‘Smokey Joe’s Cafe’ percolates with joy — See REVIEW, Pg. B1
Jeff Rose elected BCDP’s chairman
Montreat erupts over oath-signing
— See STORY, Pg. A2
See NEWS, Pg. A4
LLE I V HE AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
May 2017
Vol. 13, No. 06
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville
FREE
www.ashevilledailyplanet.com
Apocalypse now?
‘Nice Cliff Jump’ proves a winner
Prepare now as cataclysm looms, preppers forewarned
By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Special photos by UNC ASHEVILLE
Above and to the left are two of the winnners from UNC Asheville’s Study Abroad Program’s annual international photo contest. They were on display in April in Ramsey Library’s Blowers Gallery. The photo above, titled “Nice Cliff Jump” in France, was shot by Michael Albinger. The photo to the left, titled “From the Inside Looking Out” in Peru, was shot by Caroline Sherrer. The contest encourages student and faculty travelers to create a photographic record and share their overseas experiences upon their return to Asheville. More than 130 UNCA students study aboad as part of university programs each year.
Kapoor challenges Edwards to debate; shift to district system bill clears hurdle From Staff Reports City Council candidate Vijay Kapoor has challenged state Sen. Chuck Edwards, RHendersonville, to hold a public debate with him on the pros and cons of Edwards’ bill to switch Asheville from at-large elections for city council seats to a district system. Meanwhile, Edwards’ bill to split Asheville into six districts cleared its first committee on the night of April 25. Most area legislators — as well as council members — oppose the hotly contested measure. Edwards represents a small portion of South Asheville. Voters in the six districts could vote for only those running in their district. The mayor would still be elected at-large.
WAYNESVILLE — Two speakers warned that there is no time like the present to prepare for possible catastrophes during their speeches at Heritage Life Skills VI Weekend on the evening of April 21 at the Folkmoot Center. “Hundreds” attended the April 21-23 program, making it the best-attended in its history, according to event organizer Jan Starrett, who declined to be more specific. She co-owns, with her husband Bill, Carolina Readiness Supply, which sponsored the weekend program. The event featured about 30 classes in a variety prepper interest areas, ranging from suturing to tactical radio communications. On April 22, the evening’s program included a musical performance by Spencer Two Dogs and a talk focusing on the North Korea crisis by Dr. William Forstchen, a Montreat College history professor who perhaps is best-known as the author of the New York Times bestseller “One Second After.” “Enemies, an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse), economic collapse, natural disasters, even our government” going rogue — all could happen and pose threats to American’s way of life, one of the speakers, SouthernPrepper1, told a crowd of about 200 people in the center’s auditorium. However, those who are prepared will tremendously increase their
Rubbin Hood ....
Q: I grabbed my boyfriend’s phone to look something up, and I found a Google search for local massage places that offer “happy endings.” He says that he and his friends were just goofing off. Am I an idiot to believe him? — Disturbed Chuck Edwards Vijay Kapoor “I neither support the bill, nor do I agree with the manner in which Senator Edwards is proceeding,” Kapoor wrote in a March 26 guest column in the Asheville Citizen-Times. See CHALLENGE, Page A9
His “goofing off” is reminiscent of the “but I was just curious!” web searches that juries hear about — stuff like “Does arsenic have a flavor?” “How much antifreeze does it take to kill a 226.5-pound man?” and “Who’s got the lowest prices on shovels and tarps?” Sure, it’s POSSIBLE that your boyfriend is telling the truth — that he and his bud-
Forrest SouthernGarvin Prepper1 chances of survival, especially in the case of “a grid-down situation,” said SouthernPrepper1. He spoke on the topic of “Protect Your Home” for more than an hour. (SouthernPrepper1 uses only his YouTube name, professes the motto of “Don’t be scared — be prepared” and is based near Pickens, S.C.) Southern1Prepper1 also spoke of the importance of having as many “triggerpullers” of guns in one’s prepper group as possible, as those lacking food and supplies — and morals — inevitably will attack the group and must be repelled. “In a worse-case event, we need every trigger-puller we can get,” he said. “Ladies are just as capable of doing what a guy can do” with a gun. If they (the enemy) take me out, the next one (left) is my wife…. We need to start training you women to be very proficient” with guns. See PREPPERS, Page A9
The Advice Goddess Amy Alkon
dies were searching out massage parlors RIGHT NEARBY! just for a giggle. To determine how likely it actually is, consider that people don’t behave randomly. We’re each driven by a varying combo of personality traits — habitual patterns of thinking, emotion, and behavior that are relatively consistent over time and across situations. For example, an introvert will not suddenly become a party animal (unless we’re talking the taxidermied kind that’s stuck into the “fall leaves” centerpiece).
See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A11