Black Folks Camp Too founder Earl B. Hunter Jr. said new marketing collaborations would help him develop more interest in camping among the Black community. And later this month, Asheville-based artist Matthew Willey will begin work on a giant mural of honey bees at Hendersonville’s Hands On! Children’s Museum.
A $300,000 recurring allocation for the HRI, a program of Asheville-based nonprofit WNC Communities, stalled in the N.C. General Assembly due to partisan gridlock over the state budget. A joint proclamation between the HRI and the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services now aims to make the hemlock’s future more secure.
With Republican N.C. House District 117 primary winner Tim Moffitt now also the presumptive candidate to replace outgoing Rep. Chuck McGrady until the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election, how might his brief incumbency affect the outcome of the race and the new legislative session set to start in January?
County government only plans to keep about $3 million of the state allocation; the remainder would be distributed to Buncombe’s municipalities and fire districts using the same formula as for county sales tax. Asheville would receive roughly $944,000, or 21% of the money, with the Skyland Fire District receiving the next largest award of nearly $67,000, or 1.5%.
‘I had to laugh when I heard a staffer quip that he never expected wearing or not wearing a mask would become a partisan fashion statement,’ observes state Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson.
More Buncombe County voters — 81,887, or 41.79% of all eligible residents — took part in the primary elections that wrapped up March 3 than in any previous primary in the county’s history. Xpress outlines the winners and losers for levels of elected office from president to Asheville City Council.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
The document, set by the chamber’s advocacy and policy committee, adds opioid and substance abuse prevention to the docket for the first time. Affordable housing and expanded transit options throughout the Asheville metro region also made the cut, while Medicaid restructuring and the Interstate 26 Connector Project were both removed from last year’s list.
2019 prediction: Town of Biltmore Forest will greatly expand its influence in county government by allowing trees to vote.
Gayle Kemp Democrat Website: gaylekemp.com Occupation: Retired attorney Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: AFL-CIO, EqualityNC, Moms Demand Action Amount of money raised: Approximately $17,000 Top three donors: My campaign is a grassroots campaign, and the individual donations are from $2 to $1,000. Audrey Stelloh, Princess I. Ferguson, Daniel M. Fowler Why are […]
The DuPont Forest Festival, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 22, has been a long time in the making. The chemical conglomerate DuPont’s initial 1956 purchase of land for a silicon manufacturing plant in Cedar Mountain proved the beginning of a journey that would preserve one of Western North Carolina’s most treasured natural places for the future.
At the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s 13th annual Elected Officials Reception on Aug. 16, local politicians acknowledged that the intensity of recent city and county government scandals have sometimes pushed other issues to the side.
The N.C. General Assembly cut funding for landslide mapping in 2011, a decision area officials and scientists attribute to a combination of revenue shortfalls and lobbying by development interests. The state is now allocating $3.6 million for a new mapping project in the wake of multiple landslides this summer.
In November, North Carolina voters will choose whether to add the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife to their constitution. If the amendment passes, the state will join 21 others, including all of the South save Florida, Maryland and West Virginia, in explicitly affirming this right.
Local legislators and environmental advocates share their thoughts on which state budgetary and policy decisions could have a big impact on WNC’s environment in the coming fiscal year and beyond. They cited issues including the state’s response to novel contaminants like GenX chemicals, the budget for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and funding for the Clean Water Management, Parks and Recreation and Farmland Preservation trust funds.
State Rep. Chuck McGrady asked Asheville City Council for its cooperation in helping the region’s water and sewer systems work together. But the air was fraught with vestiges of battles between McGrady and Asheville in recent years over the issue.
At its Feb. 27 meeting, Asheville City Council could call for a national assault weapons ban and hear from Rep. Chuck McGrady about his latest plan to regionalize water and sewer systems.
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners heard a presentation by state Rep. Chuck McGrady about a new committee to study regional water and sewer districts.
ASHEVILLE
Buncombe County commissioners identified combating opioid abuse and increasing teacher salary supplements as top priorities. But is legal marijuana a viable strategy for achieving those goals, or merely smoke and mirrors?
“Julie cannot be trusted to represent us on City Council. What devil would she secretly attempt to cut her next deal with?”
