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Four Seasons Politics

In what could be his last battle, McGrady tackles redistricting, liquor laws

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Democrats call for Henson to resign

State Rep. Cody Henson has received a copy of the criminal summons filed by the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office, his attorney J. Michael Edney told Carolina Public Press late Thursday.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

A second Democrat announces candidacy for state Senate

Patsy Keever, a retired schoolteacher, former Buncombe County Commissioner and one-term state House member, announced on Thursday that she is running for the 48th N.C. Senate District, setting up a primary next March for the Democratic nomination.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Brantley honored as top assistant manager

Amy Brantley, assistant county manager for Henderson County, has been honored as assistant county manager of the year in North Carolina. The N.C. City and County Management Association presented the award to Brantley during its annual convention on Feb. 7 in Winston-Salem.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Edwards introduces bill for small business health insurance

State Sen. Chuck Edwards joined three other senators on Tuesday to announce a proposal that they said would allow small businesses to cover employees at a lower cost.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Mills River councilman announces state Senate campaign

Mills River Councilman Brian Caskey announced on Monday that he is running for North Carolina’s 48th Senate District, challenging Republican Chuck Edwards.   Read Story »

North Carolina Four Seasons Politics

Legislator served with domestic violence order

State Rep. Cody Henson, R-Transylvania, was served with a domestic violence protection order late last month, records from the Transylvania County Courthouse show.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Politico profile describes Meadows as 'Trump whisperer" and 'go-to guy'

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows continues to enjoy broad influence with President Trump despite being passed over for the White House chief of staff job, Politico reports. In a story under the headline "Mark Meadows, Trump whisperer," the website describes Meadows as the president's "go-to guy," a close ally who talks on the phone frequently with Trump and serves to enforce the conservative hard-line positions that the Freedom Caucus stands for. Meadows and Trump speak several times a day on some days and sometimes for an hour. "The result is that a three-term congressman little known outside the Beltway has earned an outsized influence on shaping the direction of the Trump administration — and the country," the report said. "Meadows has the president’s ear on any number of topics, from immigration and border security to criminal justice and international affairs. And he’s used that access to push Trump toward stances aligned with the rapidly ascendant House Freedom Caucus, the hard-line conservative and libertarian caucus founded in 2015 that Meadows chairs. "In other words, Meadows — who many people, even those in D.C., probably couldn’t pick out of a lineup — might be one of the country’s most powerful lawmakers." The story traces Meadows' close relationship with Trump to the presidential campaign when Meadows, one of the first members of Congress to endorse him, became "the de facto chairman of Trump’s operation in North Carolina." While other congressional leaders were putting distance between themselves and Trump when the Access Hollywood tape broke, Meadows and his wife, Debbie, sprang to his defense. “Debbie was on a bus with Christian women on Billy Bush Saturday, which was basically the acid test for hardcore Trump supporters," a Trump campaign official told Politico. "She and Mark were at the barricades with us.”         Read Story »

Flat Rock Four Seasons Politics

LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: What to watch in 2019

Elections in the cities, development in downtown Hendersonville, the next steps in the pursuit of high-speed internet service, the new sheriff’s policy changes and popular uprisings against road improvements and development highlight the forecast for 2019.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

Cost gap (again) provokes conflict (again) on HHS

A difference in School Board architects' cost projection and a higher cost blessed by a contractor retained by Henderson County has again led to conflict in the Hendersonville High School project. The Henderson County School Board on Monday night unanimously endorsed and sent on to the Board of Commissioners the new plan for Hendersonville High School that renovates the historic Stillwell core building and auditorium while adding classroom space and other new buildings. The plans were drawn by a partnership of firms — Asheville-based PFA Architects and LS3P, a Charlotte-based education construction specialist. After a meeting Friday with the contractor that has worked for Henderson County on numerous large projects, the cost projection went up from $52.6 million to $59.2 million. County Manager Steve Wyatt on Tuesday objected to the way the School Board and its architects characterized the new cost projection as "add-ons" that the county wanted. He objected to the characterization of the additional cost as add-ons, when those things, including fixtures, furniture and equipment, and the architects' fees, are essential and fundamental. “Apparently somebody said last night the county wanted to add some stuff. It’s stuff you had to have to have school," he said. "Let me be clear, that’s the total to operate a school or design a school or build a school, like the architects’ fees. I’d be happy to zero that line item out but I don’t think they’d be happy.” The School Board's projection also failed to include a fee for a construction manager at risk, a contractor who coordinates the project and agrees to bear cost overruns. “They left that out and we put it back in,” Wyatt said. Wyatt said it was at his insistence that the county brought in “a third party,” Vannoy, to check behind the architects’ projections. That meeting took place Friday after Wyatt and Commissioner Bill Lapsley, a civil engineer with decades of construction experience, met with PFA principal Maggie Carnavale and her team in December and pointed out what Wyatt describes as significant omissions. The architectural team, led by Carnavale, Scott Donald and Jamie Henderson, told the School Board on Monday, Jan. 7, that they stood by the $52.6 million projection. “That’s concerning because again we pointed that out in December,” Wyatt said. “She knew about it last week. We pointed out several things that were not included in that budget.”Wyatt said he's confident in the Vannoy-blessed projection of $59.2 million, “which I think now is a good number. It’s concerning that as late as a week ago the architect was touting the $52.6 million with buffer.”Although new artificial turf for the high school football field has never been a part of the overall construction budget, Wyatt said the commissioners expect to include that if they authorize the overall project.“My frustration has been I’ve got to know how much money we’re going to borrow so we can pay these people,” he said. “It looks like it’s right at $60 million.” The school system hired PFA Architects in October to do the preliminary design for $130,142, with that amount refundable as a credit if the county school system retains PFA to complete the final design and construction drawings, a job that's expected to take a year.   Read Story »

Four Seasons Politics Archive