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Laurel Park News

Cafe owner vows to fight embezzlement charges

The owner of a Laurel Park café faces seven felony charges in connection with what investigators say was the theft of $208,463 from an elderly man who had made her the beneficiary of $2.65 million worth of investments, according to court documents.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Granna retires from her Easter egg hunt

MOUNTAIN HOME — Before she officially kicked off her annual Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning, Betty Robinson hollered for Joshua Robinson to come forward. The 15-year-old Joshua (no relation) walked up and dutifully stood beside her. Everyone in the large extended family of Smiths and Robinsons and Corns knows that when Betty calls, you come.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Police seek two men after shots fired in Green Meadows

Hendersonville police are seeking two local men after shots were fired shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday on Towhee Street in the Green Meadows neighborhood. Wanted from that incident is Zachery Micah Rice, 26. Rice is a validated member of the Folks Nation street gang and should be considered armed and dangerous, police said. Rice is wanted for felony probation violation, possessing a firearm while being a felon, and driving on a revoked license. Rice was last seen driving a newer model silver over black possible Ford Explorer SUV.Wanted for questioning in the incident is Christopher Tre Bradley, 19. Bradley should also be considered armed and dangerous. At this time, there are no pending arrest warrants for Bradley. Police asked anyone with information on the men's whereabouts to contact the law.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

LIGHTNING PHOTOS: Runners dash off in Bunny Hop

About 150 joggers and walkers covered the course in the second annual Bunny Hop sponsored by the Hendersonville Kiwanis Club on Saturday.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

EHHS basketball coach resigns

Bruce Gilliam, East Henderson High School varsity boys’ basketball coach, announced his resignation Thursday after 23 years coaching at the middle and high school level.   Read Story »

Laurel Park News

Laurel Park eyes growth along U.S. 64

LAUREL PARK — Nine years away from its 100th birthday, Laurel Park is reimagining itself in its second century as a town with more retail, a destination for younger families and a mountaintop community connected by greenways — all while preserving its small town character. “We have a small town and we have a limited commercial district so we need to look at long term how we going to maintain our small town atmosphere but also grow our town,” says Councilman Paul Hansen.Hansen and Mayor Carey O’Cain are the council liaisons to a steering committee that has been working since last summer on a plan to guide growth through 2025. Change is a delicate topic in a town where 42 percent of the residents are over age 65 and the biggest issues are how soon the snowplows will clear Hebron Road and how efficiently the town will plug water leaks. Aside from that, people in Laurel Park are pretty happy with the town that real estate developers conceived as a summer resort during the land boom of the 1920s.“We had an event (to accept public input) on Jump Off Rock and we heard very strongly that people want to maintain the residential rural core of what it means to be Laurel Park,” said Town Manager Alison Melnikova.Even so, planning committee would like to see at least modest growth, more retail and dining opportunities and a bigger tax base.The countywide property reassessment last year showed that the total taxable real estate value in Laurel Park had inched up by an anemic 1 percent, well below the countywide rate of 5.4 percent. Other towns with more vacant land and industrial and commercial property experienced much more robust growth. Fletcher’s tax base grew by 4.5 percent and Mills River’s shot up by 8.4 percent. Laurel Park residents and others interested in the 2025 comp plan are invited to review the plan and make comments during open houses on April 7 and April 9. ‘Neighborhood services and gathering places’     2025 Laurel ParkComprehensive Plan Community Open House: 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, and 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 9, at First Congregational Church.Residents may drop in when convenient and visit a variety of stations to review maps, read elements of the plan, ask questions and make comments. There will be a kid’s station, too, so families are encouraged to attend. During a public meeting last summer and from a survey of town residents, the steering committee “heard from the residents that they want to continue to protect the rural residential nature of the Town but have a commercial area that provides neighborhood services and gathering spaces,” Melnikova wrote in a summary of the comp plan recommendations. “The result is a long-range plan for gradual change in a targeted area along US-64/Brevard Road to a mix of business and residential.”The opportunity for commercial and retail growth lies along a westward frontier that’s partly outside the town’s jurisdiction. Although the proposed 2025 plan identifies the U.S. 64 corridor as a target for mixed-use development, the Henderson County Board of Commissioners has jurisdiction over a stretch of the corridor almost a mile long.“And we’re limited on expansion due to the Legislature’s restriction on involuntary annexation,” Hansen said.The town is sensitive to the fears of property owners in unincorporated Henderson County.“We don’t want our plan to scare the people who live in this area,” Melnikova said of the unincorporated land. “We’re not coming after them. … This is not going to change anybody’s current zoning. It encourages future voluntary changes along U.S. 64.”In planning sessions, council members often bring up a 90-acre parcel of vacant land on the south side of U.S. 64 and on the westernmost edge of town. Zoned for half-acre residential lots, the land could be prime property for a mix of housing and retail, the steering committee said. The land is currently on the market.“Basically if you look at the Highway 64 corridor you’ve got a gap from our current town limits to the 90-acre parcel,” Hansen said. “I’m not saying we’d develop the whole corridor as a commercial corridor. I don’t think that’s feasible.” Attracting families Committee members also hope that the 2015 plan will encourage development and amenities that would attract families.“What’s really important for us is that we need to make the town more friendly for the younger generation of folks,” Hansen said. “How do we make the town a destination and a place that the millennials want to have a residence in? A lot of people love being retired here but we also need to bring in the younger generation.”One way to do that is park and greenway development.“It’s quite clear that part of bringing in the younger generation and people that would appreciate Laurel Park is to have walking trails, biking trails and more parks,” he said. The town has Laurel Green, Lake Rhododendron and Jump Off Rock. “Connecting the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain in walking trails” is a priority, Hansen said. “And we’ve got a plan to do that.” The Town Council is on record in support of the Ecusta Trail.The town received two grants to help fund studies that dovetail with the 2015 plan. A $12,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission will fund a study of the commercial district and a $40,000 grant from the NCDOT will fund a pedestrian-bikeway plan.“What we’ve stressed about it from the beginning is that this comp plan contain an action plan and that it’s not a dust collector,” Hansen said.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Carriage Park developer faces foreclosure

The Carriage Park property owned by developer Dale Hamlin is headed for sale on the courthouse steps next month.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Kiwanis Club honors 'Caring' law officers

Burnout is common in law enforcement.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Tom Fisch, Bookfest, History Club, Eagle Scout

Tom Fisch to perform at Tigg’s Pond Retreat Tom Fisch will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at the Standing on the Side of Love Coffee House at Tigg’s Pond Retreat Center in Zirconia. Tickets are $10 at the door.A local favorite, Fisch has a style deeply rooted in influences of Doc Watson, John Prine, Pete Seeger, John Denver and others. He’s known for delivering an eclectic mix of original songs and songs from some of his favorite writers and performers bridged by stories and laughter.Tigg’s Pond Retreat Center is at 212 Fiddlehead Lane, Zirconia. For more information call 828-697-0680 or visit www.tiggspondretreatcenter.com. Blue Ridge Bookfest features 40 authors The 2016 Blue Ridge Bookfest April 22-23 offers visits with 40 authors, free workshops and special Saturday After Lunch Presentation featuring the work of Carl Sandburg and Thomas Wolfe.In addition to featured author Sara Gruen, more than 40 authors will participate in this year’s event.Writers and aspiring writers may meet published authors one-on-one and attend free workshops and presentations on Friday and Saturday to hone their craft. Friday workshops include:• 1-1:45: Grammar Questions that Grieve You, with Ernie Mazzatenta, whose monthly column Speaking of Words is published in the Hendersonville Times-News.• 2-3:30: Making money with Ghost Writing with Beth Brand (www.bethbrand.com) and Copy Writing with Bob Martel www.gettherightstuffnow.com• 3:45-5:15: Genealogy with Jennie Jones Giles and Writing Your Family History with Diane Rhoades.On Saturday Shipman’s Catering will offer box lunches for sale to the public starting at 11:30 a.m. An After Lunch Presentation features the Writings of Carl Sandburg, presented by Ginger Hollingsworth, of the Carl Sandburg Home; and the Writings of Thomas Wolfe, presented by Tom Muir, of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville.For a complete schedule and author bios visit http://www.blueridge.edu/blueridgebookfest.   History Club features anti-sub warfare BREVARD – Retired United States Navy Rear Admiral Gretchen Herbert will be the Brevard College History Club’s featured speaker at its last meeting of the 2015-16 academic year on Tuesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. in McLarty-Goodson Room 125. The event is free and open to the public. Herbert will outline and discuss the American Navy’s anti-submarine warfare program during the U.S.-led Western powers’ political war with the Soviet Bloc nations from 1945 to 1990. Herbert is a native of Rochester, New York, and a graduate of the University of Rochester. Her final assignment, before retiring in January 2014, was as Commander, Navy Cyber Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia, where she was responsible for training and equipping the U.S. Navy fleet for cyber security readiness, telecommunications, electronic warfare, signal intelligence, cryptology, space systems and network operations afloat and ashore. Asheville Lyric Opera performs ‘Magic Flute’ Asheville Lyric Opera’s production of The Magic Flute premiers at the Diana Wortham Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday, April 8, followed by a matinee at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 10.The Magic Flute is a celebration of love conquering all and transports the audience to an enchanted world where good faces the forces of dark. The blend of high comedy and serious drama is packed with exquisite singing and stage wizardry.Thomas Joiner will conduct the production. Joiner is an accomplished conductor, violinist, chamber player, and educator. He conducts the Furman Symphony Orchestra and also serves at the music director and conductor of the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra.Tickets are $30-$62 for adults and $17-$40 for students. For tickets contact the Diana Wortham Theatre at 828-257-4530 or visit www.dwtheatre.com.   Charlie Bradshaw achieves Eagle rank Charlie Bradshaw of Hendersonville achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in an Eagle Court of Honor ceremony at the Historic Courthouse on Dec. 19.Charlie is the son of Dale Salvaggio Bradshaw and Steve Bradshaw and the brother of Sophia Bradshaw. He is a member of Troop 601 of Hendersonville led by Walter Carpenter and Tim Asbury. To earn the rank of Eagle, a Scout must earn 21 merit badges and demonstrate leadership and community service by organizing and carrying out an Eagle project. For his project, Charlie removed and replaced the steps of the Learning Trail at Hendersonville Elementary School, added a handrail and did trail maintenance. Charlie is a junior at Christ School.       Read Story »

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