At the heart of the case against Ellen Frost, who was first elected to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners in 2012 and served through 2018, are roughly $575,000 in county funds that she and former County Manager Wanda Greene allegedly funneled to support “various equestrian enterprises in North Carolina and Florida.”
Under the new contract, according to a presentation by county Solid Waste Director Dane Pedersen available before the meeting, all customers would receive trash and recycling containers from Waste Pro as part of a $19.21 monthly service fee. Currently, customers pay a $16.08 base fee and can rent containers for an optional $3.80 per month.
According to personal finance website WalletHub, Asheville is the nation’s 39th best small city in which to start a business. A combination of industry variety, high workforce educational attainment and low labor costs helped the city beat out over 1,200 other markets with fewer than 100,000 residents.
The local hospitality industry got together for a look back at 2018 and forecast of industry conditions for 2019 on Feb. 22. Buncombe County announced it has named Diana Sierra family justice coordinator and Mike Mace general services director.
Beverly-Hanks Realtors celebrated a big year with an awards ceremony Feb. 12. Mega Networking returns to the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce on Mar. 14. And the cost of renting an apartment rose nearly three percent over the past year, according to an industry website.
Passenger numbers increased by 18.6 percent compared to 2017, assisted by new nonstop routes to destinations such as Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa, Fla. A recent economic impact study found that the airport contributes nearly $1.5 billion per year to the local economy.
“The signage is horrible!”
“The airport should reopen the entire long-term lot in order to ‘preserve choice for passengers.'”
As part of an ongoing push for transparency in the wake of allegations of fraud against former county manager Wanda Greene, the county Board of Commissioners will hear a presentation Tuesday about the state of the county’s FY 2017-18 finances.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners may be in for a long night when it confronts a full agenda at its Tuesday, April 18, meeting. Commissioners will hear presentations for two grant requests totaling $6.2 million, and consider approval of an economic development incentive package worth $881,960. Commissioners will also hold public hearings on two […]
Allegiant today announced service between Asheville and our nation’s capital via the Baltimore / Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The company is offering one-way fares to Baltimore for as low as $39.
In addition to considering the county’s nonprofit funding policy, Buncombe Commissioners will hear updates from the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Asheville Regional Airport when they meet May 7.
The Ford has moved on to Lexington, Ky. If you missed a chance to ride, here is a slideshow from this weekend’s rides.
President Barack Obama swooped in to the Asheville Regional Airport Oct. 17, praising the town and delivering a combative speech to hundreds of supporters gathered on the tarmac to greet him as he kicked off a bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia. This post includes an audio recording of the speech and the latest edition of the Mountain Xpress’ local-news podcast, in which reporter Jake Frankel shares observations from the event.
Photo by Jonathan Welch
Two pieces of legislation affecting the city of Asheville — studying the transfer of the water system and giving the Asheville Regional Airport to an independent authority — won’t become law this year. Sen. Tom Apodaca‘s office confirms that, with the end of the session looming, neither bill will get through the Senate this session.
In this edition of Local Matters, Xpress News Editor Margaret Williams talks to reporter Jake Frankel about URTV’s possible legal filing against Buncombe County, and to reporter David Forbes about a controversial state move to takeover control of the Asheville Regional Airport, updates from City Council and the recent announcement of a congressional bid by Council member Cecil Bothwell.
At their April 26 meeting, Asheville City Council members discussed state legislative action that could “seize a city’s real estate” — in this case, the Asheville Regional Airport. Council also received the the city budget and approved incentives for a south Asheville apartment complex.
The work of more than 100 local artists has been displayed for air travelers at the Asheville Regional Airport during the three-year period since the “Art in the Airport” program began.
David Gantt, a member of the governing board of the Asheville Regional Airport, returned to Asheville on Tuesday from a five-day trip to an airport industry conference in Hawaii and defended the trip as a valuable learning experience.
The Asheville Regional Airport will get $7.5 million in federal stimulus money to improve its terminal, a release from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today.
Flown recently? No? Join the club. Millions of potential passengers are grounding themselves these days. Their reasons include poor service, too-frequent flight disruptions and dubious security measures that produce interminable waits. Meanwhile, a souring economy and soaring fuel costs are only adding to the travel industry’s woes. That could spell trouble for the Asheville Regional […]
