County to Receive Stimulus Funds

Buncombe County will receive $3 million through the NC Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The funds will be used to extend the life of the County landfill and more.

Don't become a statistic - in the United States skin cancer is the most common cancer with 1 in 5 Americans currently developing the disease.

All students entering 6th grade are required to receive a new vaccine called Tdap.

Debit and credit card fraud can cause major problems for you as a consumer if you are traveling abroad. Here are some tips to prevent becoming a victim of fraud.

Poisonous spiders are out there. Do you know which spiders you need to look out for here in WNC?

Come with your canine athlete to the Buncombe County Sports Park on August 15 and join the 3rd Annual Tails and Trails 5K Adventure Race.

The City of Asheville is currently working on an 1.3 mile extension of the Carrier Park greenway that will terminate at the Hominy Creek Park.

Please consider giving a home to one of these wonderful pets! The shelter is okay, but I would love to have a home of my own!

Congratulations to Max Conley for his Spinach-Ravioli Lasagna recipe!

Bring a blanket or lawn chair and come enjoy a family-friendly evening of great music at Groovin' on Grovemont!  This free summer concert series is held in Grovemont Square adjacent to the Swannanoa Library.

Pizza and baked goods will be available for sale with all proceeds going to the Friends of the Swannanoa Library and the Swannanoa Emergency Assistance Program. The library will also be hosting a half-price book sale on the evening of each performance. 

Next performances:

• Tuesday, July 28 at 6 p.m. -- Groovemont Players
• Tuesday, August 11 at 6 p.m. -- The Firecracker Jazz Band 

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Swannanoa Library. For more information, call the library at 250-6486.

It can be quite useful as well as fascinating to identify the insects you find in your yard. For example, when you find an aphid infestation on your ornamental honeysuckle, start looking on the same plant for ladybugs and their eggs and larva. Can you identify a baby ladybug (larva)? Other aphid predators include green lacewing larva and syrphid fly larva.

Did you know that if you find caterpillars such as cabbageworms or tomato hornworms with little white cocoons on them, you should leave them alone? The caterpillar is being killed by the larva of the Braconid wasp and you want them to hatch out to go on and kill more caterpillars. You won’t see the adult wasp, as they are only the size of a gnat.

Visit the following web sites to learn to identify these and many other insect predators and parasites. The websites will also help you to identify beneficial insects.

• NC State University's Biological Control Information Center
• NC Cooperative Extension - Chatham County Center: Insects: Pests and Beneficials

For more information, call Buncombe County Cooperative Extension at 255-5522.

If you see a pothole in the road outside of the city limits within Buncombe County, please call:

• North Carolina Department of Transportation at 298-2741

If you see a pothole within a municipality, please call:

• City of Asheville at 251-1122
• Town of Biltmore Forest at 274-0824
• Town of Black Mountain at 669-9102
• Town of Montreat at 669-8002
• Town of Weaverville at 645-0606
• Town of Woodfin at 253-4887