The expected strike vote for Mission Hospital's nurse union has been extended through the weekend.
Nurses at Mission Hospital rally on June 5, 2024, in Asheville ahead of their union contract renegotiation.
Bargaining team member and Mission Health nurse Hannah Drummond said the reasons for the vote extension are the same ones that nurses are voting for in the first place.
"Nurses have not even been able to get to the polls during the voting sessions we've had because they're not getting a chance to eat on their break and they're getting out so late from work that our polls are closed," Drummond said.
The nurse union and Mission-HCA have been negotiating for months on everything from patient safety to compensation and staffing levels.
Nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville are conducting a strike vote this week, the results of which will be tallied after 8 p.m. Thursday.
The strike decision comes as parent company HCA faces increased pressure over its management of Asheville hospital and others across Western North Carolina in the Mission Health chain.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein‘s office announced late Wednesday that he agrees with earlier findings by an independent monitor that HCA is in violation of the terms it agreed to when the Tennessee-based for-profit company was allowed to acquire previously nonprofit Mission Health in 2019.
Stein is already suing HCA over previous alleged violations of the agreement. Multiple local governments have also sued HCA, over alleged monopolistic practices at its hospitals in the mountainous region around Asheville.
Carolina Public Press has also learned that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is looking into multiple complaints about Mission Health.
Dem leaders talking about Harris housing ideas
Asheville leaders came together for a roundtable discussion on Thursday, Aug. 29, at the Buncombe County Democratic Headquarters to discuss Vice President Kamala Harris' approach to lowering the cost of housing.
Mayor Esther Manheimer, Rep. Caleb Rudow, Buncombe County Commissioners and other local affordable housing advocates were in attendance. Manheimer said a lot is at stake in this election. She said that one of the biggest elements is solving the affordable housing crisis.
She and other leaders at the table believed that Harris' proposal is the only way to do that.
Harris' plan includes ideas such as increasing home construction by building three million new homes over four years. This plan proposes that the government would provide $25,000 in assistance to first-time home buyers.
She said that the area needs 14,000 units of housing in Asheville by 2050 and currently, 36% of residents are cost-burdened. This means that the cost to pay to live in their home is more than 30% of their household income.
HAVING A HARD TIME FINDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING? HERE'S HOW TO USE BUNCOMBE COUNTY'S PORTAL
Unlike most librarians, Jamie McCabe spends much of his day behind the wheel.
As the Avery-Mitchell-Yancey (AMY) Regional Library System bookmobile librarian, he dedicates one day per week in each county, stopping at senior centers, after-school programs, day care centers and many homeschools. The bookmobile is stocked with “a ton of Christian fiction,” McCabe says, explaining the genre is popular with older readers. One day a week, McCabe traverses all three counties in an outreach van delivering books; these are mostly large-print editions for readers who are homebound.
But his route may be shorter now that Yancey County decided to pull out of the regional system, a decision sparked by some vocal residents who objected to gay pride displays. At a June 28 meeting, which was posted 48 hours in advance, Yancey County Commission Chair Jeff Whitson made a motion to direct County Manager Lynn Austin to begin pulling Yancey County Public Library out of the AMY system, effective July 1, 2025. (The AMY system is composed of four libraries across three counties; Mitchell has two branches, and the others have one each.)
The motion was passed unanimously by the Yancey County Board of Commissioners, while AMY Regional Library Director Amber Westall Briggs was out of state, attending a library conference in California. On Aug. 2, Briggs released a public statement addressing Yancey’s commissioners.
The pause on permits to harvest ginseng in our national forests will continue with the intention of helping to replenish the plant's natural population.
Ginseng has long been a prized and lucrative plant, with a long and storied role in Appalachian history. Violators of the pause could face stiff penalties, according toSally Dixon, head of Haywood County's Extension office.
Dixon said the pause is "there for a reason" and she agrees with the U.S. Forest Service continuing its pause on permits to harvest American ginseng in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests for the 2024 season.
The pause went into effect three years ago and will continue for now, with anyone caught removing ginseng in the national forests possibly facing a $5,000 fine, six months in prison or both while the pause is in effect.
You see it in a lot of our kind of Appalachian native plants that people really, really love, where they're over-harvested," Dixon said. "There has to be some kind of control on that just to make sure that wild populations don’t get decimated.
Dixon said overharvesting is part of the equation. Ginseng is a highly sought-after plant, but needs time to replenish, as "it can take 10 years for it to mature from seed," she said.
8/30/2024, Hendersonville, NC
Each year over Labor Day weekend, people flock to Hendersonville for the annual NC Apple Festival.
This year is no different as hundreds filled the streets of downtown Hendersonville on Aug. 30, shopping for the perfect apple or other crafts. From newcomers to seasoned professionals, the festival is full of vendors and participants alike.
The 2024 Apple Festival marks the 78th iteration of the event, which started in 1946. According to past Times-News reporting, the inaugural event took place in April of that year.
According to the Apple Festival website, the event averages 250,000 attendees each year.
The third annual Earl Scruggs Music Festival is this weekend, 8/30 to 9/1.
A production crew braved the heat to put up a large stage at the Tryon Equestrian Center, which will soon feature top talent, including Tanya Tucker and Marty Stuart.
Once Earle made a national debut in 1945, it completely changed the music," said Mary Beth Martin of the Earl Scruggs Center and a member of the festival planning team. "He was one of the architects of bluegrass music. He's why we have the music today. So many artists from then until now look at him as an influence.
This year also marks the late Scruggs' 100th birthday. Organizers want to keep the Cleveland County native's legacy going by making the festival bigger. This includes keeping the festival going until late Sunday night and by adding some camping options.
OFFICIAL SITE
Thanks for reading and contributing to this effort, wishing all a fine weekend!
”Be safe out there” Lamont Cranston
