Low turnout predicted for June 7 congressio­nal primary

The June 7 primary will decide which congressional candidates advance to November’s general election. Buncombe County, part of the 10th and 11th congressional districts, historically has a significant drop off in voter participation in primaries that take place after the general primary and a small group of voters could shape November’s ballot.

Toxic legacy: CTS site breeds heartache for residents

With the EPA set to implement a new remediation strategy at the CTS of Asheville Superfund site this year, some residents and public officials are cautiously hopeful that the long-standing issues might finally be addressed. Others continue to lobby federal authorities to hold the EPA accountable for past missteps and speed up the remediation process.

Ban the Box, June-primary budget amendment set to go before Buncombe County Commission­ers

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners has a decidedly lighter agenda for its upcoming meeting compared to this month’s previous seven-hour slugfest. There are no public hearings scheduled and the four new business items don’t appear to be inherently contentious in nature when commissioners tackle the agenda on Tuesday, April 19. Among those issues are amending the budget to pay for June’s Congressional primary and consideration of removing the question regarding an candidate’s criminal past on the county’s hiring application.

David Gantt releases timeline, documents on Buncombe-Deschutes negotiatio­ns

In the aftermath of Buncombe County’s two-year effort to convince Orgegon-based Deschutes Brewery to build its East Coast expansion here, some critics have questioned the strategies employed. Buncombe County Commission Chair David Gantt released today (March 30) a timeline of events and supplemental documents correlated to Deschutes’ decision.

Zaniac brings innovative STEM education to Asheville

A recent Forbes magazine article asked whether Asheville could be “an emerging Silicon Valley.” And while some locals might wonder where the jobs that one might expect to come with such a claim are to be found, there’s little debate about the importance of getting young students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — […]

Smoke and mirrors: the death of tobacco in WNC

Few crops have been as central to North Carolina’s economy and culture — or as controversial — as tobacco. Historically, its high market value and the relative ease of growing it made tobacco a staple for many Western North Carolina farmers. As late as 2002, 1,995 mountain farms grew tobacco. The crop’s prevalence, however, was […]