MARYVILLE, Tennessee, May 16 -- Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, issued the following news release: United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for designing mountain bike and hiking trails along the Foothills Parkway in Cocke County will increase tourism and economic development opportunities in the area. "Cocke County is one of Tennessee's most economically distressed counties, and these mountain bike and hiking trail  more

CULLOWHEE, North Carolina, May 15 -- Western Carolina University issued the following news release: Move over murder hornets. Fire ants, those vicious insects with a painful sting and destructive ways, are becoming more pervasive in the mountains, according to research from the Highlands Biological Station of Western Carolina University. A recently published report shows an acclimation of fire ants to high elevations in the Southern Appalachians, something that many biologists had long believe  more