Here’s what you may have missed this week:
GLOBAL WARMING
NC debates impact of Obama’s plan on global warming
North Carolina could reduce greenhouse gas emissions to levels mandated in new federal rules to fight global warming without straying dramatically from current plans and would see cleaner air and lower electric rates in the process, environmentalists backing the rules say.
But they will have a tough sell as the issue plays out in coming weeks.
Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration and other critics say the rules will drive up the cost of electricity — by 7 to 9 percent, an industry study says — and the state has already made strides in cleaning its air, meaning additional health benefits will be small.
State legislators are debating what response state government should make to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan rules announced Monday while McCrory’s administration is making plans for North Carolina to join other states in suing to block its enforcement.
Read the full story here.
GETTING OUTDOORS
Connecting urban kids to the great outdoors
Zamia Shands hugged her tiny inflatable raft like a teddy bear.
Heading bravely into the short bursts of rapids on Laurel Creek near Hot Springs, the 9-year-old was determined not to let go of her lifeline. She attempted several times to throw herself into the tiny waterfall, surrounded and encouraged by the helping hands of adult counselors.
Once Shands finally flung herself, there was no turning back. She couldn’t stop, and she couldn’t get enough of the thrill of being pushed down the cool, swirling rush of water.
That’s the magic that Lauren Tarantino, hike leader with the Trailblazers Outdoors Adventure Club, is looking for whenever she takes children like Shands into the woods.
“This is my first year,” Shands said of taking part in the 5-year-old Trailblazers Club. She was with a group of nine children from Hillcrest Apartments, an Asheville public housing complex, and four adults, including Tarantino and three volunteers, on a hike last week along the Laurel River Trail.
Read the full story here.
CRIME
Asheville man charged with stealing purse at gunpoint
An Asheville man was behind bars Saturday, charged with holding up a woman at gunpoint, according to warrants filed at the Buncombe County Magistrate’s Court.
Otis Anthony Edgerton, 19, of Atkinson St. faces a charge of robbery with a deadly weapon.
Read the full story here.
CRAGGY BRIDGE
Repair work closes Craggy Bridge in Woodfin
Old Leicester Highway will be closed at Riverside Drive until mid-September while workers repair Craggy Bridge across the French Broad River, the state Department of Transportation says.
A contractor will remove the bridge’s asphalt surface and replace it with concrete, said Mark Gibbs, division maintenance engineer for DOT.
The bridge surface had deteriorated and DOT had received many complaints about its rough condition, he said.
Traffic is being detoured 2.7 miles south to Pearson Bridge. Drivers can use Adams Hill, Riverview Church and Gorman Bridge roads to connect with Old Leicester Highway west of the French Broad River.
Buncombe County Schools will temporarily lengthen bus routes for students who live of the French Broad and go to one of four schools — West Buncombe Elementary, Eblen Intermediate, Erwin Middle and Erwin High — to the west of the river, said Transportation Director Joe Hough. Parents should contact their child’s school if they need more information before school begins Aug. 19, he said.
Read the full story here.
PLEADING GUILTY
Fairview man pleads guilty to child sex crimes
A Fairview man will spend at least 19 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to multiple child sex crimes involving a young girl.
In Buncombe County Superior Court, Jorge Martinez, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual offense and seven counts of indecent liberties with a child, District Attorney Todd Williams said.
Judge Marvin Pope sentenced Martinez to a minimum term of 228 months and maximum term of 334 months in state prison.
Read the full story here.
POLK COUNTY DUKE ENERGY
Polk may lose vistas, tax revenue in Duke transmission line plan
Polk County stands to lose scenic vistas and up to $200,000 in tax revenue annually should Duke Energy transmission lines cross the area, according to county commissioners who passed a resolution to keep the energy infrastructure out of the county.
The five-member board on Monday evening sided with increasingly vocal opposition, positioning itself against plans for 230-kilovolt transmission lines, which would bring power from a substation in Campobello, South Carolina to the Asheville power plant.
Putting the lines inside Polk County could “have a deleterious effect on the view shed of the entire county, thereby negatively affecting current homeowners, potential homeowners, tourism dollars and business revenue,” according to the resolution passed by commissioners.
Read the full story here.
FACEBOOK POST
Police review Asheville officer’s Facebook post after wreck
City police are reviewing a Facebook post made by an Asheville patrol officer following an on-duty wreck that she caused.
The three-vehicle wreck happened Aug. 5 on Fairview Road involving officer Krystale Jones, according to an Asheville Police Department accident report. According to the report, Jones caused the accident when she ran into the rear of a stopped vehicle. The vehicle she rear-ended was then pushed forward and hit another vehicle.
But in a subsequent post on her Facebook page in which she was explaining to a friend how she hurt her arm, Jones wrote, “Here’s the story. They didn’t get out of my way responding to an emergency call so I hit him. Lesson learned get out of my way. Lol. Thanks all … just making the best out of it.”
Read the full story here.
ASHEVILLE AIRPORT
Adding more routes remains priority for Asheville airport
Sometimes the wind blows in opposing directions at Asheville Regional Airport — not so much for the pilots but for the people behind the operation.
The airport is coming off its best year ever. More than 400,000 people boarded commercial flights at the airport during the fiscal year that ended June 30, a 9 percent increase over the prior year.
But even with the wind at their backs on that key yardstick, airport officials face perception and logistical challenges, as do smaller markets nationwide.
Potential Asheville passengers are still driving to Greenville, South Carolina, Charlotte and even Greensboro in search of better deals.
Read the full story here.
BED BUGS
Battling bed bugs in Asheville
Tim Meade with Dodson Brothers Exterminating calls bed bugs “the new termite.”
Meade, who is district manager for the company, gets calls every week about the pesky insects.
“It started out with a call here and there and then it’s just gradually grown to where we’re getting five or six calls a week now within a three-year period,” Meade said. “They’re on the rise big time.”
It’s tough to know how common the problem is in the Asheville area because Buncombe County’s Environmental Health Division doesn’t track the number of residential complaints about bed bugs.
Read the full story here.
TEEN CHARGED
Cullowhee teen, 18, charged with killing mother
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigators have charged a teenager with murder in the death of his mother Wednesday.
According to court documents, investigators also believe Daniel Aaron Sellers, 18, a senior at Smoky Mountain High School, sexually assaulted his mother, Jennifer Sellers.
Jennifer Sellers, 46, had worked for Jackson County Schools since 2011, said Superintendent Michael Murray. She most recently was a full-time teacher’s assistant working with exceptional children at Cullowhee Valley Elementary School.
Read the full story here.
ALLEGED ASSAULT
Alleged assault on Asheville busker raises questions
How safe are the buskers who are part of the colorful scene in downtown Asheville from becoming the victims of theft or violent crime, and how seriously do police take crimes against these street performers?
After an incident Wednesday night on Battery Park Avenue, mime Dade Murphy might say Asheville’s streets are pretty rough. Other buskers, however, say overall the downtown is a safe place to play their instruments or perform, but communications with police officers who are stationed downtown could stand some improvement.
Murphy says he was assaulted, threatened and the money in his tip jar stolen in an incident Wednesday night on Battery Park Avenue. According to Murphy, one of the suspects threatened to cut him with a knife, while another swung at him, and a third suspect kicked over a performance statue he had set up for his act and took about $15 of his tips.
Read the full story here.
FOOD FEARS
Experts: Health ‘gurus’ spread food fears
With a cacophony of food gurus and self-appointed experts advocating for often contradictory quick-fix diet plans, navigating the basic task of eating can be daunting.
One of the most popular health crusaders, Vani Hari, also known online as the “Food Babe,” leads her army of followers in uprisings against so-called toxins in everything from Subway sandwich bread to Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.
But Hari, a former consultant who studied computer science, has consistently come under fire for her lack of credentials. For example, her case against Starbucks PSL singled out the drink’s caramel color, which she said is in carcinogen class 2B. That sounds worrying until you consider the additive has rather innocuous neighbors in its carcinogen class: coffee, pickled vegetables, carbon paper and talcum powder.
Read the full story here.
MAN INDICTED
Asheville man indicted on child sex charges
A Buncombe County grand jury has indicted a city man on multiple child sex charges involving a girl who was 12 and 13 years old at the time of the alleged offenses.
Michael Harlon Donati, 34, of School Road, was served with the indictments and taken into custody Thursday, charged with three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child, two counts of statutory rape and one count of first-degree sexual offense, according to warrants at the Buncombe County magistrate’s office.
Read the full story here.
Check back on Sunday for next week’s Weekly Roundup.
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