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By Jon Ostendorff, USA TODAY

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Rob Miller, general manager of the Pisgah Inn, watched the news this week as World War II veterans pushed past barricades to get to their memorial in Washington after the federal government shut down.

He got to thinking about his own situation at the inn along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The government owns the building and the land. The National Park Service had given him until 6 p.m. Thursday to shut down and kick out his 78 guests.

He called Bruce O’Connell, owner of Pisgah Inn Inc., who was in Mexico. O’Connell had seen the same report about the veterans. They came up with a plan.

“We thought if those guys can do it, we can

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CHEROKEE — Florida resident Joe Bresnahan was among campers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park who learned that their vacation had been cut short by the government shutdown.

He had a message for Congress.

“When everybody goes to the polls next year, if there is an incumbent, regardless of party, vote for the other person,” he said. “Get them out. Fire every damn one of them. They need to be gone.”

The shutdown caused headaches across the nation Tuesday as nonessential government agencies closed in the wake of the political impasse over the Affordable Care Act. Congress failed to agree on a budget late Monday, meaning many federal workers were off the job.

Park rangers closed Smokemont campground near Cherokee, where Bresnahan was staying, around noon.

The shutdown, which also closed campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway, could mean an economic loss for places like Cherokee and Asheville that depend on tourism revenue from fall leaf-lookers and park visitors.

Cathy Latham, owner of four shops in Cherokee, said the uncertainty of the shutdown is the worst part. October is her most profitable month. About 75 percent of her customers come

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131002/NEWS/310020034/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

ASHEVILLE — Meteorologists for the National Weather Service are still on the job, but scientists who study long-term climate changes have been furloughed.

The National Climatic Data Center in the federal building in downtown Asheville was shut down on the first day of a government shutdown that affected 800,000 federal employees nationwide and hundreds of jobs locally.

Furloughed workers across federal agencies cleared out of their offices. They left voice messages on their phones, explaining they couldn’t respond until funding was restored.

But the federal building wasn’t closed, and not all climate research stopped. The Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites-NC, an academic research office of N.C. State University, is still open for business, said director Otis Brown.

“We have plenty to keep us busy,” Brown said.

But without federal counterparts or resources to rely on, the CICS staff have had to reorder priorities in working with the vast troves of weather data stored inside the building.

U.S. courts remained in session and mail delivery continued, along with health care for veterans at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Oteen.

Air traffic was unaffected at the Asheville Regional

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131002/NEWS/310020036/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

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WASHINGTON, October 1, 2013 – If only the old, new and middling granite stones in Asheville’s Omni Grove Park Inn could talk. A century of stories abound about U.S. presidents, celebrities and others, some who started married life at the inn, then celebrated anniversaries and later family milestones within.

There are tales about big business deals and conferences , which occur regularly at the inn. The design of the hotel epitomizes the Arts and Crafts era and has hosted nearly three decades of gatherings by antique dealers and collectors of those who embrace the genre.

The inn’s most “storied” guest is The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who with his wife Zelda, are often credited with inventing the 1920’s Jazz Age. The pair were deep into their personal demons during the summers of 1935 and 1936 when Fitzgerald occupied rooms 441 and 443, drinking and brooding over his wife who was a patient in the local mental hospital.

Autumn is a great time to call, as the

Article source: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/contemporary-christian-travel/2013/oct/2/ashevilles-omni-grove-park-inn-launches-second-cen/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Dana Johnson dreamed of getting married in Yosemite National Park ever since, as a child, she saw a wedding with the park’s breathtaking vistas and Yosemite Falls as a backdrop.

Almost two decades later, the 27-year-old nurse from San Diego is set to be married Friday at the park’s Glacier Point.

Maybe. The government shutdown means national parks are closed and Johnson’s dream wedding — like weddings scheduled in parks across the country — is up in the air.

On Capitol Hill, public tours were canceled but members of Congress and most of their staffs continued to work — but with no apparent progress.

For many federal employees, the first day of the shutdown was really a half-day. Furloughed workers were told to report

Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/01/government-shutdown-real-people/2900677/ If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

CHEROKEE — Florida resident Joe Bresnahan was among the campers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park who learned that their vacation had been cut short by the government shutdown.

He had a message for Congress.

“When everybody goes to the polls next year, if there is an incumbent, regardless of party, vote for the other person,” he said. “Get them out. Fire every damn one of them. They need to be gone.”

The shutdown caused headaches across the nation Tuesday as nonessential government agencies closed in the wake of the political impasse over Obamacare. Congress failed to agree on a budget late Monday, meaning many federal workers were off the job.

Park rangers closed Smokemont Campground near Cherokee, where Bresnahan was staying, around noon.

The shutdown, which also closed campgrounds along the Blue Ridge Parkway, could mean an economic loss for places like Cherokee and Asheville.

The towns depend on tourism revenue from fall leaf-lookers and visitors to the parks.

Cathy Latham, owner of four shops in Cherokee, said the uncertainty of the shutdown is the worst part. October is her most profitable month. About 75 percent of her

Article source: http://www.blackmountainnews.com/article/20131001/NEWS01/310010057/Smokies-campers-kicked-out-in-federal-shutdown If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

CHICAGO — The online insurance marketplaces that are at the heart of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul struggled to handle the wave of eager new consumers Tuesday, the first day of a six-month open-enrollment period that inaugurates the biggest expansion in coverage in nearly 50 years.

A combination of high demand and technical glitches seemed to overwhelm the online system early in the day. Federal and state officials were working to address the problems, which led to long waits on government websites and a federal call center.

As a sign of how ready Americans were to get started, Obama said more than 1 million people had visited the government’s main website before 7 a.m. — exceeding expectations and contributing to the delays.

In Obama’s home state, dozens of people who came to a Champaign, Ill., public health office to sign up for coverage found computer screens around the room flashing an error message: “System is unavailable.”

Kimberly Shockley — logging in from Houston, Texas — and Mike Weaver, who lives in rural southern Illinois, ran into similar glitches: They could not get past the security questions while trying to set up

Article source: http://www.citizen-times.com/viewart/20131001/NEWS/310010064/Insurance-markets-open-surge-new-customers If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com