With a new fiscal year just around the corner, it looks as though Buncombe County will also be looking for a new budget officer. After about 1-1/2 years in the position, Budget Officer Mamie Scott has been transferred to the Planning Department, County Manager Wanda Greene confirmed June 4. Scott’s new duties haven’t yet been […]

“As long as I’ve been here, we’ve been talking about fixing the water lines.” — Buncombe County Commissioner Patsy Keever If actions speak louder than words, then nonactions must positively roar. The Buncombe County commissioners took one such “nonaction” at their May 20 meeting. Rather than approve a fiscal year 2003-04 Regional Water Authority budget […]

Free kids’ festival kicks off summer fun A free festival complete with clowns, fossil searches, food, music and more will run from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 1 in downtown Asheville’s City/County Plaza. The inaugural Childrens First Festival will also feature a giant air slide, a moon walk and dinosaur digs, along with […]

A photo of Norman Blair during the 1985 Boston Marathon reveals a look of dogged concentration as he strides toward an impressive 10th-place finish in just two hours, 25 minutes and 23 seconds. Meanwhile, his comrades on Team Etonic betray the haggard faces you’d expect on men slogging through 26.2 grueling miles of world-class competition […]

Nationwide, the AIDS epidemic has been hitting minority communities harder than the rest of the population. In 2001, ethnic minorities — which, collectively, make up about a third of the population — accounted for 64 percent of reported HIV cases, notes Carlos Velez, director of technical assistance, training and treatment at the National Minority AIDS […]

Back in February, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors approved a five-page document setting out the Chamber’s 2003 legislative agenda. During the April 10-12 Legislative Weekend, Chamber staffers used their time with legislators to emphasize these points, according to Chamber President/CEO Richard Lutovsky. Here are some of the actions the Chamber wants […]

“We’re passing the buck. … We need a comprehensive plan.” — Buncombe County Commissioner David Gantt Despite Buncombe County’s lengthy history of controversy over land-use regulations, a decision last week to establish community-based planning passed with only a few dissenting words. On April 8, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to allow communities […]

A proposal to limit the number of homes that can be built on steep slopes won the Buncombe County Planning Board’s seal of approval last week. On April 7, the Planning Board unanimously recommended that the Board of Commissioners add hillside-development standards to the county’s subdivision ordinance. The proposed regulations, noted Planning Board members, aren’t […]

French Broad Riverkeeper Phillip Gibson is passionate about water pollution. So the RiverLink staffer thinks it’s vital that citizens attend a public hearing this week to voice their opinions on proposed rules to tackle what he calls the “last unregulated source of water pollution” — contaminated stormwater runoff. The public hearing will be held Thursday, […]

The simmering debate over how to manage growth dominated the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ half-day retreat last week. But with countywide zoning shelved for the time being, the discussion didn’t generate any real heat. The March 25 retreat included a request from an informal citizens’ coalition that commissioners follow recommendations in the county’s Land […]

Understanding how statewide mental-health reform will unfold locally is a bit like trying to piece together a puzzle. But as a forum last week revealed, one of the challenges is trying to find the missing pieces. About 55 people attended a March 25 forum on state-mandated mental-health reform, held in an A-B Tech auditorium. Many […]

A key appointment will be made at the next Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting: a seat on the five-member WNC Regional Air Quality Agency Board, which regulates and enforces air-quality standards in Asheville and Buncombe County. But it looks like it won’t be Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chairman Nathan Ramsey filling the seat. […]

[Editor’s note: A recent story highlighted Partners Unlimited, a local mentoring program (“It takes a village,” Feb. 12 Xpress). Here, we consider how mentoring fits into a broader community effort to help local students graduate.] At times, the world seems to offer each of us a multitude of different paths — some more positive than […]

“I implore you, in a moral sense, to not screw this thing up.” — Steven House, advocate for the mentally ill His voice calm and deliberate, Asheville resident Steven House encouraged the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners last week not to fear people like him. House — who said he’s been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia […]

Workshop takes on Hispanic housing issues Among the many issues facing members of the local Hispanic community is finding safe, affordable housing. A community workshop on housing — “Reaching Out in Our Diversity” — will happen Thursday, April 3, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Great Smokies Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort. Presented by the Asheville-Buncombe Community […]

As mental-health reform unfolds in Buncombe and seven other WNC counties, local advocates fear they may be shut out of key policy decisions. A public forum on mental-health reform has been set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25 in Laurel Auditorium on A-B Tech’s Asheville campus. Instead of publicly provided services (such as those […]

The balance of power shifted from landowners back to voters in a proposal on community-based planning adopted by the Buncombe County Planning Board this month. The change, however, came about in a surprising way. On March 3, County Attorney Joe Connolly told the group he sees no legal problem with letting only landowners sign petitions […]