Latest news with #AshevilleCitizenTimes
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Chimney Rock State Park to reopen June 27
ASHEVILLE - Chimney Rock State Park and its namesake attraction, a 315-foot freestanding rock spire, will reopen June 27, exactly nine months after Tropical Storm Helene devastated the surrounding communities. The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and N.C. State Parks announced the reopening date in a June 6 news release. 'Chimney Rock is a western North Carolina jewel,' said Governor Josh Stein in the release. 'Reopening the state park will draw tourists back to this area. I am pleased that (the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources), (N.C. Department of Transportation), and local leaders in Chimney Rock were able to get this park open for people to enjoy and so local businesses can thrive.' Much of the park has been closed since after the storm when essentially all of the village's bridges were washed out, including the main public access to the popular Chimney Rock attraction at the park, which drew upwards of 300,000 visitors in 2021. NCDOT recently completed work on a temporary bridge and repairs to the park's roads. Only the park's Rumbling Bald access is open now on the north side of the river, an area popular with rock climbers, featuring about 1.5 miles of hiking trails. Park hours and additional details will be announced soon, the release said. Advance reservations will be required to access the Chimney Rock attraction. The ticketing reservation system at will go live approximately one week prior to the reopening. Capacity will be limited due to ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts in the area. More: Free things to do around Asheville this summer: Get outside, stay indoors or catch a show More: What's new with Asheville's proposed 1.3-mile greenway extension in the RAD? Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@ or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Chimney Rock State Park to reopen June 27
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
June full moon: Why is it called the Strawberry Moon? What stargazers should know
June's full "Strawberry Moon" will rise soon. Here's what to know about this month's full moon, including the best time to view it, the origin of its name and more. June's 2025 Strawberry Moon will reach peak illumination on June 11 at 3:44 a.m. The May Flower Moon was at peak illumination at 12:56 p.m. on Monday, May 12. No, there is no supermoon in June. The first supermoon of the year always takes place in the later months, this year in October. The Old Farmer's Almanac says that the 12 full moons each year are named by Native Americans, according to previous reporting by the Hendersonville Times-News. UNC Asheville Associate Professor of Astronomy Britt Lundren reminded readers that, when sharing the titles of the monthly moons, it's important to remember the cultural diversity of tribes in the U.S. "Each tribe has a close relationship with the land, and their moon names will reflect the seasonal changes unique to their environments," Lundren said. June's title of "Strawberry Moon" is derived from seasonal fruits that generally ripen during the month. Alternative names include: Berries Ripen Moon (Haida) Blooming Moon (Anishinaabe) Green Corn Moon (Cherokee) Hoer Moon (Western Abenaki) Birth Moon (Tlingit) Egg Laying Moon and Hatching Moon (Cree) Here's a list of the full moon names, courtesy of the Old Farmer's Almanac: January - Wolf Moon February - Snow Moon March - Worm Moon April - Pink Moon May - Flower Moon June - Strawberry Moon July - Buck Moon August - Sturgeon Moon September - Corn Moon (was Harvest Moon in 2024) October - Hunter Moon November - Beaver Moon December - Cold Moon Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@ This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: When is the next full moon? June's Strawberry Moon will rise soon
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Highland Brewing founder, Asheville craft beer pioneer, Oscar Wong, dead at 84
ASHEVILLE - Oscar Wong, a beloved father, friend and community member who became known as the "Godfather of Asheville Craft Beer" as the founder of the city's first brewery, Highland Brewing, has died. On May 25, Oscar Wong died peacefully at his home with Anna Wong, his wife of 57 years, and one of his daughters, Leah Wong Ashburn, by his side, according to a news release from Highland Brewing. He was 84. Nearly three years ago, Wong was diagnosed with cancer and given a prognosis of six months to a year to live. Wong was described as a person who valued the "quality of life and spent his remaining time fully immersed in the love of his family and those he cherished deeply." He was attributed to saying, 'Personal relationships are the currency of life.' Wong often "expressed deep gratitude for an enriched life that exceeded his wildest imagination," the news release stated. "From sipping scotch with friends every Friday to playing handball at 84, Oscar lived fully and always encouraged those around him to do the same," the news release stated. Wong's death comes after what was officially recognized as Oscar Wong Day on May 16, commemorating the founding of Highland Brewing and Wong's contributions to setting the foundation for Asheville to become known as a "Beer City." In 1994, Wong launched Highland Brewing in the basement of Barley's Taproom at 42 Biltmore Ave. downtown. Wong, the son of Chinese immigrants in Jamaica, attended Notre Dame and went on to lead a long and successful career as an engineer. Upon retirement, Wong made a home in Asheville, where he discovered a new interest: craft beer. Wong became an entrepreneur, mentor, active society member, and performed community service at ARC, Rotary and UNC Asheville. In 2023, he was presented by the governor with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina's highest civilian award. Other accolades earned over the decades include the U.S. Small Business Administration's Person of the Year for North Carolina and the Brewers Association's Recognition Award for 'individuals whose inspiration, enthusiasm, and support have contributed to the craft brewing movement.' Last year, Wong celebrated Highland Brewing's 30th anniversary. "My vision was that it would be one or two breweries in town, and I'd be one of those and have my personal watering hole and it'd be small," Wong told the Citizen Times in 2024. Highland Brewing will host a celebration of life for Wong at Noon on June 29. This is a developing story. Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@ or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Oscar Wong, Highland Brewing founder, local beer pioneer, dead at 84
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Answer Man: Fires, fields and gardens: What to do with the giant mulch piles from Helene debris?
Editor's note: The Asheville Citizen Times and Times-News will answer your Helene-related questions in our Sunday column. Email Executive Editor KChavez@ Your question and answer could appear in an upcoming issue. Question: What are the plans for the mountains of wood chips left over from (post-Helene) cleanup efforts? I drove by Mills River Park just today and the wood chip piles look to cover acres. Are there plans to sell the wood chips, use them on state and county projects, give them to residents to control erosion or for other projects? Collecting the debris is only part of the effort, disposal is the next step. Answer: As anyone in Western North Carolina is aware, Tropical Storm Helene uprooted and toppled countless trees last fall with its catastrophic flooding and severe high winds, sometimes topping 100 mph according to the National Weather Service. Local governments have been making steady progress toward cleaning up the pervasive debris, from brush to entire trees that fell on cars and houses. After it's collected it's often fed through woodchippers to reduce its volume and more efficiently store it. The Times-News spoke with Henderson County Engineer Marcus Jones, who's in charge of the debris removal effort. He had updates on how that massive, 'unprecedented' undertaking is moving along and offered some answers to what will happen to all the material from the county's three debris removal programs: removing debris from the roadside, from waterways and from private property. He said the county has handled more than 750,000 cubic yards of debris, much of which has been chipped. There's around 5% left to be collected and processed, he said, 'but that's 5% of a whole lot, there's not (just) a few sticks out there.' The Asheville Citizen Times reported in April that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had removed 4.12 million cubic yards of Helene debris in Western North Carolina. Most of that, 2.1 million cubic yards, was removed from waterways in Polk, Buncombe and McDowell counties, the towns of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure and the City of Asheville by disaster remediation contractor Ash Britt. Another 1.9 million cubic yards were collected from the sides of roadways as part of the Army Corps of Engineers' right-of-way debris removal program. Asheville and Buncombe's private property debris removal program ended April 15, the Citizen Times reported. The towns of Woodfin and Weaverville had their own independent debris removal programs, which wrapped up their application process in March and April. There is 'many times more than the normal routine appetite for (mulch) in this region,' Jones said, so some will need to be shipped somewhere else. 'We're finding a home for it,' slowly but surely, he said. 'The only problem we're having is finding enough people to haul it.' One issue that the county's been dealing with is maintaining the woodchip piles once they're mounded up. Jones said that there have been several fires from spontaneous combustion — when moist, decomposing wood generates heat, like a compost pile, to the point that it catches on fire. 'You should be concerned about big mulch piles catching on fire,' he said. 'It does ignite' of its own accord. But, he said, those fires are manageable with the same heavy equipment used to process and mound the chips, which can also be used to put it out. Jones said that, as far as environmental impact, the piles aren't perfect, but that they're all permitted by the Department of Environmental Quality and are a strictly temporary measure. FEMA contractor Southern Disaster Recovery is tasked with collecting and disposing of Henderson County's debris. To answer one seemingly obvious solution: no, the material can't simply be sent to a landfill as garbage. 'Wood chips are banned from landfills,' Jones said. That said, they can be used in a landfill as 'daily cover,' or the layer, usually of dirt, that landfills are required to bury a day's deposit of garbage under. That's only making a dent, though. Jones said the county was burning mulch, using a method called air curtain burning where wood is burned in a metal container or a pit and air is blown onto it with a 'huge' fan. This makes the wood burn hotter and produce much less smoke that open burning. It 'eliminates a good bit of the pollutants,' Jones said. Still, the county shut that operation down after neighbors of the Edneyville-area site raised concerns about the still-significant amount of smoke. Some of the woodchips will be sold to wholesalers, who will turn it into your normal, garden-variety landscaping mulch. The county's also giving loads of mulch to farmers 'for rehabilitating their fields that … lost topsoil from the storm.' Clearing the backstock of woodchips could take 'months and months,' Jones said, but said that he's been happy to be wrong about that kind of estimate before. 'I thought we would be doing the roadside debris program for 12 months, and it's turned out to be seven, eight.' May 1 was the deadline to put debris out along the roadside for pickup, but the county is still in the thick of picking up all of it. Jones said in a May 21 Board of Commissioners Meeting that he hopes to finish that process by the end of June. More: 4.2 million cubic yards of Helene debris has been removed. What to know about debris deadlines More: Henderson County shares storm debris update, spending concerns, at Board meeting Citizen Times reporter Will Hoffman contributed to this report. George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at GFRussell@ This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Answer Man: Where is Hurricane Helene debris going?
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Asheville woman drove 'several miles' after crash that killed pedestrian, warrant alleges
ASHEVILLE - An Asheville woman faces a felony charge after she allegedly drove several miles following an accident on Tunnel Road that left a pedestrian dead May 21. At 9:18 p.m. Wednesday night, North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched to a crash involving a pedestrian just outside Asheville city limits on U.S. 70, also known as Tunnel Road, according to Sgt. Haley Onderdonk. An initial investigation showed that Robert Lee Armentrout, 56, of Hendersonville, ran into the roadway near Cardinal Ridge Drive and was struck by a 2014 Jeep Patriot driven by Caroline Elizabeth Laliberte, 24, of Asheville. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene, Onderdonk said. Laliberte left the scene and drove for "several miles to a friend's house before she had her friend call 911," according to her arrest warrant. The driver allegedly admitted to knowing she was in a wreck and had hit "something" but "wanted to make it back to her friend's house," the warrant says. Onderdonk said that Laliberte left the scene, but did notify authorities and met with law enforcement. She was arrested early in the morning May 22 and charged with felony hit-and-run inflicting serious injury or death, according to court records. She is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility under a $30,000 bond, or $3,000 to a bondsman. Her court-appointed public defender declined to comment at this time. This story will be updated. More: Weaverville woman charged in April fatal hit-and-run on Patton Ave More: UPS driver charged with felony hit-and-run in pedestrian death thought he 'hit a deer' Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@ and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Driver charged after pedestrian struck, killed east of Asheville: SHP
