Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
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We’re working up to the Turkey Day edition. Right now, though, you’ll have to settle for a Tuesday edition.
Top story: The top story on Monday was the memorial service and burial of a Western North Carolina soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan. The heart wrenching photo that drives home the sadness of the story – the soldier’s young widow, in tears, placing flowers atop his casket. It was another harsh reminder, right before the holidays, that we’re still at war. Asheville Citizen-Timescoverage here. WLOS story here.
New jewelry store on Lexington: There’s a new jewelry store opening up on Lexington Avenue, at the corner of Lex and College Street and just up from the Green Light Cafe. Anyone know who is going into the space, which used to be a cluttered and cool clock/watch repair shop for years?
New hookah: There’s a new hookah bar coming to Lexington Avenue. So says @BlendGallery on Twitter.
Lighting up: Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is decorating a big tree on campus for the holidays.
Bank branches to close: Two branches of Mountain 1st Bank – one in Arden and one in Lake, will close early next year, reports the Hendersonville Times-News.
Esmeralda Inn update: The Esmeralda Inn, a Chimney Rock landmark, has new owners, who say they want to strengthen the inn’s connection to the community, the Times-News reports.
Asheville Regional Airport full-body scanner: With all the current controversy over the TSA’s new security measures – the use of full-body scanners or a rather invasive pat-down – I asked if Asheville Regional Airport had one of the new scanners. The airport does not. But Twitter user avacado27says the airport is scheduled to get one in March. I’ll ask the airport for confirmation today.
Moog and LAB work: Work is moving ahead on two big projects in Asheville. The first is the transformation of a couple of big buildings on Broadway into the newMoog Music Inc. manufacturing facility. I went by the other day and saw that demolition work is well underway. The second project is the Lexington Avenue Brewery’splan to renovate a couple of big buildings next to them on Lexington Avenue. If you peer in from the Rankin Avenue side, you can see construction crews going at it. The LAB plans to expand into the space.
Biltmore bridge: There’s a new bridge across the French Broad River. We haven’t heard much about it, though, because it’s on the Biltmore Estate property. How much did it cost? Did the Biltmore pay for the bridge? Why was the bridge built? zen has a photo.
UNCA vs. UNC: The UNCA Bulldogs will take on the UNC Tar Heels tonight at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs have already scored one major upset this year, beating Auburn recently. Meantime, the Tar Heels are coming off back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Vanderbilt in a pre-season tournament. The game will be played at the Smith Center and will be televised by SportsSouth. The game will also be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio (1310-AM) with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.
Asheville City Council on the road again: Asheville City Council will hold its Nov. 30 meeting at the Reid Center in Asheville. There are several important updates scheduled to be discussed, including the city’s tough budget problems, the impact of Mission Hospitals’ new cancer building on local roads and more.
Another bank robbery: You can tell when the holidays are near by the increase in bank robberies. Asheville recently had a hipster/model robber hit Hometrust Bank. Now a bank down in Rutherford County gets hit by a male robber dressed in a woman’s dress. Here’s the story, and a photo, from WLOSers. Note to WLOSers – it’s incorrect to call the suspect a “cross dresser.” That’s a specific term with a specific meaning.
Honeycutters update:BlogAshevilledelivers an update on the fundraising push by the Honeycutters, an excellent Asheville band.
Local Americana band the Honeycutters, like Asheville guitar god Woody Wood did last summer, ask for fan support to bankroll their new CD. And with just three days of fundraising left, they’re close to raising $15000.
I worked for Biltmore's engineering services a couple summers in college about seven years back, and part of our job involved moving old heavy equipment to the west side of the estate. To get there without a bridge, you had to leave from the estate's front entrance in Biltmore Village and drive all the way down 40 to Brevard rd to get to the west side entrance near Jim Barkley Toyota. I can definitely see why they'd go to the trouble of building their own bridge, and even if they have no immediate plans to develop the area for visitors, I'm sure they'd want the option in their pocket for the future.
Thanks Nate. Nothing makes me think anyone other than Biltmore paid for the bridge – I just didn't know. I was simply asking the question.
I spoke with Biltmore spokeswoman Kathleen Mosher today, who kindly offered more information:
The bridge will allow much easier access to the estate's agricultural activies on the west side of the river, where its farm and vineyards are located, Mosher said. It allows production trucks to get in and out easily, rather than drive out, hit Hwy 191 and go around to the front of the estate. The bridge also allows easier access to that side of Biltmore's property for estate security guards, Mosher said.
There are a few visitor activites on that side of the river, but they're all special guided tours. The bridge will be gated, and generally not open to the public.
Vanderbilt and Olmstead long had plans for a similar bridge, and there was one built at some point, but Mosher says the fate of that bridge is unclear. The design of the bridge includes some design elements of an historic nature.
The estate worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the state DOT to meet all permitting requirements. Biltmore paid for the bridge.
The bridge is not quite finished yet. It should be fully complete in about a week, according to Mosher.
It's a bridge built on private property connecting one giant chunk of the Biltmore Estate to another giant chunk of the Estate on the other side of the river . . . what in the world makes you think anyone other than the Biltmore Company *would* have paid for it?
My understanding is that they're basically connecting the undeveloped portion of the Estate across the river to the primary developed areas, especially Antler Hill Village which is relatively near the river and this bridge. What they plan to do across the river is unclear.
Her name is Kathleen Mosher, not Moser.
I worked for Biltmore's engineering services a couple summers in college about seven years back, and part of our job involved moving old heavy equipment to the west side of the estate. To get there without a bridge, you had to leave from the estate's front entrance in Biltmore Village and drive all the way down 40 to Brevard rd to get to the west side entrance near Jim Barkley Toyota. I can definitely see why they'd go to the trouble of building their own bridge, and even if they have no immediate plans to develop the area for visitors, I'm sure they'd want the option in their pocket for the future.
Thanks Nate. Nothing makes me think anyone other than Biltmore paid for the bridge – I just didn't know. I was simply asking the question.
I spoke with Biltmore spokeswoman Kathleen Mosher today, who kindly offered more information:
The bridge will allow much easier access to the estate's agricultural activies on the west side of the river, where its farm and vineyards are located, Mosher said. It allows production trucks to get in and out easily, rather than drive out, hit Hwy 191 and go around to the front of the estate. The bridge also allows easier access to that side of Biltmore's property for estate security guards, Mosher said.
There are a few visitor activites on that side of the river, but they're all special guided tours. The bridge will be gated, and generally not open to the public.
Vanderbilt and Olmstead long had plans for a similar bridge, and there was one built at some point, but Mosher says the fate of that bridge is unclear. The design of the bridge includes some design elements of an historic nature.
The estate worked with the Army Corps of Engineers and the state DOT to meet all permitting requirements. Biltmore paid for the bridge.
The bridge is not quite finished yet. It should be fully complete in about a week, according to Mosher.
It's a bridge built on private property connecting one giant chunk of the Biltmore Estate to another giant chunk of the Estate on the other side of the river . . . what in the world makes you think anyone other than the Biltmore Company *would* have paid for it?
My understanding is that they're basically connecting the undeveloped portion of the Estate across the river to the primary developed areas, especially Antler Hill Village which is relatively near the river and this bridge. What they plan to do across the river is unclear.