Free Daily Headlines

News

Set your text size: A A A

News

IAM needs backpacks for schoolchildren

Saluda News

Program will recall Southern Railroad's dining cars

Raymond “Bo” Brown will look at the history of railroad Dining Cars followed by a brief history of Southern Railway at Saluda Train Tales at the Saluda Historic Depot at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Come Back Alice to rock Rhythm & Brews

Rhythm & Brews concert series swings back into the world of rock’n’roll with a performance by the Come Back Alice Band at 7 p.m. Thursday.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Tourism spending up 6½ percent in Henderson County

Visitors in Henderson County spent $274.6 million in 2016, an increase of 6.5 percent over 2015, Visit North Carolina announced on Wednesday. “Tourism is one of the top economic drivers in Henderson County bringing visitors from over thirty-nine countries from around the world and all fifty states to experience our local heritage, agritourism, culture, recreation, dining and shopping, and other attractions,” Beth Carden,  Executive Director of the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority said in a statement. Tourism impact highlights for 2016:• Henderson County was among the top 10 counties, out of 100, in percentage of growth in 2016.• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 2,320 in Henderson County.• Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Henderson County was $50.33M.• State tax revenue generated in Henderson County totaled $12.57M through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $11.73M in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.Gov. Roy Cooper announced in May that visitors to North Carolina set a record for spending in 2016. The $22.9 billion in total spending represented an increase of 4.4 percent from 2015.These statistics are from the “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2016,” which can be accessed at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by the U.S. Travel Association.“All eight economic development regions of the state had spending growth of 3 percent or more, and 96 percent of the state’s counties saw direct tourism employment growth from 2015 to 2016,” said Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit North Carolina. “Tourism continues to be major driver of economic development across North Carolina, which is the sixth most-visited state in the country.”Statewide highlights include:• State tax receipts as a result of visitor spending rose 5.1 percent to nearly $1.2 billion in 2016.• Visitors spend more than $62 million per day in North Carolina. That spending adds more than $5.1 millionper day to state and local tax revenues (about $3.2 million in state taxes and $1.9 million in local taxes).• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 219,000 North Carolinians.• Each North Carolina household saves $497 in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending in the state.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Emma Laughter gives the gift of reading

Thanks to Emma Laughter, kids at Bruce Drysdale Elementary School have plenty of reading material. Laughter, 17, a rising senior at Hendersonville High School began the book drive after research findings from a paper she wrote junior year, showed a correlation between education and poverty: the poor students had lower reading testing scores than their peers that were well-off. She collected more than 2,500 books.“Kids who come from a poverty background have a harder time thriving in school in general,” Laughter says. In particular, literacy rates suffer the most.Laughter was surprised when she found out how many students were struggling at Bruce Drysdale Elementary, where her father, BJ Laughter, is principal. Students lacked the opportunity to buy the tools necessary and vital to their learning, and they were facing the consequences.“It opened up my eyes to how much those kids do struggle,” she said of the students at Bruce Drysdale. “It’s probably the poorest school in Henderson County. Their free and reduced lunch rate is 82 percent, which is very high.”EmmacLaughter is surrounded by books.Dissatisfied with her research findings, and being closely connected through Bruce Drysdale by her father, she set up containers in the main office at the school in May, hoping to collect any number of books that she could in order to send them home with students in the summer. In the first round of collection, community members, parents and teachers helped Laughter collect more than 1,000 books for a reading camp for Bruce Drysdale students with low reading test scores.“We’re excited for her to have raised that many books for us to give to kids,” Laughter says of his daughter. “We want to make reading fun and spark the kids’ interests in different subjects. … It surprised me how many books she was able to collect. She used our school messenger and did an all-call and used social media. It started out slow but the word got out and it’s still continuing.”“It really wasn’t a complicated process,” Emma says. The drive was so popular, that a second round of donation generated another 1,000 books and is still going. “People keep bringing books in,” she adds. The newly collected books will be distributed at Green Meadows Night, on Oct. 12, where Bruce Drysdale will provide books, food and education about the importance of literacy to one of the largest communities that it educates, BJ Laughter says.The children’s book drive allows students who can’t afford books of their own to practice reading at home.“Reading at home is important to becoming a fluent reader, and so many kids don’t have access to books at home,” BJ Laughter explains. “A lot of kids have told me that they’ve never had a book read to them at home. The goal is to try to get books into the homes of these kids because a lot of them don’t have the resources.”Laughter plans to continue the drive throughout her senior year and will incorporate her love of books into her senior project at HHS.The book drive’s success has been noticed by teachers and students alike. “Teachers at the school have said how much of an impact it’s making,” she says. “When I went to reading camp, the students were just so excited to be getting books and so thankful.”   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Ask Matt ... about Publix's plans for drainage

Q. Will the runoff from the Publix grocery store parking lot affect the flooding on Greenville Highway such as from the big July 8 storm? I asked Hendersonville City Engineer Brendan Shanahan about the project. Shanahan rolled out the drawings for the 6.9 acre Publix property and pointed out two locations for detention devices — one along Greenville Highway and another behind the store near Mud Creek. Plans call for a high tech underground system of collection chambers that will occupy an area equivalent to about 25 parking spaces. Yes, right under the parking lot! You can see them on the ground now, looking like rows of bright yellow plastic dog houses.Here’s how it works. Water runs off the asphalt surface and is collected in long plastic chambers buried 24 inches below the surface. These chambers are made of high strength half-pipe sections interconnected and set on a bed of gravel. The idea is to slow the stormwater entering Mud Creek and of course, Greenville Highway. Shanahan said that the Publix system is designed to detain 10,275 cubic feet of water or — for us non-engineers — the first 1.3 inches of rainfall. Eventually the impounded water seeps into the ground or is slowly discharged into Mud Creek flowing northward under the Steinmart-Fresh Market parking lot towards downtown Hendersonville.Shanahan added that the system is designed to trap parking lot debris and suspended solids. In other words, to keep the trash and mud out of Mud Creek. Maintenance of the entire system falls on Publix. The city will do annual inspections. If you want to see a neat clip on how the system works, search for “StormTech pipe animation video.”Whenever you disturb an acre of land, stormwater rules kick in. Above-ground retention ponds can usually be constructed at minimal cost but if the site is low-lying there are fewer options and stormwater detention gets expensive. The former Atha Plaza shops and adjacent buildings held back very little stormwater so what Publix is doing could improve conditions. It won’t take long to see what those little underground dog houses can do. Q. How do you pronounce the name of the new brewery being built on Seventh Avenue? Triskelion, according to brewery owner Jonathan Ayers, is pronounced tris-kell-ee-on with the emphasis on “Tris” as in Triscuit crackers. The word is of Greek origin meaning “three legs” but many historians consider it Celtic because the symbol was used in the late 19th century in Britain and Ireland. The triskelion symbol is captured on the current flag of Sicily which, of course, is a region of Italy. Need help saying words? Just go online and YouTube will pronounce it for you. * * * Send questions to askmattm@gmail.com.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

City Council deals setback to senior housing

Landowners are looking at other options after the Hendersonville City Council unanimously rejected a land-use change needed for a 129-unit senior living development on U.S. 64 between Hendersonville and Laurel Park.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Playhouse wins $30,000 grant for family theater

The Flat Rock Playhouse has been awarded a grant of $30,000 by the Community Foundation of Henderson County to help underwrite theater's educational initiative and family programming known as Studio 52. In recent years, Studio 52 has produced family shows with such notable productions as The Wizard of Oz, James and the Giant Peach, and most recently, Disney’s The Little Mermaid. "It is a wonderful honor to have been awarded this grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County in recognition of our new Studio 52 Family Series Programming," says Lisa K. Bryant, Producing Artistic Director for the Playhouse. "Our 2017 season is the litmus test for this new initiative and so far the results have been extremely encouraging." "Importantly, this generous grant will allow us to grow our Family Programming further so that we may continue to provide quality theatre and training at an affordable cost to both the students involved and the audiences coming to see them. We are encouraged by the Foundation's generosity, and overjoyed for their support." There are three shows remaining in the 2017 Studio 52 Family Series — You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Pinkalicious The Musical, and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. “After the recent completion of the strategic plan by the Flat Rock Playhouse, we are excited to help implement the Studio 52, children and family component of this plan,” stated McCray Benson, President/CEO of the Community Foundation. “The work the Playhouse has completed thus far has placed them on the path for a very positive direction. This is particularly significant for such a key charitable organization in our community.”   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Don't miss this week's Hendersonville Lightning (141)

You won't want to miss this week’s Hendersonville Lightning. You'll read our coverage of the massive manhunt and murder investigation that resulted in the arrest of Phillip Michael Stroupe II including an hour by hour timeline. You'll read about a candidate declaring for sheriff in 2018 and find out what the next proposed development could be at Horse Shoe Farm. There are also pages and pages of local and business briefs, the popular Stuck in the Late Middle by Bill Humleker and Ask Matt by Matt Matteson as well as the weekly TV Guide and Sudoku.You've got to get a copy because it's only in print and it's only in your Hendersonville Lightning.Here’s where you can pick up a LightningHendersonville• Hendersonville Lightning Office, 1111 Asheville Hwy• Pop's Diner, 5 Points, North Main Street• Triangle Stop, 701 North Main Street• The 500 block of North Main Street(First Citizens Bank / Mast Gen. Store)• Black Bear Coffee Co., Main Street• The 300 block of North Main Street(McFarland's Bakery / Mike's on Main). Pardee Hospital in the lobby. Flat Rock Playhouse, downtown(100 block of South Main Street)Southside Hendersonville(Spartanburg Highway)• Hairstyles by Charlene, Joel Wright Drive• McDonald's, Spartanburg Highway• Norm's Minit Mart, Spartanburg Highway• Hendersonville Co-op• Burger King/BP, Spartanburg HighwayIngles SupermarketSouthside Hendersonville(Greenville Highway)Carolina Ace HardwareWhitley Drug StoreFlat Rock/East Flat Rock• Flat Rock Post Office• Zirconia Post Office• East Flat Rock Post Office• Orr's Family Restaurant, Spartanburg Hwy• Energy Mart Exxon, Upward Road & I-26• Triangle Stop, 754 Upward Road & I-26Village Café and PubPage 2Hendersonville(Kanuga Road)• Hot Dog World, Kanuga Road• Mr. Pete's Market, Kanuga Road• Norm's Minit Mart, Kanuga RoadHendersonville(Fifth Avenue)Hendersonville Post officeFifth Aenue ShellLaurel Park• YMCA H'ville, Sixth Ave & Oak Str• Laurel Park Village, Rite-Aid.• Energy Mart Exxon, Brevard Road at Daniel DriveDixie Diner, Brevard RoadHighway 64(Brevard Road)• Horse Shoe Post Office• Mr. Pete's Market, Etowah, Hwy 64-W• Blue Ridge Pizza, Etowah, Hwy 64-W• Etowah Shopping Center, EtowahHighway 191(Haywood Road)• Joey's New York Bagels, Hwy 191• One-Stop Store #8, Haywood Road (Hwy 191)• Dollar General, Hwy 191 & Mountain RoadMills River• Triangle Stop, 4197 Haywood Road, Mills River• Mills River Family Restaurant. Food LionInglesPage 3Eastside Hendersonville and Four Seasons Boulevard• Norm's Minit Mart, Dana Road• Fatz Cafe, Dana Road & Four Seasons Blvd• Grocery Outlet, off Four Seasons Boulevard• McDonald's, Four Seasons Boulevard• Energy Mart Exxon, Four Seasons BoulevardMustang CafeHighway 64 East(Chimney Rock Highway)• Triangle Stop, 2545 Chimney Rock Road, Hwy 64-E• Mr. Pete's Market, East, Hwy 64-E • Griffin's Store, Edneyville, Hwy 64-E• Edneyville Post Office. Griffins Store, EdneyvilleShell station, 64 East and Sugarloaf RoadIngles, Howard Gap RoadMoose CafeHighway 25 North(Asheville Highway)• The Ugly Mug Coffee Shop, Hwy 25-N• Triangle Stop, Hwy 25-N, Balfour• Mountain Home Post Office• Fletcher Post OfficeInglesNaples Post OfficeTravel Plaza, US 25 and I-26Southern & Eastern Henderson County, Polk County• Dana Post Office• Rosco's Grocery, Green River• Saluda Post Office• Triangle Stop, 1487 Ozone Road, SaludaAll Henderson County Ingles StoresAll Henderson County Post Offices   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

20-year-old candidate appeals decision on eligibility

John Moore, the 20-year-old community college student who was ruled ineligible to run for the Hendersonville City Council because of his age, has reversed course and decided to appeal the decision to the N.C. Court of Appeals. Moore, a 2015 Hendersonville High School graduate, said he had hired attorney John Noor of the Roberts & Stevens law firm in Asheville and file an appeal of the Board of Elections decision on July 20 that upheld Elections Director Beverly Cunningham's interpretation of state law on a candidates' age. Although the city's charter sets no minimum age for election to the council, the state Constitution says that qualified voters who are 21 years old "shall be eligible for election by the people to office." The elections board said in a three-page order that Moore, who turned 20 on June 5, will not be 21 on Election Day as required under the state Constitution, which in 1971 added a minimum age of 21 to hold elective office. Moore had declared his candidacy for the City Council in early June.       Read Story »

News Archive