The proposed budget includes a 4.11% salary increase for all permanent city employees.
New Stories
State sues Pactiv Evergreen over $12 million subsidies for shuttered Canton mill
“This company has broken our economy, tried to break our spirits, and broken promises, and that’s not how we raise our children in this state,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers. “There are consequences for one’s actions.”
Protecting wildlife from selfie culture
“It is interesting to me that anybody would think it’s OK to just walk up and grab a bear cub and not be concerned about where mama is,” says Appalachian Wildlife Refuge co-founder Savannah Trantham said. “If she had been close by, I think that you probably would have seen a different outcome.”
County manager recommends tax hike to balance 2024-25 budget
County manager Avril Pinder’s proposed $441.9 million general fund budget, which still has to go through a public hearing and final vote next month, includes a 2.55 cent property tax increase next fiscal year.
ArtsAVL’s Creative Spaces study spotlights affordability gaps
The data comes from 400 surveys — 305 (76%) by arts professionals and 95 (24%) by arts businesses — across Buncombe, Haywood Henderson and Madison Counties in early 2024.
Mission’s urology services loses physicians; Asheville Urological Associates gives up privileges there
Mission Hospital faces an exodus of urologists, and five physicians from a local urology group refuse to practice at the HCA Healthcare-owned hospital, potentially reducing the number of specialists in the system to two by summer.
BREAKING: Organizers say they are ‘pausing’ Project Aspire
Project Aspire — a vast mixed-use, mixed-income venture slated for downtown Asheville — would have occupied 10.5 acres in downtown Asheville.
Around the region: WNC police chiefs discuss challenges, strategies
For this month’s “Around the Region,” Xpress talked to six area police chiefs about how smaller law enforcement agencies address crime, public safety, recruitment and retention, community relations and other issues.
Hospitality workers reveal health care struggles in new survey
Less than one-fourth of Asheville hospitality workers in a recent survey have paid sick leave, and 85% have gone to work sick.
UNCA applies institutional neutrality to Gaza protests, social justice displays
“Institutional neutrality promotes the open exchange of ideas and avoids inhibiting scholarship, creativity, and expression,” UNCA Chancellor Kimberly van Noort wrote in a public update to students and faculty earlier this month. “Compromising this position carries great risks.”
What’s new in food: Flour opens in S&W Market
The new bakery and café offers a menu of early-morning breakfast options and lunchtime focaccia sandwiches and salads. Also in this week’s food news, the launch of Terra Nova Beer Co.’s South Slope taproom with an Asheville outpost of Mission Pizza Napoletana, Blueprint Breakfast for Dinner, AVL Honey Fest and more.
Around town: Nerd Pride Festival returns for second year
Nerd Fest returns, local painter gives away art, WCU announces endowed professorship, Unity of the Blue Ridge hosts a singing and storytelling festival and more.
Letter: The case for rebuilding the Vance Monument
“Rebuilding the obelisk presents an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue about our past, acknowledging the undesirable complexities of historical figures like Vance, while also honoring the positive aspects of their legacies.”
Letter: Thoughts on the TDA and socialism
“Forced to do the best they could, I believe the Tourism Development Authority did the right thing sidestepping a lawsuit that they probably would lose.”
Chai Pani moves and supersizes
After 14 years downtown, the award-winning Indian street food restaurant has moved to a much larger South Slope building and has expanded its menu to match the space.
Judge’s backing of AdventHealth over Mission Health for new Weaverville hospital keeps pressure on HCA
The decision is the latest development in a series of legal battles HCA is fighting related to North Carolina, including several over its management of Mission Health.