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Henderson County News

Drug squad charges two with multiple felonies

A drug squad with the Henderson County Sheriff's Office charged two Hendersonville residents with multiple felonies after an investigation that resulted in the seizure of $13,500 in cash. Donald David Lewis, 57, of Willow Street, was arrested on August 16, for felony possession with intent to sell and deliver methamphetamine, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver Schedule II controlled substance (oxycodone), felony maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of sale and delivery of controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Lewis was released on Aug. 28 from the Henderson County Jail after posting an $8,000 bond. On Aug. 23, narcotics detectives executed a search warrant at 48 Alverson Lane in Hendersonville. Detectives arrested Isaac Muhammed Yahia, 22, on charges of felony possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, felony maintaining a vehicle for sale and delivery of a controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Detectives seized approximately 1.6 pounds of marijuana, a Glock .380 caliber handgun and $13,500 in US currency. Yahia was released from the Henderson County Jail on a $6,000 bond on Aug. 24.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Winery branching out to brandy in a restored barn

Alan Ward and Marvin Owings make a formidable team — a portfolio manager who’s become an innovator in wine-making, hard cider and now distilling and a retired farm agent who's one of the area’s leading experts on the science of growing apples. “I give Marvin a hard time but we kind of complement each other,” Ward says recently in the cavernous old barn he’s converted into his newest tasting room venture. “I couldn’t have done this without Marvin.”After more than two years of planning and renovation, Ward expects to open his new Appalachian Ridge tasting room, maybe as early as Labor Day weekend. When he does open, visitors will be able to sample not only hard cider but brandy and French pommeau, a blend of Calvados brandy and hard cider.The 70-year-old barn itself is an impressive adaptive reuse. Built in the late 1940s by apple farmer Walter Freeman, the structure has a towering ceiling and irregularly shaped floorboards made of different kinds of wood.“When he was getting ready to buy this property and this barn you would not believe the stuff that was in this barn,” Owings says. Workers blasted the floor clean, caulked between the floorboards and added a series of finishes.And now the barn has a long wooden table hand-crafted by Ward’s son, Brian, a pediatrician in Boone and woodworker on the side, other tables made of stable doors, a long apple-themed bar decorated with stained glass images and a two-level deck overlooking Ward’s Crest of the Blue Ridge orchard.“We could’ve torn down this barn and done it for a fraction of the price,” he says. “But we didn’t. … It is beyond solid. And that deck we put on the back — we made that as a tough as a railroad trestle. We tried to do everything we could to keep it real. Everything you see inside is the way this barn was. We tried to keep everything authentic.”Talk about authentic. Don’t get Ward started. Or do get him started. No one can stop him.When Ward and Owings get started about Normandy and their search for apple varieties that are perfect for cider, pommeau and brandy, they’re a tag team of narrators unable to conceal their enthusiasm.Back in 2004, Owings invited French apple farmers named the Huets to the Winter Apple School in Hendersonville. They got reacquainted over the last couple of years when Ward and Owings traveled to the Normandy region —a few hundred yards from Omaha Beach — to observe the French harvesting and pressing and buy native trees that go back hundreds of years.With Owings handling the growing side, the partners will receive 5,200 one-year-old trees of 14 different varieties this winter to plant on the slope behind the big barn. SUBHEDWine to cider to brandy Ward pours samples of the brandy and pommeau into 300-year-old brandy glasses he brought home from France.“Who knows who drank out of that, maybe Marie Antoinette,” he quips.After starting Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards in 2012, Ward expanded into hard cider and now is launching his distillery.“We now have a distillation license and we are going to build a distillery in that hill over there,” he says. He’s working with Blue Ridge Distillation, which makes the highly regarded Defiant single-malt whisky in Rutherford County.“There some of the most advanced people we’ve found that understand distillation,” Ward says. “These guys can really check it out scientifically where we’re getting what we want.”Local, though, is a big part of what Ward preaches and practices. What he doesn’t grow himself, he buys from local apple farmers. Ward’s grower, Wayne Barnwell, blends seven different varieties of apples to make the base for hard cider.No offense, Ward adds, but “what about craft beer is local except the water? The hops, the grain, they’re not local. This is truly a local product where we can take you out and show you where this comes from. The money that we pay out stays in North Carolina,” he adds. “Probably 90 percent of it stays in Henderson County.”Ward says the trips to Normandy, the importing of French apple trees from stock that dates back hundreds of years and the care in growing, aging and distilling is all part of a mission to produce “something that’s of value and merit, because people that buy brandy, they’re going to pay between $35 and $50 a bottle. This is taking an apple product that takes three years to age. A lot of people want to just get it out there. You can’t do that.”He hopes that the quality of brandy and hard cider will attract tasters from near and far, and he expects to add online sales, too.“We don’t want to come out with something that people buy just because it’s local,” he says. “We want people to buy the things we produce because they’re excellent, not because they’re just OK.”   Read Story »

Green River News

New diner offers Southern classics in Tuxedo

TUXEDO — Classic diner staples and country favorites with a twist make up the menu at Tuxedo Diner, the newest taste of the south serving Tuxedo.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Ask Matt ... about Duke transmission line project

0816 Ask Matt (Duke Transmission lines, fireworks) with photo Q. What are all those bucket trucks and equipment doing on the vacant lot on Asheville Highway about three miles north of town? They’re back! Yes, Duke Energy is back in the transmission line business — though not in the way the utility company planned in the tumultuous summer of 2015. Crews are installing new high voltage transmission lines but from what I gather this is “power line lite.” Duke’s contractor, Southeast Power Corporation of Spartanburg, has leased a staging area on U.S. 25 north of the Balfour school. They will install 4½ miles of 44 KV high voltage transmission line from Horse Shoe to Berkley Park. It’s called a “re-build” project where old wooden vertical transmission poles will be removed and new cable will be strung from steel “H” frame lattice towers. Plans do call for a few monopole towers (single pole) in some locations. All work will be on existing right-of-way.The old wooden poles that have been holding up the lines for perhaps a half century are 50 to 80 feet in height and the new lattice towers may be about 30 to 40 feet taller. So higher towers but fewer towers. This is the first phase of the project which should be complete by the end of December. The next phase will begin in 2018 and eventually a total of 12 miles of new transmission line will be re-built in Henderson County.A Duke Energy spokesperson labeled this “a reliability enhancement project to address aging infrastructure and support load growth in the area.” Many county residents will remember the huge land-use fight when Duke rolled out plans for a 45-mile transmission line project through much of Henderson County. Relentless citizen outcry in Henderson County and in South Carolina helped put the brakes on the project but we all knew Duke Energy wasn’t going to fold its tent and walk away. Q. What is the cost of the annual fireworks display on July 4th at Jackson Park? Tim Hopkin of our county’s Parks and Recreation Department said that the Independence Day fireworks operation was handled by Zambelli Fireworks for $10,000, which includes the fireworks and the technician in charge. The event was underwritten by Pepsi-Cola, which covered two thirds of the cost. The Henderson County Tourism Development Authority paid the rest.You may not know that Italian immigrant Antonio Zambelli came to this country is 1893 and started his fireworks business in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Today the family-owned company is a world leader in pyrotechnics. * * * photosADD SHIRTTAIL   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Wonder how many will be named Harvey

More than 50 dogs and cats from Hurricane Harvey ravaged Texas and Louisiana are headed to Asheville's Brother Wolf Animal Rescue Adoption Center.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Sheriff sets re-election campaign kickoff Sept. 14

Sheriff Charlie McDonald will kick off his 2018 re-election campaign next month with an event that featues food, music and a shotgun raffle. The Committee to Re-Elect Sheriff Charles McDonald on Sunday sent out an email blast inviting supporters to the kickoff from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Boyd Automotive at 1875 Spartanburg Highway. "The event will feature food and refreshments, live music and an opportunity for the Sheriff’s supporters to meet with him personally," the invitation said. "A Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun will be raffled off with the drawing occurring at 8 p.m. This event is open to the public and all are invited to attend." The committee also invited supporters to join McDonald as he walks the King Apple Parade on Labor Day. Supporters were urged to gather on the parade staging area at 12:30. An email later on will give more details, the committee said. Sheriff since he was appointed to the vacant post in March 2012, McDonald won the Republican nomination for the seat in a May 2014 primary election over Erik Summey and Michael Brown and defeated Democrat Marty Katz in the general election.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Renowned guitar maker opens Magnolia concert series

The 2017 Magnolia Concert Series opens this weekend with Wayne Henderson on stage at Flat Rock Cinema, 2700 Greenville Highway in Flat Rock.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Homeowner, construction workers catch burglar

A homeowner and construction workers chased down a suspected house burglar after a break-in at a residence on South Mills Gap Road and sheriff's deputies charged the Fletcher man with multiple burglaries.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

County dedicates Innovative High School

The new Innovative High School brings Henderson County together through Henderson County Commissioners, Henderson County Public Schools and Blue Ridge Community College, just in time for the 2017-2018 academic school year, which begins Monday, Aug. 28.   Read Story »

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