Welcome to DKos Asheville!
EST 2/13/2011
This space appears each weekend with links to news and opinion from Asheville and Western North Carolina, and the floor is open for comment and discussion. Wishing all a good day from this still beautiful part of the world.
“Daily Kos fights for a progressive America by empowering its community and allies with information and tools to directly impact the political process.”
I was going to wait untill tomorrow’s NC Open Thread to spread today’s headline, but it’s too cool to wait. Congratulations Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs!
The Wake County Superior Court ruled the same day it heard the GOP Supreme Court candidate’s challenge to a wide swath of early, absentee, military, and overseas ballots.
Just hours after a hearing on Judge Jefferson Griffin’s challenge to more than 65,000 ballots in the state Supreme Court election, a state judge upheld the state election board’s rejection of those claims in a late Friday ruling.
Judge William Pittman ruled in favor of the North Carolina State Board of Elections on its rejection of challenges to voters of three separate categories — military and overseas voters who did not include photo IDs with their mailed ballots, early and absentee voters who Griffin alleged had incomplete voter registrations, and a group Griffin called “Never Residents” consisting of the children of North Carolina citizens living abroad.
“The Court concludes as a matter of law that the Board’s decision was not in violation of constitutional provisions, was not in excess of statutory authority or jurisdiction of the agency, was made upon lawful procedure, and was not affected by other error of law,” Pittman wrote in an order issued Friday afternoon.
Both Griffin and incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, his opponent in the contested election, attended the hearing before the Wake County Superior Court in person Friday morning. Pittman presided over the hearing, which included attorneys for Griffin and the Board of Elections, as well as those representing Riggs and impacted North Carolina voters and nonprofits. <More>
ASHEVILLE - Coming on the heels of a Trump administration directive authorizing federal authorities to conduct immigration arrests on school campuses, Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said he believes a court order is required for those arrests to occur.
“As the Sheriff, I am not in charge of operating the churches or schools within this community but I am elected to ensure the safety and security of ALL the residents in Buncombe county,” Miller said in a Feb. 7 statement released by the sheriff’s office. “WE are a community of WE and because I have deputies positioned in schools as School Resource Officers, my stance is clear and strong that immigration enforcement is not allowed on our school campuses unless forced through a valid court order.”
Miller’s statement aligns with previous statements the sheriff has made related to working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In November, Miller expressed his opposition to House Bill 10, a Republican-backed bill forcing county sheriffs to honor ICE detainers. The law went into effect Dec. 1.
“I have repeatedly spoken out against cooperation with ICE, saying federal immigration law is not the responsibility of local officers and damages law enforcement’s trust within the immigrant community,” Miller said in his Feb. 7 statement. <More>
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between BPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
A judge gave federal employees facing a dilemma to accept the recent “buyout” option a temporary reprieve. Employees originally had until midnight Thursday to accept or reject an offer from the new Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk. A federal judge suspended the deadline during a court hearing earlier in the day, stating he would reconsider the matter on Monday.
The ruling impacts North Carolina’s 23,000 federal employees, including about 4,000 in Asheville. Among them, 175 work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with most based at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), which houses one of the world’s largest climate and weather data archives.
Craig McLean, who spent nearly 40 years at NOAA and led the agency’s research division, told BPR that the interference could disrupt day-to-day life and commerce. He said the Asheville office, a repository of the country’s climate data, is essential.
“Asheville holds a data record that’s important to every American citizen,” McClean said. “Simple things like an emergency coming, the floods in Asheville, those forecasts were accurate.”
Researchers around the world, as well as professionals in both the public and private sectors, use data and access tools—including insurance companies, which base their rates and risk analyses on climate data records and projections.
“Banking, finance, real estate, the transportation industry, agriculture,” McClean added. “Economy, safety of life and property are all delivered to the American citizen by NOAA.”
Proposed relief for western NC would be largest package since October, but falls short of what governor says is needed immediately
State lawmakers are preparing to spend an additional $500 million in relief for western North Carolina, laying the groundwork for their fourth aid package since Hurricane Helene and the first of 2025.
Under a bill introduced by GOP lawmakers Wednesday in the House Select Committee on Helene Recovery, the General Assembly would move another $275 million into the state’s Helene relief fund. Together with a bill passed in December that set aside without spending more than $200 million, the total new commitment would exceed a half-billion dollars.
The new relief package would be the legislature’s largest aid bill since mid-October, when it set out $600 million in a second round of relief. It would push the state’s total financial commitment to the storm well over $1 billion. <More>
Helene clean-up is going into high gear on the waterways in Western North Carolina. Starting Saturday, AshBritt, the US Army Corp of Engineers contracted company, will be in the French Broad River doing a clean-up of the water.
On Friday, Feb. 7, the Corp held a news conference and showed the machinery it’s using to clear waterways in front of more than 20 media outlets.
PORTION OF SWANNANOA RIVER ROAD REOPENS AFTER MAJOR REPAIRS FOLLOWING HELENE
“They’re pulling the debris out of the water and stacking it here,” said Col. Brad Morgan, USACE. “We also have a drone contractor that’s working for us to help us see what additional hazardous debris are within the waterways.”
Morgan is in charge of Helene clean-up. He specified the contract with AshBritt. The company is cleaning up rivers and streams of debris that’s largely trees However, AshBritt won’t be covering the areas along the riverbanks where thousands of trees have fallen.
Morgan said the WNC area will have 10 crews working this weekend with another 25 coming in next week.
New deadlines are:
- June 1 for all waterway clean-ups.
- June 30 for private property debris removal.
- April 1 for any remaining debris-covered roads to get cleared. <More>
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The past few weeks have not only been unusually warm, but they have also been dry. Asheville has only received 1.34" of rain since Jan. 1. That's nearly 4" below normal. Mother Nature seems to want to do something about that, and the weather pattern will flip once again, turning colder and much wetter.
This is going to start next week. Several days will bring periods of rain to the region, and at times, heavy rain. Areas that will add up the most over the next seven days will be south and west of Asheville, where as much as 5 to 7" of rain will be possible. Most throughout the French Broad River Valley, including Asheville, will receive between 2 and 3" through next week.
This will be the largest amount of rain to fall in our region since Hurricane Helene back in September 2024. <More>
Looks nice for a little bit anyway
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend. Go Chiefs! (In OT)
I just think a 3Peat would be cool. (In my imagination, Carolina then denies them a 4Peat next year, in a blowout.)
“Be safe out there.” Lamont Cranston
