Embattled APD chief resigns
‘Teatro’ enchants with vocal talent
By landslide, Buncombe elects 1st black sheriff — See STORY, Pg. A2
See STORY, Pg. A4
— See REVIEW, Pg. B1
LLE I V HE AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
December 2018 Vol. 15, No. 01
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville www.ashevilledailyplanet.com FREE
Christmas splendor adorns Biltmore Estate
Special photos courtesy of BilTMore Company
About 40 Biltmore Estate staff members raised a massive 35-foot-tall Fraser fir tree (left) that was brought into the 70-foot-tall Banquet Hall of America’s largest home – the Biltmore House (above) – on Nov. 1. More staff members festooned the tree with hundreds of lights, toys and wrapped packages. The tree joins more than 60 other hand-decorated Christmas trees that light up the rooms of the Biltmore House. Santa Claus, aboard a horsedrawn carriage, led the procession that hauled the tree to the home that George Vanderbilt opened to his friends and family on Christmas Eve 1895. Christmas at Biltmore, the estate’s annual holiday event runs through Jan. 6.
He’s surely the best man for the sob
Q: I’m a 28-year-old guy with an amazing girlfriend. She gets upset and sometimes cries, and I never know how to soothe her. I’m afraid to say the wrong thing, so I don’t say anything at all. Of course, she then gets more upset, thinking I don’t care. But I do care, and I want her to know. — Tongue-Tied
Want to know the answer? See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A18
The Advice Goddess Amy Alkon
A-B Tech wants its tax funds
From Staff Reports Leaders at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College have taken new — and formal — steps to find out how spent millions in sales tax dollars that were meant for the school instead were spent by Buncombe County. Specifically, A-B Tech’s Board of Trustees is asking — through a public records request for detailed figures on the school’s sales tax — for a full accounting of $15 million earmarked for new construction at A-B Tech. In August, the board sent a letter to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners asking for the same information, but never got a response. This is a second try. The A-B Tech money in question is from a quarter-cent sales tax — narrow- Dennis King ly approved by voters seven years ago. Only a portion of the funds have been allocated to the school. “I think the first thing we’ve got to do is get the definitive numbers on how the money has been used thus far,” A-B Tech President Dennis King said on Nov. 14, according to the Asheville Citizen Times. “I feel that we have a solid relationship with the county. I feel this is a bump in the road. It will be resolved, and I believe it will be resolved to our favor,” King told the ACT. Meanwhile, Asheville television station WLOS News 13 reported in mid-November that it had obtained a copy of that letter the A-B Tech trustees sent to commissioners’ Chairman Brownie Newman. In the letter, the board “asked Newman for details about whether the sales tax funds reserved for capital improvements were instead used to pay off any county debt or outstanding loan,” WLOS noted. “They also want itemized details on all proceeds that have been allocated or spent on items unrelated to A-B Tech. See A-B TECH, Page A9
Ideas unveiled to shift tax burden to tourists
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer unveiled a plan under consideration by the city to shift the tax burden more to tourists to ease the burden on locals during a Nov. 9 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center. About 65 people, including CIBO members, area government officials and others, attended the
early-morning breakfast session. Manheimer began her CIBO address by noting, “First, I just want to say we have our interim city manager here — Cathy Ball. She’s done a fantastic job for us. Cathy is the one who has spearheaded our study on revenues.” Turning to the topic of her talk, the mayor said, “I’ve been asked to come here and talk about hotels... It’s generated this larger discussion of how well we can manage the stresses on our infrastruc-
ture… in our discussion of hotels. Ten hotels have opened in Asheville since 2015, with 1,183 rooms, she said, adding that seven more hotels are under construction in the city. “Why have we seen so many hotels?” Manheimer asked, rhetorically. “Because we’re the best. We’re a top community to come visit and we’re seeing that. We’re also experiencing growth, but not at the rate of Raleigh or Charlotte.” See TAX BURDEN, Page A6
Esther Manheimer