At 1 a.m. on Dec. 22, some 500 million gallons of coal sludge flooded 15 homes in a 400-acre area west of Knoxville. Unleashed by a break in a waste-pond retaining wall at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired plant, the wave of mud and coal ash knocked at least one home off its foundation and was as deep as 6 feet as it rushed downstream.
Dr. Betty Young, the president of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College who was hired last year and inaugurated in May, announced on Dec. 23, 2008, that she would resign. Young’s announcement does not say when her resignation would take effect. In an e-mailed memo sent to college faculty and staff, Young cited her goals and accomplishments, … Read more
Parkside “zombie” returns; activists want eminent domain In a rare 3-2 vote, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners narrowly agreed to delay endorsing one of the remaining options for the controversial I-26 connector until more information has come in. But less than 48 hours later, Commissioner K. Ray Bailey changed his mind, joining forces with … Read more
Staring a dire funding crisis in the face, the folks who run the nonprofit On Track Financial Education & Counseling are breathing easier these days. Recently, the agency was denied a $135,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant. But thanks to the state and some generous individuals and businesses, the shortfall will be … Read more
Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, a shopping mall is probably the last place you would want to be just five days after Christmas. However, for those in need of a job, the Biltmore Square Mall is the place to be. The third annual Homecoming Job Fair will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 30, from … Read more
Scully’s is nestled just next to Chicken Alley, but the feel is quite different from the alternative cultures dotting Lexington Avenue. Photo by Jonathan Welch Come in here and you might well find the voices of local sports announcers booming through the place. During Bar Beat’s recent visit, three of them—from local ESPN radio 1310 … Read more
In the fall of 2007, Asheville-based writer and photographer Marty Weil set out to document a year in the life of Asheville by taking a picture a day then posting it to a Web site (www.a-year-in-asheville.com). Along the way, he missed a few days, but when he completed the project this September, he had uploaded … Read more
As tough economic times continue, Buncombe County government has asked all of its departments to plan for possible 5 percent cuts for the next budget year, County Manager Wanda Greene told Xpress. “In August, when we were facing increased fuel costs and caseloads, we asked departments to ready for 3 percent cuts. That was mostly … Read more
