Check out the latest news, features, opinions, and more from Appalachia, the Midwest, and other Postindustrial Communities.
ASHEVILLE
Blue Ridge Public Radio: Meet the Hurricane Helene survivors working to make resilience a permanent part of life in Western North Carolina. BPR and Grist report on ideas inspired by the storm, from chainsaw training and microgrid installation to a grassroots radio network.
ATLANTA
Georgia governor’s race virtually tied, polls show Ossoff leading Collins as early voting nears
Atlanta News First: The race for governor is still anyone’s game, with a key group of voters still up for grabs. According to a recent InsiderAdvantage poll, the candidates — Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson — remain virtually tied. That same poll shows roughly 7% of voters are still undecided.
BALTIMORE
Gov. Moore administration launches Key Bridge rebuild dashboard with monthly project updates
WBAL-TV Baltimore: A new website was launched today by the Moore administration to help Maryland residents track the progress of the multibillion-dollar Key Bridge rebuild project.
Watercolors by Peace Prophet hang in homes across Chicago. But the artist has no home of her own.
Chicago Sun-Times: Peace Prophet lives with a mental illness, her family says. A conversation might begin with her asking if you’d like to buy a piece of her art and then rambles into a monologue of how she once starred in a film with Hollywood actor Lloyd Bridges and is, in fact, soon on her way to Los Angeles for the Academy Awards.
CINCINNATI
Pierre Damas Bel memorial: Haitian student “deserves to be remembered for more than the tragedy”
Cincinnati Public Radio: More than 200 people gathered at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield today to honor the life of Pierre Damas Bel. The 20-year-old Haitian immigrant died by suicide on Aug. 31, 2026. He lived in Springfield with his father, step mother and siblings.
CLEVELAND
Cleveland.com: At least four types of property tax incentives worth millions of dollars could be in play for the Browns $3.6 billion stadium and mixed-use development site.
COLUMBUS
Bayer pharmaceutical company to build $2.2 billion drug manufacturing plant in New Albany
Ohio State Public Media: The pharmaceutical company Bayer plans to invest $2.2 billion to build a new manufacturing site in New Albany with 600 jobs at the plant and 1,500 construction jobs.
DETROIT
Democrats target Macomb County with a first-ever joint town hall featuring El-Sayed, Slotkin
Michigan Advance: The importance of Macomb County to Michigan Democrats’ 2026 playbook was on full display Saturday as U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin joined U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed for a joint town hall event that focused on unity, bridging the divide between moderates and progressives, and the outsized impact county residents could have on the election.
INDIANAPOLIS
Purdue University expedition to look for Amelia Earhart’s plane begins this month
Indiana Public Radio: Purdue’s quest to find Amelia Earhart’s lost plane started in 2020, when satellite photos discovered the “Taraya Object,” believed to be the wreckage of the aircraft. Expedition lead Rick Pettigrew says after a delay last year, the journey is now set.
LOUISVILLE
Kentucky Court of Appeals race becoming another partisan judicial battleground
Louisville Public Media: Fifty years ago, a constitutional amendment approved by Kentucky voters was implemented that dramatically reformed the state’s judicial system, including changing all judicial races from partisan to nonpartisan.
MILWAUKEE
Wisconsin governor candidates offer opposing plans to address rising healthcare costs
Wisconsin Public Radio: Inflation and cost of living rank as the top issue among Wisconsin voters, according to a September Marquette Law School Poll. Health insurance was the third highest ranking issue among voters, and outranked data centers, abortion, schools or crime.
MORGANTOWN
West Virginia Watch: GOP Rep. Riley Moore and Ace Parsi, his Democratic opponent for the U.S. House District 2 race in the upcoming November election, are proposing two different federal bills for data centers, which may be top of mind for some residents as the state aims to attract the developments over environmental concerns.
NASHVILLE
Tennessee correction commissioner steps down after failed execution
Nashville Public Radio: Frank Strada helped design the state’s new execution process after a 2022 review found that Tennessee had not properly inspected the drugs it uses to put people to death.
PHILADELPHIA
Philadelphia’s Chinatown celebrates resilience, immigrant rights at Mid-Autumn Festival
Philadelphia Public Radio: Asian Americans United founded the festival in 1995 to mark the holiday, celebrated widely across Asia, that honors family reunions and the end of harvest season.
PITTSBURGH
What Trump’s fuel efficiency rollback means for Pennsylvanians
WESA Pittsburgh: The rule scaled back the Biden-era requirement of an annual 2% increase in fuel efficiency to 1%, aiming for an average of 34.9 miles to the gallon in model year 2031 as opposed to 50 miles to the gallon.
WHEELING
WTRF.com: As data centers continue to expand their demand for electricity, Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia’s second district announced he is supporting the Ratepayer Protection Act.
YOUNGSTOWN
Fire shuts down portion of Market Street in Youngstown
WKBN 27 Youngstown: Firefighters said that the fire started in the thrift store. No injuries were reported, and no one was in the building at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
