“For three years, residents of Richmond Hill and Woodfin have been raising concerns about the Bluffs megadevelopment that proposes hundreds of luxury condos be jammed between Asheville’s largest wooded park and the French Broad River.”
New Stories
Letter: Preserving WNC environment requires action
“Take a moment to contact your representatives in Raleigh. Let them know you want effective action to stop climate change.”
Salvage Station concert venue to close, making way for I-26 Connector project
The venue, which opened in 2016, has hosted dozens of live shows through the years and boasts indoor and outdoor stages, all a stone’s throw from the French Broad River.
Letter: Housing Trust Fund boost would help WNC, state
“This is an opportunity for the state to leverage funds in a way that benefits entire communities, not just in urban areas, but across the state.”
Letter: Malvern Hills Pool deserves a second life
“With Council’s support and funding from general obligation bonds, the pool could be renewed, providing a public space to build friendships and community for many decades to come.”
Letter: School site could be repurposed for reparations
“Why not locate a resource center and an early childhood education center for Black students there, at 441 Haywood Road?”
Letter: Let Southside Community Farm thrive
“In a time when local food is essential, a discussion about growing food or paving the land for a playground is senseless.”
Council to hold public hearing on proposed budget Tuesday, May 28
The proposed budget includes a 4.11% salary increase for all permanent city employees.
State sues Pactiv Evergreen over $12 million subsidies for shuttered Canton mill
“This company has broken our economy, tried to break our spirits, and broken promises, and that’s not how we raise our children in this state,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers. “There are consequences for one’s actions.”
Protecting wildlife from selfie culture
“It is interesting to me that anybody would think it’s OK to just walk up and grab a bear cub and not be concerned about where mama is,” says Appalachian Wildlife Refuge co-founder Savannah Trantham said. “If she had been close by, I think that you probably would have seen a different outcome.”
County manager recommends tax hike to balance 2024-25 budget
County manager Avril Pinder’s proposed $441.9 million general fund budget, which still has to go through a public hearing and final vote next month, includes a 2.55 cent property tax increase next fiscal year.
ArtsAVL’s Creative Spaces study spotlights affordability gaps
The data comes from 400 surveys — 305 (76%) by arts professionals and 95 (24%) by arts businesses — across Buncombe, Haywood Henderson and Madison Counties in early 2024.
Mission’s urology services loses physicians; Asheville Urological Associates gives up privileges there
Mission Hospital faces an exodus of urologists, and five physicians from a local urology group refuse to practice at the HCA Healthcare-owned hospital, potentially reducing the number of specialists in the system to two by summer.
BREAKING: Organizers say they are ‘pausing’ Project Aspire
Project Aspire — a vast mixed-use, mixed-income venture slated for downtown Asheville — would have occupied 10.5 acres in downtown Asheville.