Free Daily Headlines

News

Set your text size: A A A

News

Atkinson kids prove to be book smart

Henderson County News

KnollsCam: Big black bear pads lightly through moss garden

Luckily it was before people showed up for Thomas Brass's public moss garden viewing that a big black bear walked through for a preview. Brass, the wildlife enthusiast whose videos are featured in the Knollscam series on Hendersonvillelightning.com, said the bear was a delicate-walking trespasser. Here's his account: "We had the public viewing of our Serenity Moss Garden, Friday through Sunday in Haywood Knolls. The moss garden is on a hillside covering about 8,000 square feet. On Saturday morning at 10AM, just before the public showing, a huge black bear showed up  at the bottom of the moss garden while I was standing near the top of the garden doing some watering. I saw him and he saw me. He stopped and waited for me to walk about 30 feet down the path (in his direction) to my driveway. He then proceeded through the moss garden and up the path where I had been standing. Amazingly, he didn't step on a single flower in the garden (there are hundreds planted!)"       Read Story »

Henderson County News

City opposes truck restrictions on Berkeley Road

Trying to stop big rigs from using Signal Hill and Berkeley roads to dodge the I-26 weigh station might redirect tractor-trailers and garbage trucks through downtown Hendersonville, City Council members said Thursday night before they voted unanimously to oppose the proposal to restrict heavy truck traffic on those roads.   Read Story »

Laurel Park News

Laurelwood residents concerned about widening project taking trees

Leaders of the Laurelwood Condo Association asked Hendersonville City Council members on Thursday to intervene with the NCDOT to reduce the number of trees that would be removed as part of the U.S. 64 widening from Blythe Street through Laurel Park.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Outdoor season kicks off downtown

Saturday feels like the unofficial start of outdoor fun, food and frolic in downtown Hendersonville.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (209)

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

McGrady files bill broadly changing state liquor laws

RALEIGH — A bill filed Tuesday in the N.C. House would dramatically revamp how the state governs liquor sales and distribution, including a provision allowing for Sunday sales.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Federal grand jury indicts state Republican chair

RALEIGH — A federal grand jury indicted N.C. Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes, political donor Greg Lindberg of Durham, and two Lindberg associates on charges of wire fraud, bribery and making false statements to law enforcement agents.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Dogwood proposal unlike Sunflower, council members say

In the coming weeks, the Hendersonville City Council expects to be looking at plans for a five- or six-story hotel on the Dogwood lot property on North Church Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Timeline of tall buildings

1905: Henderson County Courthouse, designed by Biltmore House resident architect Richard Sharp Smith, completed in the 100 block of North Main Street. 1929: Skyland Hotel opens at 538 N. Main St. Built at a cost of $300,000 and dedicated just four months before the stock market crash of 1929, the Skyland operated as a 76 room hotel until the early 1970s, when the rooms were reconfigured as privately owned condos. Famous guests include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lee Marvin, Minnie Pearl, Robert Mitchum and later president Ronald Reagan.1987: First Citizens Bank, 80 feet tall, opens at 539 N. Main St.Sept. 21, 2005: Eduardo R. “Ed” Hernando files application for the nine-story Sunflower luxury condo on property at 147 First Avenue East owned by Stuart Rubin. The 179,990-square-foot building would contain 70 condos, a two-story parking garage, 12,815 square feet of commercial/retail space, a rooftop garden and 9,574 feet of urban open space. At 115 feet tall, the proposed Sunflower building would exceed the maximum height the city code imposes “to protect the skyline of the Henderson County Courthouse.” The proposed condo project is 35.8 feet taller than the base of the courthouse dome.Oct. 5, 2005: During a neighborhood compatibility meeting that drew 21 residents, people express concerns about the building height, parking and congestion problems, “no longer having the Historic Courthouse as the focal point of downtown Hendersonville” and “overall negative esthetic impact” of a nine-story condo building.Nov. 9, 2005: Newcomers Bill O’Cain, chair of the city Planning Board, and Jeff Collis are elected to the City Council.Nov. 14, 2005: In a 4-3 vote, Planning Board recommends approval of the Sunflower.Dec. 14, 2005: In the City Council’s first public hearing on the application, nine people are sworn in to speak in favor of the project, 18 opposed. The meeting drags on for six hours and 15 minutes with no resolution; the council tables the application.Dec. 21, 2005: Hernando amends the application, reducing the height to 79 feet, floors from nine to seven and dwelling units from 70 to 64.Feb. 9, 2006: The council defeats the building height variance and the special-use permit on votes of 2-2. Mayor Greg Newman and Councilman Jon Laughter vote yes. Barbara Volk and Jeff Collis vote no. Councilman O’Cain recuses himself because he had worked on the project.April 26, 2006: The City Council and Planning Board meet jointly to discuss building heights downtown, though they take no action.June 24, 2006: The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump Mortgage LLC is among the lenders on the Sunflower project. Trump Mortgage president E.J. Ridings tells the Journal: “I know it’s Hendersonville North Carolina and it’s up in the beautiful mountains and all. But I keep saying to Ed, ‘There are homes that are taller than five stories on Long Island.’ Please.”July 6, 2006: The council takes up a proposal to keep the building height limit at 64 feet on Main Street (from Sixth Avenue to Allen Street) but raise the height to 80 feet in other parts of the central business district, including the Sunflower site. Twenty people spoke against the higher cap (including Don Soula, Eva Ritchey, Steve Caraker, Win Reed, Tony Slovacek, Steve Dozier, former city attorney Michael Egan, Save Our City leader Bob Martin, Martha Sachs and Ken Fitch) while 13 spoke in favor (including Stan Shelley, Harley Stepp, Partnership for Economic Progress president Larry Rogers, Margo Nagel, Hall Waddell, Jim Barnett, Boyd Massagee, Joan Whitmire and Bruce Maurer).Summer 2006: State Sen. Tom Apodaca and Rep. Carolyn Justus push through legislation in the General Assembly setting a referendum on whether to impose the 64-foot limit throughout downtown, overturning the higher maximum favored by three council members.Nov. 7, 2006: City voters enact the 64-foot limit by 68 to 32 percent.July 28, 2010: Hernando files voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Western North Carolina District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court, declaring assets of $13,622.21 against liabilities of $4,530,258.23. Feb. 7, 2019: The City Council unanimously selects Asheville-based Blue Star Hospitality LLC to build a six-story hotel on the city-owned Dogwood parking lot, which the city would sell to the developer. Design plans Blue Star submitted include a parking deck, convention space and rooftop bar or restaurant.       Read Story »

News Archive