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Legislature flips off Cooper's call for special session

Henderson County News

Charged with threat, Absher files complaint against EHHS teacher

Henderson County School Board member Michael Absher, who is already awaiting trial on a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor resident of the group home he operates, faces a new charge of threatening an East Henderson High School teaching assistant. Tony Carswell, a teacher assistant in the In-School Suspension class, swore out a warrant on Tuesday charging Absher with communicating threats. One day later, Absher filed a complaint of his own, accusing Carswell of repeatedly being "verbally aggressive" toward him and saying that the teaching assistant had yelled at him as soon as he walked into the high school Tuesday morning. School officials say they always cooperate with any kind of investigation of criminal activity on school property but could not say more about the conflict because it is a personnel matter. In his handwritten account of the encounter, Carswell, 65, said he was on duty at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday when Absher walked into the front office.“I stopped him and informed him that our rule is to sign in before going onto the school campus,” Carswell wrote. “He refused and told me he was a member of the HCPS School Board and he did not have to sign in. I contacted my principal Mr. Taylor on the radio and I was told to have Michael Absher sign in.“Michael signed in and told me, ‘Carswell, I’m glad you’re retiring and I won’t have to put up with your mouth anymore.’ I told him he would have to listen to me out on the street. Michael walked past me and said, ‘I will whip your ass.’”Carswell called the school resource officer and told him that Absheer had threatened him. The deputy kept Absher in the administrative office until principal Carl Taylor came and talked with him.Carswell confirmed his account when reached by the Hendersonville Lightning.“I was doing my job and he threatened me,” he said. “Let’s just leave it at this.” Absher turned himself in at the sheriff’s office and was released on a $1,000 bond at 10 p.m. Tuesday. Condtions of his release bar him from returning to East Henderson High School, which is his alma mater, and from having contact with Carswell. On Wednesday, Absher went to the Henderson County Courthouse to swear out a complaint for a temporary no-contact order to prevent Carswell from harassing me. In the hand-written complaint, Absher said that Carswell had been verbally aggressive toward him last fall when he was on campus. At the time, Absher was working as a substitute schoolbus driver. He resigned from that job after he was elected to the School Board. Carswell's hehavior was bad enough, Absher said, to require the school administration to "express (to Carswell) to leave me alone, including standing up saying I work here and had a right to be there." On Tuesday morning, Absher said in the complaint, he came to East High "to give a kid his meds," as he had been doing since late April with the school administration's blessing. "As soon as I walked in (Carswell) was at his desk and starting yelling at me," he said. "My nerves and stress has been super high. I multiple times told him to leave me alone and he has no power over me. I have been so emotional all day and night." District Court Judge Emily Cowan ordered Absher and Carswell to appear in court at 9 a.m. Tuesday for a hearing on whether the temporary no-contact order should be made permanent. School Board Chair Amy Lynn Holt said Thursday afternoon she was saddened by the situation because of how it reflects on the school system. She said she knows of no exemption from sign-in rules for School Board members.“As a School Board member I always check in and sign in at the office and to my knowledge so does every other School Board member,” she said.She said she does not know what more the School Board can do about what is now the second misdemeanor charge against Absher, who was elected to the board last November on his fourth try.“We received a letter asking for a leave of absence from the School Board," Holt said. "He’s not an active member … What the law states is that district attorney has to be the one to remove an elected official. To be honest I don’t know much about it. I haven’t had a chance to even talk to School Board members.”A discussion of Absher's status is not on the School Board agenda for its regular meeting Monday night. If something were to be done, Holt said, it would be with the guidance of the School Board’s attorney.“I don’t know if that’s something we could discuss in closed session. I have no clue,” she said. “I’m just sad. Henderson County public school system doesn’t need negative publicity.” She said she hoped to “speak with our attorney Monday night and find out legally what is in our best interest to do.” Schools Superintendent Bo Caldwell said administrators would cooperate in any investigation that might arise from the encounter. "To be honest, when something like this happens we work very closely with the investigation with law enforcement," he said. Like Holt, he said any School Board discussion would be under the guidance of School Board attorney Chris Campbell. "Right now it is not on the agenda," he said. "We’ll just have to take that up with our School Board attorney because right now (Absher) is under a leave of absence." Absher, 27, was charged on May 24 with knowingly permitting a 15-year-old male resident of the Only Hope group home off Upward Road to drink alcohol, according to a warrant served after a sheriff’s office investigation. The alleged offense occurred between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1, the warrant said.“We are confident once a court discovers all the evidence Mr. Absher will be cleared of any wrongful conduct,” Pearson, his defense attorney, said in a statement then.One day later the Board of Directors of Only Hope WNC issued a statement supporting Absher.“As a Board, we want to reassure our many supporters and the Henderson County Community that we do everything in our power to provide a safe environment for the youth in our care,” the board said. “We are confident Michael Absher, our President and CEO, will be cleared of the charge against him, and that these allegations are false.”     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Black choppers are overhead today at DuPont State Forest

North Carolina Emergency Management, the North Carolina National Guard, Henderson County emergency response services, local law enforcement and state and federal public safety agencies are conducting a domestic and homeland security exercise today in the Guion Farm area of Dupont State Forest. The public may see multiple National Guard helicopter flyovers and other types of helicopter operations during daylight hours. The exercise will conclude no later than 8 p.m. and is designed to test and improve the integration of multiple local, state and federal partners during natural or man-made disasters. Questions or concerns should be directed to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office PIO, Major Frank Stout at (828) 450-6791. For questions regarding NC Guard’s participation in the exercise contact Lt. Col. Matt DeVivo at (919) 612-9712.   Read Story »

Mills River News

German manufacturer praises city water

MILLS RIVER — The quality of Mills River water was a big factor when a German company chose a 15-acre field on School House Road for its first American manufacturing plant, the company’s president said.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

2015 HHS graduate announces candidacy for City Council

The first candidate to publicly announce plans to run for the Hendersonville City Council this year would bring diversity and youth to the elected body.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (124)

You won't want to miss this week’s Hendersonville Lightning and our annual Summer Fun & Festival Guide.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Public input meetings set on forest revision plans

The U.S. Forest Service will hold open houses across the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests from late June to early August to provide the public with opportunities to talk with Forest Service staff about local issues, district projects, and the Nantahala and Pisgah Forest Plan revision.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Pardee surgeon pioneers high-tech shoulder replacement

Orthopedic surgeon Richard Jones, of Pardee-affiliated Southeastern Sports Medicine & Orthopedics, is now using a new technology to offer guided personalized surgery for shoulder replacements. On May 31, while performing shoulder replacement surgery at Pardee, Jones became the first surgeon in the United States to use this technology.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Man sent to prison for armed robbery at Triangle Stop

A Fayetteville man was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury convicted him for an armed robbery at the Triangle Stop convenient store on Chimney Rock Highway on Jan. 14, 2016. A Henderson County jury deliberated less than one hour before finding Andrew Dalton, 35, guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon. Dalton, who was represented by Hendersonville attorney Jason Hayes, was sentenced by Judge Alan Z. Thornburg to five years and three months months in the state prison system. He will be eligible for parole after serving 3½ years. District Attorney Greg Newman was the chief prosecutor in the case, along with Assistant District Attorney Beth Dierauf. Store clerk Jeanette Kidd flagged down police officer Eric Larowe and told him that she had been robbed inside the store and that the suspect had run across the highway towards the Jack in the Box restaurant. Kidd testified at trial that the defendant came to her counter at 1:30 p.m. and asked for cartons of cigarettes. When she asked for an I.D., the defendant showed her a black gun that appeared to her to be a 9 mm pistol. Ms. Kidd said that the defendant pointed the gun at her and demanded she give him the money in the cash drawer. The defendant took the money, cigarettes and other items and left the store. The identification of the defendant occurred after WLOS News13 broadcasted the store security video showing the robbery. As a result of the video, the defendant was identified and apprehended two days later in Polk County, NC. In his statement to police, the defendant said that after robbing the store, he made it to his car and left the area for Fayetteville. He purchased heroin with the stolen money. He threw the gun out of the window of his car somewhere between Hendersonville and Fayetteville. The defendant told police that the gun was a pellet gun that he shoplifted at Wal-Mart shortly before the robbery. At trial, the defense acknowledged the robbery but contended that Dalton should be convicted of the lesser charge of Common Law Robbery based upon the argument that a pellet gun was used instead of a real gun. Newman pointed out to the jury that the type of gun is not the issue when it appeared to the store clerk to be the real thing. “Ms. Kidd was the one on the other side of the barrel of a gun that appeared real enough to her. The defendant represented it to be real and he threatened Ms. Kidd with it. She was petrified and felt that her life was in danger. Those facts should convict a person of robbery with a dangerous weapon every time,” Newman said. “People who work in these stores should not have to put up with this kind of behavior,” Newman added. “I appreciate the investigation of the Hendersonville Police Department and the assistance of Ms. Kidd, who now lives in Florida. This defendant did not receive any plea offer from my office, so he appealed to members of our community on the jury for some form of relief. To their credit, they followed the law and convicted him for what he did. He needed to be held accountable for his actions and our jury did the right thing. They are to be commended,” said Mr. Newman. The next Superior Court trial term for Henderson County begins July 24.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Sheriff to auction off a found pig

A pot-bellied pig picked up by Henderson County animal enforcement officers will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, the sheriff says. The animal enforcement unit of the sheriff's office responded to a call on May 15 that a pig had been found at a pond at 2129 Locust Grove Road. "We have had a couple of pigs wandering around lately," Maj. Fank Stout said. "This is the second pig we’ve had in a couple of months. I think the last one sold for a dollar." "I don’t know if it’s Petunia or if dresses out at 240 pounds or 120 pounds," he said. "We don't know where it came from. There's always speculation that somebody just turned it loose in a remote area, got tired of taking care of it." Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 68-20 the pig will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. Bidding starts at $25. The public auction will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 13, at Animals R Us, 725 Crest Road. Sheriff Charlie McDonald announced the sale in the June issue of The Guardian, a monthly newsletter.   Read Story »

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