NC lawmakers hear testimony from DENR, CTS neighbors on contaminat­ion case

A Statehouse committee chaired by Buncombe Rep. Tim Moffitt convened in Raleigh Jan. 17 to question DENR officials and hear from residents near the former CTS electroplating facility on Mills Gap Road south of Asheville. Here, Moffitt embraces CTS neighbor Dot Rice, whose family’s spring was contaminated by hazardous chemicals used at the plant; numerous Rice family members have become gravely ill.

Legislativ­e committees focus on Asheville, Buncombe County

With constitutional arguments concerning the Jan. 4 and 5 convenings of the N.C. Legislature now in the court system and the next scheduled session a month away on Feb. 16, the legislative calendar is currently dense with committee activity. And three committees specifically affecting Asheville and Buncombe County are part of the out-of-session action.

Whose agenda is this?

Watching the N.C. General Assembly's 2011-12 session thus far has been like sitting through a civics lesson on steroids. There’s been the high drama of the Republican Party's complete takeover of the Statehouse for the first time since 1870; the crisis of looming budget deficits in the wake of a national economic tidal wave; the […]

NCMatters: Sunshine and livermush

While the all-important $19.7 billion state budget labored its way through the General Assembly en route to Gov. Bev Perdue’s historic June 12 veto (the first time a North Carolina governor has ever rejected a budget), legislators also pushed a number of other bills along the Statehouse corridors toward the June 9 crossover deadline (after […]

Playing the numbers

With the 2010 census numbers now in hand, the state Legislature has begun redrawing the lines for N.C. House and Senate, as well as congressional districts. May 15 is the target date for producing new district maps; public hearings are now being held around the state, with a visit to Western North Carolina slated for […]

Multiple choice

The Joint Committee on Regulatory Reform, established by North Carolina legislators this year, is on the road. Its mission: Scrutinize “burdensome state rules and regulations on behalf of the private sector.” The 18-member team wants to hear from business and farm owners around the state concerning “outdated rules and regulations that should be eliminated.” The […]

Moffitt, Gantt spar over district elections


Buncombe County Board Chair David Gantt and Statehouse Rep. Tim Moffitt exchanged sharp words over Moffitt’s recent proposal to expand the Board of Commissioners from five to seven members and mandate district representation in place of the current at-large elections. The two elected officials spoke at this morning’s April 1 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at the Biltmore Square Mall. Photo by Margaret Williams

Heath Shuler deserves our thanks

Environmental laws took a battering in the U.S. House last week as Republicans passed a continuing resolution … packed with provisions to roll back and de-fund a slew of federal rules aimed at controlling climate change and protecting clean air and water. Along with other provisions in the continuing resolution that passed were ones that […]