AS THE founders of Back Bone BrewWorks, Blake Skeets and Tyler Rens are working toward opening Franklin County’s first brewery, a dream that has been years in the making. “We live in Winchester,...

WHEN YOU choose a locally owned business over a national chain, you’re not just spending your money, you’re planting it. And the roots of that investment reach deep. Every dollar counts, and it...

A STUDENT IN our community today will walk the halls of Congress with a pinned American flag on their chest. A student in our community today will pray their knees still hold when their nerves get...

IN THE tiny “classroom” of her childhood playroom, Diane Gipson was already a teacher. Barbie dolls and teddy bears sat in neat rows, listening intently as Gipson pointed to chalk scribbles on a...

SANDY SCHULTZ sat in her first-year nursing class at Middle Tennessee State University. Heavy textbooks rested in her lap.. She stared at human anatomy diagrams, feeling disconnected, as if they...

JOSH NEAL, the principal of Winchester Christian Academy’s Upper School, remembers his eighth grade year as the moment that jumpstarted his career in education. “There were a couple of teachers...

SLOW-COOKED BARBECUE fused with the cozy scent of wood smoke as Bob Reynolds leaned out of the Squidbilly Vittles BBQ food truck window, greeting the growing line of customers with a smile. Behind...

LAURA LOWNDES sat quietly beside her father in the car. It was her favorite time of day when the world slowed down, and she could simply be with her dad. Maybe it was the engine's steady rumble, the...

SCENTS OF coffee and fresh-baked biscuits collide with the crisp bite of winter air as the doors of First United Methodist Church at Winchester creak open at dawn. Inside, warm air welcomes guests,...

THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh,...

You know that first breath of spring? The way the warmer air gives you goosebumps — the air is soft, full of promise, carrying hints of something new. After months of cold, we step outside, and for...

“North Carolina needs us,” Megan Moorehead thought to herself.  The moment her phone rang, Moorehead knew something was wrong. It had been days since she’d heard from her friend in North...

Seventy-five years ago, Isaac Hall laid the first brick in a foundation that would stand the test of time — not in mortar and stone, but in trust and integrity. On brisk mornings, when the sun broke...