Asheville Watchdog

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: At one time years ago, the North Carolina Department of Transportation was reportedly going to build a roundabout at the intersection of Mills Gap Road and Cane Creek Road in southern Buncombe County, just north of the Henderson County line. What happened to that project? My answer: Apparently, it’s going around in circles. Thank you, I’ll be here all week.

After a spirited debate Wednesday, the North Carolina Senate approved a bill that would require local governments to regulate and police homeless camps and make homeless shelters drug-free zones. Critics say it amounts to criminalizing homelessness. Sen.

In the nonprofit world, disaster-inspired surges in charity are called “episodic giving,” and Tropical Storm Helene was like no other episode in recent memory. In the aftermath of the September 2024 storm, contributions at least doubled at six local nonprofits with major roles in recovery and, at several of them, soared to many times previous levels, according to publicly available tax returns reviewed by Asheville Watchdog.

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: In a recent presentation to a city committee, new Water Director Bill Hart said the department has got a site in mind for a new intake or water plant in West Asheville/Buncombe. Where is the site? How long will it take to build something there? (Related question from another reader): I have read several articles about our water sources. The North Fork Reservoir provides more than 80 percent of our municipal water.

We do love a good protest in Asheville. In fact, Asheville is home to so many protesters protesting a variety of protestable matters, it’s easy to overlook them at times. But one aspect of protest in Asheville I truly do find impressive: the sheer perseverance of some folks. In other words, some of our protesters are pretty long in the tooth, but they never quit. They just won’t give up, and when you dig in a little bit, the reasons for their tenacity are pretty compelling.

The U.S. Department of Education is launching an investigation into Buncombe County Schools over its policy on restroom use by transgender female students. The Department of Education announced the Title IX investigation on Wednesday, based on a parent’s claim that girls in the district were being “forced to share their female-only restrooms with biological men,” according to an agency press release. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education programs that receive federal funds.

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: What is up with Malvern Hills Pool? How is it that McCormick Field can be renovated within a year, and it’s taking three years to simply rebuild an existing pool? My answer: The city kind of operates on a “reverse dog years” system where every year is actually more like four months. So if you look at it this way, it’s only going to take a year or so.

UNC Health, the University of North Carolina’s hospital system, has applied for permission to open a 92-bed hospital near downtown Asheville. North Carolina’s state-owned nonprofit health provider, which already operates UNCHealth Pardee in Henderson County, made the request to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services under the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) requirement, which requires regulatory approval.

You may think you already know the story of the charismatic and powerful man who lures young girls — even as young as 14 — into sex with liquor and pornography. When caught and convicted, he is sentenced to prison. Yet upon release, rather than spending the rest of his life in shame and public ostracism, he gains the backing of powerful politicians who cater to his money and charm.

One of Asheville’s largest urban forests remains on the chopping block. Now it seems to have been joined by the very idea that put it there. According to a published by the University of North Carolina-Asheville, the committee tasked with guiding the future of several university properties appears poised to recommend against building a soccer stadium on its wooded South Campus.