Asheville’s infamous “Pit of Despair” may soon move one step closer to redevelopment. At Asheville City Council’s meeting of Tuesday, Oct. 27, members will review — and potentially approve — a concept plan for two city-owned parcels located at 68 Haywood Street and 37 Page Avenue.
Addressing the Council of Independent Business Owners, Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards argued that Asheville was “bowing to the radicals that are asking for police departments to be defunded.” To ensure law and order, Edwards continued, he is developing legislation that would strip state funds from cities that cut law enforcement.
Years from now, the decision in 2018 by the directors of Mission Health to sell to HCA Healthcare might be seen as a brilliant strategic maneuver, one that guaranteed affordable, high-quality healthcare for future generations of western North Carolinians. This was, and still is, the position of the directors and executives who pushed the deal.
A look at the online rosters of agents at the largest real estate firms in Buncombe County suggests that women make up a majority of brokers here also, although many top-level jobs are still held by men.
The period between the closing of polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and the official declaration of results on Friday, Nov. 13, has already become the subject of intense legal debate. But local elections officials stress they’re doing everything possible to ensure that all eligible votes will be counted accurately.
Instead of reimposing additional statewide restrictions — something Gov. Roy Cooper has repeatedly said he wants to avoid unless absolutely necessary — the governor asked local law enforcement agencies to “enhance prevention efforts.”
Marla Tambellini, Explore Asheville’s vice president of marketing, shared an industry consultant’s view that “recovery is inevitable” during the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s annual meeting on Oct. 20.
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“People are out and about, sometimes with symptoms, putting people at risk,” said Stacie Saunders, Buncombe County’s public health director, during an Oct. 20 update to the county Board of Commissioners. “Folks are not adhering to the precautions like keeping 6 feet apart.”
Asheville native Kalesha Ruth returns to the mountains to start her own used car dealership specializing in low down payments. To her knowledge, she’s the first Black women to own a car dealership in Western North Carolina.
The news stunned Asheville and Western North Carolina, where Mission Health System Inc. was the area’s largest employer, its main healthcare provider, and a long-time source of civic pride. Seemingly out of the blue, Mission’s directors publicly announced on March 21, 2018, that they had voted to sell the 133-year-old nonprofit to HCA Healthcare.
The Blue Ridge Hospital opened in September 1922. At the time, it was Asheville’s only medical facility for Black residents. In addition to treating the injured and sick, the site also operated a nurse training program for African American women.
For the second day in a row, North Carolina set a record for the most COVID-19 cases reported in a single day. With numbers rising both across the state and in Buncombe County, here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus as the weekend approaches.
At about $32.47 million, actual sales taxes through the end of the 2020 fiscal year were still down 3.2% from the budgeted target of more than $33.53 million. But during an April 7 budget work session, Budget Director Jennifer Barnette had projected sales tax revenue at just $30 million due to the impacts of the coronavirus, a decrease of more than 8.9%.
A team of Jackson County researchers found that wastewater collected in rural areas can be used to track COVID-19 outbreaks up to a week before a patient tests positive. Now, they’re hoping to expand the study across the region.
Zoning may not deliver the same zing as other hot-button issues in a competitive election cycle, but it’s among the most crucial discussions Asheville leaders and residents face as the city grows. Each candidate has different ideas about what to do first.
The 2,532 new COVID-19 cases reported Oct. 15 marked the state’s highest one-day increase since the pandemic began in March. With worsening metrics, North Carolina residents need to step up and do their part to slow the viral spread, Gov. Roy Cooper said.
Black Folks Camp Too founder Earl B. Hunter Jr. said new marketing collaborations would help him develop more interest in camping among the Black community. And later this month, Asheville-based artist Matthew Willey will begin work on a giant mural of honey bees at Hendersonville’s Hands On! Children’s Museum.
Valiant community crusader or outlandish provocateur? Xpress reviews Chad Nesbitt’s long and colorful history in Buncombe County politics.
Buncombe County Health and Human Services Director Talmadge “Stoney” Blevins gave North Carolina lawmakers limited details about his agency’s decision to place a 9-year-old girl in a drug- and needle-filled hotel room during a hearing on Oct. 13.
Now in its fifth week, the PODS program aims to address the opportunity gap between Black and white students in the Asheville City Schools. Students meet in small groups to receive support with online learning; PODS staff act as a liaison between ACS teachers and students to engage and offer additional enrichment for kids who are struggling academically.
Deteriorating forest roads damage the ecosystem and limit access essential for forest management and the forest-product economy.