At its March 25, 2008, meeting, Asheville City Council agreed to accept a parking study prepared by consultant Kimley-Horne. The study sets out where future parking needs will be the greatest in Asheville’s central business district and offers suggestions for improvements, such as more security in parking decks and better signage. Here’s a summary of […]

The Mountain Area Information Network, a local Internet service provider, is planning to use what’s known as a “mesh network” to cover the city with wireless access to the Web. The key benefits, according to Wally Bowen, MAIN’s executive director, include affordable access and economic development. This document sets forth MAIN’s proposal, as presented to […]

Few Asheville trees have attracted as much attention as the magnolia located on a parcel of downtown parkland that was sold to developer Stewart Coleman, which is at the center of a debate surrounding that controversial land deal. It’s also become the symbolic center of a mini culture war of sorts between a Pagan group, […]

This March 2008 staff report from City Attorney Bob Oast to Asheville City Council explains what it would take to enact a moratorium on downtown development in Asheville. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

A city of Asheville staff report on City Council work sessions; after abandoning such sessions for a while, in March 2008, Council returned to holding one a month. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

The late Charles Kuralt was one of North Carolina’s most beloved broadcasters. A native of the Charlotte area, his career took him to multiple news and feature programs on the CBS television network. In an early assignment, Kuralt was CBS’ correspondent in Latin America — during the early 1960s, when U.S. officials were intent on […]

This “North Carolina Guide to Open Government and Public Records,” a joint publication of the North Carolina Press Association and Attorney General Roy Cooper, was compiled and released in early 2008. It’s a rare collaboration between state government and a media group, and explains the finer points about which records and meetings are public, and […]

This March 18, 2008 letter from Asheville City Council was delivered to members of the N.C. House Select Committee on Municipal Annexation, which held a public hearing in Asheville to listen to residents’ thoughts and concerns regarding the state’s annexation laws. The letter states, in part: “With respect to the City of Asheville, we believe […]

This March 2008 letter from the ACLU to Asheville Assistant City Attorney Curt Euler outlines the ACLU’s stance on the Asheville Police Department’s policy of publicizing prostitution arrests. Click here to download a PDF of the document.  

In this document, former Sheriff Bobby Medford, through his attorney, Stephen Lindsay, moves to delay the start of his upcoming trial by 30 days. In the documents, Lindsay claims that the current March 25 trial date has not given him and the defense enough time to review all the evidence. Click here to download a […]

This February 1964 report on the local racial situation was prepared by Asheville’s then-Mayor Earl Eller and a local attorney, William E. Greene, who was chair of the Asheville Area Council on Human Relations. Prepared for the N.C. Mayors Cooperating Committee, the document offers a stark summary of the advances — and ongoing barriers — […]

Legendary moonshiner Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, 61, of Haywood County was arrested and charged with making moonshine in March 2008. He faces three charges related to the manufacture and possession of selling untaxed whiskey and one charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in […]