Henderson County News
J.D. Obermiller, who retired recently after 40 years of apple research at the Mountain Horticulture Crops and Research and Extension Center, has been named the Grand Marshal of this year's Apple Festival Parade.
The King Apple Parade will again be held on Labor Day beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Applications are still available for various categories including commercial and non-profit entries. We also have professional floats available for lease again this year. If you are interested in a professional float, please contact the office.
For information on how to participate in the Parade visit ncapplefestival.org. The cutoff date for entries is Aug. 26.
For more information, contact the North Carolina Apple Festival at 828-697-4557. Read Story »
Henderson County News
Jason Brown, the Henderson County sheriff's office chief deputy who was scheduled to become county recreation director on Tuesday, has backed out of the job and will stay on as chief deputy, County Manager Steve Wyatt said Monday.
The news came as the sheriff's office comes off of a high-profile manhunt and murder case in which Brown appeared alongside Sheriff Charlie McDonald at news conferences and helped lead a massive search and intense investigation involving 37 agencies across many counties in two states.
Wyatt announced on July 11 that Brown would replace Parks and Recreation Director Tim Hopkin, who had been reassigned to his old job over athletics programs. With Brown's decision to stay with the sheriff's office, John Mitchell, the county director of Business and Community Development, remains the acting Rec Department director.
Wyatt released a memo from himself to Brown in which he granted the chief deputy's request to stay in law enforcement.
"Recent events have given you cause to reevaluate your pending transfer to the position of Director of Parks and Recreation," Wyatt said. "You have concluded that your highest level of contribution to the community would be to remain as Chief Deputy and you have requested that I release you from the pending reassignment."I am in agreement. These past difficult, yes tragic days have made it clear to me that you are first and foremost, a 'Law Man'. While your leadership skills and abilities would serve the organization and community well in any capacity, I see where your heart is at its core. I respect your decision and grant your request."I look forward to working with you, Sheriff McDonald, and the fine men and women of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department in the days ahead." Read Story »
Hendersonville News
Moose Café,a popular brand for country breakfast and Southern cooking, has found what many restaurants before it have learned: A corner spot in the sprawling Wal-Mart shopping center is a tough location.
Obsured by the Wal-Mart gas station, the space in the southeastern corner now has an empty parking lot and the need, again, for a new tenant.
Originally built in 2002 as a Lizard’s Thicket family style restaurant, the building has housed a seafood restaurant, Greek restaurant and several other eateries. The Moose Cafe opened in 2014.
Owned by JCC Rental Properties LLC of Homestead, Fla., the 1.75-acre parcel and 6,300-square-foot building are assessed on the tax roll at $1.4 million.
"I found out that it closed," said Bill Walker, owner of the Moose Cafe at the WNC Farmers Market in Asheville, which is not connected to the Hendersonville location. "It was individually owned by a guy who owned a hotel over there and had a franchise agreement with the Moose Cafe in Greensboro. Usually when a restaurant closes it's not doing very well."
He said he had not heard much from diners about the closing.
"I don't think they had that many customers to make comments," he said. "It doesn't surprise me because we had heard it wasn't that busy."
A commenter on TripAdvisor.com reported that the Southern food restaurant closed for good on July 20.
"On Thursday, July 20, 2017 my wife & I drove to this cafe since their telephone answering process left us 'wondering' about our need to make a reservation for a group breakfast for Friday, July 21. We found a handwritten sign posted on the front door 'Closing at 1:00 p.m.'
"We drove back to the cafe on Friday July 21 and asked of two folks at the rear service entrance about the status of the cafe. We were told it had closed, permanently, '... yesterday.'
There is still a hand-written sign on the door, except now it says "Closed at 1 p.m."
Outside, signs of the restaurant had already vanished. Removing the Moose Cafe sign revealed the name of the last occupant before Moose: the Mad Greek Eatery.
The Moose cafe phone was unable to take messages. The mailbox was full.
Read Story »
Henderson County News
New York Times columnist David Brooks, a leading analyst of American culture and politics, will deliver the keynotes remarks at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at UNC Asheville’s Founders Day celebration of its 90th anniversary.
Advance tickets will be available on Aug. 12 at events.unca.edu. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Supported by the David and Lin Brown Visionary Lecture Series and the Van Winkle Law Firm Public Policy Lectures, the event is in Kimmel Arena on campus.
Brooks is regularly featured in The New York Times op-ed pages, where his columns have appeared biweekly since 2003; on NBC’s Meet the Press; on the PBS Newshour, where he discusses politics with liberal counterpoint Mark Shields; and NPR where he is a regular Friday contributor on All Things Considered.
As a public speaker, Brooks addresses contemporary culture and issues with humor and quiet passion. His commentaries examine American ways of life as a window into present-day politics.
After graduating from The University of Chicago in 1983 with a degree in history, Brooks stayed in Chicago to begin his professional career as a police reporter, an experience which he says had a conservatizing influence upon him. The next year, he accepted an internship at the prominent conservative journal, National Review, and then was hired as a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where he remained for nine years, ultimately becoming editorial page editor. He also was senior editor at The Weekly Standard before accepting his current position with The New York Times.
In addition to his journalism work, Brooks is a senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and has taught courses at Yale on humility. His thinking on that subject led to his 2015 book, The Road to Character, which he describes as an attempt “to shift the conversation a bit. We live in a culture that focuses on external success … a fast, distracted culture. We’ve lost some of the vocabulary other generations had to describe the inner confrontation with weakness that produces good character. I am hoping this book can help people better understand their own inner lives, their own moral adventures and their own roads to character.”
Brooks’ other books include The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement; On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense; and Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. Brooks is also the editor of the 1996 anthology, Backward and Upward: The New Conservative Writing. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of Chicago, and on the Board of Advisors of the university’s Institute of Politics. Read Story »
Henderson County News
How do you plan for a once-in-a-lifetime event?
That’s the challenge facing tourism officials across Western North Carolina – not to mention all of us who live here – as the area prepares to experience the total eclipse of the sun on Aug. 21.It’s the first total eclipse in the continental United States since 1979, when five states in the Northwest witnessed the sun’s blackout, and the first in this area since the 1800s.In Hendersonville, sky watchers need to set their watches for 2:38 p.m. on that day to experience the maximum eclipse that the city will see — 99.76 percent of the sun will be obscured, according to Christi Whitworth, the director of learning experiences at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) in Rosman.To experience 100 percent totality you’ll have to drive to Brevard or points west in Transylvania County or southeast to Travelers Rest or Greenville in South Carolina.Be prepared. You’ll be on the road with thousands of like-minded seekers. Think hurricane evacuation and you’ll have an idea of how many people will be in their cars, trying to reach the prime spots to see this extraordinary astronomical event.“We wish we knew how many were coming,” said Clark Lovelace, executive director of the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority. “It’s a unique thing. We’re doing the best we can.”“The larger hotels, motels and inns have been sold out,” although there may be some independent rooms still available, he said.
‘Traffic at a standstill’
Lovelace expects traffic to number in the thousands, but he doesn’t know whether it will be 10,000 or 40,000. “Traffic will be at a standstill. People will be pulling off to the sides of roads,” Lovelace said. “The Sheriff’s Office will have officers assigned to specific areas” to try to provide traffic control.Expect that day to be a traffic nightmare everywhere in the path of the total eclipse, he and Whitworth warn.“Be in place by Sunday night,” Whitworth told the Rotary Club of Hendersonville on July 18. “Park and stay till Monday.”Her advice: Find a mall or shopping center parking lot and camp out if you don’t already have plans for lodging at hotels or with family and friends in Transylvania County or in Greenville, Columbia or Charleston or other points along the path of totality.Whitworth expects people to be driving from all over the country to experience the phenomenon everywhere in the 68-mile-wide band of totality. The eclipse will enter the United States at Lincoln City, Oregon, and exit at Charleston and continue over part of the Atlanta Ocean. The rest of the country will experience a partial solar eclipse.Beth Carden of Henderson County’s Tourism Development Authority expects Henderson County to absorb the overflow of guests who want to find lodging near the band of totality. Unlike Transylvania County, the business community here did not react strongly to doing something special for the eclipse, she said.“We’ll definitely see an influx in hotels and eating and shopping,” Carden said. But businesses “did not take it upon themselves to do something special. August is a big month and (the eclipse) is an added bonus for us with the Apple Festival” that happens the first weekend in September.
In Brevard, a four-day event
In Transylvania County, “There’s a lot going on in the four days around the eclipse,” Lovelace said, and most of the events are sold out.PARI advertised 400 tickets at $100 each and sold out in two weeks, Whitworth said. PARI is a radio observatory that was established in the 1960s. She said this is the first time a radio observatory has been in the path of totality, so NASA scientists will be on site to conduct experiments.The Brevard Music Center plans four days of activities focused on the eclipse. Only the movie events on Saturday and Sunday night still have tickets – “Apollo 13” on Saturday and “2001: A Space Odyssey on Sunday.” Lyle Lovett and His Large Band on Friday night and the Monday eclipse experience (at $100 per person) sold out long ago.The Earthshine Discovery Center in Lake Toxaway also sold all its $30 tickets fast.If you leave your house at zero-dark-thirty, you might reach these opportunities:• Brevard College – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., an all-day experience, with eclipse viewing glasses provided. Bring your telescopes and other viewing devices.• Gorges State Park – gates open at 5 a.m. for the first 1,500 cars. Gorges also has planned family-friendly events from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 19 and 20.• Rosman High School – The eclipse viewing event has sold out all tickets (priced $25 to $40 to benefit the school), but you might be able to shoehorn into the town for a viewing spot and your own picnic.• Oskar Blues Brewery – The Solar Eclipse Party starts at noon with music, a food truck, bouncy house, viewing glasses and, of course, beer.Will there be a way to measure the economic impact of the eclipse? Lovelace and Carden aren’t sure. Hotel occupancy rates and sales tax receipts might provide some indication when compared year over year, but it will be hard to gather and compare data on dining, shopping and gas receipts. But it has been a great marketing opportunity for Western North Carolina, Lovelace said.And if it’s cloudy during the afternoon of Aug. 21? The show still goes on – darkness will fall, you’ll still need to wear your solar glasses during the whole time of the partial eclipse, nature will react and scientists will get their measurements.But everyone has their fingers crossed that it will be bright and sunny day —for all but 2½ minutes.
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For details about the events in Transylvania County, go to https://www.visitwaterfalls.com/eclipse/ Read Story »
Mills River News
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. will introduce this year's special Oktoberfest beer — created at Sierra Nevada's Mills River plant — during its two big Oktoberfest in September.
For the past three years, Sierra Nevada has partnered with a different German craft brewery to create an authentic fest beer fit for celebrating the world’s largest beer festival right here at home. This year, Brauhaus Miltenberger, one of Germany’s most highly regarded craft brewers, was tapped for the collaboration.
“Cornelius and his team from Brauhaus Miltenberger embody the spirit and tradition of Oktoberfest,” says Brian Grossman, second-generation brewer for Sierra Nevada and manager of the Mills River plant. “It was great to host them at our brewery in Mills River for the creation of this year’s fest beer. They brought literally centuries of family brewing experience to the mix and helped us create the ultimate festival beer.”
“We tried to re-create a classic Oktoberfest beer in the true German tradition,” says Cornelius Faust, fourth-generation brewmaster for Brauhaus Miltenberger. “We used traditional techniques to create layers of rich malt notes that remain light and crisp to the taste. That’s the secret of an authentic fest beer—complex malt flavor in a lager that remains easy to drink while you are celebrating the Oktoberfest season.”
Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest is a deep golden lager weighing in at 6.1% ABV with an authentic, rich, and layered malt flavor balanced by traditional German-grown hops. New for 2017 is Oktoberfest in 12-ounce cans, in addition to 12-ounce bottles and draught offerings.
Named one of America’s best Oktoberfest festivals, the event is a big celebration of German culture and tradition, with live music, dancing, costumes, contests and, of course, beer. Mills River welcomes guests Saturday, Sept. 30.
Read Story »
Henderson County News
Indian auto company Mahindra Vehicle Sales and Service Inc. announced Thursday that it would locate its North American corporate headquarters in Fletcher.
Read Story »
Henderson County News
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Phillip Michael Stroupe II, the Weaverville man who was charged on Monday with first-degree murder in the death of 68-year-old Thomas Bryson of Mills River, District Attorney Greg Newman said.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, sheriffs from Henderson, Buncombe and Transylvania counties thanked volunteers and paid first-responders for their work on the six-day manhunt and search for Bryson's body and detailed the 15 criminal charges Stroupe faces in Henderson, Transylvania and McDowell counties.
The case is now a capital murder case in Henderson County. Besides first-degree murder charges, Stroupe, 38, faces kidnapping and car theft charges arising from the abduction of Bryson, who was on his way to take his sister to a medical appointment when he went missing Wednesday morning.
“We’ll be seeking the death penalty,” Newman said. “It’s charged as a first-degree murder, and we’ll have a couple of different theories that we’ll be able to proceed upon. With first degree murder in North Carolina, you have premeditation or you have felony murder which is a death that occurs as a result of other felonies, so we have a couple of theories that we can pursue, and we will. The death penalty will have two phases of a trial, where the first phase is to see if the person is guilty of the charges and if the jury says the person is guilty, the second phase is the death phase and that can take as much if not longer than the original phase, it lengthens the process a little bit.”
Newman added that he was comfortable proceeding with the death penalty prosecution given the circumstances, adding that Bryson’s family had agreed with the decision. A grand jury is set to meet Aug. 21.
“The grand jury meeting determines if a person should receive a jury trial for their charges,” Newman said. “It’s a formality that’s required. We’re going to accelerate it, and bring them ahead of time by about a month just to consider this case as well as others that are related to it.”Stroupe had a brief initial appearance at the Henderson County Courthouse today where he was advised of the charges.
Stroupe faces six charges in Transylvania County and six in McDowell County, including possession of methamphetamine, fleeing to elude arrest, failure to stop for police lights, reckless driving to endanger the public, resisting a law officer and posession of a firearm by a felon.
Law officers believe Stroupe murdered Bryson on Wednesday shortly after he took him captive and stole his 2007 four-wheel-drive Honda Ridgeline.
Bryson was “found deceased in an area in Buncombe County about 20 minutes’ drive time from where we believe he was abducted in the South Mills River area on South Mills River Road,” McDonald said.Bryson was found off of Glen Bridge Road in southern Buncombe County. Stroup had been uncooperative throughout the entire investigation while looking for Bryson, McDonald said. Newman added that a deal had not been struck between Stroup and law enforcement to find Bryson. Bryson was found by a family member who was working at the time with Skyland Fire Department, Duncan said. The family member says he was led to the site by divine intervention, said McDonald, who agrees. McDonald also added that law enforcement had reason to believe that Bryson had already met his fate when he met Stroupe and that evidence suggests that Bryson was dead by the time deputies were notified that Bryson was missing.“An officer passed him (Stroupe) on the Blue Ridge Parkway traveling, which resulted in a prolonged chase on NC 80 but ended up in McDowell County near the Pleasant Gardens community, where he was taken into custody early Thursday morning about 1:20 a.m.,” Duncan said of capturing Stroupe. Stroupe’s bond was set at $2 million for his charges in McDowell County alone in order to keep him put. “When that bond was set Mr. Bryson had not been found, so he’s going to have a new bond set when he has his warrant set or no bond for the homicide charge,” Duncan added.
McDonald praised first responders for their work throughout the ordeal and thanked the community for supporting them.
“This was a bump in the road, and I do not say that lightly, but this community will become stronger for it,” he said.
In another development, Phillip Michael Stroupe, father of Phillip Michael Stroupe II, was arrested Sunday and charged with felony accessory after the fact of first-degree kidnapping. Phillp Michael Stroupe, 65, of Burnsville, was being held in the Henderson County jail on a $250,000 secured bond. His first appearance was scheduled in District Court in Henderson County on Monday.
Henderson County sheriff's deputy Aaron Lisenbee and SBI agent C.M. Drake said in an arrest warrant that the elder Stroupe had helped his son escape and avoid arrest by "receiving material information" regarding the disappearance of Bryson on Wednesday, the day the victim disappeared.
Phillip Michael StroupeBryson's body was found in a corn field in southern Buncombe County, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
Sheriff Charlie McDonald confirmed the discovery of the body in an interview with WLOS-TV.
“Unfortunately, we had to deliver the news, but at least I think we’re thankful we’re able to get them some sort of closure regarding their family member.," McDonald said. "It’s been a very difficult time for them and the Mills River community as well.”
He said murder charges would be brought against Phillip Michael Stroupe II, the Weaverville man who led authorities on a six-day man hunt before his capture.
Buncombe County deputies charged three people on Friday with harboring fugitive Phillip Michael Stroupe II at a Barnardsville home on Wednesday before he was caught and arrested in McDowell County early Thursday.
Stroupe, who grew up in northern Buncombe County, is charged with multiple felonies arising from the six-day manhunt across Western North Carolina and is thought to have kidnapped 68-year-old Tommy Bryson, a Mills River man who remains missing.
Arrested were Jennifer Elaine Hawkins and Frederick Aurther Badgero Jr. Charged and still at large was Larry Jay Hawkins. Duncan described the three as persons who, like Stroupe, have lengthy criminal histories. Duncan could not provide information on whether the two people in custody had been able to shed any light on what happened to Bryson. The three are in their late 30s or early 40s, he said.
"The most important thing is to find Mr. Bryson," he said. "We hope to find Mr. Bryson alive but certainly as time goes on you have to start to expect the obvious. But right now our search teams are hoping to turn up a lead to find him alive and bring him home safely."
Buncombe deputies became aware Wednesday afternoon that Stroupe may be at a residence in Barnardsville and made the arrests.
"We are absolutely going to follow through with prosecution for their part in harboring and possibly being an accessory after the fact," Duncan said. "They all have lengthy criminal histories. ... they were not truthful and upfront about what transpired there."
Responding to a question about Stroupe's lack of cooperation, Duncan said, "You heard what the district attorney. He spoke very plainly and I think he described the situation very well." The McDowell District Attorney Ted Bell told a judge during Stroupe's first appearance Thursday that the defendant had been uncooperative and instead had been maneuvering for a deal from prosecutors in exchange for information about Bryson's whereabouts.
McDonald said Stroupe remains less than cooperative.
"It's been our pleas in a couple of interviews we've had with the suspect that if there's any hope at preserving life he'd want to take those opportunities to help but he hasn't seen fit to do that," he said. "We have no idea really whether or not the victim was harmed soon after (the kdinapping) or if anything's happened besides being abducted."
The Bryson family had put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the rescue or recovery of Bryson.
"They're hoping to generate some leads and tips as well," McDonald said.
Thomas Bryson's sons, Rick and Joey Bryson, told WLOS that their father was a man of deep faith who would have done whatever his kidnapper asked in order to be reunited with his family.
On Thursday night investigators said they have reason to believe Stroupe may have traveled as far west as East Tennessee before turning back to the N.C. mountains, where he was involved in a chase that culminated in his capture and arrest in McDowell County. Read Story »
Henderson County News
Residents wearing stickers that read "Revoke!" fell silent and supporters of event barn owners Bill and Tamra Crane clapped and cheered after the Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 3-2 to uphold a permit for the facility, which has sparked a bitter neighborhood dispute and triggered a broader discussion of commercial uses in residential zones.
Read Story »
