AVL Watchdog

12/11/2025

Asheville Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley has received primary-residence tax benefits on a home in Atlanta throughout her time on the City Council while also submitting election documents showing she lives in Asheville, a requirement of the office, property and campaign records show.

Asheville Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley has received primary-residence tax benefits on a home in Atlanta throughout her time on the City Council while also submitting election documents showing she lives in Asheville, a requirement of the office, property and campaign records show. Mosley has received...

12/11/2025

Touted as the largest paved bike park of its kind in the Americas, Swannanoa’s Beacon Park will feature an 8.5-acre complex with climbing walls, a mile-long walking trail, a playground, and an event lawn with a capacity of 4,000.

Casey Watkins, founder and board chair of the nonprofit behind the project, sees it as the driver of a familiar economic strategy in western North Carolina – using outdoor recreation and tourism to fill the financial void left by vanished industry. But some members of the Swannanoa Small Area Plan steering committee, which is charting the future of a community that saw more than 800 homes destroyed or damaged by Tropical Storm Helene, have concerns.

Much of Swannanoa’s history and what may be a big part of its future can be seen from the top of a slope on the grounds of the former Beacon Manufacturing Co. textile mill on U.S. 70. Hollowed-out buildings just across the highway mark the devastation Tropical Storm Helene brought to the unincorpo...

12/10/2025

Citing wage concerns, diminished property taxes and the potential loss of the city’s last remaining industrial development site to retail, the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County has opposed locating a proposed Costco in the Enka Commerce Park.

Citing wage concerns, diminished property taxes and the potential loss of the city’s last remaining industrial development site to retail, the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County has opposed locating a proposed Costco in the Enka Commerce Park. “By every measure — wage...

12/10/2025

2025 has been a year of milestones for Asheville Watchdog. We couldn't provide the high-impact accountability journalism we did without our readers. Thanks to everyone who has contributed financially to The Watchdog, and if you care about the importance of local news and have been thinking about supporting The Watchdog, there’s no better time!

Impact Report for Asheville Watchdog nonprofit newsroom in Asheville, North Carolina and Western North Carolina and Appalachia

12/09/2025

Last June, the City of Asheville launched its Business Improvement District and its Community Ambassadors program in which trained civilian staff assist downtown visitors and businesses and help with cleaning and maintenance tasks. A reader asks John Boyle about the effectiveness of the program so far and whether it’s helped with law enforcement. (John explains that it’s not a police operation.) The Answer Man also explores why residents didn’t receive text alerts during recent wildfires off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: Asheville recently passed a Business Improvement District tax to improve the downtown environment. My understanding was that part of the tax would be used to increase the presence of law enforcement, as well as hiri...

12/08/2025

Back in March, columnist John Boyle wrote about Auggie the Dachshund, the 16-year-pup locked in a dispute, along with his owner Virginia Harding, with the city over his sidewalk chalk art, which features a caricature of him and a clever message that often criticizes our current president.

Now, the battle has gone to the next level, with the city fining Harding and Auggie $200 for allegedly violating its graffiti ordinance. But they’re fighting back, hiring a lawyer who’s a free speech expert to appeal the fine.

The word “ridiculosity” is one of my favorites, mainly because it sounds made up — but also because it describes Asheville oh so well. Merriam-Webster defines the word as “the quality or state of being ridiculous: ridiculousness.” But it could just say, “Asheville, North Carolina, baby!....

12/05/2025

It’s been a notable stretch for a trio of businesses central to Asheville:

Shares of HCA Healthcare, the Nashville-based hospital company that owns Mission Health, reached an all-time high of $515 in late November, before retreating slightly this week over signs of broader economic weakness.

The major expansion planned for Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community in south Asheville took a step forward this week, thanks to a $395 million tax-exempt bond issuance approved Tuesday by the North Carolina Local Government Commission.

Ingles Markets Inc. has filed its annual report with the SEC. For the year since Helene, profits fell to $83.6 million from $105.5 million in fiscal 2024 — a 20.8 percent decline. But since the start of the year, Ingles’s share price (IMKTA on NASDAQ) is up 22 percent.

Deerfield, Ingles Markets, and HCA, owner of Asheville’s Mission Hospital, all made business news this week. Here’s a look at what happened for each: HCA Healthcare Not everyone is unhappy with soaring healthcare costs. Shares of HCA Healthcare, the Nashville-based hospital chain that owns Missi...

12/05/2025

If you’re an aficionado of beer, pizza, climbing and outdoor gear — and the Answer Man certainly is of the first two — you’ll be pleased with the news out of Highland Brewing. John Boyle also explains whether elected officials are allowed to text during public meetings and whether Ingles Markets has ended its food distribution donations to MANNA FoodBank.

Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers: Question: What is going on at Highland Brewing? I saw they have construction going on and a sign up about pizza and climbing “coming soon.” What does that mean exactly? And how soon will it be ready? Another question abou...

12/04/2025

Mission Hospital has been designated as western North Carolina’s first Level I trauma center — a significant accolade for a hospital that, according to state and federal regulators, recently put patients’ lives at risk and still has ongoing deficiencies that could lead to it losing Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Mission Hospital has been designated as western North Carolina’s first Level I trauma center — a significant accolade for a hospital that, according to state and federal regulators, recently put patients’ lives at risk and still has ongoing deficiencies that could lead to it losing Medicare an...

12/03/2025

The admittedly partisan gerrymandering approved by the North Carolina General Assembly and the federal court is just one of the efforts under way to advantage Republicans in the midterm elections less than a year away. Less visible have been several moves that, taken together, are designed to discourage voting by those who may be unhappy with Republican policies and candidates or who feel vulnerable to intimidation, Pulitzer Prize-winning Watchdog columnist Tom Fiedler writes in his Democracy Watch column.

The press release distributed by the North Carolina Board of Elections last month seemed the stuff of everyday news from the agency empowered to oversee voting. It reported on an exchange of information with the Trump administration of the sort rarely making headlines and began: Raleigh, N.C. — Th...

12/02/2025

We're celebrating Giving Tuesday and the official kick-off to our year-end campaign with a special match opportunity to double the impact of your donation. The Giving Tuesday Board and Founders Challenge will match every dollar, up to $25,000 by midnight tonight. That means $25,000 raised today becomes $50,000 for the news, answers, and insights you count on from Asheville Watchdog. Don't wait. Give now! https://bit.ly/3MaSNxT

12/01/2025

Documents obtained by Asheville Watchdog detail an array of staff errors, communication breakdowns and technological problems at Mission Hospital that state and federal regulators said put patients’ lives and safety at risk and that still threaten the hospital’s ability to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding.

The documents — each the findings from a survey by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services investigators, one in September and the other last month — describe overlapping problems that led the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to issue a citation of immediate jeopardy, one of the most severe sanctions a hospital can face. While immediate jeopardy has been lifted, according to CMS, Mission remains out of compliance with federal rules.

Documents obtained by Asheville Watchdog detail an array of staff errors, communication breakdowns and technological problems at Mission Hospital that state and federal regulators said put patients’ lives and safety at risk and that still threaten the hospital’s ability to continue receiving Med...