Artificial reefs created from retired oil and gas structures can provide stable marine habitat for more than 50 years. Far below Alabama’s Gulf Coast, a structure that once belonged to the energy industry is beginning a second life beneath the waves. The decommissioned Spirit VK 780A natural gas rig, located offshore, has been transformed into…

Image: Colleen Williams/Ken Bramer More than 30 years ago, a South Dakota collector who goes only by Rick paid $750 for a 30-gallon Red Wing stoneware crock at an auction, storing it in an old granary on his farm, where it sat largely forgotten for decades. It wasn’t until he saw photos of a nearly…

Immigration attorney says Green Card lottery did not resume despite court ruling and these will become invalid after September 30. Two US visa processing pauses challenged in federal court have been struck down, but affected applicants are still waiting for their cases to move forward, according to an immigration lawyer who says there is a…

For many women, buying pads or tampons is an ordinary part of the monthly shop. For someone already struggling to pay for food, rent or other essentials, the same purchase can become a difficult calculation. Across Western North Carolina, that gap has left some women and girls without reliable access to menstrual products. The consequences…