Sarah Honosky

3 weeks ago | citizen-times.com | Sarah Honosky

ASHEVILLE - Chimney Rock State Park and its namesake attraction, a 315-foot freestanding rock spire, will reopen June 27, exactly nine months after Tropical Storm Helene devastated the surrounding communities. The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and N.C. State Parks announced the reopening date in a June 6 news release. “Chimney Rock is a western North Carolina jewel,” said Governor Josh Stein in the release. “Reopening the state park will draw tourists back to this area.

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Sarah Honosky

ASHEVILLE - A quarter-mile boardwalk traverses the wetland of the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary in North Asheville. The eight-acre nature preserve was created in the 1980s to protect against commercial development, an oasis tucked beside busy Merrimon Avenue. Come June, Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter President John Koon said visitors can expect a wide variety of birds, from nesting green herons and tree swallows, to pileated woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice and song sparrows.

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Sarah Honosky

ASHEVILLE - The Reparations Stakeholder Authority of Asheville has unveiled plans for the former West Asheville Presbyterian Church building on Haywood Road, which was transferred to the nonprofit in January at no cost from the Presbytery of Western North Carolina. A new partnership between the reparations authority and Mennonite Disaster Service will focus on "long-term disaster recovery and reparative justice in Western North Carolina," according to a May news release.

4 weeks ago | blueridgenow.com | Sarah Honosky

Asheville Answers: When might Chimney Rock State Park, village reopen in WNC? Lake Lure Fire Chief describes Helene devastation in the areaLake Lure Fire Chief / Emergency Mgmt. Director Dustin Waycaster speaks to the Asheville Citizen Times in the bed of the Broad River behind the Geneva Riverside Lodging and Tiki Bar & Grill, April 2, 2025 in Lake Lure. Eight months after Tropical Storm Helene, both Chimney Rock Village and the state park remain closed.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Sarah Honosky

ASHEVILLE - Firefighter compensation was a focus at Asheville City Council's budget talks, as it was the year before, with the city proposing pay raises for all employees amid significant financial headwinds — a move that will require raising property taxes, staff said. At the May 27 budget public hearing, a representative for the Asheville Fire Fighters Association and other advocates pushed for further action on an option that they said would create a more equitable system.