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'No, I'm not resigning,' Absher says

Henderson County News

IAM names new director

The Board of Directors of Interfaith Assistance Ministry announced Monday that Elizabeth Willson Moss has been hired as IAM’s new executive director.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Report: Dangerous suspect spotted, flees again

A man hunt in Pisgah National Forest involving multiple law enforcement agencies continued Sunday, shutting down much of the forest. Roads and trails on the Pisgah Ranger District east of Highway 276 and south of the Blue Ridge Parkway are closed because of the intense hunt for a suspected house burglar who, armed with a handgun, stole a mountain bike and pedaled into the woods to elude pursuing deputies. Visitors to the Pisgah National Forest should avoid the area which includes trails and roads in the Mills River area, Yellow Gap Road, Turkey Pen Gap, Trace Ridge, and Wash Creek, the Transylvania Sheriff's office said. U.S. 276 is also closed from the Pisgah Ranger District office to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Attractions along this stretch of road are closed today including Sliding Rock, Cradle of Forestry, Looking Glass Falls, and Pisgah ranger station visitor center and the regularly scheduled Songcatchers Music Series was called off. Numerous law enforcement agencies led by Transylvania County Sheriff's Office are engaged in a search for a suspect who is known to be armed and dangerous. Transylvania County sheriff’s deputies received a BOLO (be on the lookout) alert from Henderson County on Saturday in reference to a suspect vehicle in a breaking and entering in Mills River near the Transylvania and Henderson County line. Transylvania Sheriff’s deputies spotted a vehicle matching the description in Pisgah National Forest, just off U.S. Highway 276 North. When a patrol deputy attempted to initiate a vehicle stop on Avery’s Creek Road, the suspect refused to stop and a vehicle pursuit ensued.The suspect continued on Avery’s Creek Road, and at one point quickly exited his vehicle, and stole a mountain bike, while pointing a firearm at the owner. The suspect placed the stolen bike in his vehicle, and the vehicle pursuit continued. Deputies were unable to make contact at that instance due to the crowded nature of hikers and campers on the roadway. The suspect then blocked the roadway, parking his vehicle sideways, hopped on the stolen mountain bike, and fled into the woods. A perimeter was established in the area, and the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team (SRT) was called out to attempt to locate the suspect. Other agencies assisting in the manhunt include the Brevard Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement, the NC State Highway Patrol (including helicopter support), the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office (including a Special Response Team), the NC State Bureau of Investigation, and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. At the time of this press release, the suspect has not been located. The suspect has been identified as Phillip Michael Stroupe II, 38, with a last known address of Weaverville. He is described as a white male, approximately 5-feet 8-inches tall, with a small build; he has a shaved head and a large distinct tattoo on his neck just under his chin. He is considered armed and dangerous. The suspect has a history of violence and resisting law enforcement. He has outstanding warrants in Buncombe County for kidnapping, and he also has pending charges in Yancey County. Law enforcement agencies involved in the search included the Brevard Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service, State Highway Patrol and helicopter support, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and Special Response Team, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. If anyone has any information, please contact the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office at (828) 884-3168.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Elections board upholds ruling on candidate's age

The Henderson County Board of Elections on Thursday unanimously upheld a ruling by elections administrators that 20-year-old John F. Moore Jr. is too young to run for the Hendersonville City Council.   Read Story »

Mills River News

Pardee to open urgent care clinic in Mills River

Pardee UNC Health Care plans to open a 2,500-square-foot urgent care center in the Ingles Shopping Center in Mills River by February, the hospital announced Thursday. The urgent care center on N.C. 280 at North Mills River Road would be Pardee's third in Henderson County. It also operates clinics off of Four Seasons Boulevard and at the Mission Pardee Health Campus in Fletcher. “We are excited to see the population and industry growth in the Mills River and Etowah areas of Henderson County,” Johnna Reed, chief administrative officer at Pardee, said in a news release. “As demonstrated with previous market growth, we see an increased demand for urgent care centers. Urgent care continues to play an integral role in the continuum of care and we want to make sure residents have the care they need, when and where they need it.” The decision would appear to suspend, for now, any plans to develop a 20-acre parcel aross the road that Pardee bought in 2015. “We continue to evaluate the best use for the property across the street,” Reed said. “Our board and our administration want to ensure that the health care services offered are in alignment with the long-range needs of the area.” According to the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine, urgent care facilities fill the gap in health care that exists between the primary care provider and the emergency room. There are approximately 8,000 centers in the United States and another 1,200 retail clinics operating in mainstream drugstores. The difference in the two is that urgent care centers, like the one set to open in Mills River, provide a broader scope of services than a retail clinic. Wounds, injuries, fractures, asthma attacks and mild concussions can be treated, in addition to the sore throats, common cold and allergic reactions treated in retail clinics. In addition, Pardee’s urgent care center will have X-ray and lab facilities, with board-certified providers providing medical services. Pardee’s urgent care centers also offer sports physicals and pre-employment physicals and testing. “Since our urgent care centers are part of the larger Pardee UNC Health Care system, our physicians and medical staff can make the appropriate referrals if a patient presents with something more complicated,” said Reed. “In addition, patients usually find that the average cost of a visit to an urgent care center is significantly less than to an emergency department, with much less time spent waiting for care. While urgent care centers are not meant to replace the primary care physician, we do see them as transforming how patients access care, particularly after hours when their doctor may not be available.”   The opportunity for an urgent care center in the Ingles shopping center accommodated the immediate timing and needs of the community, she added.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

County remembers crash of Flight 22

At one minute after noon on Monday, bells rang at the Historic Courthouse, commemorating the 82 people who perished in the crash of Flight 22 and a Cessna at 12:01:18 in the blue sky over Hendersonville 50 years ago.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (139)

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

Henderson County News

Dot Marlow, 'our matriarch of philanthropy,' dies at age 85

Dorothy Dellinger "Dot" Marlow, who died Tuesday at age 85, leaves a legacy of giving that prompted a friend to call her "our matriarch of philanthropy." A retired First Union Bank vice president and the wife of the late Glenn C. Marlow, the former county schools superintendent, Dot Marlow served the county in numerous ways during her career in banking and marketing. In retirement she devoted even more time and energy to volunteering, fundraising and grooming a new generation of givers, many of them women in mid-career who were drawn to Marlow's extraordinary grace and sharp insight. Marlow had been hospitalized in recent weeks and then released to hospice care at the Givens Estates Health Center, at the Asheville life-care center where she was a resident. Always well-dressed and perfectly made up, Marlow brought a soft-spoken grace and impeccable manners to every meeting she attended and fundraiser she helped to lead. She brought sunshine and optimism to the table, friends and associates recalled, even when nonprofit boards struggled with intractable community needs. Long a leader in civic life, Marlow expanded her volunteerism after her retirement from banking. After her husband's death in 1999, soon after his retirement as schools superintendent, she persevered with numerous projects that helped the community. She remained active in the Community Foundation, the Education Foundation, Johnson Farm, Glenn Marlow Elementary School, the Pardee Hospital Foundation and many other nonprofit agencies and causes in the Hendersonville area. "She's our matriarch of philanthropy here in this community," said McCray Benson, executive director of the Henderson County Community Foundation. "The only thing she wasn't a part of was our original founding board but the older members of that said they were just the steering committee and she really was the original board." A member of the foundation board from 1983 to 1991 and a vice president, "she was our first leader in the respect of actually helping develop the Community Foundation," Benson said. "She and Ken Youngblood would go out and start visiting folks and start talking about the Community Foundation. She was always a part of everything we did. "When I came in as a new CEO she spent time with me and took me around and introduced me to the community," he added. "She certainly did a lot more than just Community Foundation. She helped with Johnson Farm, she was a champion for education in our community. When Glenn passed away, she and her family started a scholarship in his name. One of her greatest joys was meeting those scholarship recipients and getting to know them. I would say her greatest tool was her ability to use encouragement to guide people into doing more than they ever thought they could do. She looked at everything, no matter the challenge, as an opportunity. "I can't say enough about Dot. She's going to be missed. She helped us learn how to carry the torch but now she's left it with us." Marlow's giving spirit never wavered, even when she might have been able to relax upon her move to a tidy apartment in the Methodist Church-affiliated Givens Estates 11 years ago. No rocking chair could contain her. She drove, during the day, up until her death, making regular trips to Hendersonville for charitable work and to visit old friends. "There is hardly a charitable organization in Henderson County that she didn't touch," said her daughter Valorie Songer. "She remained active when she moved to Givens Estate and she remained active here (at her new home)," taking on a fundraising project for the Givens Estates chapel and other projects. "She just felt so strongly about giving back to the community you're in," Songer said. "She had a very strong faith and part of living that out was helping other people and giving back." Longtime friends admired Marlow not only for her giving spirit but for her sense of humor and openness to anyone who called on her deep knowledge of her adopted hometown. "She wanted to make this place an even better place to live," said Ruth Birge, who met Marlow when she moved to Hendersonville as publisher of the Times-News. "I've known her ever since I've been here. She's one of the first people I met, probably like everybody else who moved here" and had a need to find out what made the community tick. "She put everybody at ease." In her banking career, she mentored up-and-coming youngsters like Tom Apodaca, who became a powerful state senator, and Ross Sloan, a fast riser who is now an executive at TD Bank. "She just put them under her wing and taught them what they needed to do," Birge said. In addition, "she's had a huge impact on lots and lots of women." "These last two weeks she's had the most amazing faith," she said. Released from Mission Hospital into hospice care at Givens Estate, Dot knew that she would be receiving friends and she'd only receive friends if she was properly dressed and made up in a way that showed respect. "One of the interesting things that happened was when she was released from Mission, somebody went to see her. They went to the room and they said, 'Where's Mrs. Marlow?' 'Oh, she's in the beauty shop.'" Born in 1932 in Lincolnton, she graduated from Brevard College, spent a career of 26 years in banking and lived in the Hendersonville area for the past 65 years. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville, where she taught the Alma Lee Cheves Sunday School class up until her illness a few weeks ago, and was active in the United Methodist Women and other church committees. She was active in the Henderson County community, having served as president of United Way and as a board member of the Community Foundation of Henderson County, the Hendersonville Symphony, the Chamber of Commerce, the Pardee Memorial Hospital, the Pardee Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Pardee Hospital Chaplaincy Association. She also served on the Boards of Givens Estates Retirement Community, Historic Johnson Farm, and SSEACO-Something Special, now Vocational Solutions. She was an active volunteer at the Historic Johnson Farm and at Glenn C. Marlow Elementary School. She was an honorary member of Delta Kappa Gamma and served as a trustee of Brevard College. She was active on committees at Givens Estates and sang in the Givens choir. Mrs. Marlow was selected as one of Henderson County’s top 50 outstanding leaders by WHKP in 1996. She was the 1977 VFW Woman of the Year and recipient of the 2005 Sauer Charitable Leadership Award from the Henderson County Community Foundation. She was inducted into the Henderson County Education Foundation Hall of Fame in 2006. Dot was awarded the Pardee Hospital Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year in 2010 and received the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award from the WNC Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2006. She was inducted into the Brevard College Hall of Fame in 1998. She was predeceased by her parents, Samuel Thomas Dellinger and Bertha Mae Dellinger, her husband of 47 years, Glenn C. Marlow, seven brothers and sisters, and her son-in-law, Dr. Donald R. Songer. Survivors include daughters, Valorie Marlow Songer of Columbia, S.C.; Glenna Marlow White and her husband, Richard A. White of Charlotte; and Dottie Marlow Kinlaw and her husband, Dr. John L. Kinlaw of Rutherfordton; a son, Jeffrey A. Marlow, and his wife, Dr. Sherri H. Marlow of Harrisburg; grandchildren Michael J. Songer (Erica), Julie Songer Belman (Travis), Avery White, Anna White, John Cobb, Jacob Kinlaw, Clare Kinlaw and Nicholas Glenn Marlow; and great-grandchildren James, Raymond and Marlow Belman. A Celebration of Life service will be held at First United Methodist Church at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 22. The family will receive friends following the service in the Christian Life Center at the church. A private burial will be held in Shepherd Memorial Park. Memorials may be made to the Dorothy Dellinger Marlow Scholarship Fund at Brevard College, One Brevard College Drive, Brevard, NC 29712 or to the Glenn Marlow Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation of Henderson County, P.O. Box 1108, Hendersonville, NC 28793.           For more on Dot Marlow's life and legacy return to the Hendersonville Lightning.         Read Story »

Henderson County News

City announces repaving work

Paving crews will be resurfacing or repairing city streets in Hendersonville through mid-September. Some streets will get a new layer of asphalt overlaying the existing surface, while other streets may be milled down before a layer of new asphalt is applied. The repaving work includes two city streets that lead to the new Ingles store from Greenville Highway.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Kanuga widening alarms homeowners

More than 100 people showed up Tuesday for the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s public meeting on the Kanuga Road improvements held at the City of Hendersonville’s Operations Center.   Read Story »

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