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Four charged in death of HHS graduate

Hendersonville News

Authorities reopen case of woman last seen at local motel

A New Jersey prosecutor’s office has opened a new investigation into the death of a woman last seen alive at the Rainbow motel in Hendersonville in August 2015.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Never Blue chef wins N.C. cookoff

Creating a dish made of chef-foraged edible weeds and seven other farm products from North Carolina, Never Blue chef Jesse Roque won the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association Chef Showdown Monday night in Raleigh.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Republican School Board candidates serve up red meat on education

Four Republican candidates served up hearty helpings of conservative ideology on education issues this month in a Henderson County School Board forum that excluded four unaffiliated candidates who are also on the Nov. 8 ballot.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Two School Board candidates rip commissioners for ignoring HHS recommendation

Two Republican School Board candidates say the Henderson County Board of Commissioners overstepped its authority when it overruled the School Board’s recommendation on the future of Hendersonville High School.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Playhouse's Studio 52 calls for young actors, singers

The Flat Rock Playhouse will hold an open house at its Studio 52 youth theatre space from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to provide parents and potential students the opportunity to tour the facility, talk to the faculty and enjoy light refreshments. A general information meeting will be held at 6:30.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Nature filmfest, bike plan, garbage export ban, Big Sweep

Sierra Nevada hosts Wild & Scenic Film Festival   MountainTrue and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. present the 2016 Wild & Scenic Film Festival at the brewery in Mills River on Thursday, Sept. 1. The Wild & Scenic Film Festival features the year’s best short-form nature, wilderness and outdoor adventure films. Sponsored by Mountain Xpress, Blue Ridge Energy Systems, BorgWarner, Holly Spring Farm, JAG Construction and Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty, the festival features 12 films covering a range of subjects from the story of the ancient stream-dwelling Hellbender salamander to rock climbing the Baatara gorge in Lebanon to grassroots indigenous activism in Honduras.The 2016 Wild & Scenic festival will take place under the open sky at Sierra Nevada’s new outdoor amphitheater on the banks of the French Broad River. The event begins at 7 p.m.; show starts at 8 p.m. The movies are:• Avaatara: The First Route Out - David Lama achieves first ascent of the Baatara gorge in Lebanon, a surreal ‘Avatar’-like landscape, unexploited and untouched.• Leave it as it is - The Grand Canyon is one of the most iconic landscapes on the planet. But this natural masterpiece of the Colorado River faces a battery of threats.• The Last Dragons - An intimate glimpse at North America’s Eastern Hellbender, an ancient salamander that lives as much in myth as in reality.• Diversity & Inclusion in our Wild Spaces - A campfire discussion on improving the diversity of both the visitation and the employment within our parks and wild spaces and brings light to important issues facing today’s conservation movement.• Mile for Mile - A trio of professional ultrarunners travel 106 miles through the newly opened Patagonia Park in Chile to celebrate and highlight Conservacion Patagonica’s efforts to re-wild this vast landscape.• Co2ld Waters - Five of the most respected names in the fly fishing world converge on a single creek in Montana to talk about their passion and to discuss the single biggest threat to their timeless pursuit, climate change.• Parker’s Top 50 Favorite Things about Northwest Rivers - This fun film celebrates the best things about Northwest rivers from a kid’s perspective.• In Current - Rowing a dory in the Grand Canyon is considered by some as the most coveted job in the world. Amber Shannon has been boating the Grand Canyon nine years, trying to work her way from the baggage boat to a dory, while spending as many days as possible in current.• Comes with Baggage - This lighthearted history of bicycle travel in the Americas makes you want to sell all your possessions, quit your job and escape on a bike.• Mother of All Rivers - Berta Cáceres rallied her indigenous Lenca people to wage a grassroots protest that successfully pressured the government of Honduras and the world’s largest Chinese dam builder, SinoHydro, to withdraw from building the Agua Zarca Dam. Narrated by Robert Redford.• The Thousand Year Journey - Jedidiah Jenkins quit a job that he loved to ride his bicycle from Oregon to the southern tip of Patagonia. Friend and filmmaker Kenny Laubbacher joined him for a month and a half to pose the question “why?”• The Accidental Environmentalist - John Wathen was just an average guy until coming into contact with toxic chemicals, stumbling upon a video camera, and discovering his passion for protecting Alabama’s waters. Tickets, $15 and $10 for students, can be purchased at http://bit.ly/WSFFWNC. For more information contact Susan Bean at susan@mountaintrue.org or 828-258-8737 or visit mountaintrue.org. Bike plan drafters invite public input The steering committee for the Hendersonville Bike Plan is inviting the public to participate in the next phase of the plan-drafting process.The steering committee, city planners and the city’s consulting engineers will receive input from noon until 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31, at the main branch of the Henderson County Library. County sets hearing on flow control regs The Henderson County Board of Commissioners postponed a public hearing on a proposed ordinance on garbage collection until Sept. 21 at 9 a.m. at the Historic Courthouse.The ordinance requires waste collectors and haulers serving households and businesses in the unincorporated area of the county to deliver all applicable waste to Henderson County’s waste transfer station on Stony Mountain Road. County officials say that by imposing the flow-control regulation the county will capture enough solid waste to ensure that revenue through tipping fees covers the landfill expense.Anyone wishing to comment in writing on the proposed changes may submit the comments prior to Sept. 21. Send written comments to 1 Historic Courthouse Square, Suite 1, Hendersonville, N.C., 28792.Rec Department seeksvolunteer soccer coachesThe Henderson County Parks & Recreation Department is seeking volunteer coaches for the fall soccer program. Practices may start the week of Aug. 29 and matches will run through October. A coaches meeting and training will be held on Thursday, Aug. 25. All coaches must pass a background check. To learn more contact Laura Rice at lrice@hendersoncountync.org. Applications available for King Apple Parade Applications are still available for entering the King Apple Parade, the Apple Festival-closing event that takes place on Labor Day beginning at 2:30 p.m.The Apple Festival has categories including commercial and non-profit entries and has 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 visit www.ncapplefestival.org and go to the Parade tab. The cutoff date for entries is Aug. 26. For more information, contact the North Carolina Apple Festival at 828-697-4557. Presidential historian speaks at Porter Center American historian, best-selling author and CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley is the 2016 J. R. McDowell speaker, sponsored by the Transylvania County Library Foundation in partnership with Brevard College.Brinkley’s presentation, “The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at the Porter Center for Performing Arts at Brevard College. Tickets for the event are $10 and will go on sale Sept. 1 at the Transylvania County Library.Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and the best-selling author of numerous books including The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America which became an instant New York Times best seller and was the recipient of the 2009 “National Outdoor Book Award.” His most recent book, Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, examines the environmental legacy of FDR and the New Deal. He is a sought-after commentator on U.S. presidential history and has written books on Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. CNN has described Brinkley as “a man who knows more about the presidency than any human being alive.”Brinkley completed his bachelor’s degree at Ohio State University and received his doctorate in U.S. Diplomatic History from Georgetown University in 1989. He then spent a year each at the U.S. Naval Academy and Princeton University teaching history. He is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly.This annual speaker series, named for Transylvania County Library Foundation Board member emeritus J. R. McDowell, is designed to present a wide array of viewpoints on challenging and thought-provoking topics. For more information, call the Transylvania County Library at 828-884-3151. Convertibles needed for parade Classic, antique and newer convertibles are needed for the Henderson County King Apple Parade on Labor Day. It is anticipated that there will be an increased need this year to carry Apple Festival dignitaries, veterans and candidates.Bring your convertible to the old Boyd Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac new car showroom on Asheville Highway across from Hendersonville High School at Five Points at 1 p.m. on the day of the parade. For more information call 828-329 4971 or e-mail noirs@aol.com. Volunteers sought for Big Sweep cleanup The community is invited to help clean up Henderson County’s rivers and streams on when MountainTrue hosts the annual Henderson County Big Sweep on Saturday, Sept. 10.The countywide litter cleanup program brings citizens and community organizations together to clear trash from their waterways. Civic organizations, scout troops, church groups, school groups, Adopt-A-Stream teams, neighborhood associations, city and county departments, local businesses and individuals can all pitch in to make streams and creeks cleaner and healthier. To participate register at bit.ly/hcbigsweep. Teams will hold cleanups from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in waterways throughout the county. For more information or to volunteer visit bit.ly/hcbigsweep or call (828) 692-0385 ext. 1001.   Read Story »

Fletcher News

Embezzlement case limited to manager who was charged

An investigation into the embezzlement of $330,000 from Fletcher Fire & Rescue targeted only the agency’s office manager and no other arrests are expected, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Justice Department said.Brenda Glenn Livingston pleaded guilty last month to embezzling the money over a seven-year period. She has not yet been sentenced.“Mrs. Livingston was the only target of the investigation and we don’t anticipate charging additional individuals,” said Lia Bantavani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office of the Western District of North Carolina.Mills River Fire Chief Rick Livingston was married to Brenda Livingston and is now estranged from her. She no longer lives in Henderson County.“From the beginning of this investigation, Rick Livingston has been completely forthcoming and cooperative with law enforcement, including the SBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office, and is glad that their investigations support his claims that he was not involved at all,” said Anderson Ellis, who represents Rick Livingston.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Memorial service set for Lastein, Flat Rock park designer

A memorial service for Ed Lastein will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26, at Grace Lutheran Church. A reception will follow in Grace Stull Hall.A resident of Flat Rock, Lastein was a landscape architect who designed much of the outdoors public space for the Village of Flat Rock and guided development of the Park at Flat Rock. He drew the first master plan for the park and had worked with the Village Council and Flat Rock Park Commission on revisions and updates up until his death.Many of the improvements in the way of walking trails, reforestation, a playground, welcome center and pavilion went from concept to reality under his guidance and more plans are in the works. When the work is finished a few years from now, “the park will be a monument to Ed Lastein,” Flat Rock Mayor Bob Staton told a website that covers the landscaping industry.The family asked that memorials be directed to the park. As of the Aug. 11 meeting of the Village Council 19 donors had given $2,700 in his honor. He died of an aneurysm on July 21 at the age of 59.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Investigators send Meadows inquiry to Ethics Committee

An investigation into whether U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows improperly paid his chief of staff for 10 months after barring him from congressional offices over a personnel matter was referred last week to the House Committee on Ethics.   Read Story »

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