One thing WNCW knows about is bluegrass, old time and true country music. It's a part of our electic music format which made this Friday Feature Interview of the Week even more special - when we learned all about the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies Program. Interviewed on March 20, 2020 was Program Director Daniel Boner. ETSU is passing on a legacy of music history that will help keep it going strong for the future. Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature- Paul Foster, WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

Thanks to Michael Greene of Boone, NC - a virtual dinner concert series, online, was organized as a way to help raise money for local restaurants, servers, and musicians in the Boone area that have been unable to work due to the mandatory closures of businesses because of the Coronavirus. This includes a Go Fund Me page set up to donate a little extra in the case someone can. Maybe this virtual idea spreads all over as a way to say thank you to someone for serving and entertaining all of us in the past. You can find them on Facebook @BooneRelief Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature Interview of the Week, Paul Foster- WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

Guests of this Friday Feature Interview of the Week were Megan Robinson, Executive Director of the Western NC American Red Cross and United Way of Greenville County, SC Executive Director Megan Barp. Both agencies are important, year-round organizations, with staff/volunteers that want to offer support and services, especially during the coronavirus crisis. However, these groups could use additional volunteers and donors to achieve full capacity. This conversation first aired on April 3, 2020. Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature- Paul Foster, WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

Facebook will be awarding financial support to over 30 local small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Policy Manager Diana Doukas was interviewed during this edition of WNCW's Friday Feature Interview of the Week to talk about this exciting news. Facebook, with a center located in Rutherford County, NC has partnered with groups across North Carolina to lend support in this crucial time of need. This discussion first aired on 88.7 FM on April 10th. Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature- Paul Foster, WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

Faculty, staff and some students with the College of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University are using 3D printers at the college's Rapid Center to develop visors for face shields for use by healthcare workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Patrick Gardner, Director of the WCU Rapid Center, was i nterviewed in this Friday Feature piece. The interview first aired on April 17, 2020. Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature- Paul Foster, WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

It's always a treat when a lady with true southern charm makes an appearance on the Friday Feature Interview of the Week. WNCW welcomed back Our State Magazine Editor-in-chief Elizabeth Hudson to talk about the upcoming May issue titled 'The Hiking Issue.' Page by page, Hudson takes us on a tour, mostly across Western North Carolina, to look at topics featured in this issue, from great trails, to views, to good eats. Hudson also talks about how the popular magazine has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This segment first aired April 24, 2020. Posted by Host and Producer of WNCW's Friday Feature- Paul Foster, Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

In this Friday Feature Interview of the Week we put the spotlight on PAL: Partners for Active Living, a group working with its partners in an attempt to remind citizens about the importance of their health, and to let people know about the many ways they can take advantage of outdoor adventures in Spartanburg, South Carolina. PAL Executive Director Laura Ringo shared the latest on the non-profit group, and also talked about COVID-19 and its effect on PAL. The interview originally aired May 1, 2020. Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature- Paul Foster, WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host

One of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest will not take place this year due to coronavirus concerns.

The Legacy Theatre in Branford, Connecticut, isn’t technically open yet. But Artistic Director Keely Baisden Knudsen says they’ve done more than 70 performances without a building.

At this year's (now postponed) Game Developers Conference, composer and sound designer Oda Tilset planned to present a session about how incorporating music created by a computer's Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool. Oda tells me that AI-generated music is really helpful to generate ideas that a composer might not have thought of. For musicians and composers who are just getting their feet wet with computer-generated music software, Oda reccommends Noknok Audio , which is very flexible and easy to use. One of the murkier aspects of using AI to create music is who owns the end product. Oda has studied numerous user agreements for sharing audio and music, including SoundCloud and there's no clear answer. She says the best part of using AI is that it's like having a collaborator without those painful discssions about whose ideas are better! Episode tracklist All tracks composed by Oda's computer AI, modified in her digital audio workstation. Thanks to Dick Roberts for production

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Researchers at Stony Brook University hope to find new ways to treat depression among teenagers – using a computer or smartphone.

The GOP has flipped two of the five Connecticut General Assembly seats left vacant by Democratic incumbents who resigned to take jobs in Governor Ned Lamont’s new administration.

It’s a busy time at the state Capitol, with just over one month to go until the state budget is due. Groups are bringing advocates by the hundreds to try to get their favored items placed into the spending plan. Meanwhile, there are lingering recriminations over the failed Amazon deal.

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

It's been forecast that this spring will be quite wet. That could bring flooding to portions of Washtenaw County. Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner Evan Pratt joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss planning for such issues and the proactive nature of work already underway on this week's "Issues of the Environment."

The City of Ypsilanti has created a housing expenditure program for residents who need financial assistance during the COVID-19 crisis.

Restaurants were one of the first and hardest hit by our current health crisis and looks like they will remain closed for a while. WEMU's Lisa Barry talks with John Reyes of Eater.com about how Washtenaw County restaurants are evolving during the current health crisis and what they are doing to try and still serve customers and maintain their bottom line.

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DING DONG MERRILY ON HIGH") UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Ding dong merrily on high... SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Linus Vlatkovich grew up in the mining town of Hibbing, Minn. His father was a miner who hoped his son would become a dentist. And he tried for a while in college. But... LINUS VLATKOVICH: It just wasn't the right place for me. And when I changed to theater, they were not real excited about that. SIMON: Theater - a parent's heartbreak. But Linus Vlatkovich ended up building a career building props for 46 years at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. He eventually earned the nickname Prop God. His parents worried when the Guthrie first called Linus in 1972. VLATKOVICH: They asked me if I would like to work there for the summer and then hire me in the fall. So I said sure. They said they didn't have any real money to pay me, but they'd pay me out of petty cash. So I got three $30 paychecks. SIMON: Over the years, Linus

The 'Juicy' rapper releases the video as part of Vevo LIFT program just days after making public a dance visual promo for a remix of her hit song that features Nicki Minaj.

Stories with a Heartbeat is a new WUNC podcast about the human condition in conflict. Host Will McInerney is an award-winning poet who travels the globe exploring conflict and what it says about us as people. Stories with a Heartbeat taps into the power of poetry, stories, music, and conversation to help us decipher conflict and find meaning.

This month is a special one for people of many faiths, and not being able to gather has been a concern for those who find fellowship to be comforting, and even necessary in tough times. So faith leaders are finding unique ways to reach out to their congregations.

Social distancing and the stay-at-home order have caused a lot of people to change their plans. But some tenacious Ohioans aren’t letting the pandemic get in their way. And they are getting creative about finding alternatives.

Weeks after COVID-19 shut down productions worldwide, Ryan Murphy admits that he has been contemplating between pushing production back by a year or changing theme.

The 'White Collar' main actor and the creator Jeff Eastin confirm discussions to bring back the drama series which originally ended in 2014 after six seasons.

Series creator Ryan Murphy reveals in a new interview that he has done writing the scripts for the new installment of the series, though the production has yet to start due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Oscar winners Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz are expected to take part in the 'Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies' event that will benefit the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation.

The producers for the Ryan Reynolds-fronted superhero movie have been punished with fine for failing to provide a safe workplace for the fallen stuntwoman.

The 'White Collar' main actor and the creator Jeff Eastin confirm discussions to bring back the drama series which originally ended in 2014 after six seasons.

When speaking to Kelly Clarkson, the 'Harry Potter' star admits he picked up Lego after vowing to stay away from video games since the coronavirus lockdown began.

Series creator Ryan Murphy reveals in a new interview that he has done writing the scripts for the new installment of the series, though the production has yet to start due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Aside from his thank-you video, the 'Jumanji: The Next Level' star also gifts Carol Propst, an English teacher at a high school in Virginia, bottles from his tequila brand, Teremana Tequila.

The producers for the Ryan Reynolds-fronted superhero movie have been punished with fine for failing to provide a safe workplace for the fallen stuntwoman.

The 'Boy Is Mine' hitmaker says she is forced to re-assess her faith in God after the shocking death of the Los Angeles Lakers player in helicopter crash.

Going on Instagram Live again, LaPattra Lashai Jacobs lifts up her shirt to reveal her stomach and removes her arm cast to show how the injuries affect the mobility of her arm.

Tyrell Reed, the uncle of the late Indianapolis rapper also known as Sean Da Don, says the officer's insensitive comment only adds pain to the family's grief.

Vicky Cornell has threatened to file a lawsuit in response to fraud allegations made against her by the three surviving members of her late husband's band.

This arrives after Kehlani sparks speculations that her new album 'It Was Good Until It Wasn't' was about YG as one fan says, 'Kehlani's album is really all about her and YG's toxic sex.'

One of the former 'Empire' star's ex-lovers claims the actor owes him money and demands to be paid up, or he will release the three-minute footage of Jussie's sexual activities.

This arrives after Kehlani sparks speculations that her new album 'It Was Good Until It Wasn't' was about YG as one fan says, 'Kehlani's album is really all about her and YG's toxic sex.'

One of the former 'Empire' star's ex-lovers claims the actor owes him money and demands to be paid up, or he will release the three-minute footage of Jussie's sexual activities.

A 30-year-old man has been arrested after an email was sent threatening to "sever the heads" of two Detroit-area judges.

A judge has cleared the way for a DNA test in a last-ditch effort to keep a dog from being euthanized in the death of a neighbor's pet.

To support independent artists and small to medium arts, screen and cultural organisations impacted by COVID-19, Create NSW is implementing a number of measures. This includes accommodation assistance, new support for creatives to engage with online platforms, and a suite of initiatives that provide employment and development opportunities, and audience engagement and skill-sharing for arts, screen and cultural organisations and individuals across the State. > More detail (Create NSW)

Connecticut prosecutors have consolidated charges and offered a plea deal to three Stratford teenagers who are accused of arson in four communities last year.

The father of an 8-year-old Suffolk County boy who died last week has been charged with second-degree murder. His fiancée has also been charged. County Child Protective Services knew the boy suffered neglect in 2018.

Suffolk County will investigate how the Department of Social Services handled allegations of parental abuse in the case of an 8-year-old boy who died last week in his father’s custody.

A Connecticut judge has dropped the murder and kidnapping case against the late Fotis Dulos. He died in January, two days after an apparent suicide attempt.

Tasty theatrical treat served up as part of Celebration Week.