North Carolina Democratic legislator­s release proposed redistrict­ing maps

Dubbing the maps a “fair and legal” alternative to those proposed by the ruling Republican Party, Democrats in the General Assembly have released their own proposals for redrawing congressional and state senate districts. The plan would keep Asheville in the 11th congressional district, instead of dividing it with the 10th.

Residents slam House redistrict­ing proposal


About 20 Western North Carolina residents shared their views on the N.C. General Assembly’s House and Senate redistricting proposals at a July 18 public hearing at A-B Tech.  The vast majority of them lambasted the House proposal as GOP gerrymandering designed to give Republicans an electoral edge at the expense of Democratic candidates and voters. Here’s a sampling of the people who came out and their views.
Photo by Jonathan Welch

The Beat: Getting the Statehouse in order

A look at what’s been making headlines: The North Carolina General Assembly continued to claim the spotlight last week as Republicans took control of both the House and Senate for the first time in more than a century. In other political news, Rep. Heath Shuler made waves by getting appointed to the powerful House Committee on the Budget. He also got made fun of in the famed Doonesbury comic strip. And in national attention of a different sort, news outlets nationwide reported that Fodors listed Asheville as a top travel destination.

Nesbitt, Durant and Gibson talk economics at today’s CIBO meeting

Without federal stimulus funds, North Carolina “would have had no choice but to close public schools. … We would have had a Great Depression; we were that close to the brink,” said N.C. Sen. Martin Nesbitt at today’s issues meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners. And the city of Asheville’s CFO Ben Durant warned that the city’s credit will be limited for years to come, noting that the city has reduced an estimated $5 million deficit in the next fiscal year’s budget to $3 million. Warren Wilson College’s Phil Gibson joked with the sometimes hard-nosed CIBO crowd, “I know many consider us the hippie, granola-munching college, but we are a business.”