october 2026 [OC]

Hey everyone! My name is Elijah Skipper. I'm an investigative reporter with News 13 in western North Carolina.

I wanted to share a story I've been working on and hear from people elsewhere in Appalachia who are having these conversations.

Our station covered noise complaints at Facebook's Forest City data center in 2013. With so much attention on new data centers now, I kept wondering what happened to the people who were already living beside one.

I tracked down Jim Bennett and Tommy Doggett, two neighbors from that original report. We watched the old video together, then went back into Jim's backyard, which backs up to the site.

They say it's quiet now. Both believe the sound-absorbing material and trees helped. They also give the original reporting a lot of credit for getting Facebook to listen.

But it wasn't a quick fix. Neighbors were still complaining about noise in our 2015 follow-up.

I went back through the coverage and records, spoke with the Data Center Coalition and followed up with Meta about what changed and whether Forest City shaped its approach elsewhere. At publication, we hadn't obtained a current testing schedule or written agreement showing what hours apply now.

I think hearing from people who have lived through this adds something to the debate. If a project is being discussed near you, what questions are residents asking? And what do you wish your community had settled before construction started?

I'm happy to answer questions about the reporting too.

I was in Knoxville when they did this visiting a sick relative, it felt awful seeing in real time.

Also, LMAO at "rid the area of kudzu".

Riiiiiiiiiight

Doing a bike trip from WV to the smokies. Considering going towards Kentucky, specifically Cumberland where I could also ride KY-160 from Lynch to Appalachia, and then heading down to Smokies towards Cherokee. Never been this way. Anyone been & can recommend it? Or should I just stick to Tazewell to Marion and down? Any route suggestions appreciated

Bruce Johnston interviews the late Alvin Lytle about changes in the local climate and their effect on climate. Recorded in April 2020 on a windy day in front of a creek at Earthaven Ecovillage.

Some residents have held small demonstrations or are speaking against the project at government meetings.

I live in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where coal and timber once drove much of our local economy. Last weekend, our town hosted its fifth annual Blue Highway Fest, and Thursday's opening performance sold out. Overall ticket sales were reportedly running about 35% ahead of last year.

What interests me isn't just the bluegrass music. It's what happens when a small Appalachian town starts treating its own culture and heritage as something worth investing in.

For generations, we shipped coal, timber, and eventually too many of our young people out of these mountains. Now we're bringing visitors in to experience something that's been here all along.

I wrote about the festival, the people behind it, and the volunteers who travel hundreds of miles to help make it happen.

Here's the article if you're interested:

https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/sold-out/

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver is incredible but Demon goes through so many foster homes, schools and social circles that the side characters stack up fast. Foster parents, social workers, teammates, girlfriends... I keep having to pause and think "wait, who was Tommy again?"
What do u guys use when a book has 30+ recurring side characters??

Visited today. Very interesting! Worth the stop for sure.
Never knew there was a movie let alone a Richard Gere/Laura Liney movie! Watched it on Netflix thinking it would be horrible and it wasn’t bad!
Anyways, If your around Point Pleasant West Virginia check it out!

Red Bull Chariot Race is hitting High Street on October 24th where 24 teams will be racing homemade chariots !
Free and open to the public at 1:00pm!

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/events/red-bull-chariot-race-west-virginia

Appalachia edition!

THIS WEEKEND: Remote Area Medical (RAM) will be in Grundy, Virginia! A free RAM Clinic will be held at Riverview Elementary/Middle School on October 17-18, offering dental, vision, and medical care at no cost to anyone in need.

Learn more about the clinic and stay up to date using the link below.

https://www.ramusa.org/events/grundy-virginia/?occurrence=2026-10-17&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=post