If Asheville City Council approves the annexation agreement, Fletcher officials will promise not to claim a 2-acre piece of unincorporated Buncombe County for 20 years, clearing the way for Asheville’s newest addition. The property’s current owner is seeking voluntary annexation by the city.
Political scientists and women who have run for office in Buncombe County suggest that obstacles for women to get elected to local office here are much lower now than they once were — even though the proportion of female elected officials is still a good bit less than their share of the county’s population.
“The good news — if you’re someone who wants to see the hotel tax law changed — is that all parties seem to be in agreement,” Newman told Xpress. “They want to see the law changed, but at this point, we’re not on the same page about how to change it.”
U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray’s statement against two N.C. sheriffs, including Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller comes as the U.S. Department of Justice sues jurisdictions in other states over related policies.
Board members will consider spending an additional $650,000 to connect the bridge to existing roads at the board’s regular meeting in Room 326 at 200 College St. Buncombe officials previously allocated $3 million in taxpayer money for the structure, which was started over four years ago and has yet to carry traffic over Hominy Creek.
Asheville City Council will urge Congress to pass the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which is aimed at reducing fossil fuel use by imposing a tax that would increase over time. Before the 6-1 vote approving the board’s resolution, with Council member Brian Haynes opposed, members of the public weighed in on whether imposing such a tax is the right step.
Local elected officials, ordinary citizens and even a Mission nurse all blasted the stewardship of Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, which bought the collection of hospitals and other health care institutions for $1.5 billion and began running it in February 2019. The comments came at a Feb. 10 meeting in Asheville to get public input on the performance of the system since it was taken over by the for-profit company.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
“The loss of life and damage caused by current global warming demonstrates that the Earth is already too hot for safety,” states the document approved by a 6-0 vote of Asheville City Council on Jan. 28. “Restoring a safe and stable climate requires an emergency climate mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II.”
Representatives from the Urban Land Institute shared their recommendations during a Jan. 30 community meeting to aim to help city officials manage hotel development in wake of the one-year hotel moratorium.
All nine Asheville City Council candidates shared their thoughts and ideas on everything from climate change to raising employee wages at the Asheville City Council Candidate Forum hosted by Mountain Xpress.
Most of those who spoke were in support of declaring Buncombe a “Second Amendment sanctuary” where officials would pledge not to enact or enforce laws that threaten the right to bear arms. The commissioners did not weigh in on the discussion following public comment.
Under language proposed by the N.C. Federation of Republican Men, Buncombe County would commit to using “all legal means necessary” to protect its citizens’ access to firearms. Additionally, county officials would agree to refrain from enforcing any “acts, laws, orders, mandates, rules or regulations that infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”
Buncombe County Commissioner Mike Fryar served from 2012 until his death on Feb. 2.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Civil engineer Mike Anderson compared the plans for the Freedom in Christ property in Candler to those of other Christian facilities in rural Buncombe, including the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, Ridgecrest Conference Center and the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly.
As presidential hopefuls blitz the airwaves over the coming months to hook undecided voters, the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority will be stepping up its own campaign. The authority’s board voted to increase its spring and summer advertising budget by $1 million, for a total of $12.65 million, during a Jan. 29 meeting. “We considered […]
“Other than a new roof, the exterior shell and a few walls here and there, we’re looking at a brand-new facility,” said Chris Corl, general manager of Harrah’s Cherokee Center — Asheville, as he displayed concepts for the auditorium developed by the Nashville-based Earl Swensson Associates. He described the plan as “not a renovation, but a transformation.”
Some Council members were ready to put the peddle to the metal in the search for new transit system funding on Jan. 28. Not so Council member Vijay Kapoor, who convinced his peers to set the throttle to idle until the board’s next meeting, when the issue will be part of the formal agenda.
Jones previously worked as the emergency services director in Anderson County, S.C., for almost 12 years and replaces outgoing Emergency Services Director Jerry VeHaun, who announced his retirement in December after serving in that role since 1972.