Court Opening Dates, Fire Safety Reminders, and Economic Assistance Updates

Important Updates 

Trash & Recycling Pickup 
WastePro will resume recycling on Monday, Oct. 14. The City of Asheville will also resume trash and recycling services on the same day. 

Leicester: WastePro will run regular routes for household trash and recycling. For areas not accessible, a trash truck will be at Leicester Elementary (31 Gilbert Road) from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday only. This service is for bagged trash only, not storm debris. 

Landfill: Open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 85 Panther Branch Road, Alexander. 

Hominy Creek Transfer Station: Open for household bagged trash Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Fire Safety Reminder 

The Governor has relaxed burning restrictions, but we urge you to follow safety guidelines due to dry conditions: 

• Burn your debris in manageable amounts. This should be less than 6 feet in diameter and 4 feet in height.  
• Clear an area of not less than 15 feet around burn piles of combustible ground debris and vegetation.  
• Keep piles 25 feet from any structure and sections were yards meet forests.  
• Have a means of extinguishment: Water supply if it is available, shovel or digging device, or fire extinguisher. If you live near a stream, creek, or pond, collect water in buckets for your burn piles.  
• If your fire becomes out of control, please call 911. Do not call 911 with smoke complaints about your neighbors.   

 Court Operations 

The Buncombe County Courthouse will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Monday, Oct. 14. Jurors are excused through the end of October. If you are represented by an attorney, please contact them for information.  

Important Court Information: 

• District and Superior Courts are also open, but please note that many cases will be continued. Priority will be given to in-custody cases and first appearances. 
• For details on your criminal case, contact the District Attorney’s Office at 828-259-3410 or call 828-259-3400 for more information.  
• For civil superior cases, all trials scheduled in October will be continued. Trials will resume on November 1, 2024. Hearings on motions will be conducted via Webex until further notice unless specific arrangements are made with the Trial Court Coordinator for an in-person hearing. For parties to civil cases that have limited or no access to the internet, a space will be made available at the Courthouse with a computer connection to conduct remote hearings via Webex. For questions regarding these or other issues, please contact Trial Court Coordinator John Rogers at john.d.rogers@nccourts.org or call 828-259-6479  

Reminder: Although the courts are open, we still encourage you to avoid coming in person if possible. Electronic filing is available on NCCourts.gov under eCourts for your convenience. Filings have been extended to October 28.   

Donation Center 
The donation center at 6 Commerce Way, Arden is temporarily not accepting donations until Wednesday. We are focusing on distributing these donations. In the meantime, please donate to ABCCM, Bounty & Soul, or Beloved. The City of Asheville donation sites at Harrah’s Cherokee Center and in West Asheville at 298 Patton Avenue are not currently taking clothing donations. The City of Asheville recommends clothing donations go to Goodwill sites which are providing vouchers for those in need for clothes. 

Power Updates 
Currently, 11,832 Duke Power customers remain without power. Duke representatives will provide more updates at the Tuesday community briefing. 

FEMA Assistance 
Residents can visit the Disaster Recovery Center at AC Reynolds High, 1 Rocket Drive in Asheville, for in-person FEMA assistance. They can also apply online at disasterassistance.gov or by calling1-800-621-3362. If you've been denied assistance, you can appeal by calling 1-800-621-3362 or visiting disasterassistance.gov. 

Shelters Available 

• AB Tech Conference Center: 16 Fernihurst Drive, Asheville 
• Medical Emergency Shelter: 10 Genevieve Circle, Asheville 
• Former Gold’s Gym (Now owned by Novant Health): 1815 Hendersonville Road, Asheville 
• WNC Agriculture Center: 1301 Fanning Bridge Road, Fletcher (pet-friendly) 

Water and Food Distribution Sites 
The following locations are offering both drinking and flushing water; bring your own container. Food is also available. 

• AC Reynolds High School, 1 Rocket Drive, Asheville, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Asheville Middle School, 211 S. French Broad Avenue, Asheville, 9a.m.-7 p.m. 
• Buncombe County Sports Park Complex, 58 Apac Dr., Asheville, NC 28806, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Black Mountain Ingles, 550 NC-9, Black Mountain, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Fairview Elementary School, 1355 Charlotte Highway, Fairview, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Swannanoa Ingles, 2299 US 70, Swannanoa, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Leicester Elementary School, 31 Gilbert Road, Leicester, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Road, Asheville, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (Food and drinking water only) 
• Lucy Herring Elementary School, 98 Sulphur Springs Road, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. 
• North Windy Ridge Intermediate School, 20 Doan Road, Weaverville, Noon-4 p.m. 
• Pack Square Park, 70 Court Plaza, 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. 
• Oakley Elementary, 753 Fairview Rd, Asheville, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
• William W. Estes Elementary School, 275 Overlook Road, Asheville, Noon-4 p.m. 

Buncombe County Economic Services Update 
While Buncombe County Economic Services is under emergency closure, residents can still apply for Medicaid, Food Assistance, Energy Program and Work First at epass.nc.gov. 

Applications are also available on the Buncombe County website and they can be emailed to dssmail@buncombecounty.org or dropped off at 40 Coxe Avenue in Asheville Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. An Economic Service Call Center (828-250-5500) is running on a limited basis Monday-Friday.  

EBT Updates: EBT cards can be used to purchase hot foods. There is now an extension to the 10-day reporting rule to 90 days, and everyone on food assistance has 70% of their September benefits loaded back to their EBT card. Replacement EBT cards can be requested by calling 866-719-0141 Monday-Friday. 

Medicaid: There are many flexibilities for providers to provide services to recipients such as filling more than one month’s worth of prescriptions. Recipients will not have to recertify their current case for the next three months 

Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): WIC services in Buncombe County are still under an emergency closure. The state WIC office is supporting benefits issuance to all active WIC participants. Benefits will be automatically loaded onto WIC debit cards. WIC offices from our surrounding communities are available to provide support services to Buncombe County WIC participants. Click here for WIC office locations.  

ArtsSAVL Update 
Our artists are a large and important part of our community. Artist resources during Hurricane Helene recovery are available at artsavl.org/aid. ArtsAVL conducted a creative needs assessment survey and more than 300 submissions show that the most pressing need is for funding to cover bills due to loss of income. To help address this ArtsAVL has enacted two initiatives. 

Explore Asheville and other partners have launched new Love Asheville From Affar initiative, a webpage with shop links and direct donation to local artists impacted by the hurricane. 

ArtsAVL is launching new emergency relief grant on Monday, Oct. 15 providing $500 to individual artists professionals living in the 25 impacted counties in Western North Carolina. These grants will be processed as quickly as possible. Full grant guidelines and applications can be accessed on their website starting tomorrow.  

Buncombe County continues recovery efforts following the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. 

“For me, a Sunday morning typically involves reflection and gratefulness for our many blessings. Our community has been through an incredibly devastating event and I would like to take a moment of silence on this Sunday morning to acknowledge the tremendous impact to our community, the loss of friends and family, and even the loss of a basic sense of security for so many,” Buncombe County Avril Pinder said during the County’s 11 a.m. community briefing. 

“This morning, I also think about the path forward. And how we unite and move forward with strength drawn from each other and from our beautiful community. I’m filled with hope and gratitude for each of you working to build a future full of promise.” 

Tomorrow, the City of Asheville will join the community briefing at 11 a.m. for another updates on water restoration.

Sign up for our text messages by texting “BCAlert” to 99411 or go to www.buncombecounty.org/codered.