Although Chicago-based 21CP Solutions finished its report on Asheville’s response to a police beating scandal in August, the city isn’t done hiring consultants to assess its policing approach. That’s one of the key takeaways from interim City Manager Cathy Ball’s memo discussing action items from the report, to be presented at Asheville City Council’s upcoming regular meeting.
Firestorm Books & Coffee and The Steady Collective announced that they had formally appealed their notices of violation on Sept. 17. The appeals will likely be considered at the next meeting of the city’s Board of Adjustment, which takes place on Monday, Oct. 22. If the board rejects the appeals, the groups face civil penalties of $100 for every day they remain out of zoning compliance.
On Tuesday, Sept. 25, historian and author Christopher Arris Oakley will discuss his latest book, New South Indians: Tribal Economics and the Eastern Band of Cherokee in the Twentieth Century at UNCA.
At the first of three planned Asheville-Buncombe County League of Women Voters’ candidate forums, the Republican candidate for N.C. Senate District 49 made an unusual request: Don’t take my picture and don’t record my words.
Three businesses — a float spa, a distillery and cocktail salon, and an immersive art experience — will seek the support of non-accredited investors (that is, regular people), who can purchase equity stakes in companies through crowdfunding campaigns at an event on Thursday, Sept. 20.
A handful of former Buncombe County employees had a message for commissioners during their regular meeting on Sept. 18: “Please consider the retirees.”
Enjoy a glimpse of life on the open road at the Asheville Van Life Rally Friday, Sept. 21-Sunday, Sept. 23, or take in one of the many campaign forums showcasing local candidates for local, state and national offices in this year’s general election.
In June 1902, North Carolina Sen. Jeter Conley Pritchard invited President Theodore Roosevelt to join him on a bear hunt in the western part of the state. The possible expedition created all sorts of commentary in the local papers.
Interim County Manager George Wood said in a Sept. 11 memo to commissioners that, taking into account increases in automatic employee raises, a projected bump in health insurance claims and the potential for larger funding requests from local school systems, the county could see an approximately $1.7 million deficit in FY 2020.
Learn more about B-corps, a local business awards program, local movers and shakers and data on Asheville’s economic indicators in our business news in brief from the issue of Sept. 12, 2018.
September is Deaf Awareness Month, with a range of activities designed to raise awareness of deaf culture and offer enhanced access to learning and fun.
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Area school districts checked their state report cards, which indicated moderate gains at many local public schools. Henderson County Public Schools launched a virtual public school with district teachers to expand educational offerings and settings for any high school student in the system.
In a process not open to the public, Council has selected a committee of “key community leaders” to help review candidates for the most powerful unelected official in city government. City spokesperson Polly McDaniel said the panel will provide “input and perspective on a list of candidates,” adding that members “will serve in an advisory role.”
County department heads pointed to an organizational culture of cliques and anxiety at a meeting with Buncombe County commissioners on Sept. 4.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.angry
The Asheville forum kicks off the IEI’s broader ReCONNECT NC initiative. Over the next three years, a series of six forums in four different cities will focus on the overarching theme of reconnection. Maggie Woods, policy and program manager at IEI, says people across the state are feeling out-of-touch and that this sense of detachment needs to be addressed at length.
With new plans for a pantry on wheels and a pop-up market program that can connect with untapped collaborators, MANNA FoodBank rounds out almost five years of work aimed at addressing health inequities among WNC’s most vulnerable populations.
The Land Use Incentive Grant point maximum will increase from 140 to 200, with every 10 points worth a rebate of one year of city property taxes above a property’s pre-development total. But developers will also face stricter conditions when applying for LUIG money: The minimum period for which a project must guarantee affordable housing will increase from 15 to 20 years.
A renewed focus on farming aims to provide STEM education opportunities for students while ultimately making the organization self-sustaining.
In 1941, two years before the Asheville Colored Hospital opened, Asheville’s African-American population numbered 14,500. At the time, the segregated city only had 21 hospital beds available for the entire African-American community.