District attorney candidates address CIBO

Security, crime and justice took center stage during a  Council of Independent Business Owners breakfast April 1. The Asheville-based trade group’s meeting served as a forum for the three Democratic Buncombe County district attorney candidates: current DA Todd Williams, prosecutor and former Assistant DA Doug Edwards and assistant public defender Courtney Booth. (Attorney Joe Bowman […]

Gene Freeman

News in brief: Asheville City Schools names new superinten­dent; candidates announced for APD police chief

Asheville City Schools selects Gene Freeman for superintendent  Asheville City Schools announced Dec. 19 that the system had chosen Gene Freeman as its new superintendent. Freeman is currently the superintendent of the Fox Chapel Area School District, located in a suburb of Pittsburgh, and has more than 25 years of experience in education. The Asheville […]

In photos: Michael Brown justice rally draws hundreds in Asheville

About 200 people gathered in downtown Asheville Nov. 25 in support of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man who was killed by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer earlier this year. Unlike protests in Ferguson and some other cities, the Asheville gathering at Vance Monument was peaceful as attendees held signs with phrases such as “Hold Cops Accountable” and “Where is Justice for Black America.”

SECU Plaza: Asheville Council sells naming rights to State Employee’s Credit Union

Asheville City Council voted unanimously Oct. 28 to sell the naming rights of an outdoor public space in the heart of downtown to the North Carolina State Employee’s Credit Union Foundation. Council also considered problems at the Asheville Police Department, heard an update from Duke Energy, and appointed three members to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Former Asheville police evidence manager to be sentenced

Carolina Public Press reports: Lee Smith, the Asheville Police Department’s longtime evidence manager who resigned under a cloud of suspicion in early 2011 and last year pleaded guilty to stealing drug evidence, will be sentenced Tuesday, June 17, according to the federal prosecutor’s office in Charlotte. In an interview this week with Carolina Public Press, Buncombe […]

Mail to the Chief

On July 11, Asheville City Council held “a special meeting [and] declared its support for Police Chief William Anderson, announcing that an internal investigation had found no evidence that he had engaged in a cover-up related to a March car crash involving his son, as alleged by Lt. William Wilke,” David Forbes reported. Many readers questioned the efficacy of the city administration’s oversight regarding the police chief’s behavior, and wondered what other details came to light in the closed session that preceded the announcement. (Pictured: Police Chief William Anderson. Photo by Max Cooper)