Regional Roundup

Buncombe County

Forum to focus on Asheville’s assets

ASHEVILLE — The seventh and last in the current series of Leadership Asheville Forum’s Critical Issues Luncheons will focus on several of Asheville’s assets: Pack Square, The Thomas Wolfe House and a proposed mixed-use commercial development that would envelop a performing arts facility.

Speakers at the forum will be Marilyn Geiselman for the Pack Square Project, Steve Hill for the Thomas Wolfe House and Crawford Murphy and Lilian Fischer for the proposed mixed-use commercial development. The luncheon is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. April 9 at Country Club of Asheville. The cost is $14 for Leadership Asheville Forum members and $16 for nonmembers. Reserve your place by calling Marylyn Seyler at 645-6659 or e-mail ucanoe2@aol.com. Deadline for reservations is Friday. Members who have made reservations and fail to attend will be billed.

Restaurant to donate to charity

SKYLAND — Bellacino’s Restaurant, 1854 Hendersonville Road, will donate 10 percent of its income on Wednesday to the Save the Children campaign. The money will be in support of the third annual Youth Day of Peace to be held Aug. 1, bringing together children, adults and the elderly in an intergenerational peace rally.

For more information, call Save the Children at 299-1166, Ext. 313.

Talk to focus on N.C. budget

SKYLAND — Don Carrington, vice president of the John Locke Foundation, will speak about North Carolina’s state budget problems and the solution of limited government at noon Friday at Shoney’s Restaurant at the Long Shoals Road exit off Interstate 26. The event is part of the annual Tax Tour, sponsored by the John Locke Foundation and Citizens for a Sound Economy. For information, call Thomas Croom at the foundation at (866) JLF-INFO or e-mail tcroom@johnlocke.org

Principal to talk about development

ASHEVILLE — Carol Ray, Claxton Elementary School principal, will discuss the School Development Program being implemented throughout the Asheville City Schools’ System at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Owen Conference Center at UNC Asheville. The School Development Program uses a “whole child approach” process to improve student development.

For more information, call UNCA’s education department at 251-6420.

Lecture to explore calculus conflicts

ASHEVILLE — William Dunham, the Koehler Professor of Mathematics at Muhlenberg College, will discuss “Newton and Leibniz: Mathematicians at War” at 7 p.m. Thursday at UNC Asheville’s Humanities Lecture Hall. Dunham’s talk is the second annual Parson Lecture and is presented by UNCA’s Mathematics Department. The event is free and open to the public.

Dunham will trace the careers of England’s Isaac Newton and Germany’s Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the geniuses who independently created calculus in the late 17th century. Dunham will describe the mathematicians’ disputes and their dramatic outcomes.

For more information, call UNCA’s mathematics department at 251-6556.

Fashion show to benefit charity

ASHEVILLE — Just Ducky Originals Children’s Clothing will host a Welcome Spring! Fashion Show on Saturday at the 100 Charlotte St. store to benefit Children First. A portion of the day’s proceeds will be donated to Children First.

The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with live modeling and refreshments from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Just Ducky Originals Children’s Clothing will also be raffling a Vera Bradley bag full of goodies before the event. Tickets are on sale at the store.

For more information, call Allison Jordan with Children First at 259-9717.

Novelist Rybka to speak at UNCA

ASHEVILLE — UNC Asheville will host a talk and book signing with novelist Laryce Harrison Rybka at 4 p.m. Wednesday in UNCA’s Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. The event, sponsored by UNCA’s Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Office, is free and open to the public.

“Guardian of the Lamp,” Rybka’s first book, is loosely based on her maternal grandmother’s ancestry. The historical novel portrays three generations of women in antebellum South Carolina as they cross the line into forbidden love, advance the cause of abolitionism and work with the Underground Railroad. Rybka, a Raleigh native, is currently working on the sequel, “Legacy of the Lamp.”

For more information, call UNCA’s diversity and multicultural affairs office at 232-5110.

Leadership Asheville taking applications

ASHEVILLE — Leadership Asheville, a nine-month study program to strengthen leadership skills and understanding of community issues run by UNC Asheville, is accepting applications for its 2003-04 session.

Following a two-day retreat in September, participants meet one day a month through May. Tuition is $1,200, and partial scholarships are available.

Contact Mitchell Williams at 251-6125 or mwilliams@unca.edu for application materials or information.

Henderson County

911 verification deadline extended

HENDERSONVILLE — The Henderson County Property Addressing office has extended the county’s 911 database verification through April and has generated an e-mail address so people can e-mail their numbers and addresses to the office. If you have any questions, call Curtis Griffin, property address coordinator for Henderson County at 697-4916.

Macon County

EMS building to be dedicated

TOPTON — The Macon County Board of Commissioners will meet at 4 p.m. April 7 in the Nantahala EMS Building at 1096 Junaluska Road, Topton. A dedication and open house for the new EMS building will follow at 6 p.m.

McDowell County

Career planning and assessment offered

MARION — The JobLink Career Center in Marion will offer a career planning and assessment class Monday through April 11.

The class is designed to help participants figure out what career direction to pursue. The class will be from 9 a.m. to noon and is free to unemployed and eligible individuals.

For more information or to preregister, contact Jimmy Hensley at 659-6001, Ext. 105.

Polk County

Block House Steeplechase tickets on sale

TRYON — Tickets are now on sale for the 57th running of the Block House Steeplechase Races April 19 at the Sanlin Race Course at FENCE in Tryon. Gates will open at 10 a.m., with the first of five races beginning at 2 p.m. Parking spaces and boxes must be purchased in advance, and none will be sold on race day.

Steeplechase tickets can be purchased in Asheville at Joseph Bank Clothiers and in Hendersonville at Boyd Pontiac-Cadillac-Buick. Call 859-6109 or (800) 438-3681.