North Carolina
Many North Carolina students return to class for first time since Hurricane Helene
Valle Crucis, North Carolina — In the hills of Watauga County in western North Carolina, the ride for Valle Crucis Elementary School students was filled with excitement Friday. They were among several thousand North Carolina students who returned to school for the first time since Hurricane Helene tore through portions of the state about a month ago, carving a path of destruction.
“I was worried about them because of the hurricane,” one Valle Crucis student said of his fellow classmates. “And I was super happy, super-duper happy to see them.”
Helene filled Valle Crucis Elementary, a K-8 school, with 4 feet of muddy water and swamped the school buses parked outside the school. As a result, classes are being temporarily held at an old conference center located about a mile from the damaged school.
“Students, faculty and families have been through trauma,” said Watauga County Schools Superintendent Leslie Alexander. “Getting kids back is the first step to normalcy, but we have to realize that people have been through a lot.”
When Helene hit, 459 schools in 28 North Carolina districts were affected. Schools in five of those districts remain closed. Some may not open until early November.
Many students are still carrying a heavy mental load, the pain of losing a loved one or their home, or in some cases, both. At least 98 people were killed by Helene in North Carolina, according to numbers compiled by CBS News, and the hurricane was responsible for at least 217 deaths across six states.
On Friday, extra counselors were on hand at Watauga County schools for any staff and students who wanted to talk.
“For the first couple weeks, I started to feel anxiety from not seeing anyone, so it was really refreshing when I heard that this week we were going back to school,” 12-year-old Valle Crucis student Georgia said.
Georgia was with her parents, James and Heather, when their home began to flood and their community was washed away.
“When the rain stopped and we went and walked around,” Heather said of her daughter. “She said, ‘I’m not learning academically right now, but I’m learning a lot about survival.’”
A resident raffle and nonprofit auction will fund conservation, while opponents warn even a limited hunt could endanger the restored herd.
NC to issue 2 elk hunting permits as herd reaches about 250
Elk were reintroduced to Western North Carolina in 2001. With the herd now estimated at 250, the state will issue two 2027 hunting permits.
ASHEVILLE – For the first time since elk were reintroduced to the Great Smoky Mountains 25 years ago, North Carolina will issue two hunting permits under a new state law creating a tightly controlled hunt in 2027, managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Gov. Josh Stein signed House Bill 747 into law July 7. The broader wildlife bill, which had bipartisan sponsorship, requires the commission to award one elk permit through a raffle limited to North Carolina residents and another permit through an auction. Both permits will be nontransferable and cannot be resold or reassigned. Any elk killed must be reported and presented to Wildlife Resources Commission.
Raffle tickets will cost $20 each, with hunters able to purchase as many as 30 tickets. Participants must have a valid North Carolina hunting license or qualify for a license exemption when purchasing tickets. The season, established in 2016, runs from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1.
The commission can retain up to $25,000 in raffle administration costs, with the remainder deposited into the state Wildlife Resources Fund.
The auction will be conducted by a nonprofit wildlife conservation organization that participated in the reintroduction of elk to North Carolina and may retain no more than 25% of the auction proceeds. Anna Gurley, spokesperson for the NCWRC, told the Citizen Times July 16 that eligible organizations that may be chosen by the commission include the Montana-based Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and Friends of the Smokies.
RMEF Chief Conservation Officer Blake Henning, 61, told the Citizen Times July 17 that he’s not been notified that his organization will receive the permit, but if it does, it’s likely they would hold an online auction to maximize exposure. Henning believes that $100,000 to $300,000 for the permit is “not out of the ballpark.”
Remaining revenue from the permits will also be dedicated to elk conservation and management with the caveat that it should supplement, rather than replace, other funding budgeted for elk management.
The law does not guarantee additional permits after 2027. Instead, the NCWRC will decide whether to continue the program based on its elk management goals.
By March 1, 2028 the agency must submit its first report on the program detailing how much money was raised, whether the permit program should continue and any legislative changes the commission recommends.
Lessons from the past
Herds of eastern elk once roamed much of the eastern United States, but as Europeans began to settle, rapid depopulation ensued due to habitat loss and unrestricted hunting. By 1800, there were no elk in North Carolina. By 1877, the last known wild elk east of the Mississippi River was killed in Pennsylvania.
The National Park Service, in collaboration with nonprofits, began reintroduction of Manitoban elk in 2001 with 25 individuals released in the Cataloochee Valley section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Now, herds are thought to number about 250, mostly in Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties.
A December 2014 report prepared for the NCWRC by Durham-based consultancy RTI International said that a herd of 55 could support the culling of approximately six male elk annually but cautions that most other eastern elk herds had exceeded 200 before hunting began.
During public hearings in 2016 on the establishment of an elk hunt, 74% of more than 280 public comments received by the NCWRC were reported as “positive,” according to commission records.
There are, however, a number of concerns about the hunt, many of them encapsulated by Old Fort resident Tori McKinney. McKinney, 28, opposes the hunt on ethical, ecological and animal welfare grounds and also fears that the two permits will fuel demand for more, eventually threatening a herd only recently restored. McKinney also said expanded hunting could diminish nature-based tourism and remove the strongest animals from the population, disrupting the ecosystem.
“And as it gets normalized, and more and more people want to do it, and it’s legal for them to do so, I really think that that could devastate future generations of elk,” McKinney told the Citizen Times July 16.
Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, a co-sponsor of the bill and formerly the Audubon Society’s policy director, said he didn’t hear much from his constituents on the bill and doesn’t think the elk hunts will expand to the point of jeopardizing the herd’s sustainability.
“Hunters are conservationists,” Turner told the Citizen Times July 17, reiterating that most of the funds generated by the permit sales would further conservation efforts. “I think that we would continue to lean on the Wildlife Resource Commission to see what an appropriate number is. Does that become you know two, three, four in the future? Perhaps, but I don’t ever see it being the kind of thing like we see with deer.”
Cory Vaillancourt is the Helene Recovery/Investigations Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Find him on X at @The_CoryV or on Signal, via email at cvaillancourt@citizentimes.com or at 912-508-5640.
North Carolina
As cyclosporiasis cases rise, western NC shoppers take extra precautions with produce
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released new information about cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness caused by a parasite.
According to NCDHHS, the rise in North Carolina cases is not associated with the outbreak in five other states involving iceberg lettuce distributed by Taylor Farms to some of the Taco Bell locations there.
Instead, commonly reported foods connected to cyclosporiasis cases in North Carolina include lettuce, cilantro and parsley, according to an NCDHHS press release.
According to an NCDHHS update on Friday, July 17, 307 cases of cyclosporiasis and 13 hospitalizations were reported in N.C. from May 1 to July 14.
HEALTH OFFICIALS MONITOR CYCLOSPORIASIS AS CASES RISE ACROSS NATION: WHAT TO KNOW
“I think people realize, with that being a nationwide outbreak to start with, that it was something that was being distributed nationwide. It wasn’t something that a local farmer 10 or 15 miles down the road was growing,” said Coates & Sons Produce owner Michael Coates.
Coates is warning shoppers to wash produce well before eating.
Shoppers at the food market say they’re being extra careful right now.
JULY 18, 2026 – The WNC Farmers Market in Asheville. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
“I’m just making sure that I’m washing my vegetables and produce very carefully with baking soda, which kills some of the parasites, but that’s why I’ve come to the farmers market because I know that’s home grown and not hothoused,” said Fletcher resident Shirley Pennell.
“Buy fresh local produce more and supermarket produce less and then the other thing we decided was to just kind of lay off some of the fruits and vegetables that are harder to clean, like broccoli and lettuce and just buy things that has a thick skin and eat more seafood,” said David Shaheen, another shopper at the WNC Farmers Market.
Last year, the federally run Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, known as FoodNet, cut the requirement to surveil infections caused by six different germs, cyclospora being one of them.
Locals have also shared concerns that federal programs like the CDC and FDA are underfunded.
READ MORE: 4 CASES OF CYCLOSPORIASIS CONFIRMED IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY, 7 IN HENDERSON COUNTY
As for this outbreak, Shaheen says it’s important for people to be aware of what’s going on.
“If enough people know about it and just make a few minor tweaks, everyone will get through it and it will be no big deal,” said Shaheen.
Coates & Sons Produce is located at the WNC Farmers Market at 570 Brevard Road in Asheville.
You can also search for farm stands and farmers’ markets in the region in Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s online Local Food Guide.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Downtown Raleigh restaurants were busy with diners this week as concerns continue about a growing Cyclospora outbreak in North Carolina.
Josh and Shaelynn Wade of Wendell said they have become more deliberate about where and what they eat after a friend became sick with what they believed was linked to the outbreak.
“I definitely said let’s have sushi tonight,” Shaelynn Wade said.
The couple said they have adjusted some of their dining habits as reports of illnesses have increased.
“When it comes to fast food, I am taking a pause. I have no interest. I think the reputation of the restaurant changes how I’m going to feel about it,” the Wades said.
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora. People become sick after consuming food or water contaminated with the parasite.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, many people who reported becoming sick linked their illness to either lettuce, cilantro or parsley.
RELATED | Cyclosporiasis cases surge in NC are not linked to Taco Bell lettuce outbreak, DHHS says
Vanessa Sanchez said she recently changed her shopping habits after learning more about the outbreak.
“Lettuce is a regular part of our diet. But recently I just found out that it’s from Taylor Farms out of California. So, um, pretty much just staying away from lettuce until they figure out where that source batch came from,” Sanchez said.
Other residents said they are taking additional precautions when preparing food at home.
“We’ve really just started washing our vegetables with vinegar and water and just trying to be a little bit more cognizant,” Maggie Sparling said.
Since May, the number of cases in North Carolina has increased from 13 to 307.
As Raleigh Restaurant Week gets underway, local chefs said food safety remains a top priority.
“All produce comes out, and we triple wash everything, and then it gets put away. And we’re making sure that any of the products that are flagged-blueberries, spinach, asparagus, all that stuff, we’re cooking thoroughly too, so we’re not serving any of that stuff raw, at all,” said Adam Masters, head chef at Irregardless Café.
The precautions are welcome news for the Wades, who said they want to continue enjoying their weekly dinner dates.
“I think the biggest thing that I’m thinking about is how long are we going to have to think about it and avoid lettuce and avoid parsley and cilantro and all the things that we’d like to eat,” the couple said.
Many local restaurants are also working with vendors that are conducting additional checks to ensure food is not contaminated.
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