Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
More of what’s going around:
-Word on the street is that Gannett, the corporate owner of the Asheville Citizen-Times, is actively looking to sell the downtown building at 14 O. Henry Ave. that’s been home to the newspaper since the 1940s. It’s a move that Gannett has made with other newspapers it owns as the company has downsized. In Asheville, a decade of layoffs has decimated newspaper ranks that once filled the three-story building, while downtown is booming with thriving restaurants, bars and a slew of brand new hotels.
-The Cascade Lounge, a bar at Asheville Food Park on Amboy Road, has reopened. The business closed back in November. Former managing partner Jolene Fleischbein bought Cascade Lounge in from Asheville Food Park owners Dean Pistor and Justin Schmidt, according to a press release. (The Cascade Lounge is at 219 Amboy Road on the corner with State Street, and across from Carrier Park.)
-Asheville entrepreneur Joe Greene is launching a new clothing line called Big Boi Fly, according to Asheville Grit.
-Local musician Andrew Fletcher has been appointed to the Asheville Downtown Commission.
–Can Asheville stay weird? That’s the question Mountain Xpress writer Thomas Calder seeks to answer.
-Asheville’s Overlook Village shopping center on Tunnel Road will get a major makeover, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.
-Buncombe County Commissioner Ellen Frost will not seek re-election this year, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports. Frost was elected to a two-year term in 2012 by just 18 votes. She was re-elected to a four-year term after that. She represents the board’s District 2, which encompasses the eastern part of the county. She’s served as vice chair of the board twice.
-Speaking of Election ’18, newcomer Amanda Edwards has announced she will be running for the District 2 seat on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. Edwards is a lifelong Democrat and the former director of the Asheville-Mountain Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, according to a press release. She is the past executive director of the Literacy Council of Buncombe County, and currently executive director of the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Foundation. She’s married to Derek Edwards, principal at Claxton Elementary School in Asheville. Edwards, her husband, their son, family dog, and a brood of chickens all live at their rural Weaverville home, according to the press release.
-And Republican Tom Van Slambrouck of Candler has announced that he’s running for a Buncombe County commissioner seat in District 3. The district is currently represented by Commissioners Joe Belcher and Robert Pressley. It is Pressley’s seat that’s up, and he hasn’t announced yet whether he’s running for re-election.
-Highland Brewing has announced that its North Carolina distribution network now includes Carolina Premium Beverage, Healy Wholesale, Coastal Beverage, United Beverage, and Long Beverage, according to a press release. Highland is North Carolina’s largest homegrown brewery at about 45,000 barrels. Highland beer is still sold by Skyland Distributing in its home region of Western North Carolina, and RH Barringer in the Greensboro/Winston Salem area.
-This looks like a great show: local musician Matt Townsend and the Wildlights will play a Jan. 20 gig at The Mothlight in West Asheville. Heather Taylor, the winner of the Brown Bag Songwriting Competition last year, will open. Go here for tix.
-Looking ahead, this March West Asheville Cider Crawl looks like fun.
