At any given time, there are an estimated 2,000 homeless people in Buncombe County. An ambitious plan to drastically reduce homelessness in Asheville was greeted with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism at City Council’s Dec. 7 work session. “This is a fairly radical departure from the way you treat homeless now,” noted Jerome Jones, […]

The long-running debate over widening a three-mile stretch of Interstate 240 through West Asheville seems to flare and fade, depending on what ideas are on the table. And now, a proposal by the city’s traffic engineer promises to bring the issue front and center once more. In the face of conflicting traffic projections by the […]

The candidates are Tom Apodaca, Republican, and Matthew C. Rogers, Democrat. Tom Apodaca Age: 46Address: 214 N. King St., HendersonvilleOccupation: Small-business ownerYears in WNC: 27Education: B.S. in finance, Western Carolina UniversityPolitical party: RepublicanPolitical experience: State senator since 2002 1. What sets you apart from your opponent? “I would have to say experience. Two years under […]

The candidates are R.L. Clark, Republican, and Martin L. Nesbitt, Democrat. R.L. Clark Age: 73Address: 2 Quail Cove Road, AshevilleOccupation: Small-business ownerYears in WNC: 40 in Buncombe; Madison County nativeEducation: B.S. in business administration; M.Ed., Western Carolina UniversityPolitical party: RepublicanPolitical experience: N.C. Senate, 1995-98 1. What sets you apart from your opponent? “As a member […]

School leaders typically report to the local government whose residents they serve. So why would top officials of the Buncombe County Schools appear before the Asheville City Council to field assorted hot-button questions, as they did at Council’s Oct. 19 work session? The answer, it seems, has to do with the “A-word.” When Asheville annexes […]

Vote for four. The candidates are Mark Crawford, Republican; David Gantt, Democrat; Mike Harrison, Republican; Mike Morgan, Republican; Carol Weir Peterson, Democrat; Bill Reynolds, Republican; Bill Stanley, Democrat; and David Young, Democrat. Bill Reynolds Age: 65Address: 586 Old U.S. 70, SwannanoaOccupation: Self-employed (delivery service)Years in Buncombe County: 32Education: Attended University of South Carolina (didn’t graduate)Political […]

How do you plow through a jam-packed work-session agenda while keeping one eye fixed firmly on the clock? On Sept. 21, the Asheville City Council did it by resorting to major surgery. Faced with a full slate of widely varied topics, Council members missed their targeted 6:30 wrap-up time by a mere 15 minutes — […]

A month after the Downtown Social Issues Task Force’s plan for dealing with graffiti found a cold reception from Asheville City Council members, task force representatives were back with proposals for addressing panhandling and public intoxication. But at Council’s Aug. 17 work session, these plans, too, were greeted with a measure of skepticism. The panhandling […]

The author of a plan that calls for some logging in Asheville’s drinking-water watersheds took questions from City Council, but his answers did little to placate those opposed to the plan. A crowd of logging opponents that spilled out into the hallway was on hand as forester Edward Hicks outlined his forest-management plan for the […]

“You don’t increase water quality by cutting trees.” — ecologist Bob Gale, WNC Alliance In Asheville, the mere presence of a plan of whatever sort is often enough to foster controversy. Pile on the possibility of logging in the city’s drinking-water watersheds, and you have the spark that could ignite a brushfire of public protest. […]

Community meetings are a wild card. Public comment at City Council meetings is limited to agenda items, but community meetings are wide open. These public forums, held in a different part of Asheville whenever there’s a fifth Tuesday in the month, give residents a chance to speak directly to Council about whatever’s on their mind. […]

Six months after abandoning a controversial plan to build a high-rise on city property, the Grove Park Inn is turning its attention to another major downtown development project. When the city entered into an agreement with the GPI last May to explore developing two sites adjacent to City/County Plaza, most public attention was focused on […]

After a month of bargaining, jockeying and pleas for unity, City Council members remain sharply divided on how to combat drug trafficking. But at least this time they came away with a decision of sorts. Despite Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower‘s repeated attempts to sell his colleagues on a $1 million law-enforcement blitz in Asheville’s public-housing […]

“We won’t be content shuffling the homeless from one side of town to the other.” — presidential appointee Philip Mangano No one disputed that ending local homelessness within the next decade is a good idea. But a list of 30 nominees to the project’s new steering committee did spark some debate at the Asheville City […]

“Do you think Asheville is ready for a roundabout in the middle of the city?” — Council member Joe Dunn The quarter-mile stretch of College Street between Spruce and Charlotte streets may be up for a face-lift. The roadway, which marks the eastern edge of downtown, is marked by a concentration of city and county […]

“If you sign up late, you run a greater risk of not being heard.” — Mayor Charles Worley on limiting the length of public hearings It took five hours for tempers to really emerge at the Asheville City Council’s March 16 work session, perhaps aided by a 12-point agenda that would have tried the patience […]