Tourism at Asheville’s Biltmore Estate has declined significantly due to Hurricane Helene’s impact, with visitation still about 30% below normal and hotel and vacation rental occupancy down. The estate made some job cuts and furloughs but aims to stabilize and support its staff. Meanwhile, the May 29 Steep Canyon Rangers concert at Pack Square drew nearly 9,800 attendees, tracked via pedestrian foot traffic technology, though it saw limited news follow-up. Recent haze around Asheville stems mainly from Canadian wildfire smoke, not local tree decomposition, which experts say may influence microclimates locally and increase wildfire risk but won’t broadly affect weather.
Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:
Question: I’ve heard that visitation at the Biltmore Estate is down by something like 40 percent. Is that correct? Is it still Helene driving that? Also, I heard the estate had to lay off about 1,000 workers because of the slow times. Is that correct? If not, what is the number?
My answer: I suspect, “It’s Helene’s fault,” shall remain a viable explanation for just about every piece of bad news we hear through the year 2035.
Real answer: These are indeed slow times for visitation around here, as the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority noted after its May meeting. For April, hotel demand was down seven percent from last year, and hotel occupancy, at 64 percent, was down five points from 2024 and 10 points from 2019.
Additionally, vacation rentals dropped, with April vacation rental occupancy standing at 51 percent, down two points from 2024 and three points from 2019. Vacation rental demand fell 21 percent compared to last year, the TDA reported.
“Like so many in our region, Biltmore continues to feel the effects of Helene,” estate spokesperson Marissa Jamison told me via email. “Our focus remains on supporting our employees and community while working to ensure the long-term stability of the estate.”
Immediately after Helene struck the area Sept. 27, visitation to the estate dropped by about 60 percent, Jamison said.
“Since reopening on Nov. 2, 2024, we’ve been grateful to welcome more than 500,000 guests, thanks to the dedication of our incredible team,” Jamison said. “While visitation is still about 30 percent below typical levels, we are encouraged by a steady upward trend.”
It helps that the estate’s extensive gardens, a big draw, are in full bloom, and the estate has an ongoing King Tut exhibition.
Biltmore acknowledged making some job cuts but did not provide specifics about how many positions were affected.
“Our staffing levels fluctuate with the seasons, which is common in the tourism industry,” Jamison said. “Impacts from Helene led to more adjustments than usual, including some temporary furloughs and position eliminations. These were difficult but necessary steps to support the estate’s ongoing recovery.”
Eligible employees did receive severance packages.
A Biltmore fact sheet online states the estate employs about 2,300 people in Buncombe and surrounding counties. In the past, the company has noted that the level of employees fluctuates by season, with the fall and Christmas season being the busiest.
“We’re looking ahead with optimism as we prepare to welcome more team members for the Christmas season,” Jamison said. “As usual, staffing will naturally scale back during winter, in line with our seasonal visitation patterns.”
Question: I attended the Steep Canyon Rangers concert May 29 at Pack Square Park and was blown away by the amount of people, the energy, and of course the talent. I haven’t been able to find one news story about it, even though there were thousands attending. So how many folks are estimated to have attended, and why hasn’t there been anything in the news about the event?
My answer: Because everybody behaved themselves?
Real answer: Hayden Plemmons, executive director with the Asheville Downtown Association, provided the official attendance estimate: 9,800.
An estimated 9,800 people attended the Steep Canyon Rangers concert May 29 at Pack Square. // Photo credit: Fiasco Media and Asheville Downtown Association
“We use a technology called Placer.AI to track pedestrian foot traffic,” Plemmons said via email, explaining how the association had arrived at that number.
That is indeed a whopping attendance figure and a nice tribute to the Rangers, who offered the free show as a way to bring the community together.
As far as why there hasn’t been news coverage since then, I can offer a couple of theories, as someone with 35 years experience in the news business.
First, numerous outlets did publish or run stories previewing the show, which undoubtedly drove attendance.
Secondly, with events like these, that are feel-good stories, they’re generally not going to get a lot of followup coverage unless something bad happens, or they raise a gargantuan amount of money, like the Concert for Carolina did in October. That event raised more than $24.5 million for Helene relief.
News organizations generally have pretty tight staffing these days, and a Thursday night event would require a fair amount of resources to cover. I suspect most news outlets were moving on to the next story by then and preparing content for the weekend.
Haze shrouded the mountains to the west of Asheville last week. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
Question: It seems like we’ve had more haze lately, but it hasn’t seemed overly humid. Is this because of the decomposition of all of the trees downed by Helene? And a related question: Will the relative lack of trees and decomposition of extra dead trees have an effect on our local climate or weather?
My answer: You do know the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is selling weed legally now, right? Along these lines, have you noticed the haze having an unusually pungent, maybe even skunky, smell to it?
Real answer: David Easterling, chief scientist at Future Climate, LLC, in Hendersonville, said the haze we’ve been seeing “is mainly due to smoke from Canadian wildfires being transported as far south as Georgia.”
Aha! Those dastardly Canadians at it again! More tariffs, I say!
Seriously, that smoke hitting our area is just dependent on weather patterns, nothing more.
Now, as far as Helene and downed trees affecting climate, Easterling said it’s “not likely to impact our weather, except that it does provide extra fuel for wildfires, which, of course, leads to increased smoke and haze.
“Areas that have been cleared of trees can impact the microclimate in those areas by changing the energy balance of those areas — e.g. more sunlight being reflected back out rather than being absorbed by the tree canopy,” Easterling said. “Also, if we were to get very heavy rainfall over a few days that could lead to mudslides and extra runoff in areas impacted by Helene.”
On a side note, you may recall Easterling’s name, as he’s answered a lot of questions for you folks over the years. He recently retired from the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville after a long run, but he’s obviously staying busy in the field, which is good for you readers, and myself, of course.
Enjoy the semi-retirement, Dave!
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Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This content from Asheville Watchdog primarily delivers local news with a humorous and conversational tone. While the author occasionally injects playful or sarcastic remarks, such as referencing Helene humorously or joking about Canadian wildfire smoke, the underlying reporting is factual and devoid of partisan language. The piece discusses tourism data, local events, and environmental impacts without promoting any ideological stance. References to public figures or policy are minimal and presented neutrally. The format focuses on answering reader questions in an accessible manner rather than advancing a political agenda, resulting in an overall centrist tone.
SUMMARY: North Carolina House Republicans propose a new elections bill requiring full Social Security numbers on voter registration forms and DMV sharing licensed drivers’ SSNs with the Board of Elections, sparking privacy and security concerns. Critics, including Rep. Pricey Harrison and voting rights advocates, warn it violates federal privacy laws and risks voter data breaches, while supporters argue it enhances voter identification and reduces duplicates. The bill also mandates photo ID for military and overseas voters, limits local voting rights for certain non-residents, bans ranked-choice voting, and modifies ballot counting timelines. Democracy Out Loud and others strongly oppose the bill, calling it harmful to voter rights.
The North Carolina Supreme Court granted Mission Hospital a temporary stay on a lower court decision awarding 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth for a planned 222-bed hospital in Weaverville. The stay pauses legal action pending further review, with no set decision deadline. Mission Hospital argues the region needs expanded beds at their facility for complex care, not at AdventHealth’s new hospital. AdventHealth contends the stay does not indicate the court’s stance and that the motion was unnecessary. The dispute centers on state Certificate of Need (CON) law and whether procedural errors prejudiced Mission. AdventHealth plans a state-of-the-art surgery suite.
The North Carolina Supreme Court has granted Mission Hospital’s request for a temporary stay of a lower court’s decision to grant 67 acute care beds to AdventHealth nearly three years ago.
The order, delivered without comment, came just two days after attorneys for Mission Hospital filed a motion seeking the temporary stay and arguing that a three-judge panel’s ruling in the state’s appellate court this June should remain up for debate. The motion, first reported by Asheville Watchdog, created further uncertainty about whether the region would see additional healthcare competition.
The 67 beds are part of Florida-based AdventHealth’s plans to build a 222-bed hospital in Weaverville that would serve Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, and Graham counties. The company had started grading work at a 30-plus acre site west of I-26.
The Supreme Court’s allowance of a stay halts legal action until further consideration can take place. There is currently no deadline for a Supreme Court decision.
“Mission Hospital accepts thousands of transfers each year from other hospitals that have available beds – including facilities currently seeking approval to expand – because patients need high-level medical care only available in Western North Carolina at our hospital,” Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell said. “Not all acute care beds are the same. Instead of adding more beds at facilities that are unable to provide the complex medical and surgical care needed, the region would be better served by expanding bed capacity at Mission Hospital. We consider it a privilege to care for our region’s sickest patients but need more beds to do so.”
An aerial view photo shows the Weaverville site where AdventHealth is proposing to build a 222-bed hospital in the coming years. // Photo credit: AdventHealth
AdventHealth said the stay says nothing about what North Carolina’s highest court thinks about the case.
“It is important to note that this stay is not an indication of the court’s thinking,” AdventHealth spokesperson Victoria Dunkle said when asked for the system’s response to the judge’s order.
“This would be like ordering a combo meal at a drive-thru and then taking credit for securing the drink and fries in the deal – the drink and fries automatically come with the combo and everybody gets them,” she said. “In these situations, a stay is in place whenever a petition for discretionary review is filed. HCA/Mission filed an unnecessary motion to obtain a stay that was already in place.”
This complex legal battle for beds is being staged on the field of certificate of need (CON) law, a North Carolina requirement that medical facilities seek the state’s permission when they want to expand, add services, or buy expensive equipment.
AdventHealth won approval for beds in 2022
AdventHealth won approval for the 67 acute care beds in late 2022, but Mission disputed the decision, using the CON’s appeal process. In June, a three-court panel of the state’s appellate court ruled in AdventHealth’s favor, a ruling that some saw as the final decision in the case.
On July 23, Mission attorneys filed a motion with the North Carolina Supreme Court seeking the temporary stay and requesting the court consider two factors: “substantial prejudice” on the part of DHSR in rejecting Mission’s application and AdventHealth’s proposal for the beds not meeting NCDHHS policy requiring new hospitals have a general operating room.
Both NCDHHS and AdventHealth are defendants in the case.
Mission alleged substantial prejudice because “DHHS did not allow eight attendees to speak at a certain time at the public hearing because they were purported employees of Mission Memorial or employees of one its affiliated hospitals or entities,” according to a summary in the June 18 appellate court decision. The public hearing was held shortly after AdventHealth, Mission and Novant Health applied for the 67 beds.
“The partial answers that the Court of Appeals has given are contradictory and confusing,” Mission’s attorneys wrote in their July 23 motion, arguing the appellate court failed to precisely define the criteria for a finding of “substantial prejudice.”
The motion asked the court to decide whether NCDHHS had violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it changed its requirement on the general operating room and then to decide whether “this error substantially prejudiced Mission.”
According to AdventHealth’s current proposed plans, the Weaverville hospital would have “A state-of-the-art Surgery Suite for general and specialty.”
AdventHealth will file a response in the case, Dunkle told The Watchdog last Friday.
Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on our Facebook page. Please submit your comments there.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The content primarily focuses on a legal and healthcare infrastructure issue involving hospital bed allocations and regulatory processes in North Carolina. It presents information factually from multiple perspectives, including Mission Hospital and AdventHealth statements, without evident favoring of political ideology or partisan language. The article discusses procedural and administrative details surrounding healthcare regulation and competition, which are generally nonpartisan topics, reflecting a neutral and balanced reporting style typical of centrist coverage.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-07-30 09:01:00
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced a bill banning the National Education Association (NEA) from influencing Congress, requiring annual certification of non-interference. Blackburn criticized the NEA for abandoning its mission to support teachers, accusing it of pushing a “far-left political agenda” involving “woke gender ideology, antisemitism, and propaganda.” Earlier, Blackburn and Rep. Mark Harris proposed revoking the NEA’s congressional charter, accusing the union of partisan activism. Their efforts are backed by groups like Moms for Liberty and Heritage Action, who condemn the NEA for prioritizing radical politics over parental rights and children’s education.
(The Center Square) – Tennessee Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced her second bill this month targeting the nation’s largest teacher’s union.
Her latest bill would ban the National Education Association from influencing Congress. The association would be required to submit a certification every year proving that it has not tried to influence lawmakers, according to a news release from Blackburn.
“The National Education Association has abandoned its mission of supporting America’s teachers and students in the name of pushing its far-left political agenda,” Blackburn said. “The NEA has become nothing more than a radical-left activist group, and it has no business using its status as a congressionally chartered entity to push woke gender ideology, antisemitism, and propaganda on America’s students.”
U.S. Rep. Rev. Mark Harris, R-N.C.
Harris.House.gov
Earlier this month, Blackburn and U.S. Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., introduced a bill that would revoke the National Education Association’s charter.
“Congress established the NEA in 1906 to support America’s teachers and strengthen our schools, but it has abandoned that mission in favor of a radical agenda,” Harris said. “From branding President Trump a fascist to embracing divisive gender ideology and walking away from efforts to fight antisemitism, the NEA has become nothing more than a partisan advocacy group.”
The bill is supported by Moms for Liberty, Heritage Action, Young America’s Foundation and other groups, according to Harris and Blackburn.
“It’s incredibly sad that the nation’s largest teachers union has put woke politics before America’s children,” said Tina Descovich, CEO of Moms for Liberty. “The NEA’s embrace of radical left policies and antisemitism combined with their rejection of parental rights has forced moms and dads across America to condemn this organization.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Right-Leaning
The article presents a clear ideological perspective aligned with conservative viewpoints. It highlights criticism of the National Education Association (NEA) by Republican lawmakers using charged language such as “radical-left political agenda,” “woke gender ideology,” and “partisan advocacy group.” The inclusion of supportive statements from conservative organizations like Moms for Liberty and Heritage Action reinforces this stance. The framing focuses on portraying the NEA negatively for its political positions, rather than neutrally reporting on the legislative actions, indicating a right-leaning bias in tone and content.
