Dec 9, 2024 · By now, this story of locals living in flimsy tents post-Helene has taken on a life of its own. Especially once the frigid temperatures hit last week, the idea of people living in tents in Swannanoa and Fairview, among the hardest hit areas in Buncombe County, really fueled some outrage, both online and among some […]

Feb 2, 2025 · 223 S West St, Suite 1800 Raleigh, NC 27603 (919) 962-1000 www.northcarolina.edu To: Chancellors From: Andrew Tripp UNC System Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs & General Counsel

Jan 6, 2025 · In the last two weeks of 2024, Asheville lost three community titans: businessman, local columnist and cowboy-hat wearing amateur historian Jerry Sternberg; funeral home owner and business pioneer Julia Ray, and Leslie Anderson, who played a key role in the revitalization of downtown Asheville.

Nov 3, 2024 · Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the fourth installment. Sarah Moore describes the sensation she felt that […]

3 days ago · Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to reverse his razor-thin loss for a state Supreme Court seat by disqualifying the ballots of more than 66,000 voters suffered a blow when a Wake County judge tossed his lawsuit Friday. In a one-page decision issued after hearing arguments from lawyers on both sides of the dispute, Superior Court […]

Oct 4, 2024 · To Dr. Ruchi Moore and her colleagues at Asheville’s Laurel OB/GYN, Hurricane Helene’s onslaught felt like a rerun of the COVID-19 pandemic “plus just an insane snowstorm.” The storm shuttered the practice, leaving patients in crisis, and destroyed one employee’s home. But Moore and her staff plan to reopen today, even though they lack water. […]

Passenger jet, small plane nearly collided mid-air at Asheville airport last fall, federal report says. A passenger jet on its initial approach to the Asheville Regional Airport in October came within seconds of colliding midair with a private plane in a harrowing incident described by the jet’s captain in federal data obtained by Asheville Watchdog.

Dec 16, 2024 · A Mission Hospital pharmacist who supervised a team that tracked medication histories and prevented errors is suing the hospital, its corporate owner, and her boss after she was fired for posting a comment on social media criticizing what she described as inadequate staffing in her department. The lawsuit, filed in Buncombe County Superior Court on […]

Dec 30, 2024 · Editor’s Note: As 2024 comes to a close, Asheville Watchdog staffers take you back and inside their most memorable stories and news events of the year. Helene will go down in history not just for the immense damage it caused but also the lives lost – 43 in Buncombe County alone. That statistic will forever […]

Dec 30, 2024 · “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” – Joseph Goebbels, January 12, 1941 If I were to write a headline over a story summarizing the essence of the 2024 elections, it would be this: the year of the new Big Lie. You’d think by […]