First of all, please ditch the polo shirts. After listening to a few hours of citizen input about the Business Improvement District for downtown Asheville, this was one of the recurring themes I gleaned: Some people in Asheville really dislike the idea of BID “ambassadors” walking around downtown sporting polo shirts. OK, their concerns go beyond the seemingly benign sporty attire, but it still delivered a clear message: This BID, like the one that never got funded a decade ago, could face a real uphill battle in Asheville. More than 60 people spoke at the April 23 City Council meeting, and t ..read more

Buncombe County and the city of Asheville took a significant step toward dismantling discrimination in 2021 by enacting local laws prohibiting it in private employment and public commerce. The ordinances, unanimously passed by both governmental bodies, set up a system for filing and investigating complaints alleging discrimination and penalizing violators, and mirrored efforts that have been adopted by about two dozen cities and counties in North Carolina. But nearly three years later, none of the 55 complaints that have been filed to the county and city have resulted in a discrimination find ..read more

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers: Question: I cannot believe nothing is being done about the people who took the bear cubs out of the tree for selfies. This amounts to animal cruelty. Since there is no punishment, others will be encouraged to do the same thing. I hope you will address this crime. My answer: I think the only proper punishment here would be to smother these dipwads in honey, roll them in birdseed and then zip tie them to a tree near the mama bear’s den and let nature run its course. Real answer: Clearly, this April 16 incident at a ..read more

Novant announced Tuesday that it plans to apply to build a 26-bed cancer-focused hospital in Buncombe County. The proposed hospital, Novant Health Asheville Medical Center, would be built on 24 acres located at 455 Long Shoals Road. Novant will first have to get state approval for the hospital through the Certificate of Need approval process. The company also confirmed it has leased the former Gold’s Gym site, located at the corner of Hendersonville Road and Overlook Roads, for medical office space. That lease means that a much longed-for Trader Joe’s location in south Asheville won’t be ..read more

Black Mountain-based Ingles Markets has grown into one of the largest regional grocers in the Southeast and been publicly traded on Wall Street for most of its history, but control of the company rests with one man: the founder’s son. Robert “Bobby” Ingle II, chairman of the board and Ingles’ largest single stockholder, holds 72 percent of the voting power.  Bobby Ingle controls who runs the company from its management to the board of directors and will chart Ingles’ future in the highly competitive grocery industry. As principal stockholder, Bobby Ingle “has the ability to elect a major ..read more

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers: Question: Walking downtown last Thanksgiving, I noticed an informational sign in front of Harrah’s Cherokee Center that describes local music traditions. The sign was provided by Explore Asheville. A list of local musicians includes Gladys Knight, but her name is spelled “Galdys Knight.” I notified Harrah’s Cherokee Center General Manager Chris Corl, and he said he would contact Explore Asheville. It’s been almost six months and the sign hasn’t been corrected. My questions are: Who printed the sign and didn’t proofread ..read more

If we learned anything in this town over the past few decades, it’s that homelessness is not going to magically disappear. Misfortune, often in the shape of a huge medical bill or a vehicle breakdown, remains a constant, and for those living on the edge that often means not having the money to pay the rent or mortgage. Misfortune also often includes mental illness, drug addiction, or both, and the result is often the same — living on the streets. Just last week Asheville released the results from its “Point-In-Time” homelessness count, and not surprisingly, the numbers of people experiencing ..read more

Homelessness remains stubbornly high in Asheville, with the most recent official count showing the city had 739 people experiencing homelessness as of January 2024, up from 573, in 2023. The change is a 29 percent increase year over year. The number of people without shelter rose from 171 to 219, or 28 percent, but that increase mainly resulted from a more accurate, detailed counting process, the city said. The city of Asheville released the annual “Point-In-Time” count information Thursday, and officials noted the new methodology resulted in a more thorough, accurate count of homeless people ..read more

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers: Question: Why hasn’t the Enka Heritage Trail been built? It got combined state, federal and county dollars in 2018 — over $12 million. Not a stitch of dirt has been moved. What level of incompetence is going on in Parks and Rec? COVID can’t be the excuse. They got dollars 16 months before the pandemic shut us down.  My answer: I’m not sure a “stitch of dirt” is a thing, but if it is I moved about 3 million stitches over the past few weekends. My wife loves gardening, you see, which involves buying lots of plants t ..read more

A congressional commission overseeing taxpayer-funded communication by House members determined Wednesday that there was “substantial reason to believe” that Rep. Chuck Edwards had violated congressional rules by sending newsletters containing inflammatory and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against President Biden and his son Hunter. Edwards, R-Hendersonville, sent several newsletters last fall to thousands of constituents using the congressional franking privilege. The frank enables members of Congress to send postage, email, and other media at no cost to them. But the privilege ..read more