Blue Ridge Public Radio

Rep. Chuck Edwards and his wife are selling all six of their McDonalds franchises, as the Republican lawmaker faces a tight re-election race in North Carolina’s 11th District.

Edwards, who is running against Democrat Jamie Ager in the November election, said in a statement Monday that he and his wife Teresa are making the move to “devote even greater attention to public service.”

"McDonald's changed the course of my life," Chuck Edwards said. "It taught me the value of hard work, personal responsibility, teamwork, and serving others."

The congressman first worked behind the counter of a McDonalds at age 16. He went on to join the company’s management team. Later, he and his wife bought several of the fast food chain’s restaurants in western North Carolina.

Teresa Edwards assumed day-to-day management of the restaurants after Chuck Edwards was elected to the state Senate in 2016.

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Hayes Baxley has spent weeks on boats in Antarctica waiting for whales to surface. He once waited 27 days in the jungles of Brazil before a jaguar finally made her move, lunging onto a caiman to feed her cubs.

Now, the Emmy Award-winning wildlife cinematographer is on assignment in Asheville, filming a wildlife story about urban black bears for the BBC's Natural History Unit.

He seeks to document mothers and cubs navigating the yards and neighborhoods of a city that has learned, mostly, to live alongside them.

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UNC Health has purchased the Westgate Shopping Center as it seeks to expand its presence in western North Carolina.

The nonprofit hospital system bought the site, which sits off Interstate 240 in Asheville, for nearly $20 million, according to property records. It applied for state approval last month to build a 92-bed hospital there.

UNC Health spokesperson Alan Wolf said the proposed hospital is a “key part” of the organization’s goal to improve the health of all North Carolinians.

Three other competitors — Novant Health, AdventHealth and HCA Healthcare’s Mission Hospital — have also submitted proposals to expand through North Carolina’s “Certificate of Need” process.

A public hearing on the four hospital systems’ proposals is scheduled for 10 a.m., August 19 at A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium.

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