Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 11

ASHEV1LLE CITIZEN-TIMES MOUNTAINS Busness on the move-Check out the daily Business page on the back of this section. FINAL WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6. 2003 Metro Editor Brian Ponder, 232-5883 or Mttimt inn vnut iaffile House hurt by renovations Officials: Changes made to house WLOS-TV marred 'historic integrity' of the building "A number of the original indows have been replaced with fixed-glass panes, and some original doors have been replaced. Except for the entrance hall, little of the original interior survives." MICHAEL T. SOUTHERN, state architectural survey coordinator some original doors have been replaced.

Except for the entrance hall, little of the original interior survives," state Architectural Survey Coordinator Michael T. Southern wrote to the city in November. Gerald Green, the inn's planning consultant, said he recently talked to state officials who said their opinion hasn't changed. The only way to qualify for thousands of dollars in his- nation isn't worth the expense. Officials at the N.C.

Department of Cultural Resources have said the historic integrity of the i92os-era Battle House was hurt by renovations to make it into the former television studio space for WLOS-TV. The television station moved to new offices in 2000. "A number of the original windows have been replaced with fixed-glass panes, and By Melissa Williams STAFF WRITER ASHEVILLE As City Planner Stacy Merten told City Council the Grove Park Inn still supports plans to designate the old Battle House on Macon Avenue as a historic landmark, inn President Craig Madison sat shaking his head. "No, we don't," he said. Madison said based on a recommendation from state preservationists, the desig City staff and the Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County think the house should be a local landmark.

Commission member Bill Wescott said the state acts Please see HOUSE on B3 toric renovation tax credits is to remove everything WLOS added to the building. Green said. "It's just not feasible," Madison said, though he couldn't give estimates on the cost to return the house to its original character. The next of it Thunderstorms are predicted every evening this week. Highs will run in the low 80s, lows in the 60s.

The worst of it Monday night, menacing clouds approached and delivered a lights-out, tree-shattering storm that flooded streets, spawned wrecks and still had Western North Carolina shaking its head Tuesday. Jf y' u'''''u "''awj''" News and briefs from around the region Drew pleads guilty A former contractor for the Mountain State Fair admitted on Tuesday to making illegal campaign contributions to former Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps. James "Jimmy" Drew III, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor obstruction of justice. Drew was indicted last month of lying to investigators probing Phipps' campaign and of lying under oath during a lawsuit over a fair contract. Despite the guilty plea, Drew Amusements run by Drew's son James Drew IV, will continue to provide the midway contract for food, games and entertainment for the Mountain State Fair in Fletcher.

More brain for your buck A college guidebook published in late July named UNC Asheville a "Best Buy" among American and Canadian colleges. In the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2004 edition, UNCA is among 44 colleges and universities 22 public and 22 private that qualify as offering "remarkable educational opportunities at a relatively modest cost." This is the 10th consecutive year UNCA has made the Best-Buy list. UNCA was chosen along with UNC Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, College of William and Mary, University of Illinois-UrbanaChampaign and Rice University, to name a few. The directory lauded UNCA's programs for humanities, undergraduate research and athletics. UNCA also earned praise for its professors and outdoor activity opportunities.

Courts in the red North Carolina's court system is in such deep debt $2.7 million that it didn't reimburse employees for travel in May and June. John Kennedy, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said Monday the state budget office is responsible for the courts' money troubles because the office didn't give the court system enough to pay its bills. As the state began its financial slide in 2001, the budget office, which is run by Gov. Mike Easley, started giving state agencies less money than their budgets allocated. To pay its other bills, the court system didn't pay travel reimbursements to employees in May or June.

The system began making those reimbursements Tuesday. The debt includes a $1.7 million bill for data transmission lines to a state agency, Information Technology Services. Clay comes home A concert by Clay Aiken soulful voice, spiky hair, slim hips and all and other contestants from the Fox TV show "American Idol" had friends, family and County trashes solid waste proposal Garbage company questions legality of dumping By Jennifer Brevorka staff writer ASHEVILLE Pledging to revisit the issue soon, Buncombe County commissioners Tuesday rejected a proposal to require garbage haulers to dump solid waste at the county landfill. Tuesday's move came after Waste Management, one of four garbage haulers in the coun- ilr1 7 cs 3 Steve DixonsTAFF photographer Rood central: Bittmore Village Bridgett Putt, owner of Biltmore Coffee and Deli in Biltmore Village, watched the storm roll in quickly but was still caught off guard by the speed in which water rose. "We were sitting there, and we watched this ominous cloud coming in," Putt said.

"Then we watched the electricity go out on the bridge. Then the McDonald's. Then the rain was coming right for us." The rain reached people who were sitting at least 1 0 feet Inside the door. Putt said she was lucky the water never reached and ruined about $3,000 worth of coffee beans. The water briefly flooded several Biltmore Village businesses and stalled traffic on Biltmore Avenue.

"At the end of the day, if we're challenged on it, we better be able to defend it." ty, raised 1 questions about the legality of dictating where trash is dumped. Waste I NATHAN dumps its RAMSEY, garDage in its landfill Buncombe County commission chairman in South Carolina, the three Taken by storm, region recovers fa legions of fans in his hometown buzzing Tuesday in anticipation of the sold-out show today. T.1 1 1J 1. i i snow suiu uui jf)- -V about 12,000 seats at the RBC Cen Wreck report 37: Number of wrecks in Western North Carolina between 6 p.m. and midnight Monday 81: Number of calls for help the Highway Patrol received during that same time 27: Number of wrecks in WNC before about 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday 105: Number of calls for help Tuesday ter in Raleigh. show The about 1 comes halfway 1 through the '1 re, 39-cny American Idols Live!" tour featuring nine contestants from the hit VI The final tally Meteorologist Tom Ross said downtown Asheville picked up 1 .55 inches of rain Monday. "Incredibly, a torrential' downpour of 1.45 inches fell in a 25- minute period from 6:50 to 7:15 p.m.," he The Asheville Airport -saw 0.94 inches of rain, yet nearby Mills River reported 3.9 inches of rain In just less than two hours, according to John Tomko of the Greer-based National Weath-' er Service. Winds, said Tomko, reached 25 mph at the airport. Power to the people Progress Energy reported 29,900 customers lost electricity at some point Monday night.

At the peak, which spokeswoman Nancy Thompson called 8 p.m., 12,145 were affected. About 400 were still without electricity at noon Tuesday, said Thompson, and 84 by 3 p.m. Progress Energy has 138,000 customers in the western region, the majority in Buncombe. Thompson said service In Spruce Pine and Hot Springs was unaffected. Duke Power reported scattered outages in Hendersonville and surrounding areas.

MIL other haulers in Buncombe County use the county landfill. Attorneys for Waste Management wrote in a May 19 letter to commissioners that they believed the proposed amendment violated the U.S. Constitution and would seek "relief from the courts" if commissioners enacted the ordinance. The ordinance, proposd May 6, required all trash haulers operating in unincorporated parts of the county be licensed. In addition, it allowed for private companies to build and operate a compost center and a recycling center for construction debris.

Dumping requirements and the recycling operation were aimed at helping reach the county's recycling goals, according to county officials. The county still plans to go forward with its composting plans and will focus on other areas of recycling, said Joe Connolly, attorney for Buncombe County To ensure the county reaches its recycling goals, future versions of solid waste ordinances need the business community's support, Chairman Nathan Ramsey said. "At the end of the day, if we're challenged on it, we better be able to defend it," Ramsey said. "Because I'd hate to see us lose it." ywff" 'iintwiiffi ill Ewart BallsTAFF photographer A power nap? During the lunch hour Tuesday, about 15 workers from Progress Energy and Haynes Electric sat on the shady side of the Citgo on the corner of State Street and Am-boy Road, a crossroads for storm damage from the night before. Olen Sawyer of Progress energy had been up for 29 hours with 75 other workers trying to restore energy along State and Hanover streets, shown above.

Sawyer said workers often see the fruits of their labor, especially at night. "You could get up on Riverview Drive and see the whole city turn on," he said. Ewart BalrVsiAFF photographer television talent show, won buy Ruben Studdard, 24, of Birmingham, on May 21. Since then, Aiken has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and released a CD that debuted on the singles charts at No. 1 in mid-June.

Aiken's release sold nearly 393,000 copies, giving it the biggest debut since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" tribute to the late Princess Diana in 1997. The single was No. 40 this week on The Billboard Hot 100, compiled by Billboard magazine. Question from the mountains Lisa Antognoli of Asheville has a question in the upcoming USA Weekend's "Who's News" column. Antognoli wrote in to ask a question about Christopher Masterson of the television show "Malcolm in the Middle." The USA Weekend magazine appears in the Sunday edition of the Citizen-Times.

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS To submit an Kern to Out There, contact Metro Editor Brian Ponder at 232-5883 or Close call at Smith-McDowell The oldest surviving house in Asheville narrowly escaped serious structural damage Monday evening by a few feet. A large limb off an oak tree at the 163-year-old Smith-McDowell House snapped and then grazed the back side of the home on Victoria Road near Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. "We were very, very fortunate," said Stephen Jones, president of the Western North Carolina Historical Association board of trustees. Two large limbs fell on the property, one of which took down an overhang and knocked down some arbors in the garden. Contact Brevorka at 232-2938 or Compiled by staff writers Mikt Benzie and Lynde Hedgepetn I 1 I.