TOURISM
TDA director’s salary, benefits top $450,000
Buncombe County’s tourism director is set to receive compensation totaling up to $456,000 this fiscal year and up to $578,000 or more in 2026 under a three-year contract renewal recently approved by the tax-supported agency. Victoria “Vic” Isley’s compensation package is roughly double that of the city and county managers, school superintendents, the county sheriff, and the Asheville police chief. Isley, president and CEO of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, receives: The contract, approved in July 2023 and obtained by Asheville Watchdog, calls for annual raises each July to be determined by the TDA board, but guarantees Isley a…
Keep readingHEALTHCARE
Citing ‘system failures,’ Messino to stop providing acute leukemia chemotherapy at Mission
Messino Cancer Centers will no longer provide chemotherapy for dozens of acute hematology cancer patients at Mission Hospital because of concerns over “ongoing system failures,” which it says were going to ultimately harm patients. Asheville Watchdog obtained a Sept. 20 letter to Messino doctors and Mission leadership and staff in which Martin Palmeri, head of Messino’s cancer department working at Mission facilities, announced the decision, which will likely force more than 50 patients to seek care outside of Asheville. “With heavy hearts, the physicians at Messino Cancer Centers cannot with good conscience continue to provide inpatient complex hematology care,” the…
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