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Art League seeks sponsors, artists for ArtScape '18

Fletcher News

Law officers charge hoarder with animal cruelty

A 61-year-old Fletcher man is back in Henderson County to face animal cruelty charges after he was picked up in Florida and extradicted to Hendersonville. Robert Brian "Tony" Fore, of 71 Maxwell Drive, was served with animal cruelty warrants after he was taken into custody in Florida and returned to the county jail here. Fore was served with warrants for two felony counts of killing an animal by starvation, four felony counts of cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals that stemmed from Sandy Jean Fore remains at large.offenses occurring in early March of 2017. He is currently in the Henderson County Jail under a $15,000 bond with a court appearance scheduled for Jan. 23. Fore, and his wife, Sandy Jean Fore, fled the area after surrendering 40 dogs and cats on March 4. Sandy Jean Fore still has outstanding warrants for multiple charges of killing an animal by starvation and cruelty to animals. She may be using the alias of Jeannie Fore or Jeannie Hughes. Anyone with information regarding Sandy Fore’s whereabouts was asked to contact the Henderson County Sheriff's Office at 828-697-4911.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Meadows calls on Sessions to plug leaks or resign

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, the 11th District Republican and chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus in the House, is blaming Attorney General Jeff Sessions for failing to contain leaks from the Justice Department about the Russia collusion probe and suggesting Sessions should resign if he can't "stop further violations." Meadows, the third-term representative who has a national platform of the Tea Party-oriented Freedom Caucus,  wrote an op-ed jointly with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the first Freedom Caucus chairman, that was published today by the Washington Examiner. Meadows and Jordan wrote that "six different investigations spent on the collusion narrative" have produced nothing. "... Through all of that, there is zero (yes, zero) evidence of collusion," they said. Yet, what they describe as unlawful leaks from investigators or Justice Department officials fuel continuing coverage of the story. The second problem deals with a recurring issue that must be addressed immediately. "The alarming number of FBI agents and DOJ officials sharing information with reporters is in clear violation of the investigative standards that Americans expect and should demand. How would New York Times reporters know any of this information when the FBI and DOJ are prohibited from talking about ongoing investigations? How many FBI agents and DOJ officials have illegally discussed aspects of an ongoing investigation with reporters? When will it stop?" They then turn to the top, blaming Sessions for not finding a way to plug the leaks, saying it appears "he has no control at all of the premier law enforcement agency in the world. It is time for Sessions to start managing in a spirit of transparency to bring all of this improper behavior to light and stop further violations. If Sessions can't address this issue immediately, then we have one final question needing an answer: When is it time for a new attorney general? "Sadly, it seems the answer is now."         Read Story »

Henderson County News

Edneyville Elementary School gets new principal

Marsha Justice has been named principal of Edneyville Elementary, filling the office vacated by Donna Brackett, who retired September 2017, and succeeding interim principal Don Dalton. Justice’s principalship was effective Tuesday after her transition from Apple Valley Middle, where she had served as assistant principal since 2008. Justice began her teaching career as a biology teacher at East Henderson High in 1997 after graduating from Western Carolina University with a bachelors of science. After five years at East, Justice transferred to Catawba County Schools in 2003 and taught biology for five years at Saint Stephens High. She returned to Henderson County in 2008 when she was named assistant principal at Apple Valley Middle. “Edneyville Elementary is an amazing school, and I feel very blessed to be a member of the Edneyville family,” Justice said. “I look forward to fostering meaningful relationship with students, families, faculty, and the community,” she said. “I also look forward to contributing to the academic growth of our students and the completion of our new facility – which will be an integral part of the Edneyville community.” Justice also holds a masters of science in educational leadership from Appalachian State University, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree from Gardner-Webb University.     Read Story »

Hendersonville News

After sale of mill, City Council takes up development agreement

The city took a major step forward in the pursuit of a Grey Hosiery Mill development when it closed last week on the sale of the property to a Carrboro developer that plans a hotel and conference space. The city sold the 2.3-acre property and the historic hosiery mill for $1 million to Grey Mill Venture LLC, a subsidiary of Belmont Sayre, which the City Council selected for the project last summer. “As I told the council today we still have work to do but it is a very big step toward development of the Grey hotel,” City Manager John Connet said Friday a few hours after the sale closed. “We’ll take each step and we’ll keep working toward it. We think this is a positive sign.” The city has owned the property since 1990 and has been pursuing a development arrangement since that time. It’s as close as it’s been to a deal. The City Council on Thursday night will take up a proposed agreement that spells out the developer’s obligations to invest $11 million to $13½ million in an adaptive reuse that will transform the 102-year-old brick structure into a hotel with 57 rooms and 2,100 square feet of event space. Under the contract, the city commits to streetscape improvements on Fourth Avenue East from North Grove Street to North Main Street. The city has also received preliminary approval for a $500,000 community development block grant that will become a forgivable loan to Belmont Sayre if it meets job creation targets. “One of the things we’re working through is a development agreement,” Connet said. “He’s still getting his construction numbers in place. He did a very conservative estimate of $13½ million. We think the numbers will come in below that. We’ll have that finally worked out by Thursday night. I think there’s some final tweaks that will be made before we get there Thursday night.” The agreement requires the developer to start project development by June 30 of this year, start construction by Jan. 1, 2019, and “use commercially reasonable best efforts” to complete construction by Oct. 1, 2019. The developer also must display historical photos of the mill and text describing its history in a convenient and accessible place within the hotel. The city agrees to streetscape improvements for two blocks of Fourth Avenue East including pedestrian level lighting, enhanced crosswalks and improved sidewalks. Belmont Sayre’s proposal for a 57-room boutique hotel and an event space for 70 people hotel fell short of the City Council’s vision of a 130-room facility with event space for up to 300 people. But the Carrboro group’s proposal matched the council’s criteria better than those of other bidders. Built in 1915, the Grey Hosiery Mill added additions in 1919 and 1947 before closing in 1967. The city bought the mill building in 1990. It bought an adjoining lot in May 2007, the Williams property on Oct. 20, 2016, and the Pilgrim property on March 17, 2017, for a total of 2.28 acres. The Grey Mill development will benefit the public by integrating the historic mill property with Main Street and the Historic Seventh Avenue District, the city said in the proposed agreement.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (158)

Don't miss this week's issue of Hendersonville Lightning.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Deputies make arrest after victim texts, 'My husband's trying to kill me'

A victim who feared for her safety if she made a phone call instead sent a text message to 911, giving her address and typing, "My husband is trying to kill me. He won’t let me leave. He has 2 guns." As a result of the woman's quick thinking, dispatchers sent deputies to the address, rescued the woman and arrested her husband and charged him with assault on a female. The successful rescue of the woman and arrest of her abuser led the Sheriff’s Office to remind the public that texting 911 is an option in an emergency. “We take great pride in our accessibility and responsiveness at the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office,” said Sheriff Charles McDonald. “We are thankful this member of the public reached out to us via text so our deputies could curb a quickly escalating situation and provide her with the help she needed. We hope by sharing this incident, the public will be reminded of this lifesaving communication tool we have in our county.” Significant benefits of texting 911 service include accessibility for members of the community who are hard of hearing, deaf, or speech-impaired. Text to 9-1-1 can also aid in situations when a crime is in progress, a caller is facing domestic abuse, or a caller’s injury is making speech impossible. A good rule of thumb to follow is, “Call if you can, text if you can’t.” If calling 9-1-1 is not an option: The numbers “911” should be entered in the “To” field and the message should be brief and contain the location of the emergency and the type of help needed. It should be noted, you can make a voice call to 9-1-1 using a wireless phone that does not have a service plan, but you cannot send a text message to 9-1-1 without a service contract that includes texting. Messages are limited to 160 characters and photo/video cannot be sent at this time, although that may change as the technology becomes available. And as always, do not text and drive.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Car crashes through stone wall into doctor's office

Miraculously, everyone emerged with only minor scrapes when an elderly driver plowed his Mercedes Benz through a stone wall and into a medical office where a doctor was seeing a patient on Wednesday morning. The 86-year-old driver of the sedan "stated that the car would not stop," said Hendersonville police officer Garrett Gardin, who raced to the scene along with Lt. Jimmy Case when they received the call shortly after 10 a.m. "Lt. Case jumped on top of the car to see about the people inside," Gardin said. The crash turned a routine morning into a startlingly eventful one. "I was in the room when it happened," said Dr. David Slawek. "I thought we were the victim of a terrorist attack. A bomb going off is what it sounded like, with flying debris and everything coming at me." The 66-year-old patient was OK, Gardin said. The driver of the 1999 Mercedes did not appear to be injured but was taken to the Pardee Hospital emergency room to be examined as a precaution, the officer said. Dairen Wilcox was in the Carolina Pediatric Therapy office when the crash happened. "We heard a loud bang and we came out to see what happened," he said. "The patient and the doctor were pinned in the office and the elderly driver was pinned in the car. We couldn't get him out because of the briar bush." Firefighters used the jaws of life to reach Dr. Slawek and the patient and to extract the driver from his car, Wilcox said. Inside the office, after the Mercedes had been towed off, leaving a gaping hole in his office wall, Dr. Slawek was reading notes by lantern light. The power was off because of the crash. "It's too early to tell" when the office can reopen for patient visits, he said. "We started the new year off with a bang." "Luckily there were no severe injuries," Officer Gardin said. "This could have been very bad."   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Closed block of Ninth Ave. will be striped for parking

It's the first visible sign of a massive construction project to come at the Hendersonville High School campus. Ninth Avenue West between Oakland Street and North Church Street permanently closed on Tuesday in preparation for construction of the new HHS and will he used temporarily as a parking lot. Construction of the new high school is scheduled to begin in the fall of this year while demolition of the old Boyd auto dealership is scheduled to take place starting next month. NCDOT will be adjusting the signal timing at Five Points. The county will restripe the closed block of Ninth Avenue corridor to provide HHS parking accessible from Oakland Street until the street is claimed by construction of the new high school. For more information contact Business and Community Development Director John Mitchell at 697-4819 or planning@hendersoncountync.org.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Lapsley to file for re-election

William G. "Bill" Lapsley, a civil engineer who went from asking the Board of Commissioners for rezoning approvals to deciding development requests as a county commissioner, announced on Tuesday that he will run for re-election this year. "This board has worked well together with the county staff to provide a long list of essential services," he said in a statement. "There have been several tough issues during this term and all have been handled professionally and in the best interest of the public. There are several important projects to be resolved in the next few years and I believe that my background and experience will provide valuable benefit to the taxpayers of Henderson County." A native of New Jersey and graduate of the University of Wyoming, Lapsley, 69, worked for the Los Angeles County Flood Control District before taking a job in 1974 with the Hendersonville water department. He joined the private sector in 1981 and throughout his career led the design and engineering of dozens of site preparation jobs for residential subdivisions and commercial and industrial development across Henderson County and Western North Carolina. On the Board of Commissioners, he has insisted that both the School Board and the Hendersonville City Council the support commissioners' decision to build a new Hendersonville High School instead of renovating the current building, has repeatedly called for returning part of the county's hefty fund balance to taxpayers and has been a persistent advocate for more Henderson County influence in regional water and sewer expansion plans. A past member of the boards of Pardee Hospital, the Social Services department, Four Seasons hospice, the Rotary Club, YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Land Conservancy, he was also a past chair of the Partnership for Economic Development. Currently he serves on the county Transportation Advisory Committee and was recently elected chair of the French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organizations, which sets transportation project priorities for Henderson, Buncombe, and parts of Madison and Haywood counties. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the UNC Health Care System in Chapel Hill. Active in the community but a political novice at the time, Lapsley won 57 percent of the vote to defeat incumbent Larry Young in the Republican primary in May 2014. Filing for the Board of Commissioners and other races opens Feb. 12. The District 3 seat covers western Hendersonville, Mills River and northwestern Henderson County.   Read Story »

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