Henderson County News
On Oct. 26, 1916, 14 women from Hendersonville gathered at the home of two sisters, Catherine and Matilda Carson, to organize a chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
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Henderson County News
Although Hendersonville had its first organized baseball team in 1909 — the short-lived Hendersonville Planets of the Western North Carolina Industrial League — the city’s most durable baseball legacy is the Berkeley Spinners, which organized in 1948 and played through 1966.
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Henderson County News
Bill Orr didn’t mince words when the Henderson County Board of Commissioners and School Board adjourned a rare joint meeting that ratified the county’s decision to build an all-new Hendersonville High School.“We just got screwed,” said Orr, a retired bank executive and president of the HHS Alumni Association. “It’s a major disappointment.”Asked whether the fight is now over to preserve the historic horseshoe-shaped Stillwell building for continued use, Orr said, “I think it is, because the two people that weren’t here (Lisa Edwards and Josh Houston), they both supported the commissioners’ plan. … They just skipped right over parking. They’re going to build a bridge over Five Points? That’s ridiculous. How much is that going to cost?”When commissioners polled the School Board members, all but one, Amy Lynn Holt, said they would go along with the new $53 million HHS campus even as they still harbored misgivings.“Amy Holt tried but she got no support,” Orr said. “I’m totally disappointed.”
‘It’s not over’
Orr’s view that nothing more can be done to reverse the decision was not shared universally.“It’s not over,” said Blair Craven, a 1997 HHS graduate. “There’s still the rezoning. There’s other avenues that can be taken that we have talked to attorneys about. I look forward to getting on the board in two weeks and continuing to talk about it.”The major building project at the city’s northern gateway requires a zoning permit and site plan review from the city Planning Board and City Council, a process that’s expected to get under way soon and take about three months.Carey O’Cain, a retired construction manager and HHS graduate who has pushed aggressively for a combined renovation and new construction plan, was also considering the next route to save the historic classroom building for students’ use.“There probably are some other steps,” he said. “They’re still missing out on a perfect opportunity to integrate the Stillwell building. They’re showing budget creep already. One commissioner was talking about the possibility of doing a (pedestrian) bridge over Highway 25. That’s budget creep.“Another one was talking about having parking spaces over in Edwards Park. What are they thinking? They showed in the rendering students crossing over Five Points and going into the building. I’m aware of five students that have been killed at Five Points in my lifetime. They’re still showing the building within 25 feet to 50 feet of the edge of Highway 25.”If the new campus is built as now configured, O’Cain said Stillwell will be lost forever.“They can’t utilize Stillwell later on if they build a parking lot between it because it violates a key element in architecture to keep the students safe,” he said. “They can’t come back later on and say, ‘Oh, now we’re going to put our classrooms over in the Stillwell building.’ They can’t do that after they’ve already built the parking lot. One commissioner said, ‘We realize we need more parking so we’ll buy up more land for it.’ That’s more budget creep. I just don’t get it.”
O'Cain summed up the outcome of the joint session: "The Board of Commissioners and Board of Education fell for a pretty picture." Read Story »
Hendersonville News
HHS project at a glance
• Cost: $53 million (total)• Architectural work and project management: $2.7 million (ClarkNexsen)• Square footage: 161,500• Construction time: 2½ years• Includes: Classroom building with band room, vocational classrooms and cafeteria; new gym seating 1,000, practice gym, field house adjoining the north end of Dietz Field, auditorium seating 900, courtyard and dropoff loop between the Stillwell building and new campus.• Landscape design: Limited to zoning code compliance.• Not budgeted: additional land for parking, HHS track improvements.
Construction timeline
• In coming weeks the county will hire a construction manager at risk. The contractor will guarantee the price and take on the financial risk of coming in over budget.• Complete design: Summer 2017.• Complete construction documents: February 2018.• Bid subcontracts: April 2018.• Start construction: May 2018 (projected 610 days)• Completion construction: May 2020.• Install furniture and fixtures: May-August 2020.• Students arrive: August 2020.• Phase 2 site work and demolition: June-October 2020. Read Story »
Hendersonville News
If the road to this point had not been so contentious, three other high school districts in Henderson County might well be grumbling about what the $53 million Taj Mahal Hendersonville High School is getting. The county rivals may yet look upon it with envy when the doors open to students in August of 2020.
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Henderson County News
Award-winning fiddler to perform in Brevard
Jamie LavalA performance of Appalachian and Celtic music will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26, at 185 King Street, a nightspot in Brevard. Appalachian band Pretty Little Goat, will be followed by fiddler Jamie Laval, who will play a solo set of traditional Celtic music gleaned from his recent 11-week tour in Scotland, Brittany and Iceland. In 2002 Laval won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, performed for Her Majesty the Queen and presented a TED Talk. Laval’s recent album “Murmurs and Drones” won the popular vote for “Best World Traditional Album” in the 2012 Independent Music Awards. Tickets are $14 on line www.clurb.185kingst.com and $20 at the door.
Health Sciences Center grand opening is Tuesday
A grand opening celebration for the new Health Sciences Center at 805 Sixth Avenue West will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29.The event will kick off with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. followed by an open house and tours of of the building from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The grand opening celebration is free and open to the public.Built by Henderson County through a partnership Blue Ridge Community College, the city of Hendersonville, Pardee Hospital and Wingate University, the 100,000-square-foot building houses college classrooms and Pardee’s new Comprehensive Cancer Center.“The Grand Opening of this new facility is the culmination of many long hours and hard work,” Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt said. “We hope that the community will join us to celebrate this great day for Henderson County. This partnership of health care and education is an asset that will pay dividends for generations to come.”
Pardee Hospital’s new Cancer Center includes medical oncology, radiation oncology, cancer research and surgical office space. The building will also house the existing student programs in allied health care for both BRCC and Wingate University, as well as the Wingate pharmacy and physician assistant programs. Once the building is complete, students taking nursing and a full array of allied health professions can have access to Pardee Hospital for training through its programs.
Kiwanis Club OKs grants for children
The Board of Directors of the Kiwanis Club in November approved several grants to local non-profits to support youth-based education and entertainment programs.Beneficiaries of the grants were Clear Creek Elementary School, Hands On! A Child’s Gallery and Helping Hand Development Center. Clear Creek Elementary was awarded $500 for a student fieldtrip to the Biltmore Estate, Hands On! was awarded $500 for Family Memberships to the gallery, and Helping Hands was awarded $500 for new sand and toys in their outdoor play areas.“Not only does out club administer youth programs, but we enjoy supporting other groups who are working to improve the lives of children in our community,” said Kiwanis Club President-Elect and Grant Committee Chairman George Gavalas. “We recognize that every little bit helps non-profit organizations, and we’re privileged to be able to lend our financial and volunteer support to such worthwhile causes.”
Education Foundation invites scholarship applications
The Henderson County Education Foundation announced the opening of its online application period for Henderson County public school seniors seeking scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year. Requirements and application instructions are available on the Education Foundation’s website at the Scholarships page.
Through the generosity of its donors, the Education Foundation awards financial support to students graduating from Henderson County public high schools through 19 post-secondary scholarship programs. The scholarship awards range from approximately $500 to $20,000 and are granted based on a wide range of criteria, including academic performance, financial need, community and school activity and sports participation, demonstration of leadership, and choice of college program of study. Two new scholarships, the Hendersonville Lions Scholarship and the Mickey Marvin Scholarship, have recently been established. In 2016, the Education Foundation paid out more than $100,000 to new and continuing scholarship recipients.
The deadline for submitting scholarship applications is 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 20. Scholarships are open to students pursuing community college, trade school, college or university studies, who will be graduating from a Henderson County public high school in June 2017. Volunteer scholarship committees from the schools and Foundation will complete their selections in May and the scholarship winners will be announced at award assemblies held at each school in June.More than 500 students have received assistance through the Education Foundation’s scholarship program since its founding in 1986.For more information visit www.hcefnc.org or call (828) 697-5551.
Pardee moves mall facility to Fletcher
Pardee Hospital is moving its Signature Care Center from the Blue Ridge Mall to the Mission Pardee Health Campus next week and in the future will conduct educational classes and lectures at locations throughout the community rather than in a single setting.Additionally, many Signature Care support groups will meet at Pardee's Rehab & Wellness Center on Thompson Street. For a full listing of support group locations, visit www.pardeehospital.org or call the Signature Care Center at 828-692-4600. The Signature Care Center will move on Wednesday, Nov. 30.“To serve even more people in our community, the decision was made to move Signature Care to the Mission Pardee Health Campus,” said Sarah Hinson, MHPM, CHES, CHC, manager of Pardee Signature Care. “We want the community to be confident that Pardee will continue to offer educational lectures, classes, support groups and screenings, with a focus on bringing these offerings to various locations in our region.” Read Story »
Henderson County News
Detectives from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office charged a former West Henderson High School teacher with a felony count of sexual activity with a student after investigating allegations that he had sexual contact with a 17-year-old female student at West Henderson in June of 2016.
Devon Ross Lategan, 29, of Apex, was arrested Wednesday in Wake County and released on a $50,000 bond. Additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues, the sheriff's office said in a news release. Lategan teaches science at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. The newspaper reported that it had not verified Lategan’s current job status on Friday.
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Henderson County News
You won't want to miss this week’s Hendersonville Lightning.
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Henderson County News
U.S. marshals and members of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team arrested an East Flat Rock man on Monday on sex offender charges and other felonies.
David Eugene Staigo had outstanding warrants for Failure to Register- Sex Offender, Failure to Report New Address-Sex Offender, two grand jury indictments for Habitual Felon, along with other warrants for Failure to Appear, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release.
Members of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office contacted the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force in Asheville after obtaining warrants for Staigo. Staigo has an extensive criminal history in several states surrounding North Carolina. The collaborative investigation eventually led to a travel camper Staigo was living in on Nursery Lane. Officers found Staigo in the travel camper and arrested him. Staigo was transported to the Henderson County Detention Center, where he was jailed without bond.Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 34,000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by U.S. Marshals than all other federal agencies combined. Read Story »
