The Ashvegas report and rumor control: Possible arboretum lay-offs, bears, Cansler on crabs, Johnson out at Buncombe GOP and more

Here's your morning report and rumor-mongering for Asheville:

- North Carolina Arboretum lay-offs: I've heard that four or five people have been laid off at the North Carolina Arboretum, including the director of horticulture, Alison Arnold, a well-known horticulturist in Asheville who's been at the arboretum for a while. How does an arboretum lay off its director of horticulture? This is an unconfirmed tip. Can anyone confirm?

Rumors about the arboretum's possible lay-offs or even closure ran rampant back in the spring when Erskine Bowles, president of the UNC system, said he would protect core teaching and learning institutions first. The arboretum is funded under the university system.

- Johnson saga continues: Timothy Johnson, the embattled chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party and vice chairman of the N.C. Republican Party, is rumored to be stepping down from the Buncombe GOP post. That's what they were saying on Twitter, anyway. Johnson's past conviction on a domestic abuse charge has dogged him. This is unconfirmed rumor. Can anyone confirm?

- Cansler's got crabs: Here's an interesting tidbit from the Raleigh News & Observer. Lanier Cansler is from Asheville and used to be state House representative for us. Now he's a Raleigh bureaucrat:

A little-known state government service bought 1,100 crab pots to help a hearing-impaired Belhaven man pursue his dream of starting a business.

The state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services approved using federal money to buy the $38,018 worth of traps as part of its rehabilitation program. The division is better known for preparing disabled people for work. Helping people start businesses is a smaller part of its job.

Some lawmakers say the state is wasting money on a losing proposition. Lanier Cansler, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary who personally approved the purchase, said he is satisfied that the department handled the case right. Nonetheless, he has asked the department's internal auditor for a review to make certain its procedures make sense.

- Citizen-Times ignores lay-offs: Earlier this week, the Asheville Citizen-Times carried a front-page lead story on the conjecture that Sinclair, the parent company of local news competitor WLOS, might go into bankruptcy. The story came a few days after the Citizen-Times and its parent company laid off 15 people at the newspaper, the latest in an 18-month run of lay-offs and furloughs ordered by its struggling parent, Gannett. But you won't find that reported on the front page of the Citizen-Times. Just pointing out the obvious.

- North Asheville bears: I heard that bears have been active around the Beaver Lake area of North Asheville. Several sightings. That's crazy!

- ashevilleny.com: Loyal reader Justin told me about www.ashevilleny.com. I'm not sure what the site is trying to be, so I'll just sit back and watch.

- Congratulations Mike Belleme: Asheville photographer Mike Belleme has been selected to participate in the 2009 Eddie Adams Barnstorm Workshop. You can see Belleme's flickr stream here. The workshop is four days of photography work with top professionals and 100 carefully selected students who attend tuition-free based on the strength of their portfolios. Belleme is the brother of Justin Belleme, who's kicking ass with AshevilleNow.com.

Comments

[theodore]

Did WLOS lead the news about Sinclair's bankruptcy? Just pointing out the obvious.

[someone who knows]

Publisher Randy Hammer is a corporate whore, that's why you won't read about Citizen-Times layoffs. It would offend Gannett and his bosses.

[sons of liberty]

The rumor about Johnson is true. My understand is that after he was elected as state GOP vice chairman his wife was fired from the City of Asheville School system. She has found a job in Durham area and they are moving. I understand that she is the main bread winner for the family.

[Mandy]

I took at look at this new site ashevilleny....kinda of bizarre is all I can say. clearly, they are having fun at your expense in that you dont use the "e" in ashvegas. lol, your spelling thing drives me crazy too! but as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (or jealousy)". but, what's with the "ny" thing? perhaps even worse than misspelling asheville!

keep up the good work here....you have lots of useful hard news items, not just music and night life stuff. i honestly get more info about what's happening in town from your site, than i do from wlos or the pathetic newspaper's site.

[Shellah]

ashevilleny. WTF is this one? All over the place. Looks like a knock off of perez hilton's site. maybe its supposed to make asheville more like ny!? WTF, pretty lame so far.

[Ash]

theodore, did WLOS lead the news with a story about Gannett/Citizen-Times lay-offs? again, pointing to the obvious.

[Ash]

Mandy, thanks for reading. sorry about the spelling stuff! lol!

Shellah, yeah, we'll have to wait and see what they do with that site. silly right now.

sons of liberty - thanks for the update. we'll keep watching that, too.

[Michael Muller]

Congrats to Mike Belleme: he's extraordinarily talented and will most certainly be going places. I'm proud to have worked with him.

[Justin]

Thanks for posting about my brother's Eddie Adams selection. I am really proud of him and I really appreciate you spreading the word about it.