Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 23

NEWS ASHEVIU.E CITIZEN-TIMES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2011 B3 STORE: Asheville shop has New crime lab errors found reached No. 7 in US sales Continued from Bl Stewart, store manager. "We find throwing away perfectly good windows as an example of something we need to avoid, he said. "A window that can be re used and someone wants to use it in a shed that is much better than putting it Cases involve blood evidence By Mike Baker THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH North Carolina's crime lab has found dozens more cases of mishandled blood evidence, adding to an already extensive review of years-old files, prosecutors said Tuesday. District attorneys from around the state are preparing to reassess the 75 new cases in the coming months.

Prosecutors already analyzed 150 cases as part of an inquiry last year, and they con viction. During Taylor's innocence hearing, an SBI agent testified that agents were told to write in lab reports that evidence gave chemical indications for the presence of i blood when the first test for blood came back positive. Agent Duane Deaver said agents were told to use that language even when a follow-up test was negative. Deaver is linked to the five most egregious violations of blood evidence handling, and last year's SBI audit accused him of overstating or falsely reporting test results. on crime lab issues for years, said prosecutors can't know how a jury would respond if it learned about improperly handled evidence.

She noted that confessions and eyewitness testimony aren't always reliable. "To me, it seems like a complete whitewash," Savage said. The case that initially triggered the SBI review was based in part on mishandled blood evidence and unreliable eyewitness testimony. Greg Taylor was exonerated last year after being wrongly imprisoned nearly 17 years for a murder con tend each conviction was appropriate because of other evidence such as confessions, eyewitnesses and ballistics. "There was additional overwhelming evidence in every one of them," said Peg Dorer, executive director of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys.

Dorer' said SBI officials notified the prosecutors last week about the 75 new cases. SBI leaders didn't respond to' requests for comment. J. Defense attorneys questioned the reliability of the review led by prosecutors. Diane Savage, a lawyer who has focused Pardon for 1871 gov.

pondered He battled Klan violence ASHEVILLE HOME STORE BY THE NUMBERS 7 in the nation in sales per capita More than 260,000 items sold in 2010 to more than 65,000 customers. 1,100 tons of material diverted from landfill in 2010. More than 300 donation pickups six days a week in Buncombe County. $350,000 raised through the silent auction started in 2005 by a Home Store volunteer. 13,000 square feet of retail space and 135 parking spaces added during remodeling.

TO GIVE Donations to Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity can be made via www.ashevillehabitat. org or sent to 30 Meadow Road, Asheville, NC 28803. elude back rooms for storage and a conference room, a small area for cleaning merchandise, and a sales floor. The store has been a long time coming. Officials with Habitat had talked about opening a store for at least 10 years before writing a business plan 18 months ago.

The startup budget for the store was $60,000. The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina contributed a $25,000 grant, and the remainder was raised through individual contributions from the community. Although Restore also in a landfill. The promise of potential income from Haywood's Restore isn't farfetched. It may take some time, but the hard work and dedication can pay off.

It's hard to tell how long it will be before the store becomes profitable, and part of it depends on how responsive the community is, according to Ariane Kjell-quist, with the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity "In Asheville, people are really community-minded," she said. "And what is astonishing to me is the population of Buncombe County is less than 250,000 people, but out of all those restores in the country, Asheville Area Habitat store is No. 7 in sales." Sales "skyrocketed" soon after moving from a small storefront on Bilt-more Avenue, where it had been since 1990, to 30 Meadow Road in 2003. Store profits enabled the nonprofit to cover all administrative and fund-raising costs. With 100 percent of donations now going toward construction, Habitat nearly doubled its homebuilding program.

"With the expanded store, we anticipate sales will double within five years," she said. "This will enable us to expand our new Neighborhood Revi-talization Initiative." The initiative will broaden the nonprofit's service beyond new house construction, to include repair, weatherization and rehab services. The nonprofit has once again outgrown its space. Construction at the store is still ongoing, and officials don't expect a grand opening to happen before sum-, mer. The remodeling will add retail space and a paved lot for 135 cars.

The showroom sells cabinets, vanities, fixtures, flooring, appliances, housewares and furniture. Back in Waynesville, volunteers have spent the last six weeks prepping the new space on Montgomery Street for the grand opening. The store, which is about 7,000 square feet, has been sectioned off to in- or white people supporting black people." Senate debate on the resolution scheduled for Tuesday was delayed until at least today after senators were given a document citing a nearly 100-year-old book by a University of North Carolina history professor criticizing Holden for supporting carpetbaggers and scalawags. It was not immediately clear who put the document on their desks. It cited a 1914 book by professor J.G.

de Roulhac Hamilton that it said berated Holden's administration and called his appointees corrupt. Contemporary historians have been more sympathetic to Holden. The debate was delayed to ensure Republicans had the correct information. "We'll be overturning something in the Senate from 140 years ago," said Sen. Tom Apo-daca, R-Henderson, the chamber's rules committee chairman.

The House would have to approve the resolution to give it formal weight to remove the conviction. Holden never sought a pardon before his death in 1892 at age 73. A pardon was something Holden viewed "as some admission that he had done something wrong, which he said he didn't do," said Arch Allen, a Raleigh attorney who made the case to legislators to consider the resolution. By Gary D. Robertson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS RALEIGH North Carolina's lawmakers are deciding whether to pass judgment on a decision by their Reconstruction-era predecessors 140 years ago to impeach and kick out a governor whose chief offense stemmed from stopping Ku Klux Klan violence after the Civil War.

The Senate wants to debate this week a resolution pardoning the late Republican Gov. William Woods Holden, who became the first governor removed from office in the United States on March 22, 1871. Holden's impeachment took place months after Democrats the party that had favored Secession and the formation of the Confederacy took back control of the statehouse from Republicans, the party of Lincoln. Republicans did not take charge of the North Carolina Senate again until this year. Democrats were angry with Holden for bringing in a state militia to quell a Klan insurrection that killed newly freed slaves and Republicans, both black and white.

The House approved eight impeachment articles against him, including several for jailing Klan supporters without due process. The Senate NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES Gov. William Woods Holden became the first governor removed from office In the United States on March 22, 1871. has a relationship with the Haywood Home Builders Association, who will donate materials from remodel or rehab jobs, the store will need the support of donors to keep the store merchandise fresh and well-stocked. "There is a fairly acute need for affordable housing in this area," Stewart said.

"We are not an affluent county. We are a county with a number, of people who don't live very well and there are a lot of people who live in quite bad conditions. So we feel that our need as an organization is to provide opportunities for those people." don resolution say the Senate's debate will help set straight an injustice from a painful chapter in the state's history. "He definitely warrants a pardon," said GOP Sen. Neal Hunt of Wake County, one of the resolution's three primary sponsors.

"He was standing up for what is right. He was impeached by people who had very bad views about appropriate treatment of citizens, whether they were black convicted him on six of the articles and removed him from office. In 1876, Holden said he acted "purely as a defensive measure to save human life and to protect and secure free suffrage to all." "I had solely in view the vindication of the law, the protection of the citizen and the good of society," Holden said, according to a historical review article. Supporters of the par SICKENS: Assembly bill would ban sale of products INGLES: Bellamy, Davis vote against dimmer lighting ary, North Carolina had more than 20 emergency room visits related to the use synthetic marijuana and related products. The N.C.

Poison Control Center also has noted an increased call volume due to synthetic drugs. Some other synthetic marijuana brands are K2, Silver Spice, Diamond Spice, Yakatan Fire Spice, PEP Spice and Fire 'n Ice. Continued from Bl The use of synthetic marijuana is under increased scrutiny after incidents like the one here and others across the country. A bill has been introduced in the state General Assembly to ban the sale of synthetic marijuana products. "These products have been marketed and sold legally, but their intent is to get users high by smoking or snorting the product," state Health Director Dr.

Jeff Engel said. "Our concern is the potential for dangerous side effects, such as hallucinations, possible seizures and rapid heart rate. Some states have even seen deaths related to these products." Studies show that syn thetic marijuana substances are three to 100 times more potent than THC, the active ingredient found in marijuana. Producers spray cannabi-noid, a chemical compound, onto flowers, herbs and tobacco, and then sell it in stores as potpourri or incense and label it as "not for human consumption." In January and Febru "The biggest reason we want to do it is safety. Late at night, our gas stations are still open for credit and debit cards.

Our customers come first to us." INGI.ES BUILDING MANAGER PRESTON KENDALL BANK: Asheville Savings may take some steps to grow Continued from Bl at least 60 foot-candles. "The biggest reason we want to do it is safety. Late at night, our gas stations are still open for credit and debit cards. Our customers come first to us," he said. Kendall said that the canopy had special features that kept light from glaring out the sides.

He also pointed out that the stores take many energy-saving measures, including using sky lights, keeping off lights not being used and recycling carwash water. He also disputed an informal survey by city staff of eight, similar gas stations 'around town that found that most were within city lighting limits, and almost all were considerably less bright than the 80 foot-candles. The lights at two stations near the Ingles sites ranged from 18.2 to 21.4 foot-candles. Kendall said of 40 convenience stores Ingles went to in Asheville, none met city standards. About the vote Mayor Terry Bellamy and Councilman Jan Davis, who voted against the motion, said the light rules were too harsh in this case.

Bellamy said critics might not understand that it's only the light under the canopy, not the entire parking lot, that is in question. She also said parts of Smoky Park Highway might benefit from more light. "That corridor is a dark corridor and I think there are concerns about safety," she said. Davis said he was worried Ingles would abandon the plan and not build the store. But Vice Mayor Brownie Newman, who made the motion for the zoning vote, said it was important the council stand by the new standards, "or we would essentially be saying we are throwing out our lighting standard." The vote follows other changes to the store plan.

On Feb. 22, the council delayed a vote after concerns over Ingles' request for exceptions to tree planting, pedestrian access and lighting rules. Ingles earlier this month submitted revised plans that include more trees in the planned parking lot and a sidewalk leading to the store and landscaping in the middle of the lot, as required by city rules. After Tuesday's vote, the company agreed through attorney Gene Ellison to go to 20 foot-candles, planning staff said. Feb.

28, 2010, will have the highest priority to buy stock. If there is not enough demand, shares would be offered to the general public. DeFerie said there will be "no changes in staff, management or the board of directors as a result of this." Sale attempt In '93 Asheville Savings proposed selling itself to in 1993, but changes in government rules killed that plan, which drew criticism by some depositors. The current proposal is not similar to the 1993 plan, DeFerie said. Two people in opposing the deal said this week that they would have to look at details of the new proposal before voicing an opinion.

Asheville resident Joe Adams said the deal could be "good for the investors." Black Mountain resident Monroe Gilmour said he wonders about the impact on the smalltown feel of the bank. sets of $750 million as of the end of 2010, $620 million in deposits and $63 million in capital. DeFerie said last year's losses were caused by "the economic conditions that we are operating in Asheville. We took some substantial hits on several real estate The stock conversion plan is not related to the losses, DeFerie said. The bank is still considered well-capitalized, she said.

Growing the bank is a way to cope with the increased cost of complying with federal regulations by increasing economies of scale, DeFerie said. Changing nature of banking Plath predicted that the number of community banks in the state will fall from about no today to fewer than 50 in five years because new rules have increased the cost of doing business and recent losses have made some banks vulnerable to Continued from Bl profit once public trading in bank tock begins. Customers are not required to buy shares. On the other side of the equation, a conversion to stock ownership "does change the nature of the business from being a friendly or mom-and-pop institution to a more performance-oriented institution," Plath said. Banks sometimes raise fees or take other steps to boost revenue after a conversion, he said.

"If you don't produce the returns that shareholders require, that does make you vulnerable to being acquired" by another bank, he said. Asheville Savings lost $9.4 million in 2010, according to figures filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance and profits have declined each year since at least 2006. The bank wrote off $22.4 million in loan losses last year. The bank had total as ASHEVILLE SAVINGS BANK History: Founded as Asheville Federal Savings and Loan Association in 1936. Branches: 13, in five area counties.

Deposits: $620 million. Market share: 10.8 percent of bank deposits in Buncombe County as of last year. No relation to Bank of Asheville, which regulators shut down in January. takeover. "There are a lot of targets for acquisition out there in that there are a lot of banks that have been damaged by bad real estate loans," he said.

The conversion is subject to approval by state and federal regulators and bank customers. DeFerie said the bank hopes it will happen in late summer or early fall. The bank said in a statement that people who had deposits as of I.