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School system names principal of the year

Hendersonville News

Local attorneys make 'Best Lawyers' list

Twenty attorneys in 29 different areas of law for the Van Winkle Law Firm have been named to the 24th edition of The Best Lawyers in America, which has been called “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice” by Corporate Counsel magazine. In addition, three Van Winkle attorneys received the highest overall peer feedback for a specific practice area and have been recognized as “Lawyer of the Year,” including trust and estates specialist Robert H. Haggard of the Van Winkle’s Hendersonville office. Also recognized from the Hendersonville office were Adam L. Shealy, trusts and estates, and Caroline T. Knox, elder law.Others were Jones P. Byrd – Litigation – Real Estate; Stephen J. Grabenstein – Litigation – Trusts & Estates; Albert L. Sneed Jr. - Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation; Corporate Law; Allan R. Tarleton - Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Workers' Compensation Law – Employers; Carleton C. Metcalf – Litigation – Banking & Finance; Caroline T. Knox – Elder Law; Carolyn L. Coward - Corporate Compliance Law; Health Care Law; Craig D. Justus – Land Use and Zoning Law; Litigation – Land Use & Zoning; Dale A. Curriden – Commercial Litigation; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants; David M. Wilkerson – Litigation – Patent; Esther E. Manheimer - Appellate Practice; Litigation – Land Use & Zoning; Litigation – Real Estate; Larry C. Harris - Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Commercial Transactions / UCC Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Larry M. McDevitt - Commercial Litigation; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants & Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Litigation – Patent’ Lindsay P. Thompson – Real Estate Law; John G. Kelso – Trusts & Estates; Jones P. Byrd – Construction Law; Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Litigation – Real Estate; Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Mark A. Pinkston - Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law; Stephen J. Grabenstein - Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Trusts & Estates; Trusts & Estates; Phillip J. Smith - Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Litigation – Construction; Barry B. Kempson (Of Counsel) – Trusts & Estates.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Kanuga Road residents urge city to oppose widening

Kanuga Road residents continue to voice anxiety over a road widening project that will take part of their yards.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Land conservancy saves 1,000 acres on Little White Oak Mountain

Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and Pacolet Area Conservancy have partnered preserve a 1,068-acre tract on Little White Oak Mountain that protects several federally-endangered species, more than 13 miles of streams and nearly 400 acres of the Little White Oak Mountain/Tryon Peak Natural Heritage Area.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: Brooks Tavern to feature late night dining

Mark Lowe had lost his wife to ALS and retired from the hotel management business when he met and fell in love with Cindy Johnson. One day she posed a question that would reshape his life again.“She said, ‘What would you do if you knew you could not fail?’ I said, ‘I’ve always wanted to own my own restaurant.’”If things work out, Mark and Cindy might be saying that the rest was history, and in a historic building at that.A contractor is busy at work now renovating the space in the Brooks Building, which was built around 1925 and has been owned by the Shipman family since 1943. (County tax records date the building to 1917.)Sheldon Edgar Shipman, the father of Clifton Shipman and grandfather of Tommy Shipman, bought the property 74 years ago. Built with five apartments on the second floor, the 14,000-square-foot building on Third Avenue West has three ground-floor storefronts that have been home to Clifton’s Restaurant, the Smoke Shop, American Drug, Custom TV & Radio Service, the Next to New Shop, Office Equipment Service Co., Once Upon a Sign and the Henderson County Republican Party.“We’re trying to go back with that 1925 feel,” he said.After finding more damage than he expected, Lowe said he’s regrouped and worked with the health department and fire department on inspections. The contractor has pulled off walls to expose the brick interior. He’s also added a new roof.“We started looking at restaurant franchises and things a year and a half ago and just decided to do our own thing,” he said.Lowe calls the menu gastro-pub and promises fresh ingredients for Angus burgers, fresh trout from Sunburst farms.“We’ll have sandwiches that nobody here in town is really doing,” he said. “Just stuff where people are going, ‘Wow this is something different.’”He’s hired a chef who is developing the menu.“I’m trying to not even have a freezer in the restaurant if I can get away with it,” he said. “I’m trying to make it fresh as I can.” “We’re doing 30 to 35 menu items — just all new stuff. We’re doing something a little bit different. We’ll have 10 beers on tap. Some national brands and craft beer. We’ll have about 40 in bottles or cans. We’ll have full wine service and of course full liquor.”Though he’s not set them exactly yet, food and beverage prices “will be in line with anybody else around town,” he said.The tavern will seat about 40 diners and will feature live music on Friday and Saturday nights and for Sunday brunch.He plans on hitting a niche, too, without much competition downtown — late night hours with the kitchen still open. He plans to be open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and “11 to 2ish” on weekends.“If someone is going to make the effort to come in at 11 o’clock or 1 a.m. I want them to get the same level of service and quality of service that someone that walks in at 2 in the afternoon is going to get,” he said.He expects he’ll need to hire 22 to 28 people.“I want Joe the farmer to be able come in and grab a sand or a burger and a couple of beers and walk out feeling good,” he said. “We may not be the largest place in town but we want to be the best.”     Read Story »

Hendersonville News

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: Crowded craft beer scene claims first casualty

Brief hed Crowded craft beerscene claims casualty As if to signify the financial risks of the food and beverage business, Brooks Tavern is opening just as Basic Brewery, across the street, closed its doors on Sept. 3. The increasingly competitive and crowded microbrewery scene claimed its first casualty downtown when the owners announced that Basic has closed.Started a year and half ago by Linda and Rich Wenger, Basic Brewery went up against the established Southern Appalachian and Sanctuary Brewing Co. and also competed with Flat Rock Cider Works on Main Street. Two more microbreweries are planning to open by the end of the year — Triskelion on Seventh Avenue and Dry Falls in the old Oates Paint and Body Shop on Kanuga Road’s Busy Bend.“As many of you know Rich has continued to work fulltime in Greenville, S.C., in addition to co-owning our brewery in Hendersonville,” the owners said in a note on the brewpub’s door. “That daily commute and those job responsibilities along with an ongoing health issue in the family are the reasons for our decision to close.“We are at peace with our decision and very much look forward to our future endeavors,” the couple said. “A huge thank you to all those wonderful individuals who supported and really appreciated our nanobrewery and our beers.”   Read Story »

Laurel Park News

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: Uncle Scott's brings Italian fare to Laurel Park

Steve DeWitt has gone from playing the links to serving links, from a country club to a turkey club. A professional golfer for 22 years and head pro at Kenmure Country Club for seven years until last year, DeWitt is the owner of Uncle Scott’s Pizza, which opened a month ago in Laurel Park Village Shopping Center. After serving pizza and sandwiches for eight years at Charlie’s on the Creek in Hoopers Creek, DeWitt made the move to Laurel Park.“We just found the space and thought it would be an opportunity to be a better location for us — though there was nothing wrong with Charlie’s,” DeWitt said. “We still have a lot of the favorites we had at Hoopers Creek but we’ve expanded it. It’s been going really well. It’s been well received by the other vendors in the shopping center as well as all the customers.”Uncle Scott’s is run by Scott Montgomery, DeWitt’s brother-in-law, a pizza cook and veteran restaurateur. He owned and operated a sports bar and family-style restaurant in the Cleveland suburbs before moving to Hendersonville nine years ago.“He cares a lot about the customer,” DeWitt said. “He can cook. He can really dance in the kitchen. This is not his first rodeo.”In addition to the restaurant venture, DeWitt also changed his day job. After getting his real estate license last winter, he’s now a real estate agent with Keller Williams Mountain Partners.The menu covers a range of Italian dishes from pizza and pasta to subs and salads and includes some creative specialties like meatball sliders.“It’s like Kryptonite,” DeWitt says of the sliders. “It’s really popular — made of half beef and half sausage with marinara and the cheese.”Also popular, he said, are the Philly cheese steak, the supreme pizza (nine toppings) and specialty flavors like the Garlic White, Hawaiian and BBQ chicken pizzas.Appetizers and sides range from garlic knots ($4-6), jumbo chicken wings ($8.99 for 10) and pizza by the slice ($2.50). Pasta dishes include spaghetti and meatballs ($7.99) and rattle snake pasta (grilled chicken, roasted red peppers and black olives in Cajun cream sauce, $8.99). Pizza comes in four sizes, $9.99 to $18.99, plus a choice of 18 toppings, from $1 to $1.75 each, depending on the size of the pie. And there are nine specialty pizzas.When it gets a beer and wine permit, Uncle Scott’s will soon offer domestic and craft beer and wine.“The goal is by next week” to have the permit, DeWitt said.The pizzeria is already doing a brisk take-out business. “We’re working on our website so you can order online as well.”“We just want everybody to give us a try,” he said. “We hope people would enjoy the atmosphere.” * * * * * Uncle Scott’s Pizza, in Laurel Park Village, is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The phone number is 828.513.1220.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Services set Friday for retired fire chief Hendrix

Forrest C. “Bud” Hendrix, who served as a Hendersonville city firefighter for 37 years, including hislast 15 years as fire chief, died peacefully on Tuesday, the city fire department said. Chief Hendrix began his career with the City of Hendersonville Fire Department (HFD) in 1955 serving as a firefighter for 37 years. He advanced through the ranks, becoming Assistant Fire Chief in 1965 and Fire Chief in 1977; where he served until his retirement in 1992. His vision for the Fire Department was immediately felt when Chief Hendrix made major plans for advancement in firefighter training. His first initiative was developing a comprehensive HFD formal training program. He required all firefighters take a 70-hour course in Advanced Firemanship, followed by a 12-hour pump school. He purchased new personal protective gear and radio equipment for firefighters, and arranged for the fire department radio transmissions to be monitored by on-duty police dispatchers. Another major accomplishment was that he changed the inspection process to have all City businesses inspected by Fire Prevention and Inspection Officers. Chief Hendrix initiated programs for HFD to provide fire prevention in City public schools, churches and civic groups. Always an advocate for his Department, he fought to increase the pay of firefighters, due to their advanced certifications, skills and the evolution of fire service needs of the community. Chief Hendrix had a pivotal role in the establishment of the Henderson County Firefighter Training Academy. He had significant leadership roles outside of Henderson County as well. In 1989 Chief Hendrix was appointed as a member of the State of NC Fire Commission, where his main focus was the State Fireman’s Certification Program. In 1991 he was elected President of the NC Firemen’s Association. These are a few examples of Chief Hendrix’s competence and progressive thoughts and actions for the betterment of the entire firefighting profession. Chief Hendrix exhibited a deep love for serving the City of Hendersonville and the fire service. He had a profound commitment to the firefighters that served with him and went to great lengths to ensure members of the Department had the resources and training they needed to serve their community with integrity and honor, creating a legacy still in place today. After his retirement, Chief Hendrix remained active within the City and HFD community. Chief Hendrix and his wife Vera “Toostie” would make regular visits to the Fire Department and routinely attended City Council meetings. Chief Hendrix’s presence will be missed by all but his legacy will live on. “Chief Hendrix was well respected in the fire service and will truly be missed by all that had the privilege to know him," City Fire Chief Joseph Vindigni said in a news release. A funeral service will be held at First United Methodist at 2 p.m. on Friday, with a visitation starting at 12:30. Following the service, The Hendersonville Fire Department’s Engine #1 will escort Chief Hendrix to his final resting place at Forest Lawn Cemetery.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (145)

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

Henderson County News

U.S. awards $5 million for AVL runway project

Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority has been awarded $5,053,216 of discretionary grant funds by the U.S. Department of Transportation to help finish the airport's new runway project.   Read Story »

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