The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its annual hospital ratings July 31, awarding top five-star ratings for quality of care to the Charles George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville/Oteen, the Margaret R. Pardee Memorial Hospital in Hendersonville, and AdventHealth Hendersonville. 

A youthful lark ended in tragedy July 1 for a Maggie Valley elk that trekked through the Pisgah National Forest to wind up in Henderson County. 

The young bull’s travels ended when he wandered onto I-26 near Hendersonville, just before 5 a.m. Sunday, July 1. A woman driving a minivan struck the elk, and while nobody in the vehicle was injured, the elk was hurt badly enough that he had to be put down. 

Miss Julia Springer lives in a small town near Asheville, where she is mourning the death of her husband of 44 years and trying to settle his affairs, including the enormous estate he has left her. On this particular hot day in August, Miss Julia — she goes by this title despite her long marriage — discovers that she has one last affair to face: her husband’s years-long adultery with Hazel Marie Puckett, a scandalous relationship known to nearly everyone in town except for Miss Julia.