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The Ela Dam has served a part of Western NC for almost 100 years, but today produces little energy. Outdoors Editor and Staff Writer for Smoky Mountain News, Holly Kays, discussed her recent story on The Ela Dam. Sediment is in the water and the dam's use for producing energy is behind it. A group plans to take the lead to remove the dam.

Representing Carolina Public Press, Kate Martin was a guest on this edition of More to the Story to recap her recent story. Kate reminded us that North Carolina has had one of the biggest backlogs of untested rape kits across the nation, but that things are improving thanks to an approved initiative.

Conversations touching on the Earl Scruggs Music Festival where this episode was recorded, artists from North Carolina like Aaron Burdett, River Whyless, and Scruggs Fest featured artists Fireside Collective and Chatham Rabbits, plus up and comer Cristina Vane, who calls Nashville home. You will get to hear music excerpts of all of those artists in this episode. Of course, we also talk about the festival’s namesake, Earl Scruggs, who grew up in nearby Cleveland County, North Carolina. It is a lively conversation with Craig Havighurst, one of the best podcasters and music journalists you will ever find.

WUNC’s Jeff Tiberii returned to the program to talk about pollsters and if voters can trust them moving closer to midterm elections in November. Jeff had also conducted an interview with N.C. Sen. Phil Berger. He shared what Berger had to say about today’s hot issues heading toward the election.

The Annual Ava Gardener Festival marks what would have been her 100th birthday.

The origin of this tale is from an old Yiddish folk song that was translated into English by singer and storyteller, Nancy Schimmel. Other stories are "Just Enough to Make a Story", "The Old Coat", and "The Tailor and His Coat." Gwenda is a member of Asheville’s Storytelling Circle and sat in the first circle forming the North Carolina Storytelling Circle, and received their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Donna Ray Norton is no stranger to the musical community of Western North Carolina. She’s an 8th generation ballad singer who grew up in the legendary Sodom community of Madison County, a county which folklorist Cecil Sharp likened to “a nest of singing birds.” Her grandfather was Byard Ray, a fiddler, and singer who took his style of mountain music across the globe. Her mother, Lena Jean Ray, carried on the Ray musical legacy. We sat down with Donna Ray to learn more about her new album, her background, and what the music means to her.

Jess’s mother conjured up this haunted story to keep her children safe for a nearby lake, “Some say if you see a crooked tree like that, there’s a witch buried underneath. You have to be careful going close to those trees, especially in the afternoon, after school.”

A unique spin on a Southern legacy of music and living off the land with Kentucky artist S.G. Goodman, including excerpts from her live performance on WNCW

Milbre Burch is a GRAMMY-nominated spoken word recording artist, an internationally known Oracle-Award-winning storyteller, and a sought-after teaching artist. The preeminent interpreter of Jane Yolen stories, she has performed and taught across the US , Europe and Asia since 1978.