Board member Rick Livingston, who made the motion to deny the recommendation, said the proposed SE Asphalt plant’s location in a “very residential area” off the Spartanburg Highway was incompatible with both the county’s comprehensive plan and East Flat Rock’s community plan.
Together, the city of Asheville and Buncombe County approved over $11 million in funding to install roughly 7 megawatts of solar power at public facilities and area schools. The projects are anticipated to save the governments and local schools roughly $650,000 in electricity costs in the first year and more than $27 million over the installations’ 30-year operational life.
“My whole world seems to be closing,” says Danny Bernstein, an Asheville-based outdoors writer who regularly leads hikes for the Carolina Mountain Club and Friends of the Smokies. “Staying 6 feet apart is easy on the trail. But how can we have outdoor activity if almost every piece of public land is closed?”
The commission’s Democratic members passed direction for expanded community testing and contact tracing over the objections of its Republican contingent. Joe Belcher, Anthony Penland and Robert Pressley stressed their commitment to ensuring the county’s safety but expressed concern over the process by which the resolution was introduced and some of its terms.
“National parks in North Carolina need $459 million for infrastructure repairs. Crumbling historic markers, outdated electrical systems and deteriorating trails and roads are now common.”
Three draft design concepts for the city-owned Haywood-Page properties were presented during a public work session on the issue Feb. 17, and residents can comment on those designs via online survey through Sunday, March 14.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
As a result of the HCA acquisition of Mission Health, proceeds of the sale created the Dogwood Health Trust, a nonprofit foundation whose purpose is “to dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities in Western North Carolina,” according to a press release from the trust.
Western North Carolina’s wild places and creatures lie at the heart of the region’s appeal, inspiring local artists and attracting visitors from across the globe. Events in 2018 promised to shape the future of those natural resources for years to come.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, NC
“This spring, National Audubon Society scientists teamed up with the National Park Service to release a peer-reviewed study, which revealed that climate change is likely to have significant impacts on birds in over 270 national parks, including our own Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”
Across Western North Carolina, public art projects seek to build community and unite individuals from all walks of life.
The highest peak in the Plott Balsam Mountains, Waterrock Knob encompasses a unique ecosystem. The Blue Ridge Parkway will now conserve 5,329 acres of this irreplaceable landscape thanks to recent land and financial gifts by a network of conservation groups and private donors. The public is invited to weigh in on plans for the area through Feb. 25.
We all need friends, and public lands in Western North Carolina increasingly receive care in the form of “Friends” nonprofit groups. In an era of shrinking federal budgets for parks and forests, these organizations are stepping up to preserve and maintain public spaces.
Asheville, N.C.
Hurricane Irma blasted through Florida over the weekend and what’s now a tropical storm is moving toward Western North Carolina, with rain and wind expected to lash the region this afternoon and tonight.
Business leaders, nonprofit representatives, elected officials and political candidates from across Buncombe County gathered at the Biltmore Estate’s Lioncrest venue Wednesday, Oct. 28 for the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s annual meeting.
**UPDATED AUG. 20** Hops and Vines and Altamont sell, three breweries release beers to benefit the Blue Ridge Parkway and Waynesville hosts its second Beer Faire.
Despite their great variety, every one of the 71 national park units local author Danny Bernstein visited for her new book, Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South, proved itself worthy of preservation and interesting for a wide range of visitors.
