| Title |
Excerpt |
Author |
Date |
| Mahaney civil liberties award goes to Karen VanEman |
The Evan Mahaney Champion of Civil Liberties Award, presented in Western North Carolina since 2003, will be awarded this Saturday to Karen VanEman. An Asheville resident, VanEman is being cited for her community involvement through such organizations as Helpmate, UNCA, Justice Watch, the League of Women Voters and Warren Wilson… |
Nelda Holder |
06/11/09 |
| Taxes proposed to help with state budget woes |
To counter the projected $4 billion shortfall for the state’s budget, the N.C. House is today considering proposals to increase the income tax on residents making more than $500,000 a year from 7.75 to 8.25 percent, and raising the sales tax by a quarter-cent — adding installations, repairs and other… |
Nelda Holder |
06/09/09 |
| Town hall discussion on state budget and public services |
The human costs of balancing the state budget will be the topic of a town-hall discussion in Asheville on Monday, May 18. Hosted by NC Together, the discussion is one of four taking place across the state as North Carolina grapples with a major budget shortfall and the legislative decisions… |
Nelda Holder |
05/17/09 |
| Variety of bills—quiet or controversial—still on their legislative feet after crossover |
There were several headliner bills passed in the N.C. General Assembly last week — including a controversial, statewide smoking ban for public and work places, ratified by the House (HB 2) and Senate (SB 205); the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (SB 461) to provide for ”fair and reliable” imposition… |
Nelda Holder |
05/17/09 |
| State takes stronger stance on toxic air emissions |
Facilities in the state that use fossil fuels—coal-fired power plants, paper mills, furniture factories—will now be subject to stricter monitoring for air toxics under a new ruling by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission. As reported by the Charlotte Observer, such combustion sources had been exempt in the state while awaiting… |
Nelda Holder |
05/15/09 |
| Do-or-die date arrives for state legislation |
Thursday, May 14, is this year’s crossover date for the N.C. General Assembly—when all legislation not requiring new funding must move from one chamber to the other to be eligible for passage. With more than 2,700 separate bills and resolutions filed in the House and Senate, crossover is a time—as… |
Nelda Holder |
05/12/09 |
| Sex education, developer responsibility and bottled water all on tap at the Legislature |
The N.C. Senate is considering the Healthy Youth Act (SB 221), which passed the House in April (HB 88) and provides for abstinence-until-marriage and comprehensive sex-education programs in grades 7 through 9. Buncombe Rep. Susan Fisher was one of the primary sponsors in the House. The bill is scheduled for… |
Nelda Holder |
05/04/09 |
| Legislature rethinks video gaming for the state |
Action in the Legislature in the past week included a bill to allow video gaming — and take 20 percent of the income — and legislation to provide financial help for “very small county school systems.” Those and other appropriations bills of interest to WNC legislators or citizens are included… |
Nelda Holder |
04/27/09 |
| Nuclear power in Carolinas’ future? |
Four new nuclear reactors — after a nuclear-plant hiatus of some 20 years — are at least on the drawing boards of Duke Power and Progress Energy for locations in North and South Carolina, as outlined in an overview article in the Independent Weekly of Durham. Progress Energy, which serves… |
Nelda Holder |
04/24/09 |
| District Republicans convene this weekend |
WNC’s 11th District Republicans hold their annual convention on Saturday, April 25, featuring guest speakers N.C. Sen. Debbie Clary and former 11th District Rep. Charles Taylor. Clary, who represents Cleveland and Rutherford counties, is serving her first term in the N.C. Senate after seven terms in the N.C. House. Taylor,… |
Nelda Holder |
04/24/09 |
| Buncombe animal groups chosen for national program |
The Asheville Humane Society and Human Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic have been chosen by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for a four-year project called Mission: Orange, designed to increase live-release rates of animal animals from shelters and to reduce shelter populations through increased spay/neuter rates. According… |
Nelda Holder |
04/21/09 |
| Legislature considers extending land-development permits |
Citing the current economic downturn, Rep. Bruce Goforth of Buncombe County has sponsored a bill to extend the time limit for certain permits regarding land development for an extension period running from Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2010. Other action included a bill to change the defined age for… |
Nelda Holder |
04/19/09 |
| High-speed trains: “We have a shot.” |
The Charlotte-to-Washington high-speed rail project, in the planning works since the early 1990s, is one of six corridors considered to be likely candidates for federal stimulus money this year, according to a report today in the News & Observer of Raleigh. Pat Simmons, head of the rail division of the… |
Nelda Holder |
04/17/09 |
| In the Legislature: Green buildings, medical marijuana, and a Dept. of Military & Veterans Affairs |
As the N.C. House rolled out their final local and public bills by the April 8 deadline for the current session, topics included energy efficiency in state-funded buildings and a Green Building Code in the N.C. State Building Code, a statewide referendum on medical marijuana, changes in the Sex Offenders… |
Nelda Holder |
04/14/09 |
| Bill could expand access to N.C. public records |
An Open Government Act filed in the N.C. House yesterday (HB 1134) would create an Open Government Unit in the Department of Justice for purposes of furthering government transparency. The unit would work with the public and government agencies through education concerning open-meetings law, and through mediation (for a fee)… |
Nelda Holder |
04/08/09 |
| Maya Angelou returns to Mars Hill |
In 2006, Maya Angelou—poet, playwright, author and more—spoke at Mars Hill College to a full house of 1,500 people. She returns to the small WNC campus April 16, just a few days after marking her 81st birthday (April 4). An evening with Maya Angelou: Eminent poet, playwright, best-selling author, professor… |
Nelda Holder |
04/08/09 |
| State legislative roundup: Total bills filed down by 12 percent so far this session |
As of April 6, the total number of bills filed in the N.C. House reached 1101, and in the Senate, 1096. But according to Gerry Cohen, director of bill drafting for the General Assembly since 1981, the number of bills has actually dropped during the bad economy. Cohen provides some… |
Nelda Holder |
04/06/09 |
| Legislature considers steep slopes, small breweries, alternative medical services |
The legislative quest for a safe-slopes act in the N.C. General Assembly was renewed with the filing of HB 782 last week by WNC Rep. Ray Rapp. He was backed by two more area legislators, Reps. Susan Fisher and Phil Haire. Rapp, who lives in Madison County, has attempted to… |
Nelda Holder |
03/30/09 |
| Cansler, Nesbitt forecast better days for mental health |
Lanier Cansler, North Carolina’s new secretary of health and human services, minced no words, proclaiming, “I’ve made it clear: Mental-health reform is over.” Citing a pattern of “constant change and problems” since 2001’s failed attempt to transition patients from state hospitals into community-care networks that never adequately materialized, Cansler declared,… |
Nelda Holder |
03/25/09 |
| Legislature looks at absentee voting, animal tethering, mandatory testing in schools |
Among the far-ranging topics of legislation submitted in the N.C. General Assembly during the past week were bills that would amend the absentee voting law, permit immediate euthanization of stray animals that bite humans, limit mandatory testing in the public schools, and provide written parental notification when a student is… |
Nelda Holder |
03/23/09 |
| Local officials praise Perdue’s WNC visit |
Gov. Bev Perdue seems to have started out on the right foot in Western North Carolina. It wasn’t just that she and her husband, Bob Eaves, had begun the day by walking around downtown Asheville. It had a lot more to do with the fact that, barely 60 days into… |
Nelda Holder |
03/18/09 |
| Sunshine spotlight hits Blue Cross Blue Shield campaign contributions |
In a nod to Sunshine Week, the nonprofit Democracy North Carolina has distributed an analysis of the campaign-finance involvement of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and its executives from 2000 to 2008, with two WNC politicians named in the top 15 beneficiaries: Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton (former state… |
Nelda Holder |
03/17/09 |
| WNC Nature Center slated for federal help with red wolf breeding program |
Canis rufus, the endangered red wolf species, has been the object of a restoration program in North Carolina for more than 20 years, and the experimental population now roams three national wildlife refuges, a military bombing range, and other state-owned and private property spanning some 1.5 million acres, according to… |
Nelda Holder |
03/17/09 |
| New towing regs for Asheville, incorporation for Swannanoa on legislative agenda |
Several local WNC bills made appearances in the General Assembly over the past week, including an act to incorporate the town of Swannanoa (SB 553), a bill to allow towing-regulation ordinances to address nonconsensual towing in Asheville (HB 500), and amendments to the Sullivan Act to allow a portion of… |
Nelda Holder |
03/16/09 |
| Get smart: New energy-grid pilot planned in Charlotte |
The N.C. Utilities Commission has approved a “smart-grid” pilot program planned by Duke Energy Carolinas for a south Charlotte residential area. According to the Charlotte Business Journal, the initiative will combine technologies of solar power, smart meters and storage batteries to help determine how small solar generators and energy-storage equipment… |
Nelda Holder |
03/11/09 |
| Gov. Perdue addresses General Assembly tonight; new legislation could aid state’s food banks |
Gov. Bev Perdue will address the General Assembly tonight, casting her own perspective before the assembled legislators who are now in their seventh week of creating their own legislative path into North Carolina’s future. Perdue, who has already ordered a 9 percent cut in state government spending, is expected to… |
Nelda Holder |
03/09/09 |
| Appalachian Mountains preservation hits a double in N.C. Legislature |
The legislative clock begins to tick louder in March, as filing deadlines begin for the 2009 session. The first due-dates are March-April deadlines for bills to be sent to bill drafting; second deadlines are for actual filing in the respective chambers. May 14 is the bill crossover date—the last date… |
Nelda Holder |
03/02/09 |
| Party time: Local Republicans and Democrats are on the move |
The annual precinct meetings for the Buncombe County Democratic Party are scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 10 a.m., where delegates to the April 18 Buncombe County Democratic Convention will be selected. A current list of the meeting locations is available on the party’s Web site, along… |
Nelda Holder |
02/26/09 |
| From Kids Voting to Queen Anne’s Revenge: State legislative update |
A flurry of appropriation bills in the N.C. General Assembly last week saw funding requests for the Kids Voting program, the Domestic Violence Policy Center Fund, an Adult Protective Services Pilot, compensation for victims of the eugenic sterilization program (1929 to 1975) in the state and more — including matching… |
Nelda Holder |
02/24/09 |
| General Assembly: Charter schools, adult education see action |
In addition to education bills to increase the number of charter schools and create a “No Adult Left Behind” program in the state, a lyrical series of “Whereas” clauses arrived in the General Assembly this past week, when legislation to incorporate Grandfather Mountain State Park into the state’s park system… |
Nelda Holder |
02/16/09 |
| WCU leads campuses in reducing energy consumption |
With the state’s university campuses clocking some 52 percent of the energy use of the entire state government, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee has stepped to the front of the class by reaching the state’s mandated goal of cutting energy use by 30 percent — the first campus to get… |
Nelda Holder |
02/12/09 |
| Growing pain$: Forum looks at N.C. infrastructure needs |
Some 1,100 leaders representing business, academic, governmental and community interests gathered in Raleigh yesterday and today for a sold-out forum on providing for the infrastructure of the state, sponsored by the Institute for Emerging Issues based at N.C. State University. With the state’s rapidly growing population expected to surpass that… |
Nelda Holder |
02/10/09 |
| Week two in the Legislature: four-year terms in the future? |
The General Assembly’s second week of the 2009 session included the introduction of a number of bills of particular interest to Western North Carolina legislators and constituents, including a provision to create four-year terms for the legislators (HB 71). Synopses of some of those bills with their WNC sponsors follow:… |
Nelda Holder |
02/09/09 |
| Bloggers gone bad: criminal penalty for libel considered |
A newly introduced Internet Libel Act in the N.C. Senate — SB 46 — would make it a potential civil and criminal (Class 2 misdemeanor) offense for libelous or slanderous material to originate in the state or be received or viewed in the state via the Internet. The bill, which… |
Nelda Holder |
02/05/09 |
| Playin’ It Safe spotlights teen sexuality and health |
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one-fourth of young women between the ages of 14 and 19—about 3.2 million teenage girls—are infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus or HPV, chlamydia, herpes simplex virus and trichomoniasis). Health effects can… |
Nelda Holder |
02/04/09 |
| N.C. education ranked 30th in recent report; state Republicans call for change |
N.C. Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger and House Republican Leader Paul Stam issued a joint press release today calling for education reform, following the announcement that the state ranked 30th in the nation in the “Report Card on American Education” released today by the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC, a… |
Nelda Holder |
02/03/09 |
| Landslides and golf communities |
Citing North Carolina’s 2005 law requiring landslide mapping in 19 WNC counties, the Golf Community Reviews blog has posted advice for potential mountain golf-resort homebuyers in a recent article, “Homeowners Could Lose by a Landslide.” Blogger Larry Garvice says he researches golf communities and reviews golf courses as part of… |
Nelda Holder |
02/03/09 |
| N.C. General Assembly gets down to 2009 business |
With the opening of the 2009-2010 session of the N.C. General Assembly, several bills of particular interest to Western North Carolina legislators and constituents went into the starting gate on Jan. 29. A synopsis of some of those bills with their WNC sponsors follows: House Bill 2: Prohibits smoking in… |
Nelda Holder |
02/01/09 |
| Governor moves to change public education leadership |
“This is the most important job in North Carolina,” Gov. Bev Perdue was quoted as saying about her newly chosen head of the state education department, whom she also designated to lead the state school board. “He literally has North Carolina’s future in his hands.” The appointment, as reported in… |
Nelda Holder |
01/27/09 |
| High-speed rail from Charlotte to Atlanta inches forward |
High-speed passenger train service, potentially traveling at 150 miles per hour, could connect Charlotte, Greenville and Atlanta to the Southeast High Speed Rail corridor already being studied for service between Washington, D.C. and Charlotte. A favorable feasibility study for such an addition was released on Jan. 8 by transportation officials… |
Nelda Holder |
01/20/09 |
| Losing by a landslide |
Following the destruction of a home on Wildcat Run in Maggie Valley last week by a 300-foot mudslide (the residents survived), WNC-based anonymous blogger Gulahiyi developed a collection of information and maps that includes an illustration of “Slope Movements and Slope Movement Deposits” in Jackson County, prepared in 2007 by… |
Nelda Holder |
01/12/09 |
| Richest counties get lion’s share of corporate incentives from the state |
Two major N.C. incentives programs sent large portions of funding for increased corporate expansion and job creation to areas of the state that basically needed it the least, according to a study by the Durham office of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a Washington, D.C.-based advocate for federal and state… |
Nelda Holder |
01/09/09 |
| WCU faculty versus Ayn Rand |
Some WCU faculty members have shrugged off the power of Ayn Rand on their campus, according to “The Battle for Academic Integrity,” the cover story for this week’s Smoky Mountain News. The piece explores the $1-million donation from BB&T to the university’s College of Business and how faculty action brought… |
Nelda Holder |
01/08/09 |
| N.C. colleges looking good in Kiplinger’s latest rankings |
Four of N.C.’s private schools made the ranks of Kiplinger’s 2009 “Best Values,” as ranked in the February issue and reported by the Charlotte Business Journal today. (To see the full Kiplinger rankings, methodology and comparisons, go here.) Davidson College placed fourth in the rankings for “Top 50 Liberal Arts… |
Nelda Holder |
01/07/09 |
| Bankruptcy disrupts luxury resort near Boone |
The 6,000-acre Laurelmor development in Watauga and Wilkes counties — planned as a luxury golf resort and housing development — has been sold by the Florida-based Ginn Corporation under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. A report in Boone’s Watauga Democrat says that the value of the transfer is listed as… |
Nelda Holder |
01/06/09 |
| Capitalism on campus |
A $1 million gift from the BB&T Foundation to Western Carolina University has raised basic questions about academic freedom versus funders’ ability to affect curriculum decisions. Freedom’s just another word…: Free-market proponent Ayn Rand (1905-1982), whose controversial books are to be studied in connection with BB&T’s $1 million donation to… |
Nelda Holder |
12/23/08 |
| Alt-spirits of the season: Gerhard and Mize |
While thousands were jamming with Warren Haynes and his musical companions in the Asheville Civic Center last night (Dec. 12), a few blocks away, “all was calm.” It was the annual (for some 14 years now) appearance at Jubilee! of two very fine acoustic musicians: Ed Gerhard, down from New… |
Nelda Holder |
12/13/08 |
| Civic Center gets good news for holidays |
An upbeat Asheville Civic Center Commission received several pieces of welcome news at their Dec. 2 meeting, including a green light for work to finally begin on replacing the roof of the arena and concourse. “The city and [architect John] Cort have come to an agreement, and he is beginning… |
Nelda Holder |
12/10/08 |
| Somewhere over the rainbow? |
In Asheville, after years of discussion, planning and re-planning concerning the physical condition and function(s) of the Asheville Civic Center, and after the advent of an entirely separate organization — Asheville Area Center for the Performing Arts — to spur planning, funding and construction of a separate new home for… |
Nelda Holder |
12/01/08 |
| Checking the pulse of the world’s health |
Dr. Jeff Heck will be the World Affairs Council Lecture presenter at UNCA tonight (Monday, Dec. 1) speaking on the topic, “The State of the World’s Health: The Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis from a Doctor’s Perspective.” Heck, who is a professor of family medicine at the University of North Carolina,… |
Nelda Holder |
12/01/08 |
