Former Citizen-Times Editor Files $15 Million Lawsuit
*GANNETT NEWSPAPERS JUST RECEIVED BAD NEWS from its former Asheville Citizen-Times executive editor Susan Ihne | Ihne recently filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against her former employer. She claims, according to a Dec. 17, 2008, MountainXpress report, that the newspaper's publisher "bullied and harrassed" her. | For MTX article by Jason Sanford, Click Here> | To read the lawsuit filed against Gannett and Randy Hammer, the company's publisher in Asheville, Click Here>
Taking Stock at Progress Energy
*MIKE HOPPING'S LATEST INSTALLMENT of Electrifying Developments | Local author/journalist Michael Hopping filed his latest report about Progress Energy and its citizens' council (CEAC), which is designed to better chart the region's future electricity needs. Hopping's report is based on the most recent regularly scheduled CEAC meeting. The group was formed by Progress following a local citizen's revolt in 2007 that toppled its plans to build an oil-fired electricity generation plant in the north Buncombe County city of Woodfin. | Writes Hopping: "Progress Energy’s Community Energy Advisory Council (CEAC) closed out its year by reviewing Progress’s 2008 achievements and thinking ahead to 2009. Along with the attaboys and good cheer, some news items surfaced." For Hopping's full report dated Dec. 12, 2008, Click Here> | For Asheville-based blogger Heather Rayburn's kudos to Progress for its progress, Click Here> | For more info about Progress Energy's renewable energy initiatives, Click Here>
Found! And Now Living with Father
*MISSING TEEN Jessica Renee Hall has been found | Last seen in Downtown Asheville's Pritchard Park on July 23, 2008, this Morganton, NC, teenager was located this past weekend in Eugene, Oregon. "Jessica is living with me now in Massachusetts," Jessica's father, Jonathan Hall, told DowntownAsheville.com on Fri., Dec. 19, 2008. He said that he flew out to Oregon to pick her up after she had called him on Dec. 10. Jessica Hall had been missing since July 5, 2008, when she had run away from her mother's Morganton home. The Morganton police confirmed that Jessica had been found.
