North Carolina is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament West Region a year after being left out of the bracket. The fourth-ranked Tar Heels will open March Madness just down the road in Charlotte on Thursday against the First Four winner between Howard and Wagner.
A skeleton of steel beams is growing by the day as construction crews race to keep up with explosive passenger growth at Asheville Regional Airport. A massive airport expansion plan has been taking place behind the scenes for five years. Now it’s quickly coming into clear, public view, as a two-story, steel frame outlines the future north concourse and a frenzy of other construction is impossible to ignore.
Children and their families can get up close with some of their favorite big trucks and cars, including fire trucks, police cars and public works vehicles, during a free Truck City AVL event from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at Tanger Outlets Asheville. It’s a chance for kids to sit in, explore, touch and ask questions about some of the vehicles they might see from a distance all around town, including rescue vehicles, heavy public works equipment like utility tractors and construction machines, and more.
A public health veteran with a statewide profile has been named the new Henderson County Health Director, effective May 6. David Jenkins, a 23-year public health veteran, currently serves as director of Stanly County Health and Human Services. His past experience includes work in New Hanover, Carteret and Scotland Counties.
Republican voters will get a second chance to pick their party’s nominees for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor and State Auditor in runoff primaries set for May 14.
The Buncombe County Planning Board is seeking detailed input to write proposed regulations for short-term rentals during a series of planned public meetings.
The board is in the process of drafting text amendments to the county’s development ordinance related to short-term, or “vacation” rentals, which have sharply increased in recent years throughout the region.
Community complaints about illicit gun activity prompted Asheville police to make a series of arrests on Thursday, including two that included the seizure of illegally concealed weapons and small amounts of drugs, authorities said. According to a release from the Asheville Police Department, “proactive enforcement” also included the arrest of four people wanted on outstanding charges, and the seizure of two weapons along with small amounts of crack, fentanyl, MDMA (or “Ecstasy”) and marijuana.
Mobile and online sports wagering across North Carolina took off on Monday, as several licensed gambling operators started taking bets nine months after legislation to authorize such activity statewide became law. North Carolina is now the 30th state, along with the District of Columbia, to offer mobile sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association.
Asheville will be saving a seat for a Buncombe County commissioner on the Asheville-Buncombe Riverfront Commission, whether the county wants it now or not. On Tuesday night, the City Council considered an ordinance that would have reduced the size of the 14-member riverfront panel by removing the position set aside for a county commissioner. County commissioners requested deleting that reserved seat but the motion to adopt failed on a 3-3 vote.
A Hendersonville man has been found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the December 2022 shooting deaths of a man and woman found dead inside a vehicle in Fletcher, according to a the Buncombe County District Attorney’s office.