Cheers Asheville! We're back, helping you stay up to date with what's happening. Let's take on the day together! ☕️️
In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: Tanger Outlets Asheville Launches "Back to Play" Sneaker Recycling Initiative, through Sept. 30 and 9 more events.
And lastly, we have a post from a neighbor, Davidson LeRoy J.!
Today's riddle: What day of the year is trucker's day? 🤔 (Answer below!)
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1. Endangered bats are using UNCA woods, researchers say • Asheville Watchdog (avlwatchdog.org) — Endangered gray and tricolored bats are now confirmed using the UNC Asheville south-campus woods, potentially adding new federal protections that could complicate the university's development plans. Local scientists, neighbors, and activists have quietly gathered bioacoustic evidence, strengthening the "Save the Woods" campaign to preserve one of Asheville's last large urban forests near downtown.
2. Answer Man: Wild turkeys gone missing? Mystery water leak downtown? • Asheville Watchdog (avlwatchdog.org) — If you've wondered where North Asheville's big turkey flocks vanish each summer, wildlife biologists explain how hens hide with their young while small groups of males roam more discreetly. Another reader's question about a mysterious water flow on Otis Street downtown has city and sewer officials still monitoring, but so far they've found no leak or infrastructure failure.
3. City of Asheville announces retirement of Finance and Management Services Director Tony McDowell in December (ashevillenc.gov) — Asheville's longtime Finance and Management Services Director Tony McDowell will retire at the end of 2026 after nearly three decades overseeing the city's budgets, audits, and major bond programs. He'll stay through year-end to ensure a smooth transition as Asheville launches a competitive search for a new finance chief to guide future investments and resilience.
4. HCA CEO pledges to do better at Mission in closed-door meeting • Asheville Watchdog (avlwatchdog.org) — HCA's CEO quietly met with Asheville health leaders to acknowledge Mission Hospital's serious performance problems and promise new investments and staffing improvements. Local officials, nurses, and UNC Asheville faculty welcomed the dialogue but stressed that trust will depend on visible changes in care quality, staffing levels, and transparency at Asheville's primary trauma and specialty hospital.
5. Through the lens: Photographer Isaiah Rice preserves a misplaced chapter of Black Asheville (fooshya.com) — A remarkable trove of 1950s–60s photographs by Asheville beverage distributor Isaiah Rice is helping restore a missing chapter of Black Asheville's history. Now preserved in UNC Asheville's Special Collections, the images highlight a vibrant Black middle-class community and give residents a richer, more nuanced picture of local life during segregation in Southern Appalachia.
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Ok Asheville! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: 10-4, good buddy! (Thank you Jean H. for sending it in!)
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!
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