This February 2008 Asheville city staff report explains a resolution authorizing the city of Asheville to contract with planning firm Goody Clancy to develop a Downtown Master Plan for Asheville. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

This June 2007 document from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources lists inactive hazardous sites across the state. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

In this May 2007 staff report from then-Asheville Civic Center Director David Pisha to City Council, Pisha provides an overview of his staff’s event management practices. The report notes an increase in the number of large, arena events and explains that, to increase security, people visiting the Civic Center have been banned from carrying large […]

This brochure produced by the Asheville Buncombe Living Wage Campaign aims to have businesses apply for a certification that shows they pay a living wage in the community. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

In this October 2007 letter from Asheville City Attorney Bob Oast to attorney Paul Bidwell, Oast tells Bidwell to inform Reid Thompson that city staff has been instructed not to talk with him. The letter warns Thompson, on several occasions, “had behaved in a manner that has caused them to be concerned for their safety.” […]

This 17-page complaint to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Standards of Ethical Conduct was filed in 2006 by the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and outlines allegations of wrongdoing then-U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-Brevard, of Western North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

This document produced by the N.C. Central Cancer Registry shows county-by-county cancer rates for several different types of cancer from 2000 to 2004. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

In February 2008, Blue Ridge Paper Products in Canton, one of the region’s biggest employers and one of the region’s biggest air polluters, sought a renewed Title V air-emissions permit as required under federal standards for major emissions sources. Title V permits apply to facilities emitting more than 100 tons per year of any regulated […]

Asheville City Council in April 2007 discussed making changes to the Bele Chere street festival, including making the festival more local and possibly changing the date of the summer party. The city received a March 2007 staff report that made recommendations to council about proposed changes. Click here to download a PDF of the report.

The city of Asheville adopted its first comprehensive bicycle plan for the city in February 2008. Council’s adoption of the plan was hailed as a coup by the cycling community. The city’s public hearing drew a large turnout, with helmet-clad supporters seated in the second-floor Council chamber and filling the downstairs overflow room, where the […]

Early in 2008, a number of U.S. Senators wrote to Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne, urging him to revise his department’s regulations pertaining to firearm possession on national park and national wildlife refuge lands. Since the 1930s, federal regulations have banned the possession of loaded weapons on those public lands, but the proposed regulations would overturn […]

This February 2008 document is Buncombe County Parks and Recreation Services’ master plan. Click here to download a PDF of the document.

A controversial report on the state of race relations in the Asheville Police Department, submitted in September 2007, drew sharp criticism from city officials. Produced by Lt. Anthony Franklin of the Richmond, Va., Police Department, the 20-page document asserts that Asheville’s African-American community sees “the department as the enemy.” The report also states that many […]

This staff report to Asheville City Council from August 2007 explains a change in the city’s sign ordinance that requires businesses to follow federal guidelines when flying the American flag. On July Fourth 2006, TNT Fireworks was cited for flying flags over two temporarily erected tents. Although the city’s sign ordinance already prohibited using flags […]

On Feb. 24, state Alcohol Law Enforcement agents carried out a raid on property maintained by business owner and conservative activist Chad Nesbitt, which ALE officials claim targeted illegal poker games that have been going at the site. Nesbitt denies the allegations. Click here to download a PDF of the document.