At the Tuesday, May 19 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a project to protect the region’s disappearing hemlock population. They also heard budget requests from Buncombe County Schools, Asheville City Schools, A-B Tech and District Attorney Todd Williams, as well as the proposed budget for the 2016 fiscal year — all of which will come to a public hearing at the next regular meeting, on June 2.
When Claire Orenzow’s replacement heart valve failed eight years after it was surgically implanted, the symptoms were excruciating. But doctors at Mission Hospital were able to repair Orenzow’s heart with a new procedure called valve-in-valve replacement that offers significant benefits over traditional open-heart surgery, and Orenzow says she left the hospital a few days after the operation feeling like a new woman.
In 2005, city and county officials adopted the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, an ambitious collaboration involving many local agencies. Significant progress has been made: Since 2005, chronic homelessness is down 82 percent, from 293 people to just 54, city officials say. Yet there are still homeless folks on local streets.
