☀️ In Today’s Edition

1. The City After the Storm
2. Helene’s Toll on Education
3. UNC’s Former Provost, Unleashed
4. What We’re Reading
5. Our Recent Stories

“The week before I moved to Asheville, it rained for four days,” writes Lisa Rab. “It rained so much my friends in Brevard worried another disaster was coming … Would it happen again?”

Then the rain stopped and the clouds parted. The sun shone as Rab drove into the city to show her son their new home, a townhouse in a coveted part of Asheville—near both the Botanical Garden and Trader Joe’s.

It felt surreal to be moving into a city that had so recently been devastated. She worried if doing so was displacing others who hadn’t fared as well. In an essay marking of the one-year anniversary of the storm, Rab reflects on that tension.

Bruised, Not Broken

A year after Helene, a Western North Carolina journalist moved to Asheville and found that it’s still healing.

Thousands of students across Western North Carolina lost their homes a year ago when Helene hit with some of the most vicious floods, landslides and wind ever seen in the region. More than 2,500 students were identified as homeless as a direct result of Helene, according to state data obtained by The Associated Press.

While much of the storm debris has been cleared away, the impact of the displacement lingers for the region’s children. Schools reopened long before many students returned to their homes, and their learning and well-being have yet to recover.

‘Everything They Had is Gone’

After Hurricane Helene, schools reopened long before many students were able to return to their homes. Their learning and well-being have yet to recover.

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Former UNC-Chapel Hill Provost Chris Clemens filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the university’s Board of Trustees of “systematically hiding matters of grave public concern,” including their decision to postpone consideration of tenure cases because of their doubts about the practice. 

As Matt Hartman reports, the suit also sheds light on Clemens’ surprise resignation earlier this year.

Former Provost Sues UNC-Chapel Hill Trustees Over Closed Meetings

Chris Clemens alleges the board often went into closed session illegally, including before they postponed tenure votes, and forced him to resign after he informed faculty about the delays.

“It is extremely disappointing that legal action is required to maintain the basic norms of transparency and good governance,” Clemens wrote in a statement to The Assembly.

What We’re Reading

Jury’s In: The North Carolina man accused of plotting to kill Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year has been found guilty of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, according to the New York Times.

Hoops and Scoops: Seth Trimble is a senior guard on the UNC men’s basketball team. And as the Daily Tar Heel reports, he’s also now the youngest Ben & Jerry’s franchise owner ever.

Leaps of Faith: A Manteo couple tandem-jumped out of an airplane 108 times on Monday, setting a (still unofficial) Guinness World Record, per Outer Banks Insider. The previous record was 105.

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Our Recent Stories

A Fatal Stabbing and Its Aftermath

Republicans have made a political cudgel of Iryna Zarutska’s killing. A crime bill expected this week may be more posturing than solutions.

Raising a Glass to Downtown

With fewer patrons downtown post-pandemic, city leaders say social districts have provided a critical shot in the arm.

Two Years After a Campus Shooting, Is UNC-Chapel Hill Safer?

UNC says it has upgraded its safety alert system and encouraged more training, but some fear the campus is still vulnerable.

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