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Henderson County News

Thinner Kanuga project still too wide for some homeowners

Although the NCDOT has made a series of concessions to lessen the impact of the Kanuga Road widening project, the slimmed down version still drew opposition from many homeowners who turned out for the public unveiling on Tuesday.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Early voting in county exceeds 2014 number

With 3½ days of early voting left, Henderson County has already recorded more voters than four years ago in the last mid-term election. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Board of Elections had counted 18,964 voters, exceeding the total in 2014 of 16,997. Henderson County followed the state trend of higher early voting totals thanks to longer hours and more days than ever. Polls were open three hours longer per day and one day of Sunday voting was offered for the first time in Henderson County. Statewide, ballots cast so far in the 2018 general election exceeded all ballots cast early during the 2014 midterm election on Monday. As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, 1,225,892 North Carolinians had voted early, up 4.4 percent from 1,174,184 in 2014. The 2014 number was surpassed with six days remaining in this year’s in-person early voting period, which ends Saturday (November 3). Also, by-mail absentee ballots are still being accepted by county boards of elections across the state. However, with more than 7 million registered voters in North Carolina, nearly 6 million people still have not cast ballots in this important election season. “We hope millions of voters who have not yet made their voices heard will do so, either during early voting or on Election Day,” Kim Westbrook Strach, executive director of the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, said in a news release. In the 2014 midterms, final statewide voter turnout was 44 percent, or more than 2.9 million votes. Through 3:30 p.m. Monday, 17.3 percent of registered voters had cast ballots in 2018. In 2014, the in-person early voting period was 10 days. This year, the early voting period spans 18 days. Early voting schedules and locations vary by county. Voters can find their county’s early voting schedules here: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/ossite/. In North Carolina, early voting includes in-person absentee voting, also called “one-stop” voting, as well as absentee by-mail voting. On Election Day Nov. 6 polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Click here to look up your polling place..   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Rooftop restaurant has name and will open soon, owners say

The most eagerly awaited new restaurant in downtown Hendersonville finally has a name and the promise of an opening, the owners say.   Read Story »

Etowah News

Three face charges in botched armed robbery

ETOWAH — Two men face charges and a third remains at large after an armed robbery early Saturday that resulted in an exchange of gunfire. The suspects knocked on the door of a house at 28 H S Dalton Road and forced their way in when resident opened the door. At least two of the suspects pushed their way into the residence attempting to rob the resident. There was an exchange of gunfire within the home and the suspects fled the area.  Both the resident and one suspect were injured by gunfire, requiring treatment. During the course of the investigation three suspects were identified. Miguel Raymundo Perez, 21 of Hendersonville, has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, first degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon causing serious injury and discharging a weapon inside an occupied dwelling. He remains in custody on a secured bond of $170,000. Jacob Wayne Smith, 18, of Horse Shoe, has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon. He is in custody on a $40,000 secured bond. Deputies obtained warrants charging Zachary Lee Young, 24, whose last known address is 1026 Brooklyn Avenue. Assistance from the community is requested in locating Zachary Young. If you have any information on Young’s whereabouts, please contact the Henderson County Sheriff's Office at 828-697-4911.   Read Story »

North Carolina News

Conservancy saves 900 acres for hunting, hiking, mountain biking

Nine hundred acres of Little White Oak Mountain became public land on Friday, as Conserving Carolina transferred 600 acres to the state to expand the Green River Game Lands and 300 acres to Polk County for a local park.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Ask Matt ... if journalism is dying

Q. Given the recent negativity about the news business and with millennials getting their news elsewhere, are fewer people entering the journalism profession? Yes, but it’s not all bad news. According to the Pew Research Center in 2017 the audience for almost every major sector of the news media fell (except radio). Newspaper circulation dropped by 11 percent. (The newspaper you are reading, we should note, has experienced week over week, month over month paid circulation growth for 6½ years.) The news market is moving to Twitter and Facebook. Pew reports that in 2017, two-thirds of U.S. adults are getting news from social media. Low readership means fewer jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for news reporters will decline by 9 percent from 2014 through the year 2024. I asked two local teachers about the national trend. Tanya Ledford, who teaches journalism at North Henderson High, noticed a decline in writing among today’s students. “They do everything in bite-sized pieces,” she said. “It’s disconcerting.” Ledford said that in the schools today there is less emphasis on grammar. She lamented that journalism is changing rapidly because of the digital age. “The art of telling a story in an intriguing way is being lost,” she said. “Writing is an art. It must be practiced.” Jason Livingston teaches three journalism courses at West Henderson, where he had 114 students last year. “Social media creates a culture where everyone thinks they are a journalist,” he said. “After I saw the movie ‘The Post,’ it brought home the difference. Back in those days there were solid deadlines and you were forced to work to get a quality product.” Livingston said that with the “fake news” stigma, it’s harder to seek the truth. “That’s the battle – get multiple sources. We teach that,” he said. West High’s student publication Wingspan has won numerous awards and Livingston credits his mentor, Brenda Gorsuch, for its continued success. Now you might think that fewer Henderson County high school students are taking journalism. Not so. County school officials project that 233 students are enrolled this fall, slightly more than two years ago. At our local high schools, student interest in reporting and writing remains high. Many students particularly enjoy working on yearbooks and school newspapers. At the university level some schools have combined journalism into a broader course of study called mass communications. Here students can take courses such as media ethics, speech, radio and television writing, photojournalism, advertising, and desktop publishing. UNCA’s 30-year old program remains strong. It has enjoyed a 15 percent increase in declared majors in the last five years but few of its graduates are getting jobs with newspapers or television. Michael Gouge, a former Times-News copy desk chief, is a senior lecturer at the UNC Asheville School of Mass Communications, where he has taught for 20 years. “The job market has changed,” Gouge said. “The demand now is for content — much more content — because people are getting their information in other ways.” Examples are radio podcasting and video production, college courses which are popular with his students. Gouge was quick to point out that UNC-Asheville students are taught the value of “trustworthy journalism.” He said that employers with social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook want to avoid public relations disasters or legal challenges. Gouge agreed that the journalism landscape has changed for the worse since he got in the business. “There is a lot of stuff out there that looks like journalism but isn’t,” said Gouge who ended his remarks with a bit of optimism. “Not all our students will be journalists but they will all be media consumers.” * * * * * Send questions to askmattm@gmail.com.       Read Story »

Henderson County News

Barber, in a digital appearance, rallies crowd at BRCC

The Rev. William Barber urged voters to organize and vote for health care, equal rights and racism, drawing enthusiastic applause. But he did not deliver the remarks in person. A traffic jam on I-40 prevented Barber from making the 6 p.m. “Moral Revival for Voting Rights” at Blue Ridge Community College. Around 600 people turned out to hear Barber, founder of the Moral Mondays protest against actions of the Republican-controlled North Carolina Legislature and one of the most prominent civil rights leaders in the South. They got to see him in digital form only, his image projected on a large screen, at Thomas Auditorium at BRCC.“There are more people that want to do right than want to do wrong and we have to believe that,” he said. In the past, when activists stood up for poor people’s rights, “they kept pushing,” he said. “They did not stand down. They stood up.”He criticized the Legislature for failing to expand Medicaid coverage in the state, a policy decision that would have covered tens of thousands of North Carolinians.“In Henderson County alone the uninsured rate would have dropped from 13 percent to 9 percent — 4,000 people in Henderson County,” he said. He said there was a large gap between average wages and the cost of living in Henderson County, where housing prices in particular are high.“You have to work 91 hours in a week in order to earn the pay” to afford the cost of living in the county, he said. He urged the crowd to vote no on all six of the state constitutional amendments on the ballot. "They're all bad," he said.Barber spoke for about 18 minutes before saying good-bye and flicking off the screen. Norm Bossert, a Democratic candidate for Senate, said he hoped the rally would help turn out votes for his party’s candidates.“I hope he energizes people,” Bossert said. “If they haven’t voted I hope he gets people out to vote. If they have voted, I hope they volunteer to get people out to vote.”     Read Story »

Henderson County News

Hot dog fundraiser aids fellow court clerks hit by Florence

When Henderson County Clerk of Superior Court Kim Gasperson Justice heard about the troubles for a fellow clerk and his staff in Eastern North Carolina, she decided to hold one of the office's specialties — a hot dog lunch.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Warmth of Home features live bands, reception and raffle

Interfaith Assistance Ministry is presenting its ninth Annual Warmth of Home Concert at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at the Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown to raise money for heating assistance for needy families.   Read Story »

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