From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry is launching a $32 million project to rebuild and expand the severely damaged Veterans Restoration Quarters on Tunnel Road, with FEMA providing roughly 75 percent of the funding for the first phase. 

Tropical Storm Helene on Sept. 27, 2024 reportedly filled the facility with 5 to 6 feet of mud, leaving it vacant ever since.

Following are the rebuild project details:

• The damage: Helene flooded the Veterans Restoration Quarters at 1329 Tunnel Road with several feet of mud, destroying vital living quarters for local homeless veterans.

• The funding: The total $32 million cost features major financial backing from FEMA, which is set to cover about 75 percent of phase one expenses.

• Expansion and services: The massive rebuild goes beyond repairs to expand capacity, adding integrated workforce training, expanded veteran support services, and roughly 250 transitional housing beds.

• Timeline: Community leaders and organization officials will hold the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new development at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 13 at 1329 Tunnel Road. 

• Phase 1 of the rebuild, which will include a new residential building and a commercial kitchen, is projected to be completed by December 2027.

From Staff Reports

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.— Henderson County, North Carolina residents are pushing back against the proliferation of Flock Safety automated license plate reading cameras, sparking a local petition and a growing debate over mass surveillance, data privacy, and government transparency. 

Following reportedly are the catalyst and local petition:

• The uprising: Edneyville resident Austin Rhodes launched an online change.org petition and formed the “DeFlock Henderson County” group to demand that county commissioners defund and remove the surveillance technology. 

(Rhodes, who is a beekeeper, berry farmer and a cattleman, owns and runs Rhodes Berry Farm in Edneyville. He grows — commercially — blackberries and raspberries, he texted the Hendersonville Daily Planet in answer to the newspaper’s questions on Aug. 13. He added that he manages “30 to 60 (bee) hives, depending on the year.” As for his herd of cattle, Rhodes has “around 50 (head)... They’re black Angus mixes.”) 

• The numbers: The petition quickly gathered close to 900 signatures from a bipartisan coalition of residents.

• The scale: According to tracking data, roughly 39 Flock cameras are deployed across Henderson County, used or funded by the Sheriff’s Office as well as local police departments in Hendersonville, Fletcher and Laurel Park. 

Following are core resident concerns:

• Innocent tracking: Critics argue that while the Sheriff’s Office cites dozens of arrests and stolen vehicle recoveries, 99.99 percent of the scanned data belongs to law-abiding citizens going about daily activities, such as work, school or church. 

• Fear of misuse: Residents point to high-profile incidents — such as a Charlotte police officer arrested for unlawfully misusing the database — as proof that internal self-regulation and audits cannot completely prevent unlawful tracking or potential data breaches.

• Expansion anxieties: Locals worry that the footprint of these private, cloud-connected corporation cameras will creep indefinitely into every neighborhood and public corner. 

Following is the law enforcement and official stance:

• Crime-fighting tool: Local police and sheriff officials maintain that the automated plate readers are essential, non-continuous video tools that provide vital data to track stolen vehicles and locate missing persons.