Michelle Newman

For many families across the region, the autumn season wouldn't feel complete without a trip to visit Eliada Home's sprawling corn maze — and this year, the beloved attraction is back in full force.

When Dr. Sid Tolchin looks back on his long life of service, he remembers the faces of the young soldiers he operated on in Vietnam — and the very different faces that greeted him when he came home.

The program headline for Leadership Asheville Forum's monthly talk sounded dry enough to scare off casual observers: gerrymandering, redistricting and “other electoral curiosities.” But political scientist Dr. Chris Cooper quickly made the case that the way we draw electoral maps is quietly deciding who has a choice in their elections at all.

Western North Carolina's theater season turns especially bright each December, as holiday productions draw audiences in from the cold and into the warmth of familiar stories. Many local theaters have long relied on Christmas programming to anchor their winter calendars, and though some shows return year after year, audiences continue to show up eagerly for nostalgia, tradition, and a little seasonal magic.

I’m trying to remember how we marked the occasion of my high school graduation, and I can’t. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t a big, overblown celebration, but more realistically, it was over 30 years ago. Either way, I’m drawing a blank.

University of Westminster’s Reader in Transport Policy Dr Tom Cohen has contributed to the London Assembly Transport Committee’s latest report, Accessibility and Inclusion in Transport Planning. His insights into how accessibility and inclusion can be embedded into transport planning from the earliest stages were quoted within the document and he was invited to its official launch at City Hall, where policymakers and sector leaders gathered to discuss the future of inclusive transport in the capital.

Supporting the levy raising Newark's income tax does not mean the conversation about how the city spends public dollars should end, says Council member Michelle Newman.

Older adults experience the highest rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI) related hospitalizations and deaths of any age group, yet TBI remains understudied in this population. To improve understanding of recovery over the year following TBI among older adults, we designed the RETRO-TBI study. This manuscript reports the protocol for RETRO-TBI, a prospective cohort study of older adults (65 years and older) with mild TBI (mTBI) with planned enrollment of 250 participants. The study is designed to evaluate recovery across four key domains: physical function, cognitive function, psychological function, and sleep quality. Participants are followed for 12 months after injury, with in-home study visits conducted at approximately 2 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months post-injury. Blood samples are collected at all visits. The specific aims are to: (1) identify trajectories of recovery in physical function and predictors of poorer physical recovery; (2) identify trajectories of recovery in cognitive function, psychological function, and sleep quality and predictors of poorer recovery in these domains; and (3) examine associations among recovery trajectories across domains. The RETRO-TBI study represents an important step in addressing the knowledge gap on recovery following TBI among older adults and is expected to result in identification of sub-groups of individuals more likely to have poor recovery, informing individualized treatment plans and development of future domain-based rehabilitation strategies. The study has several strengths including its focus on older adults, evaluation of recovery across four domains of function, and longitudinal assessments will permit evaluation of heterogeneity in recovery trajectories.

A Newark Council member says city should address problems at Community Drop-In Center raised by nearby residents, not cut modest $11,000 grant.

The first few days after we dropped our older daughter off at college were rough. I remember wandering around the house aimlessly and without purpose.