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BPR and Smoky Mountain News to host NC-11 candidate forum

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Join BPR's Lilly Knoepp and Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt for the “Best in the West: North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District forum" on August 31.

Candidates for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District seat — Democrat Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Libertarian David Coatney and Republican Chuck Edwards — have been invited to appear at a joint forum hosted by two of the 11th Congressional District’s largest independent media outlets.

A diverse panel of guests will join Blue Ridge Public Radio Regional Reporter Lilly Knoepp and Smoky Mountain News Politics Editor Cory Vaillancourt for the “Best in the West: North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District forum," 7 to 9 PM on Wednesday, August 31.

This is the second installment of the 'Best in the West' debate. Take a look back at the 2020 event here.  

Questions will come from Dr. Edward Lopez, director of Western Carolina University's Center for the Study of Free Enterprise; Richard G. Sneed, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Dewana Little, executive director of YMI Cultural Center; and Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust.  

The event will broadcast live on Blue Ridge Public Radio as well as at BPR.org and livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Blue Ridge Public Radio serves more than 400,000 people in 13 counties with 20 frequencies across the region for our two program services, BPR News and BPR Classic. Listeners can also find BPR programming on BPR.org, across social media and on the BPR and NPR One apps.

Smoky Mountain News prints 16,000 newspapers a week to serve all of Western North Carolina, including four core counties and the Qualla Boundary. SMN daily news can also be found online at smokymountainnews.com or across social media platforms.

Beach-Ferrara and Coatney have both confirmed their appearances.

How to watch, 7 to 9 PM, Wednesday, August 31

bpr.org

facebook.com/blueridgepublic 

facebook.com/smnews  

BPR's YouTube channel

Erin Adams served as BPR's first Director of Audience from August 2023 to March 2024.