North Carolina

Across Asheville, anxious residents brace for impending arrival of Hurricane Helene

Published

1 year ago

September 27, 2024

Across Asheville, anxious residents brace for impending arrival of Hurricane Helene

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — It’s the calm before the storm but people in Biltmore Village are bracing for the worst.

“Well, you know, I’m kind of in a place of like shock and awe and also how do you protect,” said David Ross, a Biltmore Village resident. “So, like I’m in that place of like trying to do the best you can.”

When Ross saw the forecast — with the river expected to crest — he quickly got to work boarding up an Indian restaurant housed in his building and protecting what they could from inside by putting it in trucks.

Across western North Carolina, people anxiously prepared for the expected arrival of Helene, which Thursday night was menacing the Florida coast as a major Category 4 hurricane.

“I don’t think people are aware of the magnitude of what’s going to they say is going to happen,” one person said.

Across Asheville, stores and shops were getting ready for the storm.

Susan May-West said she remembers how bad things got 20 years ago from a similar storm and wasn’t taking any chances.

Asheville boards up, sets out sandbags ahead of Hurricane Helene as the NC mountains are expected to get serious flooding.

“We’ve got sandbags, tarps, silicone, you name it. We’re doing everything we can because I was here in 2004, and I know what it looks like and it’s going to be worse than that,” said May-West, who owns Blue Goldsmiths in Asheville. “So, we’re pretty prepared.”

Stores weren’t the only thing closing. Even the Blue Ridge Parkway was shut down.

Meanwhile, it’s been a tough couple of days for Mac Parra. He had a tough time getting to Asheville from California in time for his sister’s wedding this weekend.

“We circled Atlanta for an hour, hour and a half, and then got diverted to Birmingham, sat at the gate for a good two hours,” Parra said.

After another two-hour delay and a shortage of Ubers in Asheville, he made it. Now he’s trying to make the most of the weekend.

“That’s what I’m trying to do. Yeah, Hopefully,” Parra said. “Hopefully it won’t be raining on Saturday.

Helene is forecasted to cause significant problems including flash flooding and landslides in portions of western North Carolina.

Buncombe County’s emergency management leaders have been telling people who live down close to the river in the Biltmore Village area to self-evacuate.

Once things ramp up Friday, they said it could get to the point where water rescues may not be possible.

The North Carolina State Emergency Operations Center deployed 16 swift water rescue teams and added three additional swift water rescue teams from New York, Indiana and Illinois.

ABC11 was in Cary early Thursday as local emergency teams geared up to head to western North Carolina.

The Cary Swift Water team out of Station No. 7 loaded up several cars and trailers with boats attached.

After Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency, the Cary Swift Water team out of station 7 loaded up serval cars and trailers with boats attached.

WATCH | Duke Energy on preparation for power outages from Helene

Duke Energy’s Jeff Brooks talks about possible power outages and their response to Hurricane Helene in an ABC11 interview.

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North Carolina

Gov. Stein proposes $1.4B ‘critical needs’ budget for North Carolina

Published

3 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Gov. Stein proposes .4B ‘critical needs’ budget for North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (WLOS) — With North Carolina still without a new state budget, Gov. Josh Stein is urging state lawmakers to approve a $1.4 billion “Critical Needs Budget.” Stein says this budget will address the state’s most urgent priorities while the General Assembly works on a full spending plan.

“North Carolina has gone nearly two and a half years without passing a new state budget – the only state in the country to finish 2025 without one[…]This budget invests in critical public safety, education and health care services for the people of North Carolina that cannot wait,” Gov. Stein said in a press release Monday.

A major part of Stein’s proposal is $319 million to fully fund Medicaid, which provides health coverage to over three million North Carolinians. This program also supports rural hospitals, nursing homes and statewide health care providers, per the release.

JUDGE ORDERS FEMA TO REINSTATE $200M STORM RELIEF PROGRAM, ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS

The “Critical Needs Budget” would target public safety staffing and pay. According to the governor’s office, North Carolina currently ranks 49th in starting salaries for state troopers and correctional officers, and low pay has contributed to staffing shortages and vacancy rates. This budget would bring pay raises to correctional officers, law enforcement officers, probation and parole officers and more.

Stein’s proposed budget calls for raising starting and average teacher pay, as well as increasing pay for senior teachers and other education staff. The governor’s office said the state remains in the bottom 10 nationally in average teacher pay.

The budget proposal also includes pay increases for state employees and a cost-of-living adjustment for retired state employees, citing rising inflation costs and increasing health care premiums. Stein’s plan also includes targeted funding to maintain essential services, such as support for child care access and affordability.

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North Carolina

The North Carolina Arboretum’s “Spring Into the Arb” returns for year two

Published

15 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

The North Carolina Arboretum’s “Spring Into the Arb” returns for year two

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The North Carolina Arboretum has announced a new season of “Spring Into the Arb!”

The “Spring Into the Arb!” is in its second year, with its series of plant shows and sales, science and nature activities, music, and art, allowing people to reemerge and reconnect with nature.

The season begins with Nature Play Day on Saturday, March 14, continuing through April, May, and June with new activities every weekend.

TROLLS DRAW LARGE WEEKEND CROWD, FORCING N.C. ARBORETUM TO TEMPORARILY CLOSE

According to a news release, throughout the season, guests can enjoy the following:

Asheville Orchid Festival, annual Ikebana and Rose shows
Purchase plants at the Spring Plant Sale and Market
Get back to their native roots with Native Azalea Day, Mountain Science Expo, and Nature Play Day

The series culminates with Bonsai in the Blue Ridge in June, according to the release.

The release says guests and members are invited to drop in on the newly-opened Arbor Eatery in the Arboretum’s Education Center, which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Hours extend to 5 p.m. beginning April 1.

Spring Into the Arb events and programs are included with the regular Arboretum parking fee of $25 per vehicle. Arboretum Society Members get in free.

NC ARBORETUM MARKS BIRD DAY WITH WALKS, DEMOS AHEAD OF GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

According to the release, additional admission is required for the Asheville Orchid Festival and Bonsai in the Blue Ridge.

A full list of the Spring Into the Arb 2026 events includes:

Nature Play Day: March 14
Asheville Orchid Festival: March 28 to 29
Music in the Mountains Day: April 4
Arbor Day Celebration: April 11
Native Azalea Day: April 18
Mountain Science Expo: April 25
World Bonsai Day: May 9
Change of Seasons: Spring into Ikebana: May 16 to 17
The Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society Exhibition: May 22 to 24
The Arb in Focus: 40 Views for 40 Years: Opening May 23
Spring Plant Sale and Market: May 29 to 30
Bonsai in the Blue Ridge: June 4 to 7

For more information, visit here.

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North Carolina

Michael Jordan North Carolina “Sports Illustrated” cover sells for record $229k

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Michael Jordan North Carolina “Sports Illustrated” cover sells for record 9k

A copy of Michael Jordan’s 1983 “Sports Illustrated” cover debut sold for $229,360 on Saturday night at Goldin, obliterating the previous record for a graded magazine.

Before Saturday, the previous record was the $126,000 paid for Jordan’s 1984 SI debut in a Bulls uniform entitled “A Star Is Born.”

“Sports Illustrated” magazines are very common and people kept them, but collectors narrowed the category by making rarer newsstand copies most collectible, and graded condition of those copies to narrow the most desirable down further.

Then, in July, came PSA to challenge CGC in the grading space.

The record UNC Jordan, with teammate Sam Perkins on the cover, was the only PSA 9.6. The question is, with PSA’s grading just beginning, are there others our there?

It’s possible, but that Jordan issue presents a challenge because it has a gatefold that makes it more challenging to press out defects.

The big price will likely create a group of opportunists who will now take raw subscription copies of this issue and get them graded for potential arbitrage.

But it won’t be that easy. A CGC 8.0 newsstand edition sold for $4,636 in October.

Whether the big price also creates more grading and selling of rare magazines remains to be seen, but PSA’s entrance into the space has definitely turned heads.

PSA has graded more than 50 of this particular issue, the second most commonly graded after the “Star is Born” issue.

Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country’s leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.

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