House Bill 66, which was passed into law June 7, requires Buncombe County Schools to redraw its electoral districts based on population rather than traditional attendance zones, as they’ve done since 1975.
“They have given us a task that is fundamentally impossible,” said Board member Amanda Simpkins.
“Turnover, vacancies and an inability to fill the positions that we have available is leading to extremely high workloads, an inability to balance workloads and staff being more and more burned out and leaving the agency, which exacerbates the problem,” said Rebecca Smith, Buncombe’s social work division director.
Wilson, general manager of Wedge Brewing Co., will join the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority in September as one of two representatives of businesses not in the hotel or vacation-rental industry.
Two teams — the Community Child Protection Team, which reviews deaths related to abuse or neglect, and the Child Fatality Prevention team, which reviews all other cases of child death — put together an annual report with recommendations on how to reduce fatality rates.
Asheville-based Skyrunner Internet, the grant recipient, will expand service in the North and South Turkey Creek, Fairview Forest, Reems Creek and Ox Creek neighborhoods. The county will chip in an additional $500,000 to the project from its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
WNC farmers are left with bitter losses — 90 percent for peaches in Henderson County alone, amounting to $600,000 in lost revenue, says Terry Kelley, tree fruit expert and director of the Henderson County cooperative extension.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will reconsider changing the time of some government meetings after a survey of residents revealed a majority in favor of a new schedule. According to a proposal attached to the board’s agenda for Tuesday, July 18, the board’s first meeting each month would move to 10 a.m., preceded by […]
Asheville Regional Airport’s growth has outpaced all projections, already almost doubling numbers outlined in the airport’s 20-year master plan, drafted in 2013, for 2025 enplanements. However, more travelers are creating parking headaches at the state’s third-busiest airport.
The Asheville City Board of Education voted 6-1 to enter into an annual contract for the fiscal year starting July 1 with Chartwells, a subsidiary of Compass Group USA, at a special called meeting June 29.
“The staff of Explore Asheville get paid way beyond what the city and county are paying. It sends a message, and it’s not a message that’s good,” said board member Andrew Celwyn, who voted against the budget.
Local veterans discuss how their military service helped inspire the breweries they operate today.
New restaurants and breweries continue to open in Black Mountain, leaving business owners cautiously optimistic about the town’s potential as a tourist destination.
The $430.4 million general fund budget increases the property tax rate one cent to 49.8 cents per $100 of taxable value, or about 2%, resulting in the county’s highest tax rate since 2021.
The 342-acre tract atop Deaverview Mountain, just five miles from downtown Asheville, was purchased by an anonymous conservationist in March with the intention of selling the land to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. SAHC has three years to obtain federal and state grants to repay the buyer, then it plans to turn the property over to Buncombe County as a park or preserve.
The red-clad advocates filled the commission chambers and two overflow rooms, with about 25 speaking during the county’s budget hearing. They said the 10.3% increase for both Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools in the proposed $423.6 million fiscal year 2023-24 budget was far below the level needed to meet local education’s needs.
Once again, Asheville City Schools is without a superintendent. Rick Cruz has decided not to take the job as new ACS superintendent due to a “family medical emergency,” according to an email from Dillon Huffman, ACS spokesperson. “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that I will no longer be able […]
Since 1975, Buncombe has elected one school board member to represent each of the county’s six attendance zones — Enka, Erwin, Owen, North Buncombe, Reynolds and Roberson — and one at-large member. Candidates must live in the district they represent and residents can vote for all school board representatives, who run on a nonpartisan basis, regardless of their address, according to the resolution passed by the board.
Representatives presented a petition signed by 2,000 workers and supporters asking the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to consider using the Legacy Investment From Tourism fund to increase subsidized housing for tourism industry workers.
The meeting represents the public’s last opportunity to speak directly to commissioners about the $423.6 million general fund budget proposed for fiscal year 2023-24.
“If I don’t have the resources I need, I can’t do [the kids] justice. It’s impossible. I’ve tried to twist myself and do educational yoga for the last 20 years. And I can only do it so much longer,” says Matthew Leggat, a sixth-grade teacher at Montford North Star Academy.
There’s usually not much time for breaks between calls to step outside or use the bathroom, so workers in the windowless, dark call center basically stay glued to their chairs.
