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

Henderson County News

IAM offers to help furloughed federal employees

Interfaith Assistance Ministry, the largest provider of crisis services in Henderson County, is extending its food pantry and basic emergency services to Henderson County federal government employees who are being impacted by the partial government shutdown. Affected workers will need to provide their federal government ID to receive food from IAM’s pantry. The ongoing partial government shutdown has officially become the longest running shut-down in history. Approximately 800,000 of the 2.1 million federal workers in the United States have been furloughed or deemed as an essential employee and are required to work without pay. Over one-third of the federal government workforce did not receive paychecks last week and have been out of work for 25 days. The lack of a paycheck is placing many federal workers in dire financial situations. “Interfaith Assistance Ministry wants to assist our struggling residents who work for the federal government during this unprecedented time of need,” said Elizabeth Willson Moss, IAM’s executive director. “Please share this information with any federal employees you may know. We will give them a hand-up to help them survive this financial crisis.” In Henderson County, federal workers are employed at the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, the Social Security Administration office, as federal marshals, airport security and others. IAM, located at 310 Freeman St., just past the Blue Ridge Mall, provides services from 9 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

AVL celebrates 1 million passengers in '18

For the first time in its 58-year history, Asheville Regional Airport passed the 1 million mark in annual passengers. In 2018, 1,134,568 passengers utilized a commercial flight at AVL, on one of six airlines: Allegiant, American, Delta, Elite, Spirit and United. Passenger numbers grew by 18.6 percent compared to 2017, making 2018 the second consecutive year of double-digit growth and fifth consecutive record year overall. The number of passengers has grown by 67 percent since 2013, when AVL served 678,023 passengers. Additionally, the airport on the Henderson-Buncombe county line is the fourth largest commercial service airport in North Carolina, and one of the fastest-growing small hub airports in the country. A recent economic impact study showed that the airport contributes nearly $1.5 billion annually to the local economy. "One million is a milestone," Lew Bleiweis, Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority executive director, said in a news release. "The unprecedented growth we have experienced in the past few years reflects the vitality of our region as a whole. We thank our airline partners, our dedicated airport staff and tenant organizations, and we especially thank our local community for choosing to 'fly local.'" To celebrate the "one million" milestone, the airport is kicking off 2019 with a 58th birthday party with a regional Chamber of Commerce networking event, followed by a week of surprises in the terminal. "We want to surprise and appreciate travelers, and thank them for choosing AVL," said Bleiweis. "They are all truly 'One in a Million,' and that's our theme this week. We have some amazing surprises in store - and this week will only be the beginning. To celebrate our 58th year - and the amazing one million milestone - we plan to provide at least 58 random acts of kindness for our travelers in 2019. This airport continues to grow with and for our region, and it's because our local travelers embrace Asheville Regional Airport. It is our pleasure to thank them all." Last year new or expanded routes announced included:- Denver (Allegiant)- Dallas/Ft. Worth (American)- Ft. Lauderdale (Spirit)- New York (American - starts May 2019)- Orlando (Spirit)- Philadelphia (American - starts May 2019)- Sarasota (Allegiant - starts February 2019)- Tampa (Spirit)- Washington, D.C. (United - starts February 2019)- Year-round daily service to five international hubs   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

School Board sends county costlier — by $7 million — HHS construction plan

The Henderson County School Board unanimously endorsed and sent on to the Board of Commissioners on Monday night a new plan for Hendersonville High School that preserves the historic Stillwell core building while adding a second large classroom building, second gym, new courtyard space and numerous security improvements.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

City may reduce buffer between dog kennels and homes

The city could allow overnight dog boarding closer to homes if the Hendersonville City Council OKs a zoning code amendment.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

El Paso owner opens Mariscos seafood restaurant

The first clue that Mariscos is unlike its sister restaurants is what’s missing. When you sit down, no basket of tortilla chips arrives, nor bowls of sauce. What’s up?   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Polk officials ID armed suspect who killed himself

A standoff with deputies inside a secured area at the sheriff's office Columbus lasted several hours before the suspect turned the gun on himself, the Polk County sheriff's office said.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Most homes have power back; 1,000 still in the dark

More than 6,000 Duke Energy customers remained without power on Monday morning, with the largest outages caused by the weekend ice storm in the Kanuga, Tuxedo and Spartan Heights areas, officials said. Utility crews got the power back on to 14,000 homes and businesses on Sunday, when there was a high of 20,800 outages at noon, and with reinforcements on the ground today officials expect substantial progress getting 6,138 customers back up. By nightfall, the number of outages was down to 1,011.   Read Story »

Laurel Park News

O'Cains' next chapter is for the birds

As mayor of Laurel Park, Carey O’Cain helped guide the development of Rhododendron Lake Nature Park. The Audubon Society and National Geographic had designated 2018 as the Year of the Bird, O’Cain noted early last year as he talked about the large variety of birds visiting the lake and the bluebird boxes that attracted nesting birds. Lutrelle O’Cain’s work focused on four-legged animals, as executive director of the Blue Ridge Humane Society.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Van Winkle's Ellis makes magazine's 'Legal Elite'

Anderson T. Ellis has been recognized as one of Business North Carolina magazine’s 2019 Legal Elite, the Van Winkle Law Firm announced. Ellis was honored in both the “Young Guns” and “Business” categories.   Read Story »

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