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'It's not over,' says Craven, vowing to fight on

Hendersonville News

NEW HHS: Renderings, construction timetable

  HHS project at a glance • Cost: $53 million (total)• Architectural work and project management: $2.7 million (ClarkNexsen)• Square footage: 161,500• Construction time: 2½ years• Includes: Classroom building with band room, vocational classrooms and cafeteria; new gym seating 1,000, practice gym, field house adjoining the north end of Dietz Field, auditorium seating 900, courtyard and dropoff loop between the Stillwell building and new campus.• Landscape design: Limited to zoning code compliance.• Not budgeted: additional land for parking, HHS track improvements. Construction timeline • In coming weeks the county will hire a construction manager at risk. The contractor will guarantee the price and take on the financial risk of coming in over budget.• Complete design: Summer 2017.• Complete construction documents: February 2018.• Bid subcontracts: April 2018.• Start construction: May 2018 (projected 610 days)• Completion construction: May 2020.• Install furniture and fixtures: May-August 2020.• Students arrive: August 2020.• Phase 2 site work and demolition: June-October 2020.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

School Board grudgingly accepts new HHS

If the road to this point had not been so contentious, three other high school districts in Henderson County might well be grumbling about what the $53 million Taj Mahal Hendersonville High School is getting. The county rivals may yet look upon it with envy when the doors open to students in August of 2020.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Celtic music, Health Sciences Center, scholarships

Award-winning fiddler to perform in Brevard   Jamie LavalA performance of Appalachian and Celtic music will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26, at 185 King Street, a nightspot in Brevard. Appalachian band Pretty Little Goat, will be followed by fiddler Jamie Laval, who will play a solo set of traditional Celtic music gleaned from his recent 11-week tour in Scotland, Brittany and Iceland. In 2002 Laval won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, performed for Her Majesty the Queen and presented a TED Talk. Laval’s recent album “Murmurs and Drones” won the popular vote for “Best World Traditional Album” in the 2012 Independent Music Awards. Tickets are $14 on line www.clurb.185kingst.com and $20 at the door. Health Sciences Center grand opening is Tuesday A grand opening celebration for the new Health Sciences Center at 805 Sixth Avenue West will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29.The event will kick off with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. followed by an open house and tours of of the building from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The grand opening celebration is free and open to the public.Built by Henderson County through a partnership Blue Ridge Community College, the city of Hendersonville, Pardee Hospital and Wingate University, the 100,000-square-foot building houses college classrooms and Pardee’s new Comprehensive Cancer Center.“The Grand Opening of this new facility is the culmination of many long hours and hard work,” Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt said. “We hope that the community will join us to celebrate this great day for Henderson County. This partnership of health care and education is an asset that will pay dividends for generations to come.” Pardee Hospital’s new Cancer Center includes medical oncology, radiation oncology, cancer research and surgical office space. The building will also house the existing student programs in allied health care for both BRCC and Wingate University, as well as the Wingate pharmacy and physician assistant programs. Once the building is complete, students taking nursing and a full array of allied health professions can have access to Pardee Hospital for training through its programs. Kiwanis Club OKs grants for children The Board of Directors of the Kiwanis Club in November approved several grants to local non-profits to support youth-based education and entertainment programs.Beneficiaries of the grants were Clear Creek Elementary School, Hands On! A Child’s Gallery and Helping Hand Development Center. Clear Creek Elementary was awarded $500 for a student fieldtrip to the Biltmore Estate, Hands On! was awarded $500 for Family Memberships to the gallery, and Helping Hands was awarded $500 for new sand and toys in their outdoor play areas.“Not only does out club administer youth programs, but we enjoy supporting other groups who are working to improve the lives of children in our community,” said Kiwanis Club President-Elect and Grant Committee Chairman George Gavalas. “We recognize that every little bit helps non-profit organizations, and we’re privileged to be able to lend our financial and volunteer support to such worthwhile causes.” Education Foundation invites scholarship applications The Henderson County Education Foundation announced the opening of its online application period for Henderson County public school seniors seeking scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year. Requirements and application instructions are available on the Education Foundation’s website at the Scholarships page. Through the generosity of its donors, the Education Foundation awards financial support to students graduating from Henderson County public high schools through 19 post-secondary scholarship programs. The scholarship awards range from approximately $500 to $20,000 and are granted based on a wide range of criteria, including academic performance, financial need, community and school activity and sports participation, demonstration of leadership, and choice of college program of study. Two new scholarships, the Hendersonville Lions Scholarship and the Mickey Marvin Scholarship, have recently been established. In 2016, the Education Foundation paid out more than $100,000 to new and continuing scholarship recipients. The deadline for submitting scholarship applications is 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 20. Scholarships are open to students pursuing community college, trade school, college or university studies, who will be graduating from a Henderson County public high school in June 2017. Volunteer scholarship committees from the schools and Foundation will complete their selections in May and the scholarship winners will be announced at award assemblies held at each school in June.More than 500 students have received assistance through the Education Foundation’s scholarship program since its founding in 1986.For more information visit www.hcefnc.org or call (828) 697-5551. Pardee moves mall facility to Fletcher Pardee Hospital is moving its Signature Care Center from the Blue Ridge Mall to the Mission Pardee Health Campus next week and in the future will conduct educational classes and lectures at locations throughout the community rather than in a single setting.Additionally, many Signature Care support groups will meet at Pardee's Rehab & Wellness Center on Thompson Street. For a full listing of support group locations, visit www.pardeehospital.org or call the Signature Care Center at 828-692-4600. The Signature Care Center will move on Wednesday, Nov. 30.“To serve even more people in our community, the decision was made to move Signature Care to the Mission Pardee Health Campus,” said Sarah Hinson, MHPM, CHES, CHC, manager of Pardee Signature Care. “We want the community to be confident that Pardee will continue to offer educational lectures, classes, support groups and screenings, with a focus on bringing these offerings to various locations in our region.”   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Former West High teacher charged with sex with student

Detectives from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office charged a former West Henderson High School teacher with a felony count of sexual activity with a student after investigating allegations that he had sexual contact with a 17-year-old female student at West Henderson in June of 2016. Devon Ross Lategan, 29, of Apex, was arrested Wednesday in Wake County and released on a $50,000 bond. Additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Lategan teaches science at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. The newspaper reported that it had not verified Lategan’s current job status on Friday.       Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (106)

You won't want to miss this week’s Hendersonville Lightning.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Marshals, sheriff's SWAT team make arrest

U.S. marshals and members of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team arrested an East Flat Rock man on Monday on sex offender charges and other felonies. David Eugene Staigo had outstanding warrants for Failure to Register- Sex Offender, Failure to Report New Address-Sex Offender, two grand jury indictments for Habitual Felon, along with other warrants for Failure to Appear, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release. Members of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office contacted the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force in Asheville after obtaining warrants for Staigo. Staigo has an extensive criminal history in several states surrounding North Carolina. The collaborative investigation eventually led to a travel camper Staigo was living in on Nursery Lane. Officers found Staigo in the travel camper and arrested him. Staigo was transported to the Henderson County Detention Center, where he was jailed without bond.Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 34,000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by U.S. Marshals than all other federal agencies combined.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Artist donates prints for new Health Sciences Center

Artist and printmaker Costanza Knight is donating eight paintings depicting well-known Henderson County vistas and valleys to Wingate University to be displayed in the Health Sciences Center.  The monotypes were printed on a press the artist acquired through a Regional Artist Project grant funded by the Arts Council of Henderson County. Dr. Kurt Wargo, regional dean of Wingate University Hendersonville, praised the work. “When I first met Ms. Knight and saw her portfolio of this work, I knew there would be no better place to display it than on our floor of the Health Sciences Center," he said. He called the artwork a “beautiful representation of many areas of Henderson County, a place Wingate University is so grateful to call home. We are humbled and honored to have been her choice to receive it.” Included in the series are views of Bearwallow Mountain, Hollabrook Dairy in Fletcher, Couch Mountain in Fletcher, Squaw Kiss Valley and Folly’s Creek in Etowah, the old Shipman farm on Greenville Highway, the Hammond (Spring Hill) farm in Etowah, Bonnie Brae Estate entrance on Blue Ridge Road in Flat Rock and the mountain bog along Martin Luther King Boulevard. Rather than selling them individually, Knight kept all eight of the monotypes together with the hope of finding an appropriate place to exhibit them as a series. When she learned about the construction of the Health Sciences Center, she thought it would be an excellent location for their display. She says that she hopes this encourages the planners of the building to follow the lead of the Henderson County Courthouse during its planning stages and budget funds for installation of more local artists’ artwork. The prints will be ready for viewing at the grand opening of the Health Sciences Center on Tuesday, Nov. 29, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Evacuation orders lifted, forest service warns of post-burn hazards

LAKE LURE — Because the threat from the Party Rock Fire has diminished, the U.S. and North Carolina forest services lifted all evacuation and pre-evacuation notices for the Town of Lake Lure and surrounding neighborhoods at noon Monday. The evacuation orders were cancelled for parts of the Rumbling Bald Resort that have been under a mandatory evacuation notice: Deerfield; Fairfield; Youngs Mountain; and Quail Ridge. The pre-evacuation notice for Three Creeks, Cedar Creek Road, Buffalo Creek Road, Riverbend Highlands, Tatanka, Apple Valley, Shumont Estates and Buffalo Shoals, is also cancelled as of noon today.A state of emergency remained in effect for the town of Lake Lure. Fire and town officials caution everyone that the recently burned areas contain many hazards, including damaged and standing dead trees called "snags," that can fall without warning at any time. There are also stump holes, some of which may still contain enough heat to cause serious burns to people and pets.The Lake Town Hall is now open for normal business hours, but only through the front entrance, and using the front parking lot. The rest of the area around the municipal building is still being used as an incident command post and is closed to the public. The park also remains closed as it serves as fire base camp, with access restricted to incident personnel. Visitors to town hall should use caution because of the high volume of fire and emergency traffic.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

LIGHTNING REVIEW: It's the right time for this story

Early on in “A Christmas Carol” Ebenezer Scrooge barks at his office clerk, “What right have you to be jovial? You’re poor enough.” To which Bob Cratchit jovially responds: “What right have you to be miserable? You’re rich enough.”The story turns on the two questions and of course carries the audience on the journey of Scrooge’s life, from his unhappy childhood to present day, when he walls himself from the joy of the season with an angry rap of his cane and the famous growl of “Bah Humbug.”Reprising the role he last played on the Flat Rock Playhouse stage two years ago, Peter Thomasson portrays the transformation with power and pathos. We believe in his hard-heartedness, then his fear and finally his understanding of charity and appreciation of it.Steve Carlisle also is back as the Ghost of Jacob Marley from two years ago. Preston Dyar is delightfully benevolent as the Ghost of Christmas Present. And Scott Treadway and Linda Edwards, as the Fezziwigs, liven things up midway through Act 1 with the musical dance number “The Hearty, the True and the Bold.” As Cratchit, Willie Repoley lights the stage up with irrepressible good cheer, delivering the kind of wisdom and optimism that comes only from a deep faith and forgiving spirit.Director Amy Jones has once again made good use of the youth cast from Studio 52, the Playhouse teaching arm. Audiences are especially rewarded by the singing of Kyra Hewitt.The Flat Rock Playhouse presents as good a Christmas Carol as you’ll find anywhere, thanks to a cast that fits well together and is obviously having fun. A tip of the top hat, too, to costume designer Ashley Arnold Crump, who has once again brought 1840s London live to the stage, choreographer Madison Johnson, who makes all the moving parts work magically well, and set designer Dennis Maulden and lighting designer CJ Barnwell, who transform the stage from gloomy to dream-like to triumphant.“A Christmas Carol” is one of those stories that never gets old. More relevant than ever, the drama's message is just the right tonic for this time of year, in this most unusual of years. It transports us from the stress of the shopping mall and the noise of the news channels to the comfort of a familiar story that reminds us what the season is all about after all. "A Christmas Carol" runs through Dec. 17 on the Mainstage of the Flat Rock Playhouse. Tickets are ­$15-40 and can be purchased by calling the Playhouse box office at 828-693-0731, toll-free at 866-737-8008 or visiting www.flatrockplayhouse.org.     Read Story »

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