Henderson County News
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office asked for the public’s assistance in locating a runaway juvenile.
John Chapman, 16, was last seen near Middlefork Road in the Gerton community and may have been headed toward Asheville. He is about 6’2” with shoulder length blonde dyed hair. He is possibly wearing a bulky jacket and camouflage pants. Please contact the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office at (828) 697-4911 if you have any information on John Chapman’s whereabouts. Read Story »
Henderson County News
Thomas Brass and his wilfelife camera on the top of Haywood Knolls caught a coyote with a very nice warm winter coat crunching in the fresh snow looking for a meal.
Click here for the last KnollsCam video of 2017, courtesy of Thomas Brass.
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Henderson County News
A nonprofit organization hoping to start a Christ-centered residential drug treatment facility is finding universal support for treatment and bracing for widespread opposition to the location.
Mud Creek Baptist Church and First Contact Ministries are partnering on a plan to start the 7½-month treatment program in a new $3 million facility on Erkwood Drive across from the church. Officials with First Contact Ministries presented details of their plans for the first time publicly last week during a meeting at Blue Ridge Conference Hall at BRCC.The crowd was split about 50-50, with dozens of Mud Creek members in favor, said Mike Buck, president of the Dunroy Homeowners Association.“And those opposed were mostly people that heard about it who weren’t church members and lived within a short distance of the place,” Buck said. “They did a grand job of telling us how badly we need a treatment center in Henderson County. They did a terrible job of justifying the location.”Answering why that location and not a commercial or more isolated area may be the biggest challenge First Contact Ministries faces. Incorporated as a nonprofit in 2015, First Contact Addiction Ministries provides free support services for addiction and recovery. Craig Halford, the executive director, said the agency is just getting started on the project. He could not get answers to questions posed by the Hendersonville Lightning on Friday because the agency “does not give public statements without discussion among the board members,” he said in an email. “Due to the holidays, our board members are either out of town or enjoying time with family.”In a fundraising appeal, First Contact describes its plans for a 15,000-square-foot residential treatment facility that would serve 33 men and 12 men in a 7½-month program.“These are local men and women from our community who are desperately seeking an opportunity for transformation in their lives, and may not find the help they need anywhere else,” First Contact says. On Dec. 19, Mud Creek voted to grant First Contact a long-term lease of church-owned property on the southeastern corner of Erkwood Drive and Rutledge Drive. First Contact says it needs to raise $3 million for construction. “Construction on this facility will not start until the necessary funds are raised,” the agency says.Within a stone’s throw of the city of Hendersonville and village of Flat Rock boundaries, the Mud Creek property is actually in unincorporated Henderson County. Halford met with John Mitchell, Henderson County’s director of business development, about the zoning requirements.“First thing is that they haven’t submitted any plans,” Mitchell said. One part of the 2.6-acre parcel is zoned R-40 residential and the other is zoned R-1. R-40 does not allow a residential treatment center; R-1 would allow one if the Zoning Board of Adjustment granted a special-use permit.“Either way, there would be a 45- to 90-day window of approval,” Mitchell said.
‘Not compatible’ with surrounding use
Hilton Swing, a real estate agent who lives on Chanteloup Drive off Erkwood, said the question is likely to center on the compatibility of the new use.“The question begins and ends with whether the zoning is appropriate,” he said. “Other than the church, everything around there is residential. It’s my personal opinion that it’s not compatible with the zoning. I would be upset if they put a 15,000-square-foot Walgreens or a 15,000-square-foot hotel or whatever there.”Buck said neighbors are worried about security.“It’s an invitation to the drug dealers of the county to gather around that building after dark,” he said. “The treatment center said they looked diligently at all the camps in the area before finding out about this free land that the church is giving them. Soon as they got the free land, they stopped looking at anything else. This place does not belong in a residential area.”Buck said he and others who live near Mud Creek understand the need for a treatment center geared toward opioid addiction.“This isn’t a question of ‘not in my neighborhood.’ We all want that,” he said. “There was zero favorable response from the people running the place about looking for a different location but there was complete agreement on everybody in the room that we need not only one, we need probably 10 opioid resource centers.”Buck said residents of Dunroy are prepared to attend meetings of the Planning Board, Board of Adjustment and the Board of Commissioners to express their opposition to a treatment center on Erkwood Drive.
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Henderson County News
DANA — Standing in a cold warehouse, their gloved hands working in a tub of cold water, immigrant workers at Danny McConnell’s farm are doing the tedious job of cleaning ginger root, a specialty crop McConnell grows.
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Henderson County News
3. The battle for Big Red
A Lightning Top 10 story for a third consecutive year, the battle over Hendersonville High School — build new or fix the old — came to an end after a tumultuous and emotional two-year drama. The story included threats from county commissioners or state Rep. Chuck McGrady to either abandon the project entirely, move the high school out of the city or de-annex the HHS property to void the city’s zoning power. County commissioners favored a new HHS building on the old Boyd car dealership property. After the School Board endorsed the option for a new HHS building in a 4-2 vote in December 2016, the next stop was the Hendersonville City Council, which had the authority to rezone the property. “If they vote no on the plan as presented, that will kill the project,” Commissioner Lapsley said. “It will be shelved indefinitely and there will be no new school.” Defying the threat, the city Planning Board in a 5-3 vote in April recommended that the City Council reject the plans. “I have a hard time going along with it with all the consternation that has been drummed up about it,” Planning Board member Steve Johnson said. Nonetheless, the council voted for the rezoning and Ninth Avenue closing needed for the project in a 3-2 vote on May 5. Final design of the $52 million school is under way.
2. Manhunt, murder and mourning
A manhunt that drew hundreds of law officers, emergency workers and volunteers to the Pisgah National Forest on a busy Saturday in July ended five days later after a chase through two counties and the arrest of Phillip Michael Stroupe II. A convicted felon who had just gotten out of prison for armed robbery, Stroupe, 39, was charged with abducting and shooting to death Thomas “Tommy” Bryson, 68, of Mills River. Bryson left his home at 8:35 a.m. Wednesday, July 26, four days after Stroupe vanished into the woods in the national forest. Authorities think Stroupe kidnapped Bryson when he stopped to check the mail at the end of the driveway, shot him and dumped his body in a cornfield. District Attorney Greg Newman announced that the state would seek death penalty for Stroupe in a trial set for July 23 in Henderson County. He faces charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and multiple other felonies arising from his desperate flight across two states. The violent death of Tommy Bryson brought an outpouring of community support and grief for his family. Friends, family members and strangers organized an impromptu candlelight vigil that lit up miles of N.C. 280. Mourners packed First Baptist Church and stood for more than two hours in a receiving line that stretch for more than a block down Fifth Avenue West. Friends and family have raised money for a basketball court at Mills River Town Park, a memorial to Tommy Bryson that recognizes his love of the game and serves the youth of the community he loved and that loved him back.
1. Growing pains
Even before the new year dawned, the die was cast on a theme that would dominate politics and civic engagement of 2017. In December 2016, when the Board of Commissioners unanimously shot down a rezoning application to permit 225 cottages Residents question an NCDOT engineer about Highland Lake Road widening.at Horse Shoe Farm, the power of the citizen uprising came into focus. From Horse Shoe to Etowah to Laurel Park to Flat Rock, homeowners rose up to oppose high-density housing as incompatible with the county’s rural nature and overtaxing on roads and other infrastructure. Yet when transportation planners proposed wider roads as a solution for the county’s robust growth, homeowners said no to that, too. Rick Merrill, a Historic Flat Rock trustee and past president, told the Flat Rock Village Council that the new Highland Lake Road would be overbuilt. “Thirty-four feet of roadway, four feet of shoulder, six feet of grass shoulder. Forty-four feet from ditch to ditch —10 feet wider than Greenville highway,” he said. “That’s overkill folks.” As Top 10 story Nos. 4, 5 and 10 suggest, the power of the not in my backyard movement is affecting how we travel in cars, on foot and on bicycles and raising questions about whether asphalt for motor vehicles and stop signs and traffic lights — not roundabouts, bike lanes or sidewalks — are the only fixes the community will accept. “Are we going to let public outcry kill things that in every respect make sense?” Joe Sanders, an advocate for greenways, said in an interview. As the year closed, county commissioners, town boards and homeowners were awaiting revised NCDOT plans for Kanuga Road, Highland Lake Road and U.S. 64 in Laurel Park and the county Planning Board was looking at revising the county land-use standards for high-density development in rural residential areas. Read Story »
Henderson County News
No. 7. Good news at Seven Falls
Although no one’s pulling any building permits yet with a Seven Falls address, the development based on the fraud that sent Keith Vinson to prison had its best year since the dizzying days when country musicians choppered in for exclusive sales extravaganzas. Thanks to the patient guidance of County Attorney Russ Burrell and a star-studded lineup of attorneys who knew how to reach a compromise, lot owners agreed to a distribution of $5.5 million in bond money Henderson County received after the development failed. “My argument in court about why Judge Powell should accept this is I didn’t go through life seeing very many miracles but this is as close to one I’ve seen in a long time,” Burrell said. “I did not expect them to agree to anything.” The horizon brightened, too, when Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy bought 146 acres of old Seven Falls property along the French Broad River, pledging to preserve the land for passive recreational use and water quality protection.
No. 6. Water wars
For generations, water — where it comes from, where it goes and who decides— has created conflict in the Henderson-Buncombe region. This year was no different, except now Henderson County commissioners have trained their sights on Hendersonville, not Asheville. In March, commissioners called on the state Legislature to force the city to cede its water system to the county. If it refused, commissioners wanted the Legislature to place the city system under state control. Commissioners contend that the city ought to charge customers outside the city the same rate — or close to the same rate — as ratepayers inside. Before the March 15 meeting, the city issued a pre-emptive strike to counter arguments Commissioner Bill Lapsley has made for the takeover. “The City of Hendersonville contends that Commissioner Lapsley’s facts are misconstrued, taken out of context or simply wrong,” City Manager John Connet said in a news release. State Rep. Chuck McGrady filed a bill to put the city system under control and later softened that to a study of regional water system. At year’s end, the conflict remained unresolved.
No. 5. Store wars
The commercial sizzle in Hendersonville’s south gateway is going to get even hotter when Publix opens next year. Ingles and Dollar Tree opened in 2017 at ground zero of the grocery and drugstore war. Harris Teeter scrambled to add Starbucks coffee and ready-to-eat items to keep pace with Ingles, Fresh Market and Publix. The NCDOT’s plans for traffic are already drawing opposition. An NCDOT plan for the city’s south side envisions three roundabouts, including one where King, Main and Church streets merge. A White Street extension would take two commercial buildings and reduce parking for Walgreens and Wendy’s. Property owners and city council members are skeptical at best. Look for a scrum in 2018. Read Story »
Henderson County News
No. 10. Seventh Avenue rising
The Hendersonville City Council saw drawings of brick paver crosswalks, leafy medians and handsome gateways on Seventh Avenue East. They talked about façade grants and heard a consultant describe an aggressive redevelopment strategy that would use eminent domain to bulldoze dilapidated houses and buildings. But in the end it was the market — the craft beer boom and an improving economy — that sparked progress on Seventh Avenue in 2017. The changing fortunes of the once-bustling Historic Seventh Avenue District was most striking in the upper end. In the 300 block, Triskelion Brewing Co.’s two-story taproom rose from the ground. Underground Bakery owner Matthew Hickman added Independent Beans espresso bar, dine-in and delivery chain Marco’s Pizza prepared to open and a fitness center moved in. As the year closed, increased traffic had sparked friction between the Hendersonville Rescue Mission and neighboring businesses. And suddenly a parking shortage — a good problem to have — was becoming a topic. On the last day of the year, Triskelion will open its preview space to customers — in the brewhouse behind the taproom — and start pouring craft beer.
No. 9. Mail at the mall
Besides the talk of Publix — will they or won’t they break ground? — the most watched decision was where our our new post office would end up. Ever since the Postal Service announced it was looking for new digs, box holders and regular counter customers had chattered about where they’d next have to go. Now they know: Blue Ridge Mall. “The Postal Service is excited to have secured a new location for the Hendersonville Post Office,” said Postal Service spokesman Phillip J. Bogenberger. The post office will be in the 7,000-square-foot space currently occupied by Sears, which plans to move a few doors down. “I just don’t associate the post office with a mall,” said Charlene Varnes, who also had concerns about accessing her P.O. box at night. “It should be a stand-alone building.” Hendersonville mayor pro tem Ron Stephens agrees with that. At the Dec. 7 council meeting, Stephens raised safety concerns and urged the council to register its dissatisfaction with the Postal Service’s decision. Others looked on the bright side. “Anything is better than this,” Mary Stroman said of the deteriorating brick building on Fifth Avenue. “The mall needs a shot in the arm.”
No. 8: A star departs
County Manager Steve Wyatt recalled his reaction when a delegation from the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development stepped into his office in September. “When they came to see me to deliver the bad news they looked like their dog had been run over,” Wyatt said. “I knew before they opened their mouth what they were going to tell me. I said, ‘That’s Elected officials and company manager celebrate the GF Linamar, one of Tate's last industrial catches.not bad news. Bad news would be, “We’re having to run this guy off because we’re not getting anything done.”’” The news that made their faces droop was that Partnership President Andrew Tate had resigned to take a job with the North Carolina Railroad in Raleigh. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years,” Wyatt said. “In his role, he is as effective as anyone I’ve ever worked with. The results speak for themselves.” What were those results? Demmel, Empire Distributors, Legacy Paddlesports, UPM Raflatac Specials, Norafin, the Dirty Dancing film production, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Microtech Knives, Raumedic, PMA Tools, Bold Rock Hard Cider, Smart Products, Wingate University, Country Malt Group, GF Linamar. Those businesses made a taxable investment of $796,458,000 and created 2,070 jobs. “That’s going to change hundreds of lives,” Wyatt said. Read Story »
Hendersonville News
Will Penny certified through Wharton School
Will Penny, president of Penny Insurance Agency in Hendersonville, North Carolina, has been awarded the Certified Advisor of Personal Insurance designation from the Aresty Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Chubb Insurance.
Will PennyPenny is among a group of only 38 agents this year to receive the certification after completing a one-year intensive educational program on understanding the lifestyle and risk management and insurance needs of successful individuals and families. Created by Wharton and Chubb in 2014, the CAPI program is the first of its kind to focus on a specific client segment in the personal insurance marketplace.
A Henderson County native, Penny is the third generation president of Penny Insurance Agency. He is a graduate of Wofford College, and has been with Penny Insurance since 1994.
Courses are taught by Wharton faculty, Chubb subject matter experts and other professionals. Agents received instruction on the Wharton campus at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and through virtual classes, webcasts, reading assignments and other online activities throughout 2017.
Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. Chubb is the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company, and the largest commercial insurer in the United States.
Austin named PeriAnesthesia Nurse of the Year
Pardee UNC Health Care nurse Debbie Austin has been named PeriAnesthesia Nurse of the Year by the North Carolina Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses.
The award recognizes a nurse who demonstrates excellence in the practice, management and teaching of PeriAnesthesia nursing, and promotes high standards in the profession. Austin, an RN, is a charge nurse in the hospital’s post-anesthesia care unit, where she treats patients recovering from anesthesia. She also serves as a faculty instructor for advanced cardiovascular life support, pediatric advanced life support and basic cardiac life support certification training.
For more than a year, Austin has spearheaded a pilot program for the safe disposal of narcotic medications given to patients for post-operative pain. The program uses education regarding safe storage and disposal, as well as Deterra bags, which allow patients to safely dispose of unused narcotics at home after a surgical procedure. Not only did Austin obtain funding from the Pardee Hospital Foundation for the first 200 packs of Deterra, she also educated the Day Surgery nursing staff on the need for these bags and worked closely with Pardee administration, Hope Rx and the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office to make the pilot program successful.
“Debbie has always had a heart for serving others and our community, whether she is feeding and clothing the homeless, sponsoring a food drive, or volunteering at church,” said nurse Jennifer White a colleague of Austin’s who nominated her for the award. “By confronting the drug epidemic head on and gaining hospital support, Debbie is making a lasting impact on the prescription narcotics problem in our community. She is most deserving of this award.”
Darlyne Jarrett honored as DAISY award winner
Darlyne Jarrett has received the DAISY Award at Park Ridge Health. A part of the Home Health team, Jarrett, 82, was recognized for her outstanding character and work ethic.
Darlyne Jarrett“She is always willing and works every day that we have visits for her to do. She will go to any area, and is always smiling and cheerful,” a nominating letter said. “Patients ask for her specifically. She consistently goes above and beyond for her patients and for her team. She takes call even though she is not obligated to do so as a PRN nurse, and is often helping others by switching out call so they can be with family or meet other personal obligations.”
Jarrett also serves as a Spiritual Ambassador for the department, and is currently going to a particular patient’s home on Sunday afternoons for Bible study because the patient said she wished someone would talk with her about the Bible. She takes meals to patients in need and provides them with community resources on her own time.
The DAISY Award was created by the family of J. Patrick Barnes to thank the nurses who cared for Patrick and for them as he battled an autoimmune disease. Patrick lost his battle, but his family realized the impact his nurses had on the final days of his life and wanted to create a lasting opportunity for all families who experience the benefits of the extraordinary care of nurses to show their appreciation.
Park Ridge Imaging Center is accredited
Park Ridge Health’s Diagnostic Imaging Center, located at the main campus, has earned the American College of Radiology Accreditation for a new 128-slice CT Scanner, the hospital announced.
Park Ridge Health installed the GE 128-slice imager earlier this year. At that point, Wendy Miller, one of Park Ridge Health’s Diagnostic Imaging Radiology Technologists, took the lead to begin the process of attaining the ACR accreditation.
“Wendy ensures patient safety and clinical quality are top priorities in our Computerized Tomography (CT) Suite,” said Todd Guffey, Park Ridge Health Director of Diagnostic Imaging. “Wendy not only made sure the Diagnostic Imaging team met all the ACR requirements, but she did so without interrupting the exceptional care each of our CT patients received. Achieving this accreditation shows this team’s passion for exceeding the expectations of providing high-quality care to our patients.”
To learn more about the Park Ridge Health Imaging Center or to make an appointment, call 855.PRH.LIFE (855.774.5433) to speak with a member of the Park Ridge Health Patient Resource Team. Read Story »
Hendersonville News
With seven gleaming tanks behind him, Jonathan Ayers passionately describes the lineup of craft beer he plans to pour in 12 days from now.
“As soon as I get all seven of my tanks filled I’m going to be making my announcement,” he said in mid-December. They’re filled now, and Ayers announced this week that he is opening his Triskelion Brewing Co. with a New Year’s Eve party on Dec. 31.
He and his wife and co-brewer Becky plan to serve food, wine, mead (wine made of fermented honey) and of course beer.
“We’re walking through the door with seven of our own beers,” he says.
They also plan to have food on New Year’s Eve. Triskelion will open in the brewhouse, which is behind the 5,000-square-foot taproom in the 300 block of Seventh Avenue East.
“We’re shooting to try to get that one open around April or May,” he says.
It’s all-concrete both for fire code and esthetic reasons. “The décor we’re doing, it’s not like what goes on around here,” he says. “Everybody does like mountain rustic. We’re not doing that. This is going to be like Norwegian modern, clean …”
“IKEA style,” Becky adds.
“It’s going to be something different,” Jonathan adds.
He says patrons can get food with their beverages in a variety of ways.
“Marco’s has an app,” he says. “You can be sitting in here and place the order for your subs and pizza and tell them you’re at the brewery and they’ll hand walk it over to you. You don’t even have to leave.”
They’re also talking to Sol y Luna. “They deliver. They want to keep a menu here so if you want something different than pizza you can call Sol y Luna and have them bring the food down to us.”
And they’d like to work something out with Daddy D’s, the Southern food restaurant across the street.
Triskelion becomes the second microbrewery in the Historic Seventh Avenue District, joining the pioneering Southern Appalachian Brewing Co., the first one in Hendersonville. Among the craft beers the couple will debut on New Year’s Eve are the Punkadelic porter, the Order of the Kensmen, a wheat heavy Scottish ale; and two IPAs. Regular hours will be 4 p.m.-midnight Thursday and Friday and noon-midnight Saturday. Read Story »
