Cops for Kids success

The Cops for Kids Toy Drive organized by the Weaverville Police Department raised a record-high this year, more than $16,000. The department helped out roughly 130 area families.

CodeRed alerts were sent in Weaverville

Two CodeRed alerts were sent out in Weaverville this weekend.

The first came Saturday when the water plant lost power. Public Works Director Larry Sprinkle said the plant has water reserves that can supply customers with water for several days with no power, but the town issued an alert asking residents to conserve water.

The second came Monday when the town alerted residents there would be no trash pickup this week because of the snow and the holidays.

Weaverville Town Manager Mike Morgan said Saturday's CodeRed alert had a 48 percent connection rate, while Monday's alert had an 80 percent connection rate.

He had hoped for a higher percentage Monday because many in the area had the power restored by then.

For more on how to sign up and recieve CodeRed alerts from the town, go to http://www.weavervillenc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3&Itemid=18

Local seller of "Sixty Slices.."

Weaverville resident Fred Flaxman, who recently released on tounge-in-cheek memoir called "Sixty Slices of Life... on Wry," announced that Accent Books, located at 854 Merrimon Avenue near The Fresh Market, is carrying his book.

Tribune holiday print schedule

Christmas will again augment our printing schedule in the coming weeks.

The next issue will print Dec. 23 and begin hitting stands. Some stands may not see new issues until the morning of Dec. 24. Deadlines for submissions for this week's issue is at 5 pm on Monday, Dec. 21.

Our annual year-in-review issue will be on stands by Dec. 31, but again, some stands may see the year-in-review issue a day earlier.

Our print schedule will resume to normal with the Jan. 7 issue.

Weather reports from North Buncombe

Moderate snow this morning has changed into a more freezing rain/rain event. But more icy weather is expected for today. Have any weather reports or cancellations in the area? Post them in the comment section here.

Nutcracker tickets to help WNCAP

Special tickets to the Moscow Ballet's The Great Russian Nutcracker will help the Western North Carolina AIDS Project. Fundraiser tickets are 300 of the 'best seats in the house' that Moscow Ballet has set aside for the benefit of WNCAP. These tickets can only be purchased via the WNCAP Web site through Saturday night. Six dancers from Weaverville Dance Academy will perform in the show Tuesday, Dec. 22, at Thomas Wolfe Audiotorium.

Barnardsville food drive

From the Barnardsville Elementary School Web site....

Barnardsville Elementary and Barbara Ruehl's third-grade class are sponsoring a White Christmas Food Drive here at the school. The school will be collecting non-perishable food for needy families from now until Dec. 18. The food will go back to families in Barnardsville. Send in any non-perishable food items to Mrs. Ruehl's classroom.

This week at NBHS

Tuesday

4 pm - Girls' junior varsity basketball vs. Enka High School
5 pm - Boys' junior varsity basketball vs. Enka High School
6:30 pm - Girls' varsity basketball vs. Enka High School
7 pm - Varsity wrestling @ Enka High School
8 pm - Boys' varsity basketball vs. Enka High School

Friday
4 pm - Girls' junior varsity basketball @ McDowell High School
5 pm - Boys' junior varsity basketball @ McDowell High School
5 pm - Varsity wrestling - Walhalla Classic @ Walhalla, SC
6:30 pm - Girls' varsity basketball @ McDowell High School
8 pm - Boys' varsity basketball @ McDowell High School

Saturday
5 pm - Coed varsity swimming vs. West Henderson High School

Door decorating contest at Mars Hill Retirement Community

Mars Hill Retirement Community is “calling all kids” to enter the door-decorating contest being held at the senior living community from noon to 5 pm on Saturday (Dec. 12). Elementary school-aged children are invited to find an adult and form a team to create an attractive holiday-themed door, which will be judged between 2 pm and 2:30 pm. Winners will receive Toys-R-Us gift cards and lunch will be provided at no charge.


“We thought the local community would enjoy sharing the holiday season with some of our senior residents while competing for some great prizes,” said Teresa Hammack, marketing director for the Mars Hill Retirement Community. “There’s even been a report that Santa Claus himself will make a visit. I am happy to confirm that report.”

Besides fun with Santa, great food and exciting prizes, the children and their adult team leaders will also enjoy visits from the Sugar Plum Fairies, elves, and a princess.

As an added bonus for taking part, kids and their parents will receive a free photo of themselves taken with Santa as a gift from Mars Hill Retirement Community. There will also be plenty of hot cocoa and cookies on hand throughout the afternoon.

Local business news

Some of the area's local business news..

* Main Street Flooring is close to opening its new space at the Village at Monticello in Weaverville.

* U.S. Cellular has a new location at Northridge Commons next to Weaverville ABC.

* Dry Ridge Family Medicine will be opening at the first of January on Main Street in Weaverville.

* New salon Shear Delite has opened on Weaverville Road in Woodfin.

* Asheville Rental has moved into Sam's Radiator old location on Riverside Drive in Woodfin.

Know of any other North Buncombe businesses moving or opening up in the coming weeks?

Arts for Life tree

WNC Magazine sponsors a tree in the Holiday Tree Decorating Contest at the Asheville Regional Airport for charity. For the third year in a row, we have sponsored a tree for Arts For Life, a Weaverville-based non-profit dedicated to providing art classes to children with very serious, often terminal illnesses. We have always used ornaments that the kids make specifically for the tree. It all comes down to online voting, so please vote, vote often, and help spread the word. To vote, go to http://www.flyavl.com/announcements/2009-11-23-annc-holiday-contest.html. Voting ends Dec. 11 and winners are announced Dec. 16.

This week at NBHS

Tuesday

4 pm - Girls' junior varsity basketball - Polk County
5 pm - Boys' junior varsity basketball - Polk County
6:30 pm - Girls' varsity basketball - Polk County
8 pm - Boys' varsity basketball - Polk County

Thursday
4 pm - Girls' junior varsity basketball - Unicoi County, TN
6:30 pm - Girls' varsity basketball - Unicoi County, TN

Friday
TBA- Varsity wrestling - Indian Classic @ Dobyns-Bennett, TN

Saturday
TBA- Varsity wrestling - Indian Classic @ Dobyns-Bennett, TN
9 am - Coed varsity swimming - Hendersonville & Owen

Solution to woolly adelgid mystery?

Ever seen a batch of hemlock trees and thought there was light snow on its needles? Unfortunately, it was likely sacs of the woolly adelgid, an insect that will infest and eventually kill hemlock trees. The Woodfin Watershed at the end of Blackberry Inn Road is one of many areas that have had problems with the woolly adelgid picking away at its hemlocks. The Smoky Mountain National Park has seen some promising results results in their efforts to curtail the problem. Here is an article from the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

SAHC receives several grants

A release from the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy...

The SAHC has been awarded grants from the Janirve Foundation and the Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina to support its efforts to preserve local working farms and protect water quality.

The Janirve Foundation awarded SAHC an $18,000 grant to support its Farmland Preservation Initiative. Through this initiative, SAHC has already protected over 3,000 acres of working farms in Buncombe, Madison, and Haywood counties. The Janirve grant will enable SAHC to reach out to additional farmers in agricultural communities such as Sandy Mush, Fairview, and Spring Creek, and complete conservation easements on farms in those communities.

A conservation easement is a voluntary agreement a landowner can enter with an organization such as SAHC, in which the landowner agrees not to convert the property to a real estate development, but continues to own and use the land as they have been doing. Landowners who enter conservation easement agreements can potentially qualify for federal and state income tax benefits. This makes conservation easements a powerful tool for preserving farms in the mountains.

The Janirve Foundation is a private grant-making foundation established by the late Irving J. Reuter, an executive in the automobile industry. Janirve has a strong commitment to land and water conservation and has supported SAHC in the past in its efforts to preserve clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, farms and scenic landscapes in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Pigeon River Fund has awarded SAHC a $25,000 grant to support the organization working with farmers in the Spring Creek community in Madison County. The objective of this focused effort is to secure conservation easements that protect and improve water quality in Spring Creek and its tributaries.

The Pigeon River Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina was created by the State of North Carolina and Progress Energy to improve water quality in the streams and rivers of Haywood, Buncombe and Madison counties. The fund provides grants to nonprofit and public agencies that improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife habitat, expand public access and increase awareness about protecting these resources.