Pagan Community Notes: Winter Solstice arrives; Toy Drive success; U.S. electoral college and more!

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Tuatha Dea band member Tesea Dawson ended up raising $4,660 for her “Gatlinburg Wildfires Christmas Fund.” She launched the campaign in the days after fires destroyed her home town, and hundreds of people were left with no home, and the children with no toys. Dawson spent the weekend shopping for new toys and other related needs to give to the local families most affected by the fires. She wanted the children to, at the very least, still receive holiday presents.

Pagan Community Notes: Standing Rock, Gatlinburg, Operation Circle Care and more!

CANNONBALL, N.D. – It was announced Sunday that the Army Corps of Engineers have denied the easement allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe. The corps will be researching an alternative route. In response to the welcomed news, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II said, “We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing.” Chairman Archambault also thanked “everyone who played a role in advocating for this cause” from the youth who initiated the movement, to volunteers who visited the camps, other tribes, and supporters around the globe. With the help of Pagan activist Casey McCarthy, who has been back and forth to Standing Rock over the past few months, we gathered several reactions to the news.

Gatlinburg burning: eyewitness accounts

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — The bustling mountain resort town of Gatlinburg was devastated Monday as wild fires ripped through town, reducing some areas to only ashes and rubble. Believed to have been started by hikers, the fire is being called “the perfect storm” as high winds and dry air created ideal conditions for this tragic event. Officials are now saying the so-called Chimney Tops fire has taken as many as seven lives, burned 17,000 acres, and destroyed more than 700 buildings. “It’s a horror movie,” posted Angie ‘Pinkie’ Harvel.