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<p>Photo courtesy of OGH | Jefferson Post</p><p>This year, the Out Grow Hunger program is asking Ashe County gardeners to plant and extra row to fight food insecurity locally through a &#8220;community of gardens.&#8221; Last year, OGH collected and distributed over 22 tons of fresh garden produce to the county&#8217;s needy.</p>
Ashe gardeners feed needy through Out Grow Hunger
Ashe Outreach Ministries is kicking off their Out Grow Hunger program this spring with a goal to surpass last year’s total of 45,000 pounds of garden produce and other food items donated to fight food insecurity in Ashe County. “I’d like it if we hit 60,000 this year,” said AOM Director Rob Brooks. The OGH program is an initiative which “strives to unite commercial producers, home gardeners, churches, community organizations, and local go...
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Woman, 27, dies after jumping from moving car
A woman who fell from a moving vehicle on Mill Creek Road in the Todd/Fleetwood area last night between 7:00 and 7:15 p.m. died of her injuries, according to Ashe County Sheriff James Williams. Becky Howell, 27, had apparently jumped from the vehicle, Williams said. State Highway Patrol had conducted an initial investigation, and determined that it was not an accident, he said. The investigation has been passed to the Ashe County Sherif...
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<p>File photo | Jefferson Post</p><p>Girls collected money in Ingles&#8217; parking lot during last year&#8217;s Project Graduation fundraiser.</p>
Project Graduation fundraiser is this weekend
A fundraiser will be held this weekend from Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21 in Ingles’ parking lot to raise money for the 21st annual Project Graduation. According to Vicki Herman, the goal of this three-day fundraiser is to collect $25,000 for project graduation. “For everyone who donates $50, they will have a chance to win four different prizes,” which will be awarded after a drawing on May 17, said Herman. The four gifts av...
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<p>File photo | Jefferson Post</p><p>Ashe County Sheriff James Williams during a meeting about school security in December 2012.</p>
Ashe sheriff opposes expanding police powers at AMH
Ashe County Sheriff James Williams and the N.C. Sheriffs’ Association oppose a new bill proposed by N.C. Rep. Jonathan Jordan that would expand the law enforcement authority of hospital police officers employed by Ashe Memorial Hospital. The bill, titled HB 533, would allow hospital police like James Hendrix, police chief of Ashe Memorial Hospital, to enter into mutual aid agreements with the Ashe County Sheriffs’ Office and the Jefferson a...
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<p>James Howell | Jefferson Post</p><p>Linda Thompson presented information about elder abuse and awareness during Monday&#8217;s BOC meeting.</p>
Elder abuse discussed during BOC meeting
The Ashe County Board of Commissioners approved a proclamation to acknowledge May 12 to June 16 as Vulnerable Adults and Elder Abuse Awareness Month during their Monday meeting. “This year, we talked about a period of time to recognize abused adults,” said Linda Thompson, a member of the Elder Abuse Prevention Team. Thompson presented several statistics for elder abuse to the commissioners to show how dire the elder abuse situation is and...
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<p>Photo by Jenny Wunderlich | Jefferson Post</p><p>Michael Goss performed &#8220;Distance,&#8221; a &#8220;song about Ashe County,&#8221; for the April meeting of Wordkeepers at the Ashe Arts Center Saturday.</p>
Local writers share their work at Wordkeepers
An audience of 38 gathered at the Ashe Arts Center Saturday for the April installment of Wordkeepers, the bi-monthly open-mic forum where local writers meet to share their original work, and a few laughs. The event featured live music by singer-songwriter Henry Doss, wine and hors d’oeuvres courtesy of the Ashe Arts Council, and literary offerings from over a dozen Ashe County scribblers. Some highlights of the readings were: Sandy Lassen...
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<p>The Mosaic Stage Company presents Louis Nowra&#8217;s &#8220;Cos&#236;&#8221; directed by Kim-No&#235;l Bianchini this weekend at the Ashe County Civic Center.</p>
Mosaic Stage Company presents ‘Così’ at Civic Center
Mosaic Stage Company presents Louis Nowra’s “Così” directed by Kim-Noël Bianchini. The comedy is a beautiful example of how art can transform the lives and souls of human beings. Set in a mental institution, the play is about a young university recent graduate, George, who is hired to put on a play. But when one of the patients convinces him to put on, instead, Mozart’s opera “Così Fan Tutte”, their wild journey begins. Show dates are 7:3...
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<p>Submitted photo | Jefferson Post</p><p>Spring Fest features roving performers including JEF the mime. For more information please call 336-846-2787.</p>
It’s Spring Fest time again
It is Spring Fest time again and this Arts Council tradition has entertained, inspired and enriched many children in Ashe County for 29 years. Spring Fest will be held from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday April 20, at the Early Learning Center (old West Jefferson School Gym). This event is free for young and old. Spring Fest will feature over two dozen hands-on art activities for children of all ages. The theme for Spring Fest is “Growing Up with ...
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<p>Dylan Lightfoot | Jefferson Post</p><p>Extension Forestry Specialist Jill Sidebottom opened her Omni Farm beehive April 5 to find a robust colony. The hive was set up in an area surrounded by Fraser firs to monitor the effects of pesticides on bees.</p>
Bees thrive on Ashe tree farm
A beehive placed on an Ashe County Christmas tree farm last June to monitor the effects of pesticides on honey bees was healthy and active when opened April 5, offering a living rebuttal to critics who link tree farms to a recent rash of “hive kills” in the region. “Christmas trees get villainized a lot,” said N.C. State Cooperative Extension Agent Travis Birdsell. “I think it’s an image problem, when you drive by and see somebody in a (haz...
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On The Same Page Festival announces opening of 2013 writer’s competition
Ashe County’s On the Same Page Literary Festival, now in its sixth year, is opening the Festival’s annual writing competition. In association with the 2013 Festival, which will take place September 17-21 in Ashe County, N.C., the Page Crafter’s Prize recognizes writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with cash awards. Winning writers will have the opportunity to read their work during the On the Same Page Literary Festival. The Page Cr...
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<p>Photo submitted | Jefferson Post</p><p>Ashe County Democratic Party members (from left to right): West Jefferson Mayor Dale Baldwin; 2nd Vice Chair Polly Jones, Chair Melba Jones; Theresa Stevens Register of Deeds Deatte Roten; Henry Doss; Mary Blackburn; Election Board Chair Chris Arvidson; Jennie Bush; Johanna Gorham; Roy Carter; Brenda McMillan; Mary Caryl Elmore; Secretary John Sears; State Executive Committee Member Becky Mann; Diane Goss; JoAnn Alexander; Fowler Bush; Lillian Richardson; Alan Alexander; Ralph Jones; Dan McMillan; Nancy Henry; Donna Richardson; Treasurer Roy Elmore.</p>
Ashe Democrats organize for 2014
The Ashe County Democratic Party held their annual convention Saturday at the Ashe County Courthouse without speeches or fanfare. Party Chair Melba Jones said that no speakers were scheduled since the convention came on the heels of an April 6 Democratic Party dinner honoring the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, where Seth Chapman’s speech on FDR’s political legacy received a standing ovation. Instead, a letter to Ashe delegates from ...
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Rep. Jonathan Jordan
New bill would expand powers of AMH security officers
A new bill sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Jordan would expand the authority of security officers at Ashe Memorial Hospital and allow the creation of mutual aid agreements between hospital police and other law enforcement departments. “The bottom line is statutes that apply to company police (like hospital police) makes them a step below other officers,” said Jordan. House Bill 533, proposed on April 4, 2013, will “expand the arrest and law en...
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Most of West Jefferson's new businesses are located on Jefferson Avenue, in the heart of West Jefferson.
New businesses opening downtown W.J.
As spring breaths news life into the High Country, new life has also been breathed into West Jefferson with the arrival of several new businesses as the 2013 tourist season kicks off. “I think there’s a vibe about town that’s really exciting,” said Terri Filipski, the co-owner of Carolina Country Wines, a new business in West Jefferson that sells wine, cheese and olive oil. In all, nine new businesses have opened, or are planning to open,...
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Ina Greer (left), Charles Caudill (middle-left), Linda Gouger (middle-right), and Warren Miller (right) presented certificates given to them by Ashe Services for the Aging.
Free tax counseling saves thousands
Free tax aid offered at Ashe Services for the Aging assisted over 280 Ashe County residents, both young and old, this tax season, saving tax payers an estimated $35,250. “We assisted tax-payers as young as 17-years-old and and old as 92,” said Charles Caudill, who supervised the volunteer tax councilors at the senior center. Caudill estimated nearly 280 tax-payers have been assisted by the senior center’s tax preparers, as of Thursday. Ca...
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ACS sends commisioners 2013-14 budget request
Ashe County Schools has prepared their county budget request for fiscal year 2013-14 Assistant Superintendent Phyllis Yates announced at the Board of Education’s April meeting Monday. The school system will request a total of $4,771,104 from the county this year, according to their annual budget estimate. The request was unanimously approved by the board. The request had not been drafted earlier, Yates said, because “the legislature has...
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Ashe County Farmers’ Market opens
Cliff Clark | Jefferson Post Fish offered at the Ashe County Farmers’ Market. Doug Munroe, owner of Waterfall Farm in Warrensville, offered customers fresh-caught trout Saturday morning. He pulled them from his stocked pond earlier that morning. Curly Perzel (left) spent some time discussing the big turnout at the opening of the market with Ann Rose, the owner of Rose Mountain Farm and Butcher Shoppe. Rose said the opening day was busy and e...
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<p>Dylan Lightfoot | Jefferson Post</p><p>The corner at South Jefferson Avenue and East Ashe Street was one of several made-over in West Jefferson&#8217;s streetscaping project last year. Two more South Jefferson intersections at First Street and State Street will be redesigned after the same pattern beginning in two to three weeks, with work scheduled for completion by June 1.</p>
W.J. begins phase two of streetscaping
The Town of West Jefferson is gearing up for phase two of its downtown streetscaping project, said Town Manager Brantley Price Thursday. In two to three weeks, contractor Vannoy Construction will begin work on two more intersections at South Jefferson Avenue and First Street, and South Jefferson Avenue and State Street, said Price. Redesign of the intersections will be patterned after the streetscaping done at the other major downtown int...
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Jefferson Post
Ashe’s February jobless rate down 0.8 percent
Ashe County’s jobless rate fell 0.8 percent in February to 13.0 percent, according to the latest county figures from the N.C. Division of Employment Security. “A lot of seasonal employment has started,” said Ashe County Employment Security Office Manager George Eller. This worked to offset layoffs at United Chemicon, he said. Ashe’s February rate was down 1.2 percent over-the-year (OTY). The county’s double-digit unemployment trend has no...
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Heavy rains soak Warrensville area
Submitted photo | Jefferson Post A DOT crew cleared a large mud-and-rock-slide from Stanley Road in Warrensville today after heavy rains drenched the area early this morning. Flash flooding washed out private driveways and covered streets with debris in low-lying areas.
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