Home sales picked up in some of the most populous counties in Western North Carolina in 2011, although prices continued to drift lower and new construction remained slow, according to data from the N.C. Association of Realtors and N.C. Mountains Multiple Listing Service.
Sales of existing homes in Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania and Haywood counties were up 3.3 percent compared to 2010. From July through November, sales rose each month over the prior month before finishing the year with a 2.3-percent dip in December.
– source: www.citizen-times.com, 1/29/12
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Greenville will host a major world cycling championship in 2014 that’s expected to bring competitors from around the world and a significant economic impact.
The UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championship is coming to the Upstate for a five-day event from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1 in 2014.
The championship, featuring time trial and road races competitions, will showcase top athletes with a physical or visual impairment. Bicycles are adapted to suit the competitors’ needs with traditional or adapted bicycles, tandem cycles, tricycles or handcycles.
– source: www.wyff.com, 1/30/12
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Pratt Industries announced plans to expand its facility in Spartanburg County, bringing $3.5 million in investment and creating 30 new jobs.
The recycled paper and packaging company says the expansion of the Duncan facility will help keep up with recycling needs of businesses, cities and counties in a 100-mile radius. Operations at the expanded center, which will process residential and commercial single stream recycled material, will begin by April 1.
– source: S.C. Department of Commerce, 2/1/12
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The trial of death row inmate Marcus Robinson in Cumberland County will be the challenge to a death sentence in North Carolina using the Racial Justice Act.
Robinson’s lawyers contend racial bias played a role in the jury selection for his trial because black jurors will excluded at a higher rate than white jurors. Robinson was convicted in 1991 of killing 17-year-old Erik Tomblom. If the challenge is successful, Robinson’s sentence will be commuted to life without parole. Nearly all of the inmates currently on death row in North Carolina are appealing their sentences using the Racial Justice Act.
– source: Charlotte.news14.com, 1/30/12
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OM Sanctuary recently held a “Community Closure” event to say goodbye to the Richmond Hill Inn, an Asheville landmark on the west bank of the French Broad River. The inn was badly damaged in a 2009 arson, and the nonprofit OM Sanctuary bought the inn for $4.5 million in 2011.
Demolition work began after the closure event to convert the property into a new wellness resort on the riverfront.
– source: Asheville Citizen-Times, 1/22/12
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The Good Old Days Racing Series is scheduled to open April 27 at the new 1/4-mile Historic Cleveland County Fairground Speedway. The series will run every Friday night, with the track opening at 5 p.m., qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing starting at 8 p.m.
– source: Carol Smith,
Historic Cleveland County
Fairground Speedway: