The Camera Club of Hendersonville will meet from 6:30-9 p.m. today at the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce building, 204 Kanuga Road, Hendersonville. Well-known waterfall and Blue Ridge Mountain professional photographer Kevin Adams will critique member’s images for a learning and educational experience. Visitors are welcome. For more information, visit www.cameraclubofhendersonville.com.

The Town of Mills River Agricultural Advisory Committee will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday at Town Hall to consider 2014 agricultural leases.

Events

The Community Action Now group is looking for volunteers for its pickup and delivery of donated food items to the food pantry at Interfaith Assistance Ministries. There is an immediate need for a volunteer driver on Saturday mornings to pick up at Food Lion in Mills River between 9 a.m. and noon. All food deliveries take one to two hours.

Volunteers will need to have their own car. The group also benefits the Sammy Williams Senior Center, Boys and Girls Club, Hendersonville Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, Department of Social Services, Mainstay and the Council on Aging. If interested, call Jim Gedwellas at 828-696-1792.

Registration is now open for Scholastic Aptitude Test prep classes offered by the Asheville Graduate Center. Classes will meet from 6-8:30 p.m. Mondays and

Article source: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20140128/ARTICLES/140129886 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

It seems like a bizarre thing to remind people about, but as they say, common sense isn’t all that common, so thanks to the Forest Service for issuing this reminder today:

Visitors to the Pisgah National Forest are highly discouraged from walking on ice formed along area lakes and rivers. The warning comes following reports of people walking on ice formed on Lake Powhatan outside of Asheville.

Walking on ice is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

Visitors who walk on ice run the risk of falling through the ice and drowning or suffering hypothermia, the rapid lowering of the body’s temperature.

 That’s the Forest Service warning. Here’s mine:

Even the snow is falling today in Asheville, it was well above freezing yesterday, which means all that lake ice warmed up and is quite viscous beneath what appears to be a very fragile, thin icy surface. Do you really want to fall through? Remember the lake was closed for most of the summer because harmfully high bacteria levels.

More common sense in the forest would tell you to heed weather forecasts before heading out on backpacking or even day hikes, without proper clothing,

Article source: http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/outdoors/2014/01/28/forest-visitors-urged-to-stay-off-icy-lakes-and-streams/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

For immediate release

PISGAH FOREST, N.C. — The U.S. Forest Service is discouraging visitors to the Pisgah National Forest from walking on ice formed along area lakes and rivers. The warning comes following reports of people walking on ice formed on Lake Powhatan outside of Asheville, N.C.

Walking on ice is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

Visitors who walk on ice run the risk of falling through the ice and drowning or suffering hypothermia.

Forest Service officials urge visitors to take additional safety measures to protect themselves, family members and pets when visiting the national forests in winter.

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While the Blue Ridge Parkway Asheville corridor, and just about the entire parkway in North Carolina, was closed for snow, ice, icy conditions and wintry weather over the weekend, the so-called “Asheville commuter zone” is open this morning, Monday, Jan. 27.

It’s a rare and wonderful time when there’s a sunny weekend in Asheville, with no snow on the roadway, when the parkway gates are closed because of rough road conditions further beyond the gates, but the park service allows visitors to park off on the side of the road and walk, run, bike, skip or whatever behind the gates. That was the scene in Asheville this weekend.

But with such a warm spell yesterday, the gates from Milepost 393 at Brevard Road/NC 191 all the way to Milepost 382 at the Folk Art Center near US 70/Tunnel Road, is open for vehicle traffic.

The Folk Art Center and the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center at MP 384 are both open today, and you can park at their large parking areas to head off on a hike on the Mountaans-to-Sea Trail.

But, the road closures change with the weather in Western North Carolina, so keep

Article source: http://blogs2.citizen-times.com/outdoors/2014/01/27/parkway-open-through-asheville-this-morning/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Uptown Charlotte’s last major department store closed its doors 24 years ago, but a new report holds out hope for a thriving uptown shopping scene reminiscent of cities such as Charleston and Asheville.

The report, from Charlotte Center City Partners, says uptown has enough residents and office workers to support a thriving retail presence of specialty retailers and clothing stores, as well as “urban street retail,” electronics and grocers.

The report counts 100,000 employees and 9,400 households within the Interstate 277 loop.

Center City Partners President Michael Smith on Monday presented the results of the study to the City Council. (The group works to promote development in uptown and the South End).

The study says the city should aim to concentrate 335,000 square feet of retail shopping along Tryon, Trade, College and Stonewall streets.

It also suggests the Bank of America Plaza in the 100 block of South Tryon Street should be converted to accommodate more retail. It says new tenants should be found for underutilized ground-floor space in the Johnston Building, too, which is in the 200 block of South Tryon, next to Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

But the report cites obstacles to

Article source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/27/4644543/can-an-asheville-style-shopping.html If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Press Release

Asheville, N.C. (Jan. 27, 2014) – Today the winners of Asheville Startup Weekend launched Local Flavor AVL, a first-of-its-kind mobile app that showcases only locally-owned Asheville businesses, non-profits, shops, services, musicians and artists. Designed to provide an authentic Asheville experience for locals, transplants and visitors, the free app is available for download at iOS App Store, iTunes and Google Play Store.

“Local Flavor AVL is part of the greater movement to keep Asheville unique by providing an affordable way for our local, independently-owned businesses, restaurants, shops, services, galleries, non-profits and our prolific arts and music scene to reach people who value an authentic experience,” said Ted Pate, Director of Marketing at Local Flavor AVL. “With new boutiques, restaurants, galleries and more opening their doors daily, new information is added regularly to the app. Our vision for this app is to help grow and sustain a vibrant local economy.”

The Local Flavor AVL partners, Hartley Brown, Flori Pate, Trevor Parker and Ted Pate, came together out of their love of working and playing in Asheville and shared a common bond to support all things local.

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/55800/Asheville-Startup-Weekend-winners-launch-Local-Flavor-AVL-app If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

The 2014 Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition is now open for submissions. This contest awards the first-place winner $200 and publication in “storySouth.”

The 2014 Randall Jarrell Competition is open to any writer who is a legal resident of North Carolina or a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Submissions should be one poem only (40-line limit). An entry fee must accompany the poem.

Multiple submissions are accepted, one poem per entry fee: $10 for NCWN members, $15 for nonmembers. The contest deadline is March 1.

For additional information, visit www.ncwriters.org.

BRCC to host open auditions

Blue Ridge Community College’s drama department will host open auditions for the spring production of “Dearly Departed,” a Southern comedy.

The auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday in the Patton Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W. Campus Drive, Flat Rock.

This dark comedy is about an eccentric Southern family along with their numerous trials and tribulations when burying one “Mean ‘n’ Surly” patriarch, Bud. Director Jennifer Treadway, head of the college drama department, is looking for a variety of ages (no children, please) for this spring production. The auditions will be cold readings from the script.

For more information, call 694-1849 or e-mail js_treadway@blueridge.edu. Information is

Article source: http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20140126/ARTICLES/401261002 If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com