helene a year later 9/27/2025

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  File:Greek lc alpha.svgMy Own Time Ω

A year after Helene, it is clear who has borne up and who remains burdened. Students displaced by the storm—some 2,500 across western North Carolina—remain classified as homeless under state data. (AP News) Those from low-income families and rural areas have had the fewest options: limited housing, delayed returns to school, and emotional trauma that is still unaddressed. Homeowners with robust insurance coverage found more stability; renters and those underinsured remain most vulnerable.

The divide between the rural mountain communities and more urban centers has only sharpened. While counties closer to Asheville or Hickory have seen more rapid power restoration and infrastructure repair, remote valleys remain isolated, sometimes without reliable clean water for weeks. In Swannanoa, for example, safe drinking water remained unobtainable for over 50 days after water treatment systems failed. (The Guardian) Many rural schools, already underfunded, reopened physically before many students had stable, safe homes. (AP News)

One of the lingering misconceptions is that once aid was pledged, lives were restored. In truth, while over $5.2 billion in federal relief has been allocated so far, estimates place total damages near $60 billion across the region. (AP News) The fact that Governor Stein has requested an additional $13.5 billion just to continue relief efforts underscores how far short initial aid has fallen. (AP News)

Quiet truths that now stand in relief are the strain on small hospitals and clinics. While many health facilities survived the grid failures, the demand for care—especially mental health care—rose sharply. Health care professionals report dealing with both acute injuries from the disaster and the longer-tail emotional toll among displaced and storm-traumatized populations. (WUNC) Volunteer organizations remain crucial. Mutual aid networks, churches, community kitchens stepped in where bureaucratic systems lagged. One story out of Asheville describes queer mutual aid groups delivering supplies into remote areas before FEMA teams arrived. Them

From all this emerge lessons that are unavoidable. Speed matters more than announcements. The delays—in fund disbursement, in insurance adjudication, in infrastructure repair—cripple recovery. Local capacity must be built before disaster, not summoned afterward. Many of the hardest-hit areas were those without strong, local emergency planning or resilient infrastructure in place. Recovery reveals itself not merely in rebuilt roads or patched roofs, but in housing availability, healthcare access, stable jobs, and preservation of dignity.

Trade-offs loom. The region must invest now in resilient infrastructure, even where it seems expensive, or risk paying many times more later—in lives, economic losses, and civic distrust. The cost of temporary housing, emergency water systems, and health clinic catch-ups is high. But the cost of ignoring those needs may be far greater.

One year later, Helene offers more than a story of destruction: it offers a mirror. It shows how systems and people interact under strain, where promise meets procedure, and where everyday lives are shaped by both relief and neglect. The measure of our recovery will not just be how much was rebuilt, but how many of us were left behind. Will we remember Helene’s lessons and be better prepared next time? The work from now on must prove that we will. 

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🌸 Haiku

Rain carved through the hills,
Homes wait longer than the storm—
Neighbors hold the line.


🥠 Fortune Cookie Reading

“Systems may falter, but strength is found in the quiet acts of care. What you prepare today is the shelter you will need tomorrow.” 

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

🧱 Factions of Self-Preservation 3: Aging Without Anchoring

 How Retiree-Centered Growth Disrupts Generational Balance and Civic Adaptability


Headline Insight:

Retirees are welcomed with open arms—until their preferences become policy. What starts as lifestyle marketing ends in structural stagnation.


📈 Anchor Statistic:

In 2020, over 25% of Hickory’s population was over 60, outpacing national averages and rising faster than in most NC metros. And yet—less than 10% of city council seats statewide are held by anyone under 40.


🔄 System Overview: What Happens When You Build for Yesterday?

Hickory has quietly positioned itself as a destination city for retirees—offering affordability, tranquility, and scenic small-town charm. But unlike intentional retirement communities, the city lacks a plan for managing the long-term implications of its age-skewed influx.

Instead of bridging generations, civic life is tilting backward. The built environment, the civic calendar, the planning boards, and the voting booth are increasingly shaped by fixed-income retirees with minimal economic stake in the city’s future growth.

The result? A city structured around preservation rather than preparation.

Let’s map how that plays out across the system:


🧭 1. Zoning by Retirement: Planning for Stability, Not Adaptation

Retiree influence on planning and zoning has calcified Hickory’s development approach.

· Large-lot single-family zoning is maintained to protect “neighborhood character.”

· Opposition to multi-family, mixed-use, or younger-density housing is routine—even as local wages stagnate.

· Planning boards and advisory commissions are often dominated by older homeowners seeking predictability, not evolution.

It’s a city built for comfort, not challenge. And that means anyone seeking a different future is functionally unwelcome.


🏥 2. Healthcare Demand—But Not Healthcare Investment

As more retirees arrive, the burden on Hickory’s healthcare ecosystem grows:

· Demand for chronic disease management, geriatric care, and Medicare-supported services outpaces younger wellness services.

· Emergency rooms and outpatient clinics see rising volumes—but fewer providers are incentivized to serve lower-margin patients.

· Mental health, substance abuse, and youth-focused behavioral services are deprioritized in public health funding.

Care is rationed by demographic. And the strain will only grow more acute.


🧾 3. School Tax Resistance: Voting Without Investing

A paradox of local democracy: retirees vote in high numbers, yet have no direct stake in schools.

· Local bond referenda for school improvements face vocal opposition from older voters without children in the system.

· The state school funding model ties local supplements to property taxes—meaning older, tax-resistant populations cap school revenue.

· Consolidation proposals or modernization efforts stall under “concern for seniors on fixed incomes.”

The result is a shrinking education pipeline shackled by a voting bloc it no longer serves.


🏚 4. Aging Infrastructure with an Aging Population

Hickory’s infrastructure is aging in tandem with its people:

· Sewer and water lines in core neighborhoods built in the mid‑20th century are deteriorating.

· Public buildings like recreation centers, libraries, and city offices remain in legacy configurations that favor retirees (quiet, static, vehicle-accessible).

· Sidewalks, crosswalks, and public transport remain underbuilt or underfunded, further isolating those without cars—including both youth and the elderly.

In a city increasingly designed around the car-dependent retiree, anyone else is either invisible or in danger.


🏛 Who Benefits — and Who Pays?

Who Benefits?

· Retirees with equity and pensions who can live cheaply, vote reliably, and resist disruption.

· Developers focused on age-targeted communities and patio home enclaves.

· Civic leaders who rely on high-voting older adults for predictable election outcomes.

💸 Who Pays?

· Younger residents shut out of affordable homes, dynamic public spaces, or youth-oriented investment.

· School-aged families left with outdated campuses and budget crunches.

· The long-term economy, as workforce talent relocates to cities that invest in future productivity.


🧠 Reflective Prompts

1. What does “retiree-friendly” really mean in policy terms?
It often means minimal infrastructure disruption, low-density development, and low taxes—even if that stifles long-term economic vitality.

2. How should cities balance older residents’ preferences with younger generations’ needs?
Not by ignoring either—but by ensuring that those shaping the rules are also subject to the tradeoffs. No generation should dominate another through voting muscle alone.

3. Can Hickory afford to be a retirement community without being labeled one?
No. Without diversified housing, employment investment, and youth-focused infrastructure, the city risks becoming a brittle enclave—not a resilient place to live.

4. What does it look like to anchor retirees into the community—not just import them?
Encouraging intergenerational volunteerism, requiring diversified zoning, and designing public meetings and funding cycles that center future needs—not just past patterns.


Closing Thought:

A city where every vote is cast by those with no economic stake in tomorrow is not a democracy—it’s a time capsule. Hickory can welcome retirees, but it cannot afford to be governed by nostalgia. A city’s heart must beat in rhythm with its future. If not, that heart will slow until the city forgets how to grow.

 

Factions of Self-Preservation 1: The Cost of Control - September 4, 2025

Factions of Self-Preservation 2: Locked Out - September 11, 2025


 

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

🌐⭐Hickory vs. Charlotte: The Catawba River Showdown Intensifies⭐🌐

What’s changed since Memorial Day — and why it matters for our region’s future


Opening: Memorial Day to Today

(September 9, 2025) - Back on May 25, 2025, our News and Views feature compared how Charlotte and Hickory frame the Catawba River’s challenges. The piece underscored a central tension: Charlotte’s scale versus Hickory’s sustainability. Charlotte draws more than 120 million gallons a day from the river, driven by rapid growth and urban sprawl. Hickory, by contrast, uses just 12 million gallons a day but feels downstream risks more acutely — sediment, pollution, and equity concerns when big-city withdrawals rise.

That original article argued that without regional fairness, the Catawba would become less a shared lifeline than a contested resource. This update looks at what’s changed in the three months since Memorial Day, and why the stakes for Hickory have only sharpened.


What’s New Since May

1. Statewide Moratorium on Interbasin Transfers

In June, the North Carolina General Assembly passed H850 (Session Law 2025-74), placing a moratorium on new interbasin transfers (IBTs). A companion bill, H694 (Session Law 2025-77), ordered a statewide water-transfer study. This action effectively pauses Charlotte Water’s IBT application to move 30 MGD to the Yadkin-Pee Dee Basin.

What it means for Hickory: The pause buys time. Upper-basin communities now have a window to press for conservation benchmarks, return-flow accounting, and drought safeguards before any IBT proceeds.


2. Water Quality Warnings

This summer, Mecklenburg County issued a harmful algal bloom advisory on Lake Norman, upstream in the Catawba chain. While not Lake Hickory itself, the event underscored nutrient stress across the system.

Meanwhile, Catawba Riverkeeper’s Swim Guide reported a patchwork of safe swimming sites alongside intermittent bacteria spikes. For Hickory families, that means weekly data checks remain essential to know which creeks and coves are safe.

What it means for Hickory: Upper-basin stormwater management, septic upkeep, and tributary monitoring are no longer “nice-to-haves.” They’re frontline defenses for safe recreation and affordable water treatment.


3. PFAS Rule Rollback

In mid-May, the EPA revised its 2024 PFAS drinking-water rule. Strict limits remain for PFOA and PFOS, but compliance deadlines for other PFAS compounds have been extended to 2031.

What it means for Hickory: Utilities have breathing room before mandatory upgrades, but residents face prolonged uncertainty. For an upstream basin like Hickory’s, this is an opportunity to double down on source reduction and pretreatment agreements with industries — cheaper than end-of-pipe fixes later.


4. Regional Planning Front and Center

Charlotte Water’s February 2025 update stressed growth, climate variability, and regulation as drivers of its IBT push. But with the moratorium in place, attention shifts to the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group and Duke Energy’s basin models. South Carolina also issued new WaterSC guidance this summer, signaling interstate coordination will tighten.

What it means for Hickory: The decisive moves will come not from Charlotte City Council chambers but from multi-state planning tables. Hickory’s voice must be heard there.


Why It Matters

For Hickory, the Catawba River is more than a backdrop — it’s the city’s growth ceiling and identity anchor. A hollowed middle class cannot thrive if its water base erodes. Rising housing costs, stagnant wages, and out-migration already weigh on the region. Add water insecurity, and the Shrinking Center theme grows sharper: when the foundations of community life hollow out, so does opportunity.

Charlotte’s framing of the river as a growth enabler contrasts with Hickory’s insistence on equity and sustainability. But unless these perspectives reconcile, the result is competition, not stewardship. For Hickory, the next decade is about defending its upstream position while proving that conservation, reuse, and fairness can balance growth with security.


Next Steps: What to Watch

Over the next 12–18 months:

· State hearings: Expect NC’s DEQ and EMC to seek basin input on IBT rules. Hickory voices must press for basin-first accounting — conservation, return-flows, drought triggers.

· Quality monitoring: Harmful algal blooms and bacteria spikes will return each summer. Residents should use tools like Swim Guide and support stormwater and septic upgrades in city budgets.

· PFAS engagement: With deadlines extended, upstream cities should lobby for pretreatment partnerships to cut pollutants before they reach the taps.

· Regional alignment: Keep eyes on CWWMG and WaterSC processes. These bodies — not just Charlotte — will shape Hickory’s water future.


Context and Links

Read the full Memorial Day feature here:
👉 Hickory vs. Charlotte: Contrasting Views on the Catawba River’s Challenges

Earlier Hickory Hound articles in this series:
The Catawba River Crisis: Can Catawba Keep Its Water?
The Catawba River Crisis: Foothills Perspective
Can Hickory’s Youth Turn the River Crisis?

 Cheat Sheet, Obscure Words, Phrases, and Acronyms