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Local couple proud of son's work that earned Pulitzer

Henderson County News

Four charged in two armed robberies

Henderson County sheriff's deputies have arrested four local men in connection with two  armed robberies on Oct. 16. Deputies responded to reports of armed robbeires on Sunday, Oct. 16, at El Trebol Tienda Mexicana on 2315 Spartanburg Highway in East Flat Rock and at the Subway on N.C. 191 in Hendersonville. Detectives have arrested: Kevin Amaury Rodriguez, 36, of 216 Mine Gap Road, East Flat Rock, charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. He is currently in the Henderson County Jail under a $120,000 secured bond. Miles J. Dunbar, 18, of 61 Jim Mills Drive in Fletcher, charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and two (2) counts of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. He is currently in the Henderson County Jail under a $200,000 secured bond. Demarkus Lovon Dunbar, 25, of 39 Talley Drive in Fletcher, charged with three counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one (1) count conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. Luis Enrique Laguna, 41 of West Dermis Avenue in Hendersonville, charged with two  counts of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and two counts aiding and abetting robbery with a dangerous weapon.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Trump fans cheer the Republican nominee in Fletcher

A sea of Trump supporters wearing red “Make America Great Again” ball caps poured into the Davis Arena at the WNC Agriculture Center Friday to rally for Donald J. Trump and cheer his appeal to cap with victory "a movement that people in this country and throughout the world have never seen before." “In 18 days, you’re gonna look back at this election and say this is by far the most important vote you’ve ever cast for anyone at any time," the Republican nominee said. Trump opened his speech by declaring that the ‘Women for Trump’ signs are his favorite and observing that he sees no lack of female voters at his rallies.He ticked off the differences between his campaign and Hillary Clinton’s, asserting that he will lower taxes while she would raise them.Trump mocked the effectiveness of a U.S.-supported invasion by Iraqi troops to retake Mosul, saying what should have been “a sneak attack” was announced three months ahead of time, allowing the leaders of ISIS to flee. “We’re too predictable,” he said.“What do you have to lose?” he asked African Americans and Latino voters after lamenting the distressed conditions in America’s inner cities. “We will be a rich nation once again. But to be a wealthy nation again we must also be a safe nation. Our national security at the border is a mess, very unsafe, very terrible.”To solve this problem he repeated the line popular with his supporters: “We are going to build a wall.”Before the rally, Trump supporters mingled near the stage, waiting to catch the first glimpse of Trump.“I supported him from day one,” said Hendersonville resident Ed Robinson, who was sporting a red Trump shirt and hat. “We don’t need a continuation of the last 8 years. We need someone truthful and not lying like Hillary is.”Wearing a “basket of deplorables” T-shirt, Fletcher resident Dan Taddi said: “We need to correct the broken political system and go back 200 years to the way our founding fathers intended it to be.”“Trump is the best thing that’s come along,” said Ann Hertzberg of Lake Toxaway said. “I love what he says and what he wants to do.”Chuck McDonald, 62, of Sugarloaf/Dana area, said he is voting for Donald Trump because he thinks he will adhere to the Constitution, especially the Second Amendment and freedom of religion. “He’s going to cut taxes and put people back to work,” McDonald said.Jim Underwood, 67, of Flat Rock, thinks it’s time for a change..“I don’t like Obama or Hillary,” he said. “I don’t like taking prayer out of schools.”A Hendersonville native, Dan Brown, 67, served in Vietnam as a Green Beret.“I’m here for the vets,” he said.Dan Triplett, 40, carried his son, Jasper, on his back.“I’m not voting for Hillary. I don’t trust her,” he said. “Her husband can get away with anything. Bill did worse when he was president. I don’t 100 percent trust Trump either, but I do have hope that we can make progress in D.C.”Fletcher resident Brandon Netto, 18, said he is voting for Trump “to make America great again.”Three female students holding ‘Women for Trump’ signs expressed their concerns after the rally.Kealey McDaniels, 18, said, “I don’t support Hillary because she is a liar and I want to prevent a supreme court shift.”Blue Ridge Community College student Hannah Smith, 21, of Mills River, said, “Trump wants best and he tells it like it is.”U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows opened the rally and urged the crowd to support Trump.“The Constitution is being eroded," he said. "We need to stand up for the Constitution, especially Second Amendment rights."   Read Story »

Henderson County News

'Vintage Hitchcock' opens at Playhouse Downtown

Calling all blondes, saboteurs, spies and everyone else that enjoys a good “whodunit!”   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Lee Greenwood performing free concert at Tryon Equestrian Center

Back by popular demand, GRAMMY award-winning country star Lee Greenwood is performing a free concert at Tryon International Equestrian Center at 5 p.m. Saturday followed bythe largest showjumping competition of the fall series. Rio Olympic equestrians from the U.S. Showjumping Team will compete in the $380,000 Rolex Grand Prix CSI 5 starting at 7 p.m. Attendees can also enjoy free “Saturday Night Lights” activities including live music by the James Radford Band, face painting, carousel rides, pony rides, airbrush tattoos, performances by the Asheville Aerial Artists, jugglers, magicians, bubble artists and more. Onsite restaurants and shopping available. Admission to TIEC and parking are free and open to the public.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Local Democrats condemn, GOP defends Trump

Two local events last week exposed the two parties’ immense political divide when it comes to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Payroll services exec convicted of defrauding clients

An Arden man pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he stole $2 million from clients in a scheme that channeled the money into exhorbitant salaries for the payroll services company executives. Frank Alton Moody II, 56, of Arden, pleaded guilty to the federal charges after co-conspirators, Jerry Wayne Overcash, 67, of Charlotte, and John Bernard Thigpen, 60, of Rock Hill, S.C., previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy, Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced Friday. According to documents filed with the court, Moody, chair of the company, formed CenterCede Services Inc., a payroll services company with clients in Charlotte and elsewhere, with Overcash to assume business operations of The Resource Solutions Group (TRSG). The IRS shut down TRSG in August 2010 for failing to pay more than $9 million in federal payroll taxes it had collected from  clients. Moody also served as chair of TRSG.Court documents show that from November 2010 to November 2011, CenterCede purportedly provided payroll preparation and processing services to its clients. As such, CenterCede collected funds from its clients to pay the client companies’ federal tax obligations, gross payroll for the clients’ employees, worker’s compensation, and unemployment insurance, among others, as well as fees due to CenterCede. Contrary to their representations to clients, the conspirators did not pay the clients’ federal taxes in appropriate amounts and by the applicable deadlines.Instead, Moody and his co-conspirators agreed, with the intent to defraud the company’s clients and the IRS, not to remit to the IRS the full tax liabilities of CenterCede’s clients. Client funds were then diverted to pay the salaries of Moody, Overcash and others, and to cover CenterCede’s growing liabilities.To keep the scheme afloat, the conspirators paid only those obligations necessary to keep their ongoing cash flow crisis a secret from clients. As reflected in court documents, the conspirators favored what they called “priority” clients, attempted to keep those priority clients from learning about monthly cash shortfalls and frequently paid those clients’ obligations ahead of other non-priority clients. “Priority” clients generally had large payrolls with deposits necessary to fund CenterCede’s short-term cash needs and keep the scheme afloat.Court records show that when clients inquired about failures to pay obligations, the conspirators took steps to conceal the fraud by providing false excuses and misleading explanations. According to the indictment to which Moody pleaded guilty, when a client company asked why its tax payments had not been paid, Moody wrote “John [Thigpen] has told me it was a over site [sic] in the Tax department and all is fixed. No problems with [victim client company].” In truth and fact, that client’s taxes had been intentionally unpaid in favor of the payment of “priority” client obligations.The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As part of his plea agreement, Moody has agreed to pay restitution to his victims, the amount of which will be determined by the Court.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Voter Guide '16 available at Lightning office

The Hendersonville Lightning's 2016 Voter Guide will available for sale through Election Day at the Lightning office at 1111 Asheville Highway (on the corner of Asheville Highway and Oakload Street just west of Five Points). (The Voter Guide will be in Lightning racks and at other sales locations through Tuesday, Oct. 25.)   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Cleaning of Wolfe's Angel set for Monday

Wolfe's Angel at the historic Oakdale Cemetery will be cleaned by an expert conservator from the Biltmore estate on Monday. The city Historic Preservation Commission contracted with the conservator to clean the marble statue. The conservator will inspect and assess the statue’s need for repair during the cleaning process, and the Historic Preservation Commission’s staff coordinator will be assisting the conservator with the work. The cleaning and assessment will take place on site at Oakdale Cemetery starting at 9 a.m. Monday.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

LONG LINE FORMS AS ONE-STOP VOTING STARTS

The intense interest in the 2016 election was dramatically displayed this morning when early voters negotiated a traffic jam, a parking shortage and a wait of more than an hour to cast ballots.   Read Story »

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