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Sierra Nevada wins platinum for environmental design

Henderson County News

Playhouse apprentices debut new Sandburg shows

FLAT ROCK — The Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site begins a summer of centennial fun on June 16 by hosting two brand-new theater shows on its summer stage. In partnership with the Flat Rock Playhouse Vagabond School of the Drama new works were developed, exploring a broader range of Sandburg’s Rootbaga Stories.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

EHHS teacher selected for business partnership

An East Henderson High School business teacher has been selected to participate in the statewide North Carolina Business Committee for Education’s Teachers@Work program this summer, at Biltmore Company.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Bearcat Nation wants to appeal decision on HHS building

Seven weeks after the Board of Commissioners voted to build a new Hendersonville High School, the Bearcat nation continues to object.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

REVIEW: Elton John, Billy Joel show revs up MOTR

Flat Rock Playhouse veteran Dustin Brayley and newcomer Kyle T. Martin get MOTR revving with the hits of Billy Joel and Elton John in the latest tribute show through June 19 at the Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Ask Matt ... about newest cancer fighting weapon

Q. I read that Pardee Hospital is getting a new linear accelerator. How does that work and what does it cost? A linear accelerator is a precision medical device that is used to treat cancer patients. Technically, it doesn’t really “kill” cancer cells; rather it does something to them that keeps them from reproducing. I learned this and a whole lot more from Tom Dellinger, Pardee’s medical physicist at the Kayden Radiation Oncology Center, who knows a lot about linear accelerators — particularly the one we’re getting. Dellinger handed me a shiny brochure similar to what you might find in a new car showroom. It featured a model called the Elekta Infinity. Eleckta is a Swedish firm but the Infinity is made in the UK and it costs about $2 million.Here’s how it works. The patient lies prone under the linear accelerator. After the cancer is located and properly marked, the machine rotates and zaps the pesky cancer cells. The size of the tumor dictates the radiation dosage level and how many repetitions (in days) prescribed by the radiation oncologist. Two or three trained therapists operate the machine behind a six-foot thick concrete wall.So is there anything wrong with Pardee’s current model? No, except that it’s 11 years old and approaching its useful life. Dellinger gave three major benefits of upgrading to the Infinity model. First, the new machine operates with tighter margins on the patient’s cancerous tumor, like pitching to a smaller strike zone. Margins are critical when the tumor is close to other organs. Secondly, the Infinity can fire out doses of radiation faster, a big plus for patient comfort as the treatment often puts the patient in a contorted position. A typical daily radiation treatment for prostate cancer can take 15 to 20 minutes. The Infinity can do the job in less than five, plus it has a robotic table that delivers pinpoint positioning of the patient under the machine. The third benefit is accuracy. The new model has state-of-the-art 3D imaging so the affected area can be seen before treated.The new linear accelerator will make its home on the first floor of the new Health Sciences Center on Sixth Avenue West across from the YMCA. The building will open for BRCC nursing students in August. Dellinger said that when Pardee Hospital has the linear accelerator installed and operational later this year, it will be the newest in WNC and one of the most advanced in the state, rivaling machines in Winston-Salem and Charlotte. So until Joe Biden’s National Cancer Moonshot program turns things around, I suspect that the Elekta Infinity will remain our local weapon of choice.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Pardee honors physician, philanthropists of the year

Dr. Eric Byrd was honored as Pardee Hospital’s Physician of the Year and Bill and Dot Moyer were recognized as Philanthropists of the Year during the annual Pardee Hospital Foundation gala Saturday night at Blue Ridge Conference Hall at BRCC. This is the fourth year that the Pardee Hospital Foundation has presented the Physician of the Year Award, which is given to a Pardee physician whose career has been defined by medical excellence, dedication to compassionate patient care, and a commitment to improving the lives of people throughout the community. Byrd, of Carolina Mountain Internal Medicine, was nominated by several patients as well as fellow Pardee doctors for exemplifying such characteristics. Byrd completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Kentucky after graduating from medical school from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He worked at various medical centers in Kentucky before moving to Hendersonville in 2001. Byrd practices Internal Medicine at Carolina Mountain Internal Medicine and is a current part-time Pardee Hospitalist Physician. Byrd joins Ken Shelton, James Caserio and Stuart Glassman as winners of the physician of the year award. Also recognized were husband and wife, William “Bill” and Dot Moyer as Philanthropists of the Year. This year marked the 13th annual Philanthropist of the Year award, which is given to members of the community who have made outstanding contributions to Pardee Hospital and the Pardee Hospital Foundation and toward the improvement of community health care. Bill is a native of Pennsylvania and Dot was raised in Charlottesville, Va. The two married in 1984 and both worked as attorneys at prestigious law firms in Philadelphia before moving to Henderson County in 1990. Both Bill and Dot became active in community affairs serving on numerous civic and charitable boards including lending their time and talent to Pardee Hospital. Bill served 12 years on the Henderson County Board of Commissioners, eight years as chair, and currently serves on the Board of Pardee Hospital as well as the Asheville Regional Airport Authority. Dot currently serves as board chair for Four Seasons Compassion for Life, Vice President of the Foothills Equestrian Trails Association, and Board and Executive Committee Member of the Flat Rock Playhouse Board of Trustees. “Dr. Byrd as well as Mr. and Mrs. Moyer are fantastic representatives of our community,” said Kimerly Hinkelman, Pardee Hospital Foundation Executive Director. “Pardee Hospital is a better place because of them and we would not be able to provide the care our community deserves without these individuals. We thank them for the dedication, time, and talent.” The gala drew a record 400 attendees and brought in more than $100,000 to benefit the new Comprehensive Cancer Center.     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Pair charged with burlgary, safecracking

Henderson County sheriff's detectives charged a 34-year-old East Flat Rock man and a 20-year-old Asheville woman with breaking and entering, safecracking and other crimes airsing from a April 4 burglary in Fletcher.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

TIMELINE: The fall of Carriage Park

Key events in the financial troubles of Carriage Park Associates. Nov. 11, 2011: Developer Dale Hamlin, owner of Carriage Park Associates, borrows $9.7 million from Arendale Holdings Corp., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based real estate and golf course development company. 2015: Hamlin fails to pay taxes on 124 parcels of the development. Sept. 15, 2015: Attorney Ervin Bazzles files a complaint attempting to enforce a mediation agreement under which Hamlin was to pay his client, Brenda Altschul, in a civil action she had brought. Hamlin had paid $46,603 and still owed $83,396. Oct. 6, 2015: A magistrate orders Hamlin to pay contractor Thomas Jacobson and P.T. Green Construction a $5,000 builder damage deposit after the contractor completed work on a house on Preserve Court. Oct. 26, 2015: Hamlin signs a “confession of judgment” admitting that he owes prospective buyers Claude and Susan Sykes $6,000 in earnest money. Feb. 11, 2016: A Superior Court judge grants Arendale’s motion appointing a receiver to protect the Carriage Park assets. March 7: After a hearing Henderson County Clerk of Superior Court enters a foreclosure order on the Carriage Park property that Hamlin put up as collateral for the $9.7 million promissory note. A foreclosure sale was set for April 8. March 31: Arendale pays $63,723 in delinquent property taxes to prevent Henderson County from starting a tax foreclosure proceeding. April 7: Hamlin files a petition for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, declaring indebtedness of $13.6 million. His attorney, Trade Elkins, notifies Henderson County clerk’s office of the filing at 4:57 p.m. on the eve of the foreclosure sale. April 13: Arendale files a motion in bankruptcy court seeking to have the Chapter 11 petition thrown out on the grounds that it was filed merely to block foreclosure. May 12: A Superior Court judge enters a default judgment of $31,200 in a lawsuit brought by prospective homebuyer Cheryl Grace, who made a $10,400 earnest money deposit Hamlin refused to return. May 27: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George R. Hodges grants Arendale’s motion to dismiss Hamlin’s bankruptcy petition, ruling that the petition had satisfied the court’s two-pronged standard for such a dismissal — “objective futility” of reorganization and “subjective bad faith.”   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Judge tosses Hamlin's 'bad faith' bankruptcy petition

Dale Hamlin may have reached the end of the line when it comes to saving his Carriage Park development.   Read Story »

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