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County budget: No new taxes (and no tax rollback)

Henderson County News

N.C. opens 'state of the art' shooting range — for $2.9M

JACKSON SPRINGS — Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik A. Hooks and other state officials on Monday officially dedicated a state-of-the-art Firearms Training Center at Samarcand Training Academy in Moore County.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

CARDINAL RULES: Festival logo features state bird

The newly unveiled logo for the 2017 North Carolina Apple Festival features a red theme and a salute to the state bird as well as the county’s signature farm product.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Gladiator Polo coming to Equestrian Center

Gladiator Polo, a new fastest-growing style of polo, is debuting at Tryon International Equestrian Center on Saturday, June 24.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Reception is set for celebration of Dr. Lampley's life

The family of William A. “Doc” Lampley will host a drop-in reception and public celebration of Dr. Lampley’s life at The Cedars from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. A surgeon who was thought to be the last remaining of the original Pardee Hospital physicians, Dr. Lampley died Thursday at Elizabeth House at age 96. Donations in remembrance of Dr. Lampley may be made to the William A. Lampley Scholarship Fund through the Community Foundation of Henderson County.   Click here to read the full obit.       Read Story »

Henderson County News

Traffic stop leads to recovery of stolen gun

Henderson County sheriff's deputies recovered a stolen handgun and charged a 30-year-old Hendersonville man with two felonies and three misdemeanors after a traffic stop at 3:20 a.m. Friday near Halsbury Avenue. During the stop, deputies discovered that the driver, Adrian Villarreal, of 660 Pace Road, had a stolen handgun and narcotics, the sheriff's office said. Villarreal was charged with  possession of stolen firearm and possession of firearm by felon, both felonies, and misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon. Villarreal was jailed under a $33,500 bond.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Democrat Coffay rips Meadows on climate accord position

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and a Democrat who is planning to challenge him in next year's election differ sharply over President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. “I applaud President Trump for following through on this campaign promise he made to millions of voters across the country," Meadows said. "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for the American people—it hampers economic growth, burdens job creators, and stifles innovation to preserve an agreement where the benefits are miniscule at best. We all agree that we must be good stewards of the earth, but it doesn’t require a treaty never ratified by Congress to accomplish that. Time and time again we’ve seen that businesses will adapt to consumer demand to use more environmentally friendly practices–there is no need to cripple entire industries with sweeping regulations. "Today’s decision by President Trump is another step toward accomplishing the long-term goal that the President emphasized so successfully during his campaign: putting the interests of the American worker first.” Matt Coffay, 30, announced his run for the 11th Congressional District seat in April. He leads a local chapter of Our Revolution, an organization aligned with the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. He grew up outside Blue Ridge, Ga., and graduated from UNCA. He was a farmer in Alexander until last year, when he took a job with the nonprofit National Young Farmers Coalition, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. "Mark Meadows’ praise of the decision to back out is shortsighted, irresponsible, and just plain wrong," Coffay said in a news release. "If he cared about the people of his district, he’d be encouraging us to invest and create jobs in renewable energy." "Western North Carolina needs leadership that values the lives and welfare of regular people, not big corporations," Coffay said. "Meadows has shown his true colors by applauding this terrible decision. When I’m in Congress, I won’t make the same mistake. I’ll ensure that America leads the way in renewable energy investment and job creation. Let’s create a future to be proud of." China now produces more CO2 than the United States annually, but high historic output from the U.S. makes it the biggest overall contributor to climate change in the world. And as a country which makes up just 4 percent of the world’s population, but which is responsible for about a third of the carbon dioxide contributing to climate change, Matt Coffay believes this country has a moral imperative to be a global leader and set an example for clean energy: "Renewables are the future," Coffay continued. "The only question is whether or not the United States will reap the benefits of the jobs and industries that will spring up around renewable energy or if we’ll sit back while China, India, and Europe lead the way. Mark Meadows is more concerned with campaign contributions from Big Oil and the fossil fuel industry than he is in representing the interests of working families in Western North Carolina. He’d rather hand jobs over to China and India than keep them here in the United States."   Read Story »

Henderson County News

First Mickey Marvin award winners announced

Mickey Marvin, the longtime NFL star who never forgot his hometown, lives on through the Mickey Marvin Scholarship and its first recipients.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

'Brunch bill' allows booze on Sunday morning

RALEIGH — No discussion. No debate. No drama. A lopsided vote. A couple of hours after slipping through a skeptical Senate Rules Committee, Senate Bill 155, aka the brunch bill, breezed through the full Senate Thursday by a 32-13 vote. Republicans were split, 22-12, and those divisions became apparent, mainly during a Wednesday meeting of the Senate’s Finance Committee and to a lesser extent at the Thursday Rules session. If the House concurs with the Senate and the bill becomes law, North Carolina distillers will be able to sell five bottles per customer annually to patrons who take a distillery tour. The current annual limit is one bottle. Distilleries will be able to hold tastings at festivals, trade shows, and conventions that allow alcohol tastings. Restaurants and retail outlets also will be able to serve and sell alcohol beginning at 10 a.m. Sundays rather than at noon with the approval of local governing bodies. This will put North Carolina evem with 47 other states that allow alcohol to be served Sundays before noon, noted Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance, the bill’s chief sponsor. The five-bottle provision would take effect July 1, if the bill becomes law by then. Taylor Howard, co-owner of H & H Distillery in Asheville, says the five-bottle law will help distilleries the most of any part of the bill. It would bring more people in more often, making the distillery more like a brewpub. “It’s not that we’re not trying to not support ABC stores, but being able to push our products out of the distillery would be a huge aspect for growth,” he said. The major objection among Rules members came from Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph. He scoffed at a provision in the bill charging a $750 per-event fee to auctioneers marketing beer, wines, and spirits — primarily aimed at auctions of high-dollar vintage merchandise or from estates. The events happen rarely. Legislative staff estimated the provision would raise a mere $3,000 a year, but said business might improve if they could include vintage spirits and other rare alcoholic beverages. The Rev. Mark Creech of the Christian Action League implored the committee to reject the bill on religious grounds, giving a speech much like the one he delivered at the Finance meeting. Scott Maitland, proprietor of Top of the Hill Distillers in Chapel Hill, owner of the popular Top of the Hill Restaurant, and president of the N.C. Distillers Association, told the committee the law would make a huge impact on distilleries. The five-bottle rule would make a big difference at his business and allowing alcohol sales before noon on Sundays would boost his restaurant’s business (and its ability to employ people) dramatically, Maitland said. The committee approved the bill by voice vote in what appeared to be a narrow margin. But when the bill reached the Senate floor, it passed quickly without any discussion or debate.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

City tax rate going up by 1 cent

City residents will see a property tax increase of 1 cent per $100 valuation under a $38.7 million budget the Hendersonville City Council adopted Thursday night. Water customers will see a small increase in their bills, too, ranging from 42 cents for a light user to $1.14 a month for a heavy user of water.City Manager John Connet attributed the overall increase in the budget to a 25 percent premium increase in the city’s employee health insurance plan, a $3 million to $5 million capital investment in a new police headquarters, the hiring of three new firefighters and the addition of two police officers, who will take up animal control service after the sheriff’s office quit covering those calls in the city. The animal control officers will be regular sworn officers, Connet said, and will be able to respond to all calls and work backup whenever they're needed.The budget is made up of a general fund of $15.4 million covering most city services, a water and sewer fund at $21 million, environmental services (garbage and recycling) at $1.5 million and other funds totaling $782,000. The tax rate goes up from 46 to 47 cents per $100 valuation. The tax rate for special taxing district downtown and in the Historic Seventh Avenue District remain unchanged. The water rate increase of 1½ percent outside and 2 percent inside continues the City Council’s efforts, under pressure from the county Board of Commissioners, to move outside water customers closer to the rate paid by Hendersonville residents.A hearing on the budget drew just one local resident, frequent commenter Ken Fitch, and no discussion from the City Council, which had looked in detail at capital spending priorities, water and sewer line expansion and operating budgets during two workshops.Personnel and benefits are up 12 percent, Connet said, because of salary adjustments the city made after  a pay and classification study.Debt service goes up 13½ percent because the city bought a new fire truck. The budget also allocates money for street paving and park improvements and sets aside money for new gateway signs that will be installed in the city as part of a new countywide signage program in the upcoming fiscal year.Because of the continued high cost of insurance, the council directed Connet and the staff to study ways the city could lower its health care cost. The city pays employees’ health insurance premiums now and will continue to do so provided employees participate in a series of wellness mandates, including checkups, health screenings and wellness classes.“In year 1, as long as they do those they will continue to have their health care premiums paid 100 percent,” Connet said. In 2017, the city will begin an effort to be a 100 percent smoke-free workplace. Employees will have a year, starting Jan. 1, to complete a smoking cessation class and quit smoking.“If they’re unable to go through the smoking cessation program and they cannot quit smoking and then beginning in July 2019 they will be required to pay a portion of their health insurance.”The new health insurance requirement drew no comments from council members. They will must be formalized and approved by the City Council.   Read Story »

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