County’s industrial board to consider approval of industrial revenue bonds

The Buncombe County Industrial Facilities and Pollution Control Financing Authority will hold a meeting on Tuesday, March 31, to consider the approval of financing new machinery for the Plasticard-Locktech International facility at 605 Sweeten Creek Road. The meeting will be held at noon at 46 Valley Street in downtown Asheville.

Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office warns of new scam affecting the area

“There is absolutely no validity to this whatsoever,” the sheriff states. “If somebody calls you and tries to collect money, [saying they’re] from any government entity at the threat of arrest — [know] that [neither] the IRS nor the Sheriff’s Office call and give you an opportunity to pay … any kind of fee or fine that would result in you being arrested.”

This year’s Puppy Bowl features puppies from Asheville Humane

For those not familiar with the annual Puppy Bowl, it’s a 2-hour program every Super Bowl Sunday featuring tiny puppies running around a small, indoor “stadium,” wrestling over a football squeak-toy and stopping to take spontaneous naps on the green.

Basically, it’s the cutest thing ever — and this year, the Puppy Bowl will feature three puppies from Asheville Humane Society.

Low-income taxpayers pay nearly twice the rate of high-income taxpayers in NC

According to a study from the The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Budget & Tax Center, North Carolinians with the lowest income pay more than 40 percent more in taxes (as a percent of their income) compared to the state’s wealthiest residents. The ITEP even calls the state and local tax system “unfair,” […]

Is Asheville no longer a ‘weirdo’ city?

In a piece originally titled “Remembering Max and Rosie’s,” Katie Herzog, social editor at Grist, takes a look back at Asheville’s changing cultural landscape over the last 10-ish years. The commentary, originally written for Charlotte’s NPR station in October, shows both Herzog’s nostalgia of Asheville’s “weirdo” population from a different time and her sadness that it has evolved […]

Asheville Metro Area shows lowest unemployme­nt numbers in the state

According to the October County and Area Employment Figures, released Dec. 9 by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Asheville area shows the fewest unemployment cases for any metropolitan statistical area in the state. Buncombe County’s unemployment rate fell from 4.4 percent in the spring to 4.0 (4.1 when grouped with other counties included […]