The Transylvania Times

10/26/2025

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09/24/2025

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09/22/2025

More than 200 community members gathered downtown Brevard to celebrate and remember the life of Charlie Kirk Saturday morning.

Organized by the Transylvania County Republican Party, the one-hour ceremony paid tribute to Kirk, who was fatally shot Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University during a large outdoor public speaking event as part of his college tour. Kirk was 31 years old.

The Brevard event took place in and around the county courthouse gazebo. A handful of guest speakers spoke and prayed with attendees who filled the courthouse lawn and both sides of Main Street along the sidewalks.

Some in the audience waived American flags, wore “I’m Charlie” T-shirts and others carried signs such as “Pray for Charlie and America,” “I want to be remembered for my courage for my faith Charlie Kirk,” and “Just because you are OFFENDED Doesn’t mean you are RIGHT!”

More than 200 community members gathered downtown Brevard to celebrate and remember the life of Charlie Kirk Saturday morning.

09/19/2025

The Brevard High School football team beat Franklin 34-28 in an overtime thriller at Western Carolina University Thursday night. The Blue Devils sent the game to overtime with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:53 remaining. And sophomore tight end Brayden Crain hauled in a 10-yard pass from Ben Kessinger to win it for Brevard in the first extra possession. More on the game will be in Monday's paper.

The Brevard High School football team beat Franklin 34-28 in an overtime thriller at Western Carolina University Thursday night. The Blue Devils sent the game to overtime with a touchdown

08/15/2025

Mission Health stated in a press release Wednesday its antitrust lawsuit has been resolved.

While vague and unclear, the press release stated all claims have been resolved in the Mission Health Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:22-cv-00114-MR (W.D.N.C.). The city of Brevard was one of the entities involved in the lawsuit.

Mission Health stated in a press release Wednesday its antitrust lawsuit has been resolved.

08/14/2025

Work has wrapped up on the complete renovation and artificial-turf installation project at the Rosman High School football field just before the start of the 2025 season.

With a final budget of $2.3 million, the new state-of-the-art synthetic-turf field is the most expensive outdoor athletic field in the county by a factor of more than two and eclipses the amount spent on similar projects at many other high schools in western North Carolina.

Kerry Putnam, Transylvania County Schools facilities director, said the project will likely come in slightly under that budget when final invoices are received next month, but the project’s budget ballooned more than seven times its original amount when revitalization of the field was initially proposed in fall of 2023.

The original scope of work for Rosman’s field was to fix major drainage issues under the natural-grass football field which caused sinkholes and an ever-changing playing surface. The initial amount approved to fix the drainage issues and revitalize the grass field was $325,000.

Work has wrapped up on the complete renovation and artificial-turf installation project at the Rosman High School football field just before the start of the 2025-26 season.

08/08/2025

A court’s decision regarding the current lawsuit between the N.C. Attorney General’s Office and HCA is not only important in western North Carolina but for hospital mergers around the country, said Gerald Coyne.

Coyne, the independent monitor lead, along with Dogwood Health Trust’s general counsel, Rachel Ryan, explained HCA’s ongoing lawsuit with the attorney general’s office, discontinued services at Mission Hospital and its 2024 noncompliance report during a press conference Tuesday.

A court’s decision regarding the current lawsuit between the N.C. Attorney General’s Office and HCA is not only important in western North Carolina but for hospital mergers around the country,

08/07/2025

Drew Deane, a local gallery owner, expressed worries about “street camping” of homeless people in downtown Brevard during the public comment portion of the Brevard City Council meeting Monday.

“I’m here to express concern for the street camping that has most recently happened downtown, that also is a general concern in our community,” Deane said.

Deane specifically raised concerns over people sleeping on the benches in Clemson Plaza and the lack of clear direction on how rules of loitering and camping in public places should be enforced.

Drew Deane, a local gallery owner, expressed worries about “street camping” of homeless people in downtown Brevard during the public comment portion of the Brevard City Council meeting Monday.

08/07/2025

Emory Owen was bestowed The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award from Gov. Josh Stein’s office Monday night for his 45 years of service to the city of Brevard.

By receiving the award, Owen has been inducted into The Order of the Long Leaf Pine Society, the highest honor a North Carolina governor can bestow for individuals who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities.

Owen has worked more than four decades for the city of Brevard, mostly serving in the wastewater treatment facility.

Emory Owen was bestowed The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award from Gov. Josh Stein’s office Monday night for his 45 years of service to the city of Brevard.

08/07/2025

The Brevard City Council voted Monday to approve amendments to the landscape planning for the coming Pisgah Forest roundabout to include a large metal bear statue as the centerpiece of the traffic circle at the entrance to the national forest.

The idea was presented to city council by local artist and gallery owner Ann DerGara who has already raised $20,000 for the sculpture and found a local artist, Charles Calvin Guffey, to commission to make the piece.

DerGara is the owner of the Red Wolf Gallery on Main Street and is responsible for the animal statues spread around Brevard as well as the instrument sculptures around Brevard College.

DerGara said she was able to raise money for those sculptures from private funds and relied on many of the connections she already had for funding of this new project.

The Brevard City Council voted Monday to approve amendments to the landscape planning for the coming Pisgah Forest roundabout to include a large metal bear statue as the centerpiece of

07/30/2025

To help create more affordable housing for county educators and other essential workers, school officials will research lease options for board-owned land adjacent to Brevard High.

The Transylvania County Board of Education owns more than 24 acres of land spread across two parcels directly across North Country Club Road from the high school.

Last week Superintendent Lisa Fletcher told the board finding affordable housing is one of the biggest hurdles prospective teachers face to work in the county.

“Given that 29% of our teachers live outside the county, and we have lost potential hires or people who have accepted a job because they couldn’t find housing. A housing development could make a meaningful difference for our system,” Fletcher said.

To help create more affordable housing for county educators and other essential workers, school officials will research lease options for school system-owned land adjacent to Brevard High.

07/29/2025

A nonprofit dedicated to providing affordable workforce housing in Transylvania County is making major progress on three houses under construction adjacent to Rosman High School.

Alan Wi******er, the project’s director and a board member of the nonprofit Transylvania Housing Trust, said the three homes will be an affordable place to live for new teachers in Transylvania County.

Once completed, the micro-development will be called Patton Place in honor of major donors Frank and Donna Patton and will have the tagline of “Homes for Our Teachers.”

The three units will have two bedrooms and one bathroom each and top out around 1,000 square feet. The homes will rent for $1,000 a month to teachers and their families coming to Transylvania County. Wi******er said the properties will be available for up to three years to each family.

A nonprofit dedicated to providing affordable workforce housing in Transylvania County is making major progress on three houses under construction adjacent to Rosman High School.