Brevard City Council members balked at a proposed 5-cent property tax increase and spent much of its first budget workshop on Friday finding ways to eliminate the hike.

Brevard City Manager Joe Albright presented a budget for 2008-09 totaling $12,096,925 to the Council.
It represented a 7 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. The proposed budget also includes a 6 percent increase in water and sewer rates, a 5 percent cost of living increase for city employees, and reflected significant increases in the costs for fuel and health insurance. [MORE]

A large and enthusiastic crowd greeted U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton on Friday in downtown Hendersonville. (Photo by Mark Todd) Mark Todd, Staff Writer 06.MAY.08 U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton brought her campaign for president to Hendersonville Friday, drawing a large and enthusiastic crowd to Main Street next to the historic county courthouse. She demonstrated the energy and passion from the podium that has given her rock star status with her supporters. Transylvania County residents made the short trip to see her just days before North Carolina’s Tuesday primary in which she’s running a tight race with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic Party nomination for president. [MORE]

By Lenora Moody
Staff Writer
Edward Walter Smith, 64, of Brevard was charged and arrested on Friday with 10 counts of felony statutory rape of two young girls.
The incidents allegedly began around 1999, according to Chief Det. Brian Kriegsman of the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

He said the two girls involved were from the Transylvania County area and would have been under the age of 15 at the time of the alleged incidents.

“The girls alleged having sex with Mr. Smith, and the acts continued for a few years,” said Kriegsman. [MORE]

The negotiations between the Brevard Racquet Club (BRC) and the Henderson County YMCA are dead in the water, according to principal parties in the deal.

Just prior to the YMCA’s April 22 board meeting, BRC owner Mike Vandegrift pulled his original offer from the table and replaced it with an offer to provide an owner-financing arrangement between himself and the YMCA.

Negotiations halted at that point, as the board voted unanimously to reject Vandegrift’s offer, according to YMCA Executive Director Greg Walker. [MORE]

By the year 2025, Transylvania County will need roughly 80,000 square feet of space for judicial operations, according to members of the committee looking at the future use of the courthouse.

During its latest meeting, committee members said it might have helped the county in the long run if commissioners had purchased two additional parcels owned by Brevard Community Church just to the east of the public safety complex property.

Those parcels would have left more space for additional development of the site, members said. [MORE]