The second of four parts The Happy Hour crowd on South Slope pops into the breweries and restaurants that have helped land Asheville on best-of lists, largely oblivious to what once stood nearby. The adjacent Southside neighborhood was the biggest hub of Black life in Asheville, housing beauty and barber shops, funeral homes, groceries and […] The post How Asheville became a city Black residents leave: the unhealed wound of urban renewal appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Eric Penland Jr., a quadriplegic patient whose nearly four-year stay at Mission Hospital became the subject of a legal battle with the hospital, died earlier this month, according to a family obituary. The obituary, published by Ray Funeral and Cremation Service, said Penland died Oct. 11. It did not list a cause of death. Reliant […] The post Eric Penland Jr., whose four-year stay at Mission led to legal battle with hospital, dies at 30 appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: As a resident of Haw Creek who also happens to live on New Haw Creek Road, we see very little progress on the “new sidewalk” that is going in. The company who was hired to do this construction only seems to work maybe […] The post Answer Man: What’s the ETA on new Haw Creek sidewalks? Have flower baskets returned to part of downtown? appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Although we hold sacred the right to vote, history informs us that rigging elections has been part of our republic since Elbridge Gerry took a pencil to a map in 1812 and scribbled lines creating a new state senate district. Because of its elongated, lizard-like shape and the fact that it encircled voters friendly to […] The post Democracy Watch: NC Republicans are following Trump’s gerrymandering directive. Will it help or hurt them in the midterms? appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has placed Asheville’s Mission Hospital in immediate jeopardy, the third time since 2019 that the hospital has faced the harshest sanction that can be levied against a healthcare facility. Mission CEO Greg Lowe announced the sanction in a letter emailed to hospital staff Friday and obtained Tuesday […] The post Mission Hospital placed in immediate jeopardy; sanction is third since sale to HCA appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: Any news on the state park that is supposed to be coming to Candler where the Pisgah View Ranch is? My answer: I don’t know, but every time I use this park I plan to shout at any crowd gathered, “Head ‘em up […] The post Answer Man: Any word on Pisgah View State Park? Is Asheville’s airport showing Kristi Noem video? Water bill confusion? appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
I really don’t enjoy busting the chops of Ingles Markets, but they just keep stirring the wrath of readers, and sometimes me. Most recently, in September, Ingles finally announced and submitted plans to Buncombe County for a store to replace the one in Swannanoa that Tropical Storm Helene flooded out in September 2024. It’ll be […] The post Opinion: Ingles Markets often raises the ire of locals, but it shouldn’t be that way appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
The first of four parts Asheville’s Black population is disappearing faster than that of comparable cities in North Carolina, a trend that is accelerating and has transformed not only the makeup of the city but its cultural and institutional identity. In 1980, one in five Asheville residents was Black. In 2024, it was one in […] The post ‘Where are all the Black people?’ The story behind Asheville’s loss of African Americans appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Mission Hospital should again be put in immediate jeopardy, the worst sanction a hospital can face, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has recommended. The finding, made by NCDHHS and reported to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is a devastating blow to the largest healthcare provider in western […] The post Mission Hospital faces new immediate jeopardy recommendation as state agency flags major safety risks appeared first on Asheville Watchdog.| Asheville Watchdog
Mission Hospital administrators were aware, before the sale, that HCA Healthcare intended to cut hundreds of staff positions once it acquired Asheville’s flagship hospital, including deep reductions to the nursing staff that caused Mission’s then-president to have “significant concerns,” according to depositions filed recently in a long-running antitrust lawsuit against HCA. Jill Hoggard Green, a […]| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: As a regular reader of Asheville Watchdog, I wanted to bring your attention to a potentially dangerous situation on Pearson Bridge Road. Many of us who work at the Ridge Business Park on Bingham Road use Pearson Bridge for our commute home. On […]| Asheville Watchdog
The mother of a patient who has been at Mission Hospital for nearly four years did not receive due process when a judge found her in contempt of court and ordered her jailed until her son leaves the hospital, Buncombe County public defenders and independent legal experts say. Tiffany Dobbs’ civil rights may have been violated […]| Asheville Watchdog
Attorneys for Mission Hospital have filed a motion requesting a judge appoint a referee in the case of Eric Penland Jr., a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic patient who’s remained at the hospital for nearly four years. According to the April 8 motion, his mother, Tiffany Dobbs, shouldn’t be able to leave jail until she provides documents and […]| Asheville Watchdog
A quadriplegic patient who remained at Mission Hospital for nearly four years despite the hospital suing him and his parents for his refusal to leave, is receiving care at a Virginia nursing and rehabilitation facility. Eric Penland was transported from Mission in late May following a judge’s order, but his mother, Tiffany Dobbs, wants the […]| Asheville Watchdog
Among the many topics that draw continued interest — and ire — from you good readers, the I-26 widening project has to be right at the top of the list. No, not the I-26 Connector project, which we will get to complain about for roughly the next decade. I’m talking about the widening of I-26 […]| Asheville Watchdog
In my career, I’ve often considered myself a professional pesterer. As journalists, we have a license — and a responsibility — to pursue information vigorously, to the point of being obnoxious at times. Often, it takes a while to get said information, but that’s part of the job. I bring all this up because back […]| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: Regarding the bear situation, my concern is that nothing kills these bears. Did you ever see a roadkill bear, like a deer, raccoon, possum or squirrel? So, every year these mamas are producing one or two more cubs, so every year the population […]| Asheville Watchdog
When Andrew Crater was a young professional cyclist, riding and racing all over the world, he settled in Asheville to train. It’s no surprise, he said, that Jake Hill and Lennie Antonelli did the same. “There might be equally beautiful places, but they’re not going to be any better than what we have here,” said […]| Asheville Watchdog
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: I have yet to see a single bike rider on Merrimon Avenue. Meanwhile, the car traffic continues to get worse. When will city officials admit making a mistake and go back to two lanes each way? My answer: I’m pretty sure if I […]| Asheville Watchdog
Ask just about any regular cyclist out there about their close calls or abusive encounters with motorists, and you’ll get an earful. “Everybody I talk to — almost everybody — has been hit by a car,” cyclist Abby Walker told me last week. “You couldn’t find a cyclist in Asheville that doesn’t have at least […]| Asheville Watchdog
Just more than a month after judges made what some saw as the final decision in a case over new hospital beds for Buncombe County and the surrounding region, Mission Hospital signaled in the state’s highest court that it’s not giving up a nearly three-year fight over which health system gets to expand in western […]| Asheville Watchdog
The North Carolina Supreme Court has granted Mission Hospital’s request for a temporary stay of a lower court’s decision to grant 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth nearly three years ago. The order, delivered without comment, came just two days after attorneys for Mission Hospital filed a motion seeking the temporary stay and arguing that […]| Asheville Watchdog
